JP5627396B2 - Sheet processing apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to control of a sheet alignment operation performed when a sheet is processed.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine, a laser beam printer, a facsimile, and a composite machine of these include a sheet processing apparatus that performs processing such as binding processing and sorting processing on a sheet on which an image is formed. An image forming apparatus (image forming system) that connects a sheet processing apparatus to the discharge port of the main body of the image forming apparatus and automatically performs these processes on the sheet online is widely known.

  As such a sheet processing apparatus, an apparatus that includes an intermediate processing tray in the apparatus, stacks a plurality of sheets on the intermediate processing tray to form a sheet bundle, and performs a binding process on the sheet bundle is widely used. It has been. Here, during the binding process, the binding means is sequentially moved to positions corresponding to a plurality of binding locations, the sheet bundle is bound at one location or a plurality of binding locations, and the bound sheet bundle is discharged from the intermediate processing tray. Some are loaded on a loading tray.

  Next, the operation in the case of performing the binding process for binding the sheet bundle on the intermediate processing tray at one corner portion of the sheet or two locations along the edge side will be briefly described. When the sheets are discharged from the image forming apparatus main body, the sheets are first conveyed one by one to the intermediate processing tray. After that, the position in the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the conveyed sheet is aligned by the jog operation of the alignment plate, and the sheet is conveyed by the abutting conveyance member and abutted against the regulating member, thereby conveying the sheet. Align the position of.

  Next, a sheet bundle is formed by performing such an alignment operation every time the sheet is conveyed, and then a binding process is performed on the sheet bundle. Here, when performing one-point binding, the corner binding process is performed on the sheet bundle by a stapler that has been waiting in a posture that is inclined in advance at a predetermined binding angle at the corner of the predetermined sheet that is the binding position. . In the case of two-point binding, the binding process is first performed on the sheet bundle at the first binding position, and then the stapler is moved to the second binding position substantially parallel to the rear end portion of the sheet. Then, by performing a binding operation similar to the first binding operation at the second binding position, two binding portions are created for the sheet bundle. Thereby, it is possible to easily bind the sheet bundle.

  By the way, as described above, before the sheet bundle is bound, the sheet alignment in the sheet bundle can be reduced by performing the sheet alignment by the jog operation of the alignment plate and the conveying operation by the abutting conveying member. . Here, as an example of an abutting and conveying member of such a sheet processing apparatus, there is a knurled belt that is elastically deformable, and a sheet is conveyed by the knurled belt and abutted against a regulating member (Patent Document 1). reference).

  FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a sheet processing apparatus including such a knurled belt 190. When the sheet S is conveyed onto the intermediate processing tray, the knurled belt 190 rotates in the direction of the arrow while being pressed against the sheet S, and the upstream end (hereinafter referred to as the rear end) in the sheet conveying direction is a restriction plate (regulation). (Member) 194 is abutted against and aligned in the conveying direction of the sheet S. When the sheet S is conveyed to the intermediate processing tray 193, the knurled belt 190 rotates in a direction that comes into contact with the sheet S and abuts against the regulation plate 194.

  Then, when performing alignment in the width direction of the sheet S using an alignment plate (not shown), the knurled belt 190 is moved to a retracted position that is pulled by an idle roller 191 and an actuator 192 that are pulled away from the sheet S and does not hinder alignment. To do. As described above, in order to improve the alignment of the sheet on the intermediate processing tray, the alignment unit in the width direction and the alignment unit in the conveyance direction including the abutting conveyance member are necessary.

  By the way, as described above, when aligning the position in the width direction of the sheet, it is necessary to retract the abutting conveying member (knurl belt) so as not to disturb the alignment of the sheet by the alignment means in the width direction. On the contrary, when performing alignment in the conveyance direction of the sheet, it is necessary to retract the alignment means in the width direction so as not to disturb alignment by the alignment means in the conveyance direction. That is, when the sheets are aligned, the alignment operation in the other alignment direction is not performed during the alignment operation in one alignment direction.

  Here, for example, when aligning the position in the width direction of the sheet, as described above, if the knurled belt is moved to a retracted position that does not hinder alignment in the width direction, the sheet and the knurled belt are separated from each other, or The pressure of the knurled belt decreases. In such a state, when the alignment operation in the width direction is performed and the sheet moves or turns in the width direction, the sheet that has been aligned and aligned in the conveyance direction moves in the conveyance direction. As a result, a slight misalignment (hereinafter referred to as a minute misalignment) occurs in the transport direction, and the consistency of the sheet with respect to the transport direction is degraded.

  Thereafter, when aligning the position of the sheet in the conveyance direction, the alignment plate is moved to a position away from the sheet, and then the knurled belt is lowered from the retracted position that does not hinder alignment in the width direction and is brought into pressure contact with the sheet. Then, a slight deviation occurs in the width direction, and the consistency in the width direction is lowered.

  Therefore, in order to solve such a slight misalignment in the width direction, for example, the number of alignments in the width direction (A) performed each time a sheet is conveyed and the number of sheet alignments (B) performed on the final sheet are: Some control is performed so that the relationship (A) <(B) is satisfied (see Patent Document 2). In this way, in the case of the final sheet, by increasing the number of alignments in the width direction, it is possible to correct a slight misalignment in the width direction of the sheet caused by the alignment operation in the conveyance direction, and at the time of binding processing It is possible to improve the consistency.

JP 2002-187666 A JP 2000-2111794 A

  By the way, in such a conventional sheet processing apparatus, when aligning the position in the width direction of the sheet, as described above, the abutting conveyance member is set to the retracted position so as not to inhibit the alignment of the sheet. Evacuate. However, even if the abutting and conveying member is moved to the retracted position, depending on the curl state of the sheet, the wavy state, and the physical property difference (rigidity, surface property, basis weight) of the sheet itself due to the difference in the usage environment of the apparatus There is a case where the contact conveyance member does not separate from the sheet and presses against the contact conveyance member.

  In such a case, for example, when the widthwise alignment is performed on a thin sheet having a small basis weight under use conditions in a high humidity environment, the pressure contact pressure with the abutting conveyance member becomes a movement resistance and the sheet As a result, buckling occurs at the side edge of the sheet, resulting in poor alignment. For this reason, in consideration of the environment to be used and the sheet to be used, it is necessary to reduce the movement resistance by making the retracting amount of the abutting conveyance member sufficiently large.

  On the other hand, in the conventional sheet processing apparatus, in order to correct a slight misalignment, as described above, when aligning in the width direction of the final sheet, the number of alignments is increased from the number of alignments performed on the sheet before the final sheet. ing. In addition, after the alignment in the width direction of the final sheet is completed in this manner, the abutting conveyance member is moved from the upper retracted position to the pressure contact position where the sheet is pressed against before the binding operation. However, when the abutting conveyance member moves to the press-contact position after completing the alignment operation in the width direction as described above, if the retraction amount of the abutting conveyance member is sufficiently large as described above, Increases the amount of movement.

  Usually, the abutting and conveying member needs to generate a conveying force that abuts the sheet in the direction of the regulating member while being in contact with the sheet, so that a material having a large surface resistance such as rubber or a foaming elastic material is used. At the same time, it is arranged near the regulating member. For this reason, when the abutting conveyance member moves from the retracted position to the pressure contact position, the sheet contact portion of the abutting conveyance member comes into pressure contact with the sheet from the diagonally upper side. Continue moving by the amount of crushing. Further, as the abutting conveyance member moves to the pressure contact position, an inertial force acts in a direction away from the regulating member. Therefore, the abutting conveyance member made of an elastic material is deformed and further than a predetermined movement amount to the pressure contact position. Move a lot.

  When the amount of movement of the abutting conveyance member to the pressure contact position increases and the amount of movement of the abutting conveyance member after contacting the sheet increases, the sheet indicated by arrow A in FIG. May be shifted in the opposite direction to that of the restricting member. Even when the sheet is displaced in the direction opposite to the regulating member in this way, the intermediate sheet that is not the final sheet to which the next sheet is conveyed continues alignment by the abutting conveyance member during the conveyance interval. The sheet can be aligned again.

  However, with respect to the final sheet, the next sheet is not conveyed. For this reason, conventionally, it is necessary to perform the binding process after performing alignment in the conveyance direction again by the abutting conveyance member. Thus, with respect to the final sheet, it is necessary to perform alignment in the conveying direction again by the abutting conveying member. In this case, the alignment processing time becomes long, leading to a reduction in productivity.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to provide a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus that can reliably align sheets without reducing productivity. Is.

The present invention includes a stacking tray on which sheets to be processed are sequentially stacked, a sheet transporting unit that transports sheets to the stacking tray, and an upstream end in the transport direction of the sheets transported to the stacking tray. A regulating member that regulates a position in the conveyance direction; and a sheet that is movably provided above the stacking tray. The sheet conveyed to the stacking tray is transported and brought into contact with the regulating member to adjust the position of the sheet in the conveyance direction. A conveying direction aligning unit having a rotating body to be aligned and a moving unit for moving the rotating body, and a side end in a width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the sheet in contact with the regulating member, A width direction aligning unit having an aligning member for aligning the position, and for the sheets conveyed to the stacking tray, the position in the sheet conveying direction is regulated by the conveying direction aligning unit, and the moving unit After moving the serial rotator in a direction away from the direction and the sheet closer to the regulating member, the sheet processing apparatus for aligning the position in the width direction by the widthwise aligning section, the last sheet to form a sheet bundle to be processed for the first and aligning operation by the conveying direction aligning unit and the width direction aligning unit, following the first matching operation, the second matching operation by the conveying direction aligning unit and the width direction aligning unit And a third alignment operation by the conveyance direction alignment unit following the second alignment operation, and a direction in which the rotating body approaches the regulating member and moves away from the sheet before the alignment operation by the width direction alignment unit. The amount of movement of the second alignment operation is smaller in the second alignment operation than in the first alignment operation .

  The present invention is also directed to a stacking tray on which sheets to be processed are sequentially stacked, a sheet transporting unit that transports the sheet to the stacking tray, and an upstream end in the transport direction of the sheet transported to the stacking tray. A regulating member that regulates the position in the conveying direction of the sheet, and a position that is movably provided above the stacking tray, and that transports the sheet conveyed to the stacking tray and contacts the regulating member to move the sheet in the conveying direction of the sheet A sheet conveying direction aligning unit having a rotating body that aligns the sheet and a moving unit that moves the rotating body, and a width direction of the sheet that is in contact with a side edge in a width direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction that is in contact with the regulating member. A width direction aligning unit having an aligning member that aligns the position of the sheet, and for the sheet conveyed to the stacking tray, the position in the sheet conveying direction is regulated by the conveying direction aligning unit, and the moving unit In the sheet processing apparatus that aligns the position in the width direction by the width direction aligning unit after moving the rotating body toward the regulating member, the last sheet forming the sheet bundle to be processed is placed on the stacking tray. Until the sheet is conveyed, after the alignment operation by the conveyance direction alignment unit, the alignment operation by the width direction alignment unit is performed on the sheet, and for the last sheet, the alignment operation by the conveyance direction alignment unit and the alignment The alignment operation by the width direction alignment unit is performed a plurality of times, and after the last alignment operation by the width direction alignment unit, the rotating body is moved away from the regulating member from the position where the rotating body has been moved before the alignment operation by the width direction alignment unit. It does not move in the direction.

  As in the present invention, the moving amount of the rotating body of the conveying direction aligning unit before the last width direction aligning operation among the aligning operations performed on the last sheet forming the sheet bundle is larger than the previous moving amount. By reducing the number, the sheets can be reliably aligned without lowering the productivity.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a monochrome / color copying machine that is an example of an image forming apparatus including a sheet processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The figure explaining the structure of the finisher which is the said sheet processing apparatus. The figure explaining the structure of the shift unit provided in the said finisher. The figure explaining the structure of the staple part provided in the said finisher. The figure explaining the structure of the stapler provided in the said staple part. FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the black-and-white / color copying machine. FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the finisher. The figure explaining the structure of the intermediate process tray provided in the said staple part. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a sheet rear end alignment unit provided in the staple unit. The figure explaining the operation | movement at the time of the unbound binding sort mode of the said finisher. The 1st flowchart which shows the control at the time of the staple sort mode of the said finisher. The 2nd flowchart which shows the control at the time of the staple sort mode of the said finisher. FIG. 6 is a first diagram illustrating an operation in the staple sort mode of the finisher. FIG. 10 is a second diagram illustrating the operation of the finisher in the staple sort mode. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the number of pulses for changing the position of the belt roller in accordance with the number of sheets conveyed to the intermediate processing tray, and the retracted position (height position) of the belt roller at the time of width alignment corresponding thereto. The timing chart of a series of alignment operation | movement in the said staple part. FIG. 10 is a third diagram for explaining the operation of the finisher in the staple sort mode. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a stapling unit of a sheet processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another configuration of the staple unit of the sheet processing apparatus. The figure explaining the conventional sheet processing apparatus.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a monochrome / color copying machine which is an example of an image forming apparatus provided with a sheet processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 600 is a monochrome / color copying machine, 602 is a monochrome / color copying machine body (hereinafter referred to as a copying machine body), 650 is a document reading unit (image reader) provided at the upper part of the copying machine body 602, 651 Is a document conveying device for automatically reading a plurality of documents.

  The copying machine main body 602 includes paper feeding cassettes 909a and 909b on which normal sheets S for image formation are stacked, an image forming unit 603 that forms a toner image on a sheet using an electrophotographic process, and a toner formed on the sheet. A fixing unit 904 for fixing an image is provided. An operation unit 601 is provided on the upper surface of the copier main body 602 for a user to perform various inputs / settings on the copier main body 602, and a finisher 100 as a sheet processing apparatus is provided on the side of the copier main body 602. It is connected. A CPU circuit unit 630 is a control unit that controls the copying machine main body 602 and the finisher 100.

  In such a black-and-white / color copying machine 600, when an unillustrated document image is formed on a sheet, the document image conveyed by the document conveying device 651 is first provided in the document reading unit 650. Reading is performed by the image sensor 650a. Thereafter, the read digital data is input to the exposure unit 604, and the exposure unit 604 irradiates light corresponding to the digital data to the photosensitive drum 914 (914a to 914d) provided in the image forming unit 603. When light is irradiated in this way, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum, and by developing the electrostatic latent image, toner images of colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum. Is formed.

  Next, the four color toner images are transferred onto the sheet fed from the sheet feeding cassettes 909 a and 909 b, and then the toner image transferred onto the sheet is permanently fixed by the fixing unit 904. If the toner image is fixed in this manner and the mode is to form an image on one side of the sheet, the sheet is directly discharged from the discharge roller pair 907 to the finisher 100 connected to the side of the copier body 602. To do.

  In the mode in which images are formed on both sides of the sheet, the sheet is transferred from the fixing unit 904 to the reversing roller 905, and then the reversing roller 905 is reversed at a predetermined timing so that the sheet is conveyed to the duplex conveying rollers 906a to 906f. Transport in the direction of. Thereafter, the sheet is conveyed again to the image forming unit 603, and toner images of four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are transferred to the back surface. Note that the sheet having the four color toner images transferred on the back side is conveyed again to the fixing unit 904 to fix the toner image, and then discharged from the discharge roller pair 907 and then transferred to the finisher 100. .

  The finisher 100 sequentially takes sheets discharged from the copying machine main body 602, aligns a plurality of fetched sheets and bundles them into one bundle, and performs a punching process that forms a hole near the rear end of the fetched sheets. It has become. Further, the finisher 100 performs processing such as stapling processing (binding processing) for stapling the rear end side of the sheet bundle and bookbinding processing. The finisher 100 includes a staple unit 100A that is a binding unit for stapling sheets and a saddle unit 135 that folds and bundles the sheet bundle.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the finisher 100 includes an entrance roller pair 102 for taking a sheet into the apparatus, and the sheet discharged from the copying machine main body 602 is delivered to the entrance roller pair 102. At this time, the sheet delivery timing is simultaneously detected by the entrance sensor S101.

  After that, the sheet conveyed by the inlet roller pair 102 passes through the conveyance path 103 and the edge position of the sheet is detected by the lateral registration detection sensor S104, and to what extent the center (center) position of the finisher 100 is. It is detected whether a deviation in the width direction has occurred. In addition, after such a shift in the width direction (hereinafter referred to as a lateral registration error) is detected, the shift unit 108 is moved forward or backward while the sheet is being conveyed to the shift roller pair 105, 106. The sheet shift operation is performed by moving the predetermined amount. Here, “front (front)” refers to the front side of the apparatus when the user stands facing the operation unit 601 illustrated in FIG. 1, and “back” refers to the back side of the apparatus.

  Next, the sheet is conveyed by the conveyance roller 110 and the separation roller 111 and reaches the buffer roller pair 115. Thereafter, when the sheet is discharged to the upper tray 136, the upper path switching member 118 is brought into a broken line state in the figure by a driving means such as a solenoid (not shown). As a result, the sheet is guided to the upper path conveyance path 117 and discharged to the upper tray 136 by the upper discharge roller 120. When the sheet is not discharged to the upper tray 136, the sheet conveyed by the buffer roller pair 115 is guided to the bundle conveying path 121 by the upper path switching member 118 in the state indicated by the solid line. Thereafter, the sheet passes through the conveyance path sequentially by the conveyance roller 122 and the bundle conveyance roller pair 124.

  Next, when the conveyed sheet is discharged to the lower stacking tray 137, the sheet is conveyed to the lower path 126 by the saddle path switching member 125 in the state shown by the solid line. Thereafter, the sheet is sequentially conveyed to the intermediate processing tray 138 as the stacking tray by the lower discharge roller pair 128 as the sheet conveying unit. The conveyed sheets are aligned while sequentially stacking the sheets by the return means such as the paddle 131 and the belt roller 158, and a predetermined number of sheets are processed on the intermediate processing tray for performing processing on the aligned and stacked sheet bundle. It is matched.

  Next, the sheet bundle that has been aligned on the intermediate processing tray in this manner is subjected to binding processing by a stapler 132 that forms a binding portion as necessary, and thereafter, a lower stacking tray 130 by a bundle discharge roller pair 130. The paper is discharged to 137. The stapler 132 is movable in the width direction (hereinafter referred to as the depth direction) orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction, and can bind a plurality of locations at the rear end portion of the sheet bundle.

  On the other hand, when the sheet is subjected to saddle (saddle stitching) processing, the saddle path switching member 125 is moved to a position indicated by a broken line by driving means such as a solenoid (not shown). As a result, the sheet is conveyed to the saddle path 133, guided to the saddle unit 135 by the pair of saddle entrance rollers 134, and subjected to saddle processing (saddle stitching processing).

  Here, the shift unit 108 includes a pair of shift rollers 105 and 106 as shown in FIG. When the sheet is conveyed, the shift conveyance motor M208 is driven, and the drive of the shift conveyance motor M208 is transmitted to the shift roller pair 106 via the drive belt 209 to drive the shift roller pair 106. Further, the drive of the shift roller pair 106 is transmitted to the shift roller pair 105 via the drive belt 213 to drive the shift roller pair 105, whereby the sheet S is conveyed in the C direction.

  At this time, the position of the sheet S (lateral registration error X) is detected by the lateral registration detection sensor S104 being moved in the direction of arrow E by a driving means (not shown). The sheet is moved during conveyance by the sheet shift amount Z (= X + α) obtained by adding the lateral registration error X and the shift amount α of the sheet S. By performing this operation in the front / back direction (between arrows D) when the sheet S is held between the shift roller pairs 105 and 106, the sheet S can be shifted by a predetermined amount while being conveyed in the conveyance direction C.

  Further, the stapler 132 as a binding means (processing means) binds the end portion of the sheet bundle by a clinch motor M132 shown in FIG. 7 to be described later, and is fixed on the slide support 303 shown in FIG. ing. As shown in FIG. 5, rolling rollers 304 and 305 are provided below the slide support 303, and a guide rail groove 307 is formed on the upper surface of the stapler moving table 306. Then, the slide support 303 is guided by the rolling rails 304 and 305 and the guide rail groove 307 formed in the stapler moving table 306, and the sheet on the intermediate processing tray is transferred by a stapler moving motor M303 shown in FIG. It moves in the arrow Y direction along the rear edge.

  The stapler 132 is maintained in a posture inclined by a predetermined angle α with respect to the trailing edge of the sheet at the corner of the sheet S stacked on the intermediate processing tray 138. The inclination angle α is set to about 30 degrees, but can be changed by changing the shape of the guide rail groove 307. Further, the stapler moving base 306 is provided with a stapler home sensor S303 shown in FIG. 7 described later for detecting the home position of the stapler 132. Normally, the stapler 132 stands by at the home position on the front side of the apparatus.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 100B denotes an inserter provided on the upper portion of the finisher 100. The inserter 100B is for inserting a sheet (insert sheet) different from a normal sheet between the first page, the last page of a sheet bundle, or a sheet on which an image is formed in the copying machine main body 602.

  The inserter 100B conveys the insert sheet set on the insert trays 140 and 141 to any of the upper tray 136, the intermediate processing tray 138, and the saddle unit 135 without passing through the copying machine main body 602. In such an inserter 100B, when the insert sheet is inserted into the image forming sheet bundle, the insert sheet set on the insert trays 140 and 141 is fed by the pickup rollers 142 and 143.

  Then, the insert sheet is transported by transport rollers 144, 145, 147, and 148, and is merged on the upstream side of the transport roller 110 and the separation roller 111 of the finisher 100. Thereafter, the sheet is conveyed to any of the upper tray 136, the intermediate processing tray 138, and the saddle unit 135 in the same manner as the sheet discharged from the copying machine main body 602.

  FIG. 6 is a control block diagram of the monochrome / color copying machine 600. The CPU circuit unit 630 includes a CPU 629, a ROM 631 storing a control program, an area for temporarily holding control data, and an operation associated with the control. RAM 660 used as a work area. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 637 denotes an external interface between the monochrome / color copying machine 600 and an external PC (computer) 620. When the external interface 637 receives print data from the external PC 620, the external interface 637 develops the data into a bitmap image and outputs it as image data to the image signal control unit 634.

  The image signal control unit 634 outputs the data to the printer control unit 635, and the printer control unit 635 outputs the data from the image signal control unit 634 to an exposure control unit (not shown). Note that the image of the original read by the image sensor 650a (see FIG. 1) is output from the image reader control unit 633 to the image signal control unit 634, and the image signal control unit 634 outputs the image output to the printer control unit 635. Output.

  The operation unit 601 includes a plurality of keys for setting various functions relating to image formation, a display unit for displaying a setting state, and the like. Then, a key signal corresponding to the operation of each key by the user is output to the CPU circuit unit 630, and corresponding information is displayed on the display unit based on the signal from the CPU circuit unit 630.

  The CPU circuit unit 630 controls the image signal control unit 634 in accordance with the control program stored in the ROM 631 and the setting of the operation unit 601, and the document conveying device 651 (see FIG. 1) via the document feeding device control unit 632. To control. Further, the document reading unit 650 (see FIG. 1) via the image reader control unit 633, the image forming unit 603 (see FIG. 1) via the printer control unit 635, and the finisher 100 via the finisher control unit 636, respectively. Control.

  In the present embodiment, the finisher control unit 636 is mounted on the finisher 100 and performs drive control of the finisher 100 by exchanging information with the CPU circuit unit 630. Further, the finisher control unit 636 may be disposed integrally with the CPU circuit unit 630 on the copying machine main body side to control the finisher 100 directly from the copying machine main body side.

  FIG. 7 is a control block diagram of the finisher 100 according to the present embodiment. The finisher control unit 636 includes a CPU (microcomputer) 701, a RAM 702, a ROM 703, an input / output unit (I / O) 705, a communication interface 706, a network interface 704, and the like. Further, a conveyance control unit 707, an intermediate processing tray control unit 708 and a binding control unit 709 are connected to the input / output unit (I / O) 705. The conveyance control unit 707 controls sheet lateral registration detection processing, sheet buffering processing, and conveyance processing. The intermediate processing tray control unit 708 performs drive control of the front alignment plate motor M340, the back alignment plate motor M341, the paddle drive motor M155, the bundle discharge motor M130, the opening / closing motor M149, the belt moving motor M167, and the like.

  Further, a front alignment plate home sensor S340, a back alignment plate home sensor S341, an open / close home sensor S149, and a paddle drive home sensor S155 are connected to the intermediate processing tray control unit 708. Further, a return paddle home sensor S160, a belt movement home sensor S168, and the like are connected to the intermediate processing tray control unit 708. In the intermediate processing tray control unit 708, the home position detection sensor and the movement motor are controlled by a front alignment plate operation control, a pull-in paddle operation control, a belt roller movement operation control, and an opening / closing guide opening / closing control, which will be described later. Controlled by. The binding control unit 709 performs drive control of the clinch motor M132, the stapler moving motor M303, and the like, and the binding control unit 709 is connected to a needle presence sensor S7, a stapler home sensor S303, and the like.

  Next, the configuration of the staple unit 100A provided with the intermediate processing tray 138 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the intermediate processing tray 138 is arranged with the downstream side (left side in FIG. 4) inclined upward and the upstream side (right side in FIG. 4) inclined downward with respect to the sheet bundle discharge direction. A rear end stopper 150 is disposed at a lower end portion on the upstream side of the intermediate processing tray 138. The intermediate processing tray 138 may be horizontal.

  The intermediate portion of the intermediate processing tray 138 is provided with front and back alignment portions 340A and 341A as shown in FIG. 8, and the width direction for regulating (aligning) both end positions in the width direction of the sheet conveyed to the intermediate processing tray 138 A side end restricting portion that is a matching portion is provided. Here, the front and back alignment portions 340A and 341A are independent of the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341, which are alignment members having alignment portions 340a and 341a constituting the alignment surface, respectively. And rear alignment plate motors M340 and M341 are provided.

  When the positions of both side edges of the sheet are regulated, the front and back alignment plate motors M340 and M341 are driven frontward through timing belts B340 and B341 that constitute the moving means together with the front and back alignment plate motors M340 and M341. And to the rear alignment plates 340 and 341. As a result, the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 are brought into contact with the intermediate processing tray 138 independently in the width direction before coming into contact with and separated from the sheets, and the sheets stacked on the intermediate processing tray 138 are moved. The sheet is aligned by abutting on both side edges.

  That is, the front alignment plate 340 and the back alignment plate 341 are arranged on the intermediate processing tray 138 with the alignment portions (alignment surfaces) 340a and 341a facing each other, and assembled so as to be able to move forward and backward in the alignment direction. Yes. As a result, even when the sheet (or sheet bundle) is shifted and conveyed in the width direction, the position of the sheet on the intermediate processing tray 138 can be aligned by the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341.

  By the way, one alignment plate, for example, an alignment portion 340a constituting an alignment surface of the front alignment plate 340 is provided to be movable in the width direction. Further, a tension spring 345 is provided between the aligning portion 340a and the main body 340b of the front aligning plate 340, and the aligning portion 340a has a predetermined amount L by the tension spring 345 and the moving links 346 and 347. It protrudes to the side. As will be described later, when the side edge position of the sheet is regulated, when the aligning portion 340a is pressed against the sheet, the aligning portion 340a that is the press contact portion moves to the main body side against the tension spring 345.

  In FIG. 8, S340 and S341 are front and back alignment plate home sensors, and the front and back alignment plates home sensors S340 and S341 detect the home positions of the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341, respectively. . And by providing such front and back alignment plate home sensors S340 and S341, when not operating, the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 are respectively set to the home position positions set at both ends. Can wait.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a pull-in paddle 131 and an opening / closing guide 149 are arranged at an upper end portion that is downstream in the pull-in direction of the intermediate processing tray 138. Here, as shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of pull-in paddles 131 are disposed above the intermediate processing tray 138, and a plurality of pull-in paddles 131 are fixed along a drive shaft 157 rotated by a paddle drive motor M155. The paddle drive motor M155 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 4 at an appropriate timing.

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 100 </ b> C denotes a sheet rear end alignment unit that is a conveyance direction alignment unit that aligns the position of the sheet in the conveyance direction. As shown in FIG. 9, the sheet rear end aligning portion 100C includes a belt roller 158 (158a, 158b) that is a rotating body, a rear end lever 159, and a rear end that is a regulating member that comes into contact with the upstream end in the conveyance direction. A stopper 150 is provided. Then, the sheet conveyed onto the intermediate processing tray is guided by the trailing end lever 159 by the pull-in paddle 131 and the belt roller 158 counterclockwise as described above, and is conveyed to the trailing end stopper 150 on the upstream side in the conveying direction. The end is abutted. Thereby, the position in the sheet conveying direction is aligned.

  Here, the belt roller 158, which is an endless belt, is provided so as to be movable up and down (movable) above the intermediate processing tray 138 and, for example, a first discharge roller pair 128 shown in FIG. 1 is wound around the outer periphery of the discharge roller 128a. Further, the belt moving member 161 is clamped by a clamping roller A162 (162a, 162b) and a clamping roller B163 (163a, 163b) provided at the tip of the belt moving member 161. In the present embodiment, the elevating part for elevating and lowering the belt roller 158 includes the belt moving member 161 and the holding roller A162.

  Then, the first discharge roller 128a is driven by the rotation of the first discharge roller 128a in such a positional relationship that the lower portion thereof is in contact with the uppermost sheet stacked on the intermediate processing tray 138 in the form sandwiched by the sandwiching roller A162 and the sandwiching roller B163. And rotate counterclockwise. As a result, the sheet conveyed on the intermediate processing tray 138 is conveyed in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction and abuts against the trailing edge stopper 150.

  The belt roller 158 can elastically change its shape by moving the belt moving member 161 from the belt moving motor M167 via the rack gear 164 in the direction of the arrow, and can move up and down at a position in contact with the uppermost sheet. . The position of the belt moving member 161 is controlled by the belt moving home sensor S168 while detecting the edge of the belt moving member 161.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the open / close guide 149 is supported so as to be rotatable about a support shaft 154 and is disposed as an upper conveyance guide facing the intermediate processing tray 138. The opening / closing guide 149 rotatably holds an upper bundle discharge roller 130b constituting the bundle discharge roller pair 130 together with a lower bundle discharge roller 130a provided at the downstream end of the intermediate processing tray 138.

  The upper bundle discharge roller 130b moves relative to the lower bundle discharge roller 130a as the open / close guide 149 swings to hold the upper bundle discharge roller 130b so as to come into contact with and separate from the lower bundle discharge roller 130a. It comes to come and go. Normally, when the sheet is conveyed onto the intermediate processing tray 138, the opening / closing guide 149 swings upward, and accordingly, the upper bundle discharge roller 130b is a lower bundle that is the other roller of the bundle discharge roller pair 130. The opening state is separated from the discharge roller 130a.

  When the sheet processing on the intermediate processing tray 138 is completed, the open / close guide 149 swings downward so that the sheet bundle is sandwiched between the upper bundle discharge roller 130b and the lower bundle discharge roller 130a. Here, the bundle discharge roller pair 130 (for example, the lower bundle discharge roller 130a) is rotated forward and backward by a bundle discharge motor M130 (see FIG. 7). Thereafter, the bundle discharge roller pair 130 rotates while the sheet bundle is sandwiched between the upper bundle discharge roller 130b and the lower bundle discharge roller 130a as described above, whereby the sheet bundle is discharged to the lower stacking tray 137. The

  The opening / closing guide 149 swings upward when the sheet to be processed is conveyed to the intermediate processing tray 138. As a result, the sheet conveyed from the lower discharge roller pair 128 moves on the stacking surface of the intermediate processing tray 138 or the sheet stacked on the intermediate processing tray 138 by the inclination of the intermediate processing tray 138 and the action of the pull-in paddle 131. Downhill. The sheet thus slid down is then conveyed (transferred) while being guided by the rear end lever 159 by the counterclockwise rotation of the belt roller 158 as a sheet conveying means, and the rear end (upstream end in the conveying direction) is moved. It stops against the rear end stopper 150.

  Further, the opening / closing guide 149 is provided with a guide guide 151 that is positioned upstream of the upper bundle discharge roller 130b and guides the sheet to the roller nip portion of the upper bundle discharge roller 130b. Further, the opening / closing guide 149 has a first static elimination needle 152 in the axial direction for removing the surface charge of the sheet when the sheet is discharged from the lower discharge roller pair 128 into the intermediate processing tray 138 as shown in FIG. It is arranged across. Further, in the opening / closing guide 149, a second static elimination needle 153 that is located downstream of the upper bundle discharge roller 130b and that removes the surface charge of the sheet discharged by the bundle discharge roller pair 130 is disposed in the axial direction. ing.

  Next, the operation of the finisher 100 configured as described above in the unbound sort mode and the staple sort mode will be described.

  First, the operation in the unbound sort mode will be described. When a job in the unbound sort mode is selected, the sheet discharged from the copying machine main body 602 is conveyed by the shift unit 108 while shifting a predetermined amount from the discharge center toward the near side. Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the sheet S passes from the lower discharge roller pair 128 (128a, 128b) through the bundle discharge roller pair 130 (130a, 130b), and then the stacking tray 137. To discharge. Thereafter, the same operation is repeated for the designated number of sorted sheets, and the second copy is shifted from the lower discharge roller pair 128 in the same manner as the first copy while shifting a predetermined amount on the opposite side (back side) to the shift direction of the first copy. The sheet is discharged to the stacking tray 137 through the bundle discharge roller pair 130.

  In this embodiment, the sheet S is stacked on the stacking tray 137 in such a state that the shift amount of one time is set to 15 mm on one side from the sheet discharge center, and the sort offset amount between the bundles is set to 30 mm. When the mode without sorting is designated, a lateral registration correction operation is performed in which the shift unit 108 returns the sheet that has been conveyed by being skewed in the upstream portion to the discharge center position. Thereafter, the sheet is discharged to the stacking tray 137 as the first stacking tray through the bundle discharge roller pair 130 at the discharge center position. As described above, in an unbound job in which the binding process is not performed, the sheets S are discharged to the stacking tray 137 one by one.

  Next, the operation in the staple sort mode will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. When the job (Job) in the staple sort mode is started (S702), an initial operation is performed to determine whether the positions of the stapler 132, the belt roller 158, etc. are all at the home (position) (S703). When all the positions of the stapler 132, the belt roller 158, and the like are at the home (position) (Y in S703), printing is started in the copying machine main body 602 (S704). Thereafter, a sheet discharge process is performed (S705).

  The first sheet discharged from the copying machine main body 602 is conveyed while being shifted by a predetermined amount in the front direction in FIG. 2 by the shift unit 108, and conveyed to the bundle discharge roller pair 130 by the lower discharge roller pair 128. Is done. Next, as shown in FIG. 13A, the sheet S <b> 11 passes through the lower discharge roller pair 128 at the rear end thereof and is fed by a predetermined amount by the bundle discharge roller pair 130. At this time, the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 are made to stand by at a front offset alignment standby position shifted in front from the center of the intermediate processing tray 138 in advance. The alignment standby position at this time is a position further retracted by 10 mm on both sides with respect to the sheet discharge position (position shifted to the front from the center). Then, the front and rear alignment plates 340 and 341 are in a standby state at such an alignment standby position, and the sheet conveyance operation is awaited.

  Next, by rotating the bundle discharge roller pair 130 in the reverse direction, the sheet S11 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow in the drawing so that the rear end of the sheet S11 contacts the rear end stopper 150. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 13B, before the rear end of the sheet S11 hits the rear end stopper 150, the open / close guide 149 is raised and the bundle discharge roller pair 130 is separated. As a result, the sheet S11 can be abutted and aligned with the rear end stopper 150 in a non-clamping state, and the occurrence of buckling that tends to occur particularly with a thin sheet can be prevented. When the alignment of the trailing edge of the sheet S11, which is the leading edge of the sheet S11, is completed, the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 are moved from the retracted position to the alignment position to perform alignment in the width direction. .

  Next, the second sheet S12 of the first copy is conveyed from the lower discharge roller pair 128 to the intermediate processing tray 138. At this time, the open / close guide 149 is already in the raised position, and the upper discharge roller 130b and the lower discharge roller 130a are separated from each other. Further, the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 stand by at a front offset alignment standby position shifted in front from the center of the intermediate processing tray 138 in advance. Then, the sheet S12 is greeted in such a state.

  When the trailing edge of the sheet S12 passes through the nip of the lower discharge roller pair 128, the sheet S12 is conveyed onto the intermediate processing tray 138. When the conveyance to the intermediate processing tray is completed (Y in S706), as shown in FIG. 14A, a return process for rotating the pull-in paddle 131 counterclockwise is performed (S707). The rear end of S12 is conveyed toward the rear end stopper 150. Thereafter, the sheet S12 conveyed on the intermediate processing tray 138 is further drawn to the rear end stopper 150 by the belt roller 158 that has been lowered from the upper retracted position so far, and hits the rear end stopper 150, so that the sheet The conveyance direction is aligned (S708).

  Next, when the alignment of the trailing edge of the sheet S12 is completed, the width direction alignment processing is performed by the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 as in the first sheet (S709). In such a width direction alignment process, the belt roller 158 is moved to a retracted position moved in a direction away from the sheet by a predetermined amount (in this embodiment, the amount by which the belt moving motor M167 is driven by 8 pulses). . In the width direction alignment process, the belt roller 158 is moved to the retracted position, thereby preventing the alignment operation by the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 from being hindered by the conveyance resistance of the belt roller 158. be able to. As a result, it is possible to reliably correct the movement of the sheet to the predetermined alignment position in the width direction even with respect to the sheet state (curl and wave) on the intermediate processing tray 138 and the thin sheet having low rigidity.

  When the alignment operation in the width direction by the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 is completed, the belt roller 158 is moved again to a position where it is pressed against the sheet, and the next sheet S13 is awaited to be conveyed. During this waiting time, the “minor misalignment” in the conveyance direction that occurs during the alignment operation in the width direction by the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 is corrected by the belt roller 158.

  This series of alignment operations is repeated for each conveyed sheet until the final sheet S1n of the n-sheet bundle is in contact with the trailing edge stopper 150. Note that the stacked sheet height of the sheet bundle stacked on the intermediate processing tray 138 gradually increases in accordance with the number of sheets stacked. When the stacked sheet height is increased in this way, the pressure contact pressure between the sheet and the belt roller 158 increases, the conveyance resistance increases, and the conveyance to the trailing edge stopper side of the sheet becomes difficult. Therefore, the shape of the belt roller 158 is changed by controlling the movement amount of the belt moving member 161 at the lowermost contact position of the belt roller 158 according to the stacked sheet height. Thereby, the conveyance force by the belt roller 158 can be made substantially constant.

  FIG. 15 shows the number of pulses for changing the position of the belt roller 158 in accordance with the number of sheets conveyed to the intermediate processing tray 138, and the retracted position of the belt roller 158 at the time of width matching corresponding thereto. It is a figure which shows (height position). FIG. 16 is a timing chart of a series of alignment operations, and FIG. 16A shows a timing chart of the alignment operations before the final sheet is conveyed. FIG. 16B shows a timing chart of the alignment operation when the final sheet to be described is conveyed.

  On the other hand, when the final sheet S1n is conveyed to the intermediate processing tray, that is, when the sheet conveyed to the intermediate processing tray is the last page (Y in S710), final sheet alignment processing is performed (S711). In this case, after the alignment by the belt roller 158 is finished, as shown in FIG. 12, the alignment motor (not shown) is driven positively and the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 are moved in the direction in contact with the sheet, that is, in the width direction. (S750). Further, the belt moving motor M167 is driven to move the belt roller 158 in the retracting direction (S756). Then, when the belt moving motor M167 is driven for 8 pulses (pls) (Y in S757), that is, when the belt roller 158 moves in the retracting direction, it waits for the alignment motor to be driven for 100 pulses thereafter.

  When the alignment motor is driven for 100 pulses (Y in S751), that is, when the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 move to a position where the sheets are aligned, the alignment motor is stopped for 50 ms, and then the alignment motor is reversed. Drive (S752). As a result, the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 move from the position where the sheets are aligned in a direction away from the sheet (retraction direction). Thereafter, the alignment motor is driven for 20 pulses, and the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 are awaited to move to the retracted positions 2 mm apart. That is, in the present embodiment, after the first alignment operation in the width direction is performed on the final sheet S1n, the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 are moved to the retracted position 2 mm away from the sheet.

  Further, after performing the first alignment operation in the width direction, the belt moving motor M167 is driven to move the belt roller 158 in the pressing direction in which the belt roller 158 is pressed against the sheet (S758). When the belt moving motor M167 is driven for 8 pulses (pls) (Y in S759), that is, when the belt roller 158 is pressed against the sheet, the process waits for the alignment motor to be driven for 20 pulses.

  Then, the alignment motor is driven for 20 pulses (Y in S753), that is, when the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 move to the retracted position, the alignment motor is stopped for 50 ms, and then the alignment motor is positively driven (S754). . As a result, the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 move in the alignment direction for aligning the sheets so that the second alignment operation is performed on the sheets. Thereafter, the alignment motor is driven by 20 pulses, and the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 are awaited to move from the retracted position 2 mm away to the alignment position.

  Further, when the movement of the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 to the alignment position is started in this way, the belt drive motor is driven and the belt roller 158 is moved in the retracting direction as shown in FIG. S760). Here, in the present embodiment, the belt moving motor M167 is driven by two pulses during the second retraction operation of the belt roller 158. Thereby, the amount of movement of the belt roller 158 obliquely upward is made smaller than the amount of movement during the first movement (previous movement).

  Thereafter, when the belt moving motor M167 is driven for two pulses (Y in S761), that is, when the belt roller 158 is moved to the retracted position, it waits for the alignment motor to be driven for 20 pulses thereafter. When the alignment motor is driven for 20 pulses (Y in S755), that is, when the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 move to the alignment position, the belt roller movement motor is driven and the belt roller 158 moves in the press-contact direction. (S762). When the belt moving motor M167 is driven for two pulses (pls) (Y in S763), that is, when the belt roller 158 is pressed against the sheet, the final sheet alignment process is terminated.

  Next, when such final sheet alignment processing is completed, binding processing is performed by the stapler 132 as shown in FIG. 11 (S712). Here, in the case of one-point binding, the stapler 132 performs the binding process at the position A or D shown in FIG. In the case of two-point binding, the first position is bound at the B position, the stapler 132 moves to the C position along the slide support 303 and the guide rail groove 307, and the second position is bound.

  Next, when such a binding process is completed, as shown in FIG. 17B, the open / close guide 149 is lowered, the sheet bundle S1T is sandwiched by the bundle discharge roller pair 130, and discharged to the stacking tray 137. . When such a bundle discharge process is completed (S713), a stack tray discharge process for lowering the stack tray 137 is performed (S714). Next, it is determined whether the conveyed sheet is the final bundle (S715). If the conveyed sheet is not the final bundle (N in S715), the above-described S702 to S714 are repeated. If the conveyed sheet is the final bundle (Y in S715), the job (Job) is terminated.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, after the first alignment operation by the belt roller 158 with respect to the final sheet S1n, the first alignment operation in the width direction by the front and rear alignment plates 340 and 341 is performed. I do. Furthermore, when the first alignment operation in the width direction is completed only for the final sheet S1n, a predetermined amount (amount obtained by driving the belt moving motor M167 by two pulses (pls)) as shown in FIG. The belt roller 158 located at the retracted position away from the sheet is moved in the pressing direction. That is, as shown in FIG. 16B, the belt roller 158 is moved again to a position where it is pressed against the sheet. As a result, the “minor misalignment” in the transport direction that occurs during the first alignment operation in the width direction by the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 can be corrected by the belt roller 158.

  When the second alignment operation by the belt roller 158 is thus completed, the belt roller 158 is moved to the retracted position. Here, in this embodiment, the movement amount of the belt roller 158 to the retracted position after the second alignment operation is set smaller than the movement amount after the first (previous) alignment operation. . That is, the amount of movement to the retracted position after the second alignment operation is the amount that the belt moving motor M167 is driven by two pulses.

  Thereafter, the “minor misalignment” in the width direction, which is generated when the belt roller 158 is brought into pressure contact with the sheet again to perform alignment, is corrected by the front and rear alignment plates 340 and 341. Further, after that, the belt roller 158 that has been moved to the retracted position is moved again to the position where it comes into contact with the sheet, and the conveyance direction generated during the second widthwise alignment operation by the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 is performed. “Minor deviation” is corrected by the belt roller 158.

  Note that, at the moment when the belt roller 158 comes into contact with the sheet again, as shown in FIG. 16B, the front and back alignment plates 340 and 341 are at positions where alignment in the width direction is performed. That is, the sheet bundle is constrained simultaneously with respect to the two directions of conveyance by the belt roller 158. Thereby, even if the alignment operation by the belt roller 158 is performed, the deviation in the width direction is eliminated.

  By the way, as described above, when the second alignment operation in the width direction is completed and the belt roller 158 is moved again from the upper retracted position to the pressure contact position where the belt roller 158 is pressed against the sheet, the belt roller 158 moves away from the rear end stopper 150. Descent toward For this reason, an inertial force due to the movement is applied to the sheet, and the belt roller 158, which is an elastic body, moves further than a predetermined movement amount by the inertial force.

  Here, if the amount of movement when moving in the direction of contact with the sheet increases in this way, the amount of movement of the belt roller 158 in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction after contacting the sheet increases. The sheet may be shifted in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction. However, the inertial force of the belt roller 158 is reduced by reducing the amount of movement of the belt roller 158 in the direction away from the sheet during the second alignment operation as in the present embodiment. As a result, the amount of movement of the belt roller 158 after vibration or contact with the actual sheet can be reduced, and the deviation in the conveyance direction during the movement operation can be reduced. In addition, if the second speed is set slower than the moving speed (lowering speed) when the belt roller 158 contacts the sheet, the deviation in the conveying direction during the moving operation can be reduced.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the movement amount of the belt roller 158 that moves away from the sheet after the second alignment operation with respect to the last sheet, which is the last sheet, is set to the first time. The amount of movement after the alignment operation is reduced. Thereby, the movement amount after the belt roller 158 contacts the sheet can be reduced, and the productivity can be improved while improving the alignment accuracy. Note that the amount of movement of the belt roller 158 is proportional to the amount of movement of the sheet during alignment in the width direction. That is, the greater the amount of movement (correction) at the time of alignment in the width direction, that is, the greater the amount of movement of the sheet, the smaller the conveyance resistance of the belt roller 158 must be due to the influence of thin sheet buckling.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the alignment operation of the final sheet is performed twice. However, when there are many movements during alignment in the width direction of the sheet, the alignment accuracy can be further improved by performing the alignment three times. it can. In this case, the movement amount of the belt roller 158 at the time of width alignment is set such that the first movement amount> the second movement amount> the third movement amount.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the amount of movement (movement amount) of the belt roller 158 before the last alignment operation in the width direction among the alignment operations performed a plurality of times on the final sheet is greater than the previous increase amount. It is also less. As a result, reliable sheet alignment is possible regardless of the curl state, wave undulation state, and physical property value difference (rigidity, surface property, basis weight) of the sheet itself due to differences in the use environment of the apparatus. In addition, the time for the alignment process can be shortened, and the productivity can be improved. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the operation noise during the alignment process and the power consumption during the alignment process, thereby extending the replacement life of the belt roller 158 and the motor.

  In other words, the productivity is lowered by making the amount of rise of the belt roller 158 before the last width-direction alignment operation of the alignment operation performed a plurality of times on the final sheet smaller than the previous increase amount. Therefore, the sheets can be surely aligned. In addition, low cost and low noise can be realized.

  In the present embodiment, after the second width alignment operation is completed, the “minor misalignment” in the conveyance direction that occurs during the alignment operation in the width direction is corrected again by the belt roller 158. However, in order to improve productivity, after the second width alignment operation is completed, the staple clinching operation may be executed without performing correction by the belt roller 158.

  In the above description, the case where the belt roller 158 is used as a rotating body that conveys a sheet in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a return conveyance roller may be used as the rotating body.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention in which a return conveying roller is used as such a rotating body will be described. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the stapling unit 100A of the sheet processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 18, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 4 described above indicate the same or corresponding parts.

  In FIG. 18, reference numeral 174 denotes a return conveyance roller for aligning the sheet in the conveyance direction. This return conveyance roller 174 has its own weight on the surface of the intermediate processing tray 138 by an arm 173 engaged with the lower discharge roller pair 128. It is configured to ride. The arm 17 is sandwiched between a sandwiching roller A 172 and a sandwiching roller B 173 provided on the roller moving member 171.

  Then, by moving the roller moving member 171 from the position shown in FIG. 18A in the direction of the arrow, the return conveying roller 174 is integrated with the arm 17 as shown in FIG. It is possible to move in the direction away from the position and move to the retreat position. Here, even when the return conveyance roller 174 moves to the retracted position, the return conveyance roller 174 comes into contact with the sheet, and when lowered, the return conveyance roller 174 descends in contact with the sheet. Note that the sheet alignment method, operation control, and the like on the intermediate processing tray 138 can be performed in the same manner as the belt roller 158 of the first embodiment, and an equivalent effect can be produced.

  FIG. 19 shows another configuration of the present embodiment, and a paddle transport member 175 that is a protrusion composed of a plurality of blades is provided on the peripheral surface of the return transport roller 174. Then, by conveying the sheet by the paddle conveying member 175, the sheet alignment performance can be improved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Finisher, 100A ... Staple part, 100C ... Conveying direction alignment part, 128 ... Lower discharge roller pair, 131 ... Paddle, 138 ... Intermediate processing tray, 150 ... Rear end stopper, 158 ... Belt roller, 161 ... Belt moving member, 174 ... Return conveying roller, 175 ... Paddle conveying member, 340, 341 ... Front and back alignment plates, 600 ... Monochrome / color copier, 602 ... Monochrome / color copier body, 603 ... Image forming unit, 630 ... CPU circuit unit , 636 ... Finisher control unit, S ... Sheet, S1n ... Final sheet

Claims (7)

A stacking tray in which sheets to be processed are sequentially stacked, a sheet transporting unit that transports the sheet to the stacking tray, and a position in the transporting direction of the sheet in contact with an upstream end in the transporting direction of the sheet transported to the stacking tray A rotating member that is provided so as to be movable above the stacking tray, and that aligns the position of the sheet in the conveyance direction by transferring the sheet conveyed to the stacking tray and bringing it into contact with the restricting member And a conveying direction aligning unit having a moving unit for moving the rotating body, and a side end in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the sheet abutted on the regulating member, to align the position in the width direction of the sheet A width direction aligning portion having an aligning member, and a position in the sheet transport direction is regulated by the transport direction aligning portion with respect to the sheets transported to the stacking tray, and the rotating body by the moving portion After moving in a direction away from the direction and the sheet closer to the regulating member, the sheet processing apparatus for aligning the position in the width direction by the widthwise aligning section,
For the last sheet forming the sheet bundle to be processed, a first alignment operation by the conveyance direction alignment unit and the width direction alignment unit, and the conveyance direction alignment unit following the first alignment operation, A second alignment operation by the width direction alignment unit and a third alignment operation by the transport direction alignment unit following the second alignment operation are performed, and the rotating body is moved before the alignment operation by the width direction alignment unit. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second alignment operation is less than the first alignment operation in an amount of movement in a direction approaching the regulating member and a direction away from the sheet. Until the last sheet forming the sheet bundle to be processed is conveyed to the stacking tray, after the alignment operation by the conveyance direction alignment unit with respect to the sheet conveyed as the first alignment operation , the width direction The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an alignment operation is performed by an alignment unit, and the third alignment operation is performed on the last sheet after performing the first alignment operation a plurality of times. During the transport direction aligning unit of consistency in the second aligning operation, according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the moving in the direction of contact with the rotating body in the direction and the sheet away from the front Symbol regulating member Sheet processing equipment. The rotating member is a roller, the sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a plurality of projections on the peripheral surface of the roller. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the width direction alignment portion is in a position for aligning the width direction of the sheet when the conveyance direction alignment portion is aligned in the third alignment operation. The sheet processing apparatus according to the description. After aligning operation for the last sheet to form a sheet bundle to be the process has been performed, we claim 1 and further comprising a binding unit for processing binding the sheet bundle according to any one of the 5 Sheet processing device. An image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet, characterized by comprising a sheet processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 for processing a sheet formed image by the image forming section Image forming apparatus.

Images