JP5551096B2 - Paper post-processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus attached to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer.

  The sheet post-processing device attached to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, for example, stacks the sheets on which the images are sequentially ejected from the image forming apparatus and stacks the stacked sheets of sheets. A process of binding one place or several places on one side with staples (stapling), that is, a so-called stapling process is performed.

  Regarding a paper post-processing apparatus that performs this stapling process, Patent Document 1 has a bottom plate that supports the paper discharged from the image forming apparatus, and presses the paper supported on the bottom plate with a switching claw, and the paper. In contrast, the feeding direction is aligned by a tacho roller unit, and one or several places are stapled with staples. Further, Patent Document 2 has a compile tray on which sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are stacked, and the sheets supported on the compile tray are aligned by a compile paddle, and are stapled at one place or with a staple. Several places are processed for binding.

  However, in Patent Document 1, since the switching claw for pressing the paper supported by the bottom plate and the takikoro portion for aligning the paper are driven by separate driving means, the paper post-processing apparatus is increased in size and cost. There is a problem, and in Patent Document 2, the compile paddle for aligning sheets is moved using a solenoid, a lever, etc., so that the sheets can be aligned according to the number of sheets loaded on the compile tray. However, there is a problem that the configuration for moving the compile paddle is complicated.

JP 2003-155159 A JP 2004-284756 A

  Therefore, in order to solve the above problem, the applicant of the present invention firstly disclosed, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-84129, a sheet aligning unit, a unit main body, and a sheet pressing means for pressing the sheet supported by the sheet support unit. A cam means for moving the paper pressing means close to or away from the paper support unit by rotation of the cam member, and an alignment means for aligning the paper supported by the paper support unit to the reference position by rotation of the alignment member, The unit body includes a rotating shaft body rotatably supported by the first support body and the second support body, and the cam member and the alignment member are fixed to the rotating shaft body. Proposed paper post-processing device. The paper post-processing apparatus according to this proposal can obtain an effect that the paper can be pressed and aligned with a simple configuration, and the size and cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

  By the way, the conventional paper post-processing apparatus including the paper post-processing apparatus according to the above proposal is loaded with one side of the paper supplied to the paper post-processing apparatus in contact with the reference surface, and the stacked paper is further loaded. Is configured to shift to the staple position while being in contact with the reference surface.

However, when shifting a sheet bundle (a plurality of stacked sheets), the discharge roller made of resin and having a large friction coefficient is in contact with the sheet bundle, so that the alignment of the stacked sheets may be lost. there were.
Further, when the reference surface has a notch in the middle in relation to other parts, there is a possibility that the sheet is caught in the notch and the alignment is lost.

  Also, when stacking one side of the paper supplied to the paper post-processing device in contact with the reference surface, the upper surface (front surface) of the paper is stroked toward the reference surface side with a flexible alignment member. However, since the operation of the aligning member is constant regardless of the type of the sheet, when the weight of the sheet is large, the moving amount is insufficient, and there is a possibility that the stacked sheet cannot be aligned.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described drawbacks, and the purpose of the present invention is to maintain the alignment of the stacked sheets during the shift movement, and further to adjust the stacked sheets regardless of the type of the sheets. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus that can maintain consistency.

  The present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above problems.

  In the first invention, the supplied sheets are stacked on a mounting plate having a reference surface on one end side, and the stacked sheets are aligned and brought into contact with the reference surface using an alignment mechanism. Paper post-processing for shifting the stapled paper to a stapling position using a shift mechanism and stapling the paper, pinching the stapled paper with a discharge roller, moving the paper in the direction opposite to the position of the reference surface, and discharging the paper The apparatus is configured to reversely rotate the discharge roller in a direction in which the aligned paper is moved to the reference surface side in a state in which the holding of the discharge roller is released during the shift movement by the shift mechanism. adopt.

  According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, prior to the shift movement of the shift mechanism, a configuration is adopted in which the aligned paper is moved in a direction away from the reference plane by the discharge roller.

  According to a third invention, in the first or second invention, the alignment mechanism includes a flexible piece so as to move the paper toward the reference surface by scoring the upper surface of the paper. A configuration is adopted in which the number of times the upper surface of the sheet is bent by a flexible piece is set according to the type of the sheet.

  According to the present invention, the stacked sheets are configured to shift to the staple position while being moved toward the reference plane, so that the alignment of the finally stacked sheets is prevented from being lost, and the stapling process is performed. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of defects in the manufactured products.

It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the paper post-processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the alignment unit of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of a matching unit. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of a matching unit. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of a matching unit. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of a matching unit. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of a matching unit. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of a matching unit. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of a matching unit. FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line X1-X1 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows control operation. It is other operation | movement explanatory drawing of a matching unit. It is other operation | movement explanatory drawing of a matching unit. It is X2-X2 sectional drawing of FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, the scale of each member is appropriately changed in order to make each member a recognizable size.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus 1. In a casing 2 having a rectangular parallelepiped, a sheet take-in unit A, a temporary holding unit B, an alignment unit C, a staple unit D, a booklet Unit E and controller F are included. In addition, a conveyance path configured by a roller group, a guide plate, and the like for conveying the paper taken into the case 2 is incorporated in the case 2.

  The paper take-in section A has a pair of rollers, and receives paper discharged from an image forming apparatus (not shown) from a receiving port 3 provided in the housing 2, and receives the received paper in the housing 2. It is configured to be taken in.

  The temporary storage unit B is configured around a large-diameter drum, and holds the paper fed from the paper take-in section A around the drum surface and holds the paper into the housing 2. And the timing of the work in the subsequent alignment unit C can be adjusted.

  The aligning unit C stacks one side of the paper taken into the housing 2 in contact with the reference surface (reference plate), and staples the stacked paper in an aligned state along the reference surface. It is configured to be able to shift to a position. The alignment unit C is a feature of the present invention and will be described in detail later with reference to the drawings.

  The staple unit D is configured to perform a binding process on one or several sides of the aligned sheets with staples (staplers). Further, the booklet unit E is configured to be able to fold the paper taken into the housing 2 as necessary.

  The controller F is configured around a CPU, and is configured to be able to control the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 in an integrated manner. The controller F is connected to a controller of an image forming apparatus (not shown) via a communication line, and is configured to be able to control the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 under the command of the controller of the image forming apparatus. ing.

  Prior to the description of the alignment unit C that characterizes the present invention, the overall operation of the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration will be described. A sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus (not shown) Incorporated by A. Then, when the captured paper is not stapled, the tray 5 passes through one inclined position of the wing 4 (hereinafter, this position is referred to as “localization” and the other inclination position is referred to as “reverse position”). Led to. Further, when the captured paper is stapled, it is guided to the temporary holding unit B side through the wing 4 inversion. When the paper guided to the temporary storage unit B does not need to be temporarily stored, the paper is guided to the alignment unit C through the localization of the wing 6. When the paper guided to the temporary holding unit B is temporarily held, the paper is guided to the temporary holding unit B via the wing 6 and is temporarily held, and the paper is guided to the temporary holding unit B. However, when folding processing is necessary, the paper is guided to the booklet unit E through the wing 6 inversion and the wing 7 orientation, and the paper processed by the booklet unit E is temporarily stored again. It is configured to be returned to the holding unit B side.

  Now, the sheet sent from the temporary storage unit B side is received by the alignment unit C, and is loaded with one side of the sheet abutting on the reference surface. Then, the stacked sheets are shifted to a predetermined position of the next staple unit D in a state where they are in contact with the reference surface, that is, in an aligned state, and then stapled by the staple unit D. The bound sheets are discharged to the tray 8 by discharge rollers provided in the alignment unit C.

  Hereinafter, the matching unit C according to the features of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the alignment unit C. FIG. Since the detailed shape and the like of each part of the alignment unit C has been described in detail in the previously proposed sheet post-processing apparatus, members necessary for the description of the present invention will be described here.

  The alignment unit C includes an intake roller 10, a mounting plate 20, an alignment mechanism 30, a discharge roller 40, and a shift mechanism 50 shown in FIG.

  The take-in roller 10 is composed of a driving roller 11 driven by a motor (not shown) and a driven roller 12 rotated by rotation of the driving roller, and the conveyance direction of the paper P (see arrow a in FIG. 1) and A plurality (two in the illustrated example) are provided at predetermined intervals in the orthogonal direction. Therefore, the take-in roller 10 can take the paper P discharged from the image forming apparatus side, that is, the paper P discharged from the temporary holding unit B side in FIG.

  The placement plate 20 is formed on the bottom surface 21 on which the paper P taken in by the take-in roller 10 is placed, and on the inner side of the bottom surface 21 on the conveyance direction side of the paper P, and part of both sides are notched. The reference surface 22 is fixed to the casing of the alignment unit C. The reference surface 22 is formed in a precise straight line shape so as to coincide with one side Pe forming a straight line of the paper P. Therefore, when the paper P stacked on the bottom surface 21 is moved to the reference surface 22 by the alignment mechanism 30 as described later, one side Pe of the paper P can be aligned.

  The alignment mechanism 30 includes a flexible piece 31, a movable plate 32, and a cam 33, and is provided above the bottom surface 21 of the mounting plate 20. The flexible piece 31 is made of a flexible material such as a synthetic resin, and the shape thereof is formed in a strip shape. The flexible piece 31 is fixed to a rotary shaft 34 provided in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the paper P, and the bottom surface 21. The length is determined so that the surface (upper surface) of the paper P placed thereon can be scooped toward the reference surface 22 side. The movable plate 32 is pivotally supported so that it can rotate (swing) toward the bottom surface 21 of the mounting plate 20 with the same axis as a driven roller of a discharge roller 40 to be described later as a supporting shaft. The urging portion that is not urged is always urged away from the bottom surface 21. Further, the cam 33 is provided on the same rotation shaft 34 as the flexible piece 31, and a part of the peripheral surface of the cam 33 is always in contact with the upper surface of the movable plate 32. Yes. Therefore, when the rotating shaft 34 is rotated by the motor M and the cam 33 rotates, the movable plate 32 can swing against the urging portion.

  The discharge roller 40 is provided on the side opposite to the conveyance direction side of the paper P, and is rotated by a driving roller 41 (see FIG. 3 and later) rotated by a stepping motor (not shown) and the rotation of the driving roller 41. And a driven roller 42. A plurality (two in the illustrated example) of the discharge rollers 40 are provided at a predetermined interval in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the paper P. Further, one of the pair of rollers constituting the discharge roller 40 (the driven roller 42 in the illustrated example) is configured to be separated from the other roller by a driving mechanism (not shown). Therefore, when the discharge roller 40 is separated, that is, when the discharge roller 40 is nipped, the pair of rollers 41 and 42 can be freely moved and the pair of rollers 41 and 42 are held. Can move the paper P toward the tray 8 (see FIG. 1) (see arrow b in FIG. 2).

  As shown in FIG. 10 to be described later, the shift mechanism 50 includes contact plates 51 and 51 that sandwich both sides of one side Pe of the paper P that is in contact with the reference surface 22. These contact plates 51, 51 are configured to be moved in the same direction as one side Pe of the paper P by a moving mechanism (not shown) (see arrow c in FIG. 10).

  Next, the alignment operation of the alignment unit C configured as described above will be described with reference to the operation explanatory diagrams of FIGS. 3 to 10 and the flowchart showing the control operation of the controller F of FIG.

  Now, as shown in FIG. 3, when the alignment unit C is in a state in which the rotational driving of the take-in roller 10 is stopped, the image forming apparatus (not shown) is operated, and the stapling process of the paper P is selected from the image forming apparatus. (Step 100 in FIG. 11 is affirmed. Hereinafter, the step is “S”, the affirmation is “Y”, and the negative is “N”). When the stapling process is selected in this way, rotation driving of the take-in roller 10 is started (S102, see FIG. 4).

  When the rotation driving of the take-in roller 10 is started, the clamping state of the discharge roller 40 is released, and the take-in of the first sheet P1 is started (S104, see FIG. 5). When the taking-in of the sheet P1 exceeds a predetermined amount, that is, when it is detected by a sensor (not shown) that the one side Pe of the sheet P1 in the back of the sheet P1 is located in the alignment unit C from the position of the taking-in roller 10 (S106Y, see FIG. 6), the driving of the alignment mechanism 30 is started (S108, see FIG. 7).

  When the driving of the alignment mechanism 30 is started, the paper P1 is pushed toward the bottom surface 21 of the placement plate 20 by the swinging movable plate 32, and the paper placed on the bottom surface 21 by the flexible piece 31. The surface of P1 is scooped on the reference surface 22 side. Thereby, one side Pe of the paper P1 is brought into contact with the reference surface 22, and the posture of the paper P1 is determined. The number of swings of the movable plate 32 and the number of rotations of the flexible piece 31 are determined by the type of the paper P1. That is, the number of swings of the movable plate 32 and the number of rotations of the flexible piece 31 are determined so that one side Pe of the paper P1 can reliably contact the reference surface 22. Specifically, when the amount of movement of the flexible piece 31 is small due to a large weight or the like, the number of rotations of the flexible piece 31 is determined to be large, and the flexible piece 31 due to a small weight or the like. In the case of the sheet P1 having a large movement amount, the number of rotations of the flexible piece 31 is determined to be small. For this reason, it is possible to reliably prevent the sheet P1 from coming into contact with the reference surface 22 and the alignment of the sheet from being lost.

  The paper P2 taken into the aligning unit C by the take-in roller 10 next to the paper P1 is also brought into contact with the reference surface 22 in the same manner as the paper P1, and the posture is determined and aligned. Such alignment processing is repeated until a sheet to be stapled is taken into the alignment unit C (S114Y). In the example shown in the figure, in order to simplify the drawing, one sheet to be stapled is bundled into two (see FIG. 8).

  Note that when the first sheet P is taken in, the holding state of the discharge roller 40 is not released, and the sheet P may be positioned only by rotation of the discharge roller 40 without using the alignment mechanism 30. . Specifically, the driving roller 41 of the discharge roller 40 is rotated forward until one side Pe of the paper P falls on the bottom surface 21, and then the driving roller 41 is rotated reversely because the one side Pe of the paper P contacts the reference surface 22. Accordingly, the paper P may be positioned.

  When all the sheets P1 and P2 to be stapled are taken into the alignment unit C, the sheets P1 and P2 aligned by the shift mechanism 50 are moved to a predetermined position of the staple unit D and the discharge roller 40 is driven. The rotation of the roller 41 is rotated in the direction opposite to the forward rotation (clockwise rotation in the illustrated example) when the stapled paper is discharged. The reverse rotation of the so-called drive roller 41 is performed (S116Y, see arrow c in FIGS. 9 and 10).

  As described above, when the driving roller 41 is reversely rotated during the shift movement, the friction of the driving roller 41 in contact with the paper P2 is not static friction but dynamic friction, so that the paper P1, P2 does not lose the alignment state. Since the shift can be performed and the driving roller 41 is reversely rotated, the sides Pe and Pe of the sheets P1 and P2 can be moved while being pressed against the reference surface 22, so that the shift can be performed without breaking the alignment state. it can.

  When the sheets P1 and P2 stacked by the shift mechanism 50 are moved to a predetermined position of the staple unit D (S118Y), stapling is performed on the predetermined positions of the sheets P1 and P2 stacked by the staple unit D (S120). When the stapling process is completed (S122Y), the driven roller 42 of the discharge roller 40 moves to the driving roller 41 side to sandwich the stapled paper P1, P2, and the driving roller 41 rotates in the forward direction. The stapled sheets P1 and P2 are discharged to the tray 8 (S124, S126Y). Then, the next bundle of sheets P1 and P2 are stapled in the same manner.

  In the above description, the driving roller 41 is reversely rotated during the shift movement, but as shown in FIG. 12, the stacked paper P1, P2 is sandwiched between the driving roller 41 and the driven roller 42, Then, the drive roller 41 may be slightly rotated in the forward direction so that the sides Pe and Pe of the sheets P1 and P2 are slightly lifted from the reference surface 22. FIG. 12d shows an enlarged view of the lifted state. With the sides Pe and Pe of the sheets P1 and P2 stacked in this way slightly lifted from the reference surface 22, and as shown in FIG. 13, the holding of the driving roller 41 and the driven roller 42 is released. When the sheet is shifted, the sides Pe and Pe of the sheets P1 and P2 are not in contact with the reference surface 22, so there is no resistance to the reference surface 22, and the shift can be performed without destroying the alignment state. Since the sides Pe and Pe of the sheets P1 and P2 are not in contact with the reference surface 22, as shown in FIG. 14, even if the reference surface 22 has a notch, the notch is not caught in the notch, and the alignment state It is possible to shift without breaking.

  Further, when the one side Pe, Pe of the above-described paper P1, P2 is slightly lifted from the reference surface 22 and shifted, the leading edge of the side Pe, Pe of the paper P1, P2 in the moving direction is provided on the reference surface 22. You may make it perform reverse rotation of the drive roller 41, when passing a notch part. Thus, even if the driving roller 41 is reversely rotated after the leading end portion in the moving direction of one side Pe, Pe of the paper P1, P2 passes through the notch portion provided on the reference surface 22, it does not get caught. The effect when the drive roller 41 mentioned above is reversely rotated can be acquired.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. Various shapes, combinations, and the like of the constituent members shown in the above-described embodiments are examples, and various modifications can be made based on design requirements and the like without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  A: Paper take-in section, B: Temporary holding unit, C: Alignment unit, D: Staple unit, F: Controller, P, P1, P2 ... Paper, 1 ... Paper post-processing device, 2 ... Case, 3 ... Reception, 10 ... Take-in roller, 20 ... Placing plate, 22 ... Reference plane, 30 ... Alignment mechanism, 31 ... Flexible piece, 32 ... Moving plate , 33... Cam, 40... Discharge roller, 41... Driving roller, 42 .. driven roller, 50.

Claims (2)

The supplied sheets are stacked on a mounting plate having a reference surface on one end side, and the stacked sheets are aligned by abutting against the reference surface using an alignment mechanism, and the aligned sheets are shifted by a shift mechanism. A paper post-processing device that shifts to a staple position and staples the paper, holds the stapled paper with a discharge roller, moves the paper in the direction opposite to the position of the reference surface, and discharges the paper;
Prior to the shift movement of the shift mechanism, the discharge roller moves the aligned sheets away from the reference surface by the discharge roller,
The paper post-processing is characterized in that when the shift mechanism performs the shift movement, the paper discharge roller is reversely rotated in the direction in which the aligned paper moves toward the reference surface side with the holding of the paper discharge roller released. apparatus. The alignment mechanism includes a flexible piece to move the sheet toward the reference plane by scoring the upper surface of the sheet;
Sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of times of smooth down the top surface of the sheet by the flexible piece is characterized in that it is set by the type of the paper.

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