JP5829032B2 - Image forming system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming system including a bookbinding apparatus that aligns sheets conveyed from an image forming apparatus in a bundle and binds them, and relates to a cleaning mechanism for a transport roller.

In recent years, various developments have been made on an image forming system having a bookbinding processing function, and sheets carried out from the image forming apparatus are stacked in a bundle form on the tray portion to align the sheets, and the back portions of the sheet bundle are bound together. It is widely known as a bookbinding device.

For example, in the bookbinding apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, a sheet output from an image forming apparatus is received from the sheet discharge port, guided to a sheet discharge path, and stacked on a tray provided on the downstream side of the sheet discharge path. In this state, it is stored as a sheet bundle. The sheet bundle in a horizontal posture accumulated on the tray is turned 90 degrees and guided to a gluing device in a vertical posture to perform a gluing process. An apparatus is disclosed that performs bookbinding processing by folding and binding a glued sheet bundle together with a cover sheet supplied from an inserter provided in a paper discharge path.

In addition, in an image forming system, there is also widely known an apparatus provided with a mechanism for cleaning a conveyance roller for carrying out a sheet on which an image is formed on one side or both sides.

For example, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a conveyance roller that conveys a sheet on which at least one side is printed, and a cleaning member provided near the conveyance roller is pressed against the conveyance roller. In addition, there is disclosed an apparatus that can perform cleaning by rotating a cleaning member while pressing it against the conveyance roller at an appropriate timing other than during printing when contamination of the conveyance roller is detected.

JP 2004-209869 A JP 2009-51618 A

By the way, even in an image forming system having a bookbinding function, contamination of a conveyance roller that conveys a sheet printed on both sides is a problem. Even if this image forming system is provided with a cleaning member so that the conveying roller can be cleaned, the problem of contamination can be solved. However, the apparatus itself becomes complicated and maintenance of the cleaning member is required, which greatly improves the convenience of the user. There is a problem of lowering.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system that can clean a conveyance roller with a simple configuration, and can produce a booklet that does not impair the quality of an appearance without deteriorating user convenience.

The invention according to claim 1 is an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet;
A sheet conveying unit configured to convey at least one pair of rollers and convey the sheet on which an image is formed;
A cut portion for cutting unnecessary portions of the paper;
A control unit that controls the sheet conveying unit to clean the roller pair using the unnecessary portion during the conveyance of the sheet by the sheet conveying unit ;
The paper transport unit includes at least a cleaning roller pair to be cleaned and a reference roller pair capable of fixing the paper with a nip force higher than the nip force of the cleaning roller pair when cleaning,
The control unit conveys an unnecessary portion of the sheet to a position where the unnecessary portion of the sheet is nipped by the cleaning target roller pair, fixes the reference roller pair while the sheet is nipped, and removes the cleaning target roller pair from the reference roller pair. In the image forming system, the sheet conveying unit is controlled so as to be rotationally driven in the direction of separation.

The invention of claim 2, in the image forming system according to claim 1,
The cleaning target roller pair is an uppermost roller pair in the sheet conveying direction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to any one of the first to second aspects,
The paper is roughly divided into a cover paper as a cover and a body paper as a paper bundle.
An alignment unit that sequentially stacks and aligns the body sheets conveyed by the sheet conveyance unit to form a sheet bundle;
The cutting unit cuts a cover sheet serving as a cover of the sheets,
The cover sheet cut by the cut section, and a molding section that binds and binds the sheet bundle,
The controller is
An unnecessary part length of the cover sheet is determined from the length of the cover sheet and the body sheet in the sheet conveyance direction and the thickness of the sheet bundle, and the cover sheet is cleaned based on the unnecessary part length. In the image forming system, the sheet conveying unit is controlled to be conveyed to a position nipped by a target roller pair.

According to the first image forming system of the present invention, the paper is nipped by the reference roller pair in the paper conveyance path constituted by a plurality of roller pairs, and the cleaning roller pair is rotated away from the reference roller pair. By controlling to drive, there is no need for a special configuration such as addition of a cleaning roller, and the contamination of the roller pair of the paper transport unit can be cleaned with a simple configuration.

According to the second image forming system of the present invention, it is possible to clean the uppermost roller pair in the paper conveyance direction closest to the image forming unit in the conveyance direction. It can be reliably cleaned.

According to the third image forming system of the present invention, the length of the cover sheet and the body sheet in the sheet conveyance direction
Since the length of the unnecessary part of the cover paper is determined from the thickness of the paper bundle and the cleaning operation is executed, the unnecessary part of the cover paper is cut regardless of whether or not normal cleaning is performed during the bookbinding process. Therefore, there is no need to provide a separate cutting portion, and the normally cut portion is discarded, so there is no need for confirmation to the user, and there is no deterioration in the convenience for the user. Can be cleaned.

Schematic overall configuration diagram of an image forming system in the present embodiment Detailed configuration diagram of a sheet conveying unit, a cutting unit, and a conveyance switching mechanism of the image forming system in the present embodiment Control block configuration diagram of image forming system in this embodiment Control flow diagram of image forming system in this embodiment Operational diagram of bookbinding apparatus of image forming system in this embodiment Control flow chart related to cleaning operation of image forming system in this embodiment Operational diagram related to cleaning operation of image forming system in this embodiment

Hereinafter, an image forming system 100 including a bookbinding apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic overall configuration diagram of an image forming system 100.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention performs printing on a cover sheet 410 and a body sheet 420, and performs bookbinding processing on the printed cover sheet 410 and body sheet 420. Thus, a booklet (bookbinding product) 440 is produced. In other words, the image forming system 100 includes the image forming apparatus 200 that performs printing on the cover sheet 410 and the body sheet 420, and the printed cover sheet 410 that is provided at a position downstream of the image forming apparatus 200 in the sheet conveyance direction and has been printed. And a bookbinding apparatus 300 that performs a bookbinding process on the text sheet 420.

  The image forming apparatus 200 in the image forming system 100 is provided with an inkjet image forming unit 230. The image forming unit 230 is provided on the cover sheet 410 and the body sheet 420 based on the cover image data and the body image data. Printing is performed. Further, the image forming unit 230 includes a plurality of line-type ink heads that eject ink of each color of black K, cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y.

  A first paper feed unit 210 in which cover sheets 410 are stacked and accommodated and a second paper feed unit 220 in which text sheets 420 are accommodated are provided upstream of the image forming unit 230 in the paper conveyance direction. The second paper feed unit 220 is provided with a first paper feed tray 220A, a second paper feed tray 220B, and a third paper feed tray 220C, and accommodates text paper 420 of various paper types and paper sizes. Is possible. From the first sheet feeding unit 210 and the second sheet feeding unit 220, it is possible to sequentially feed and convey the images one by one to the image forming unit 230 with a sheet feeding roller (not shown) at a predetermined timing. Note that it is not always necessary to store the cover sheet 410 in the first sheet feeding unit 210 and the body sheet 420 in the second sheet feeding unit 220, and there is no problem even if it is accommodated in any sheet feeding unit.

A circulation conveyance path 250 is provided downstream of the image forming unit 230 in the sheet conveyance direction, and the printed sheet is discharged through the circulation conveyance path 250 to a discharge unit 280 provided further downstream. Note that the paper discharged to the paper discharge unit 280 is used only when bookbinding processing described later is not performed. Further, the flapper for path switching, not shown in the circulation path 250 is provided, and a path for conveying the sheet discharge unit 2 8 0, has become capable of switching a path for transporting the inversion unit 240. The sheet conveyed to the reversing unit 240 is reversed, and is conveyed to the image forming unit 230 again by switching back. As a result, double-sided printing can be performed on the cover sheet 410 and the body sheet 420.

  The cover sheet 410 and the text sheet 420 printed on one side or both sides are conveyed to a bookbinding apparatus 300 described later via a communication conveyance unit 260 provided downstream of the image forming unit 230 in the sheet conveyance direction. Note that a flapper for route switching is provided in the communication conveyance path 260 and the circulation conveyance path 250, and a route is appropriately selected.

  An input panel 270 is provided on the upper surface of the image forming unit. The input panel 270 is provided with a start button for instructing execution of booklet creation, a cleaning mode selection for selecting ON / OFF of a cleaning operation, a touch panel for performing various settings such as selection of a paper size, and the like. When a booklet is formed using image data read from a scanner or the like, various settings can be made from this input panel 270. However, usually, job data is received from a personal computer connected via a communication interface, A user setting is received by an operation signal included in the job data. (Not shown)

The bookbinding apparatus 300 in the image forming system 100 is provided with a sheet transport unit 310 that transports the printed cover sheet 410 and the body sheet 420 sent from the communication transport path 260 on the image forming apparatus 200 side. A cutting unit 330 for cutting the cover sheet 410 into an appropriate size is provided at a position adjacent to the sheet conveying unit 310. The cover sheet 410 is conveyed to the cutting unit 330 by a conveyance switching mechanism 338 described later. Executes the cutting operation. The cover sheet 410 and the text sheet 420 are conveyed to the forming unit 380 and the text aligning unit 350 via the sheet conveying unit 310, respectively. The paper transport unit 310 is provided with a mechanism for switching the transport path to the forming unit 380 and the text matching unit 350. (Not shown)

The text alignment unit 350 is provided with an alignment tray 352 for sequentially stacking the conveyed text sheets 420. This alignment tray 352 is provided with an alignment abutment fence 354 that positions the text sheet 420 in the sheet conveyance direction and an alignment side fence 356 that aligns the position of the text sheet 420 in the width direction. When transported and stored, the text sheet 420 is aligned by the alignment operation of the alignment side fence 356 and stored as a sheet bundle 430. At this time, the sheet bundle thickness detection sensor 358 provided in the text matching unit 350 measures the thickness of the sheet bundle 430 while being held as a bundle. The alignment tray 352 of the text alignment unit 350 is rotatably provided by a rotation mechanism (not shown) between an alignment position where the text sheet 420 is conveyed and accommodated and a delivery position where the paper bundle 430 is transferred to the clamp unit 370. ing.

  The clamp unit 370 is provided with a mechanism for clamping the sheet bundle 430 in a state where the text aligning unit 350 is rotated to the delivery position, and a delivery position for receiving the sheet bundle 430 from the text aligning unit 350 by a moving mechanism (not shown). And slidable between the binding positions delivered to the molding unit 380. Further, a back glue portion 360 is provided in the vicinity of the clamp portion 370 positioned at the delivery position. The back glue portion 360 is provided with a glue accommodating portion 364 that accommodates the hot melt adhesive and an application roller 362 for applying the hot melt adhesive to the sheet bundle 430.

  The forming unit 380 is provided with a cover sheet mounting table 384 for positioning and mounting the cover sheet 410 conveyed from the sheet conveying unit 310 at a predetermined position. Further, a case binding unit 382 for forming the sheet bundle 430 conveyed to the binding position by the clamp unit 370 and the cover sheet 410 placed on the cover table 384 is provided.

  In the booklet discharge unit 390, a booklet 440 bound and formed by the forming unit 380 is conveyed from the forming unit 380 and can be accommodated in plural. In the present embodiment, the conveyance from the forming unit 380 uses the free fall of the booklet 440.

  FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the sheet conveyance unit 310, the cut unit 330, and the conveyance switching mechanism 338 of the image forming system 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of rollers is arranged in the sheet conveyance unit 310 in order of the first conveyance roller 312, the second conveyance roller 314, the conveyance reference roller 316, and the conveyance reference auxiliary roller 322 in order from the upstream in the sheet conveyance direction. Yes. The conveyance reference roller 316 is provided with a conveyance reference encoder 318 for controlling the conveyance amount of the cover sheet 410, and the length of the cover sheet 410 in the sheet conveyance direction is between the conveyance reference roller 316 and the conveyance reference auxiliary roller 322. A cover sheet size sensor 320 for detecting the height is provided.

A conveyance switching mechanism 338 is provided between the first conveyance roller 312 and the second conveyance roller 314, and a normal conveyance path 338 A that allows conveyance between the first conveyance roller 312 and the second conveyance roller 314, It is possible to switch between the two paths of the cutting transport path 338B that can be transported between the two transport rollers 314 and the cutting unit 330 by rotating about the switching fulcrum 338C using a driving mechanism (not shown). ing.

  The cutting unit 330 is provided with a cutting auxiliary roller 336, a cutter 334, and a waste bin 332 from a position close to the transport path switching mechanism 338. The cutter 334 is a shuttle cutter, and can perform cutting when the blade reciprocates in the width direction of the cover sheet 410. The cut auxiliary roller 336 has a function of holding the cover sheet 410 when the cover sheet 410 is cut by the cutter 334. The waste bin 332 can accommodate a cover paper unnecessary portion 410B which is unnecessary when cut. Moreover, it is installed so that a user can discard the cover paper unnecessary part 410B accommodated in the waste bin 332 outside the apparatus.

  FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the image forming system 100 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming system 100 is provided with a control unit 290, a cut length calculation unit 292 that calculates the cut length of the cover sheet 410, and a storage unit 294 that stores the sheet size and the like. It has been. The control unit 290 controls each unit of the bookbinding apparatus 300 and the image forming apparatus 200 based on input information from the input panel 270, the conveyance reference encoder 318, the cover sheet size sensor 320, and the sheet bundle thickness detection sensor 358. .

  Next, the operation of the image forming system 100 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. 4 is a control flow diagram of the image forming system 100 in the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an operation diagram of the bookbinding apparatus 200 of the image forming system 100 in the present embodiment.

  First, when a start button (not shown) for creating a booklet (not shown) is pressed on the input panel 270, a text printing operation is executed. One of the text sheets 420 stored in the first paper feed tray 220A is printed one by one, and an image is formed by the image forming unit 230 based on the text image data. As shown in FIG. 5A, the text sheet 420 on which the image has been formed passes through the communication transport path 260 and the paper transport section 310 and is transported to the text alignment section 350. (S10)

  In the text alignment unit 350, the text sheets 420 are sequentially stacked on the alignment tray 352, and after all the text sheets 420 are stacked as shown in FIG. Align paper in the width direction. (S20) Next, the aligned text sheets 420 are collected as a sheet bundle 430, and the sheet bundle thickness detection sensor 358 detects the sheet bundle thickness. (S30)

  When the printing of the body paper 420 is completed, the cover paper 410 is then printed. Only one cover sheet 410 is picked up and fed from the first sheet feeding unit 210, an image is formed in the same manner as the body sheet 420, and conveyed to the sheet conveying unit 310. (S40)

  A cut length calculation process (S50), a cleaning process (S70), and a cover cut process (S80), which will be described later, are performed. As shown in FIG. 5C, the cover sheet 410 is converted into a cut cover sheet 410A to the forming unit 380. Be transported. The cleaning flag is normally turned on when the predetermined number of printed sheets is reached, and turned off when the cleaning process is executed (S75). Only when the cleaning flag is ON (S60 Yes), the cleaning process is executed. When the cleaning flag is OFF (S60 No), the cover cutting process (S80) is executed without performing the cleaning process.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5D, the alignment tray 352 of the text alignment unit 350 moves from the alignment position to the delivery position with the sheet bundle 439 being stacked, and the sheet bundle 430 is delivered to the clamp unit 370. It is. The clamp unit 370 moves from the delivery position to the binding position while the sheet bundle 430 is clamped. During this movement, the application roller 374 of the back glue portion 370 and the sheet bundle 430 come into contact with each other, and the hot melt adhesive is applied to the bundle portion of the sheet bundle. (S90)

  As shown in FIG. 5E, when the clamp unit 370 moves to the binding position, the sheet bundle 430 to which the hot melt adhesive is applied and the cut cover sheet 410A are combined and bound by the binding unit 382. A booklet 440 is completed. The completed booklet 440 falls freely from the binding portion 382 and is discharged to the booklet discharge portion 390 as shown in FIG. (S100)

  Then, it is determined whether or not the desired number of books has been reached, and if not, the above operation is repeated. (S110) In this flow, the cleaning process is performed for each predetermined number of printed sheets. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cleaning process is performed by predicting the contamination of the roller pair from the image rate and the number of printed image data. The timing to perform may be determined, or the user can appropriately select ON / OFF of the cleaning flag on the input panel 270.

  Next, the cleaning operation of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a control flow diagram related to the cleaning operation of the image forming system in the present embodiment, and FIG. 7 is an operation diagram related to the cleaning operation of the image forming system in the present embodiment.

  First, the cut length calculation process will be described. As shown in FIG. 7A, when the cover sheet 410 is conveyed to the sheet conveying unit 310, each roller pair is driven to rotate forward to convey the cover sheet 410 downstream in the sheet conveying direction. (S210, transport in direction A) When the front end of the cover sheet 410 is detected by the cover sheet size sensor 320, the transport reference encoder 318 measures the number of pulses. As shown in FIG. 7B, when the rear end of the cover sheet 410 is detected by the cover sheet size sensor 320 (S220), the driving of each roller is stopped (S230), and the cover sheet is moved according to the transport amount of the cover sheet 410. Calculate the paper length. (S240)

Here, the cut length calculation unit 292 calculates the cut length from the cover sheet length, the body sheet length, and the sheet bundle thickness. (S250) Specifically, the cover sheet length, minus the body paper length × 2 and sheet bundle thickness, the cut length. Note that the text sheet 420 is normally stored in the storage unit 294 because it is a regular sheet, but may be calculated by a method of calculating the length of the cover sheet 410 or the cover sheet 410 may be calculated in advance. The measured length may be input by the user and stored in the storage unit 294.

  Next, the cleaning process will be described. Assuming that the cleaning target roller pair to be cleaned is the first transport roller 312, each roller pair is reversely driven (transported in the B direction) as shown in FIG. 7C, and the rear end of the cover sheet 410 is the first transport roller. The sheet is conveyed to a cleaning position nipped by 312. (310)

  Here, as shown in FIG. 7D, the driving of each pair of rollers is temporarily stopped, and only the first conveying roller 312 is reversely driven for a predetermined time. At this time, the conveyance reference roller 316 nips with a nip pressure higher than the driving force of the first roller 312 and holds the cover sheet 410, so the first conveyance roller 312 slips with respect to the cover sheet 410 and the first conveyance The dirt adhering to the roller 312 is wiped off to the cover sheet 410. (S320)

  When the cleaning operation is completed, each roller is driven to rotate forward again and transports the cover sheet 410 to the switching standby position shown in FIG. (S330) This position is a position where the rear end of the cover sheet 410 has passed through the transport path switching mechanism 338.

  Next, the cutting process will be described. As shown in FIG. 7 (F), the conveyance path switching mechanism 338 is rotated around the switching fulcrum 338C by a driving mechanism (not shown), and the cutting conveyance path 338B connects the second conveyance roller 314 and the cut auxiliary roller 336. Set to be in position. (S410)

  Here, as shown in FIG. 7G, each roller is driven in reverse (conveyed in the B direction) to convey the cover sheet 410 to the cut position. (S420) This cut position is determined by the cut length calculated by the cut length calculating means. When the sheet is conveyed to the cutting position, the driving of each roller is stopped, and the cover sheet 410 is cut by the cutter 334. (S430) As shown in FIG. 7H, the cover paper unnecessary portion 410B that is cut and discarded is dropped into the waste bin 332 and accommodated. The cut cover sheet 410A is conveyed to the forming unit 380 when each roller is driven to rotate forward. (S440)

  In this way, the cover sheet unnecessary portion 410B to be discarded is nipped and slipped by the cleaning target roller, so that the stain on the cleaning target roller is wiped off by the cover sheet unnecessary portion 410B.

  As described above, according to the image forming system 100 according to the present embodiment, the cleaning operation is performed on the roller pair of the paper transport unit using the portion of the cover paper that is scheduled to be discarded. Therefore, it is possible to clean the roller pair of the sheet conveying unit without deteriorating the appearance quality of the sheet, without preparing a separate cleaning sheet, and without reducing user convenience.

In the present embodiment, only the first transport roller 312 in the uppermost stream of the sheet transport unit 310 is targeted as a cleaning target roller. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, after the first transport roller 312 is cleaned, the second transport roller 312 is cleaned. A cleaning operation may also be performed on the transport roller 314. At that time, in a position slightly shifted from the position of the cover sheet 410 is cleaned with the first conveying roller 3 12, by performing the cleaning operation is nipped a second conveying roller 314, dirt wiped from the first transport roller 312 There is no fear of transfer to the second transport roller 314.

In this embodiment, the nip force of the conveyance reference roller 316 is used as a means for fixing the cover paper 410 during the cleaning operation. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the means can hold the cover paper 410 with a nip force stronger than the cleaning target roller. If it is good. In addition, it is not necessary to be a pair of rollers, and a clamping unit that only clamps without carrying and driving may be provided.
that's all

  In the present embodiment, the image forming system 100 including the bookbinding apparatus 300 has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, when only an A3 size paper is available when it is desired to obtain an A4 size printed material by the image forming apparatus alone, the remaining A4 size to be cut in the image forming system that cuts the A3 size paper and obtains the A4 size printed material. The portion may become an unnecessary portion, and cleaning may be performed using this unnecessary portion.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image forming system 200 Image forming apparatus 210 1st paper feed part 220 2nd paper feed part 230 Image formation part 240 Inversion part 250 Circulation conveyance part 260 Contact conveyance part 270 Input panel 280 Paper discharge part 290 Control part 300 Bookbinding apparatus 310 Paper Conveying section 318 Conveyance switching mechanism 330 Cut section 350 Text matching section 358 Paper bundle thickness detection sensor 360 Back glue section 370 Clamp section 380 Forming section 390 Paper discharge section

Claims (3)

An image forming unit for forming an image on paper;
A sheet conveying unit configured to convey at least one pair of rollers and convey the sheet on which an image is formed;
A cut portion for cutting unnecessary portions of the paper;
A control unit that controls the sheet conveying unit to clean the roller pair using the unnecessary portion during the conveyance of the sheet by the sheet conveying unit ;
The paper transport unit includes at least a cleaning roller pair to be cleaned and a reference roller pair capable of fixing the paper with a nip force higher than the nip force of the cleaning roller pair when cleaning,
The control unit conveys an unnecessary portion of the sheet to a position where the unnecessary portion of the sheet is nipped by the cleaning target roller pair, fixes the reference roller pair while the sheet is nipped, and removes the cleaning target roller pair from the reference roller pair. An image forming system, wherein the sheet conveying unit is controlled to be driven to rotate in a direction away from the image forming unit. The image forming system according to claim 1 .
2. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning target roller pair is a most upstream roller pair in a sheet conveying direction. In claim 1 or 2 imaging system according to one of,
The paper is roughly divided into a cover paper as a cover and a body paper as a paper bundle.
An alignment unit that sequentially stacks and aligns the body sheets conveyed by the sheet conveyance unit to form a sheet bundle;
The cutting unit cuts a cover sheet serving as a cover of the sheets,
The cover sheet cut by the cut section, and a molding section that binds and binds the sheet bundle,
The controller is
An unnecessary part length of the cover sheet is determined from the length of the cover sheet and the body sheet in the sheet conveyance direction and the thickness of the sheet bundle, and the cover sheet is cleaned based on the unnecessary part length. An image forming system, wherein the sheet conveying unit is controlled to convey to a position nipped by a target roller pair.