JP5963043B2 - Paper processing apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that stacks a plurality of sheets such as paper and an OHP sheet and performs a binding process and the like, and an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, and a facsimile including the sheet processing apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus that includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet and a sheet processing apparatus that performs a binding process on the sheet on which the image is formed is known. In the paper processing apparatus, the paper is discharged so as to be stacked on a paper stacking surface of a staple tray which is a paper tray. Each time the paper is discharged, the rear end of the paper in the paper transport direction (hereinafter referred to as the paper rear end) is abutted against the rear end reference fence, which is a rear end alignment member, by the transport member that contacts the upper surface of the paper. Thus, alignment in the paper transport direction is performed. By repeating such an alignment operation for each sheet discharge, a sheet bundle composed of a plurality of sheets aligned in the sheet conveyance direction is formed. A binding process is performed on the bundle of sheets by a needle being driven into a predetermined position by a stapler which is a binding processing unit provided so as to be movable in the sheet width direction.

  Usually, on the staple tray, the center of the sheet stacking direction (hereinafter referred to as the center) of the sheet stacking surface is used as a reference, and the sheets are stacked so that the center of the sheet matches the reference and alignment processing is performed. In addition, a plurality of paddles and rollers as conveying members that convey the sheet so as to abut against the rear end reference fence are installed so as to be symmetrical with respect to the center of the sheet stacking surface. In this configuration, a plurality of conveying members are brought into contact with a portion that is symmetrical with respect to the center of the upper surface of the sheet and rotated to convey the sheet so as to abut against the rear end reference fence. For this reason, a skew correction effect can be obtained equally to the left and right with respect to the center of the sheet when abutting against the rear end reference fence, and good alignment is performed.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 has a configuration in which a plurality of paddles are provided as conveying members for conveying a sheet, and the plurality of paddles can be moved in the sheet width direction symmetrically with respect to the center of the sheet stacking surface based on the center of the sheet stacking surface. The paper processing apparatus is described.

  However, when some paper sizes are used, due to machine width restrictions, etc., a position other than the center of the paper stacking surface is used as a reference, and the paper is discharged so that the paper center matches this reference. May be done. In such a case, in the configuration in which the plurality of conveyance members that convey the paper so as to abut against the rear end reference fence are provided at positions that are symmetrical with respect to the center of the paper stacking surface, the plurality of conveyance members are They are not arranged symmetrically with respect to the center in the width direction. Since the plurality of transport members rotate in contact with the paper in an asymmetric state, the force for transporting the paper is not applied symmetrically with respect to the center of the paper. For this reason, when it is abutted against the rear end reference fence, it is difficult to exert the skew correction effect equally to the left and right with respect to the center of the sheet, and there is a possibility that alignment failure occurs.

  The apparatus of Patent Document 1 is configured such that the positions of a plurality of conveying members can be moved in the sheet width direction according to the sheet size, but the plurality of conveying members are symmetrical with respect to the center of the sheet stacking surface. It is the structure to move. For this reason, when performing alignment processing by stacking the paper so that the center of the paper coincides with a position other than the center on the paper stacking surface, the skew is equally skewed with respect to the paper center for the same reason as described above. The correction effect is difficult to be exhibited, and there is a possibility that misalignment may occur.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object thereof is good regardless of the stacking position of sheets in a sheet processing apparatus that processes a bundle of sheets that have been stacked and subjected to alignment processing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus that can perform an appropriate alignment process.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a paper tray on which a plurality of sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking surface, and a sheet is discharged onto the sheet stacking surface and is discharged and stacked. A paper discharge unit capable of changing the center position in the width direction of the paper on the paper stacking surface, and a rear end aligning member that abuts the rear end in the paper transport direction of the paper stacked on the paper tray and aligns the rear end in the paper transport direction And a butting conveying means for conveying the sheets stacked on the sheet tray so as to abut against the trailing edge aligning member, and processing a sheet bundle composed of a plurality of sheets aligned at the trailing edge in the sheet conveying direction. A sheet processing apparatus comprising: a sheet bundle processing unit;
As the abutting conveying means, a plurality of conveying members capable of contacting the upper surface of the sheet bundle, a conveying member moving means for moving the plurality of conveying members in the sheet width direction, and a conveyance for controlling the conveying member moving means Member movement control means, and the conveyance member movement control means obtains width direction center position information of the paper stacked on the paper stacking surface by the paper discharge means, and the width between the plurality of conveyance members. Control the movement of the conveying member in the paper width direction by the conveying member moving means so that the direction midpoint coincides with the center position in the width direction of the acquired paper ,
The sheet bundle processing means can be moved in the sheet width direction by a moving means, and a support member that supports a plurality of conveying members of the abutting conveying means is connected to the sheet bundle processing means. .

  In the present invention, the conveyance member movement control means acquires the width direction center position information of the paper stacked on the paper stacking surface by the paper discharge means, and a plurality of paper width direction center positions on the acquired paper stacking surface are obtained. The conveying member is moved in the paper width direction so that the intermediate points in the width direction between the conveying members coincide with each other. Thus, even when the center position in the width direction of the sheet is changed and stacked on the sheet stacking surface, a plurality of conveying members are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center in the width direction of the sheet regardless of the stacking position. Can do. In this manner, the abutting and conveying means of the present invention can convey the paper so that the paper abuts against the trailing edge aligning member by bringing the plurality of conveying members into contact with the upper surface of the paper at positions symmetrical with respect to the paper width direction. it can. Therefore, the force to convey the paper is applied symmetrically with respect to the center of the paper, and the skew correction effect at the time of abutment is exerted equally on the left and right, so that a good alignment process is performed.

  According to the present invention, in a sheet processing apparatus that performs processing on a stack of sheets that have been subjected to alignment processing by stacking sheets, an excellent effect that favorable alignment processing can be performed regardless of the stacking position of the sheets. is there.

The figure which shows an example of the flow of the matching process of the post-processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. The schematic block diagram of the post-processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of a staple tray according to the present embodiment, where FIG. 5A shows a conveyance direction alignment process, and FIG. 5B shows a home position. It is an enlarged top view which shows the structure of the return roller and stapler which concern on this embodiment, (a) is the time of a conveyance direction alignment process, (b) shows the time of a home position.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described.
An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer according to the present embodiment, which forms an image on a sheet by an image forming unit and performs post-processing on a sheet on which an image discharged from the image forming unit is formed The configuration includes a sheet processing apparatus 100.

  As an image forming unit of the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, although not particularly illustrated, a known electrophotographic image forming unit including an image processing circuit, a photoreceptor, an optical writing device, a developing device, a transfer device, and a fixing device. It is. The image processing circuit converts image data read by a scanner unit when the image forming unit is a copying machine or image data input from an external device such as a personal computer into printable image data, and converts the converted image data Output to the optical writing device. The optical writing device performs optical writing on the photoconductor based on the image signal output from the image processing circuit to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor. The developing device develops toner on the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor by optical writing. The transfer device transfers the toner image on the surface of the photoreceptor visualized by the developing device onto the paper P. The fixing device fixes the toner image transferred onto the paper P onto the paper P.

  The paper P on which the toner image has been fixed in the image forming unit is sent to the post-processing device 100, and the post-processing device 100 performs desired post-processing. The image forming unit of the present embodiment is of an electrophotographic type as described above, but any known image forming unit such as an ink jet method or a thermal transfer method can be combined with the post-processing apparatus 100 as an image forming unit.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the post-processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. The post-processing device 100 is attached to a side portion of an image forming unit (not shown), and the paper P discharged from the image forming unit is guided to the post-processing device 100.

  In the post-processing apparatus of this embodiment, the paper alignment process and the edge binding process can be performed on the paper P. This process is performed by controlling the operation of each device or member in the post-processing apparatus 100 by a control unit (not shown) provided in the post-processing apparatus 100 and having a CPU, a memory, and the like.

  The post-processing apparatus 100 has an introduction path 1 for receiving the image-formed paper P discharged from the image forming unit and a conveyance path 2 for intermediately stacking the paper P. An inlet roller 10 and an inlet sensor 13 are arranged in the introduction path 1 to detect that the paper P is carried into the post-processing apparatus 100. A paper discharge roller 12 is disposed downstream of the entrance roller 10, and the paper P is transported to the transport path 2 through this. A discharge roller 26 and a paper discharge sensor 8 are disposed in the conveyance path 2.

  In the sort mode, the paper discharge roller 12 having a shift mechanism is moved by a fixed amount in the paper width direction during conveyance by a driving unit (not shown), so that the paper P is shifted, and the discharge roller 26 discharges the paper having the extension tray 6. The paper is discharged to the tray 5 and sequentially stacked. The discharge port to the discharge tray 5 has a pair structure in which a sheet or a sheet bundle is sandwiched and discharged by the discharge roller 26 and the driven roller 27. This is a contact / separation operation of the discharge guide provided with the driven roller 27 with respect to the discharge roller 26, so that a closed state in which a sheet or a bundle of sheets can be held and discharged can be selectively taken. Then, after the shifting operation of the paper P is completed, the paper P is nipped and discharged.

  A sheet pressing filler 40 is provided in the vicinity of the upper portion of the sheet discharge outlet. The sheet pressing filler 40 is freely pivoted at a position near the center of the sheet P when stacked, and the leading end is in contact with the upper surface of the sheet P. In the vicinity of the base of the sheet pressing filler 40, there is an upper surface detection sensor (not shown) that detects the height position of the leading end of the sheet pressing filler 40, and detects the sheet surface height of the stacked sheets P. . When the upper surface detection sensor is turned on as the sheet height rises due to an increase in the number of sheets deposited on the paper discharge tray 5, the paper discharge tray 5 is lowered by driving means (not shown) that moves the paper discharge tray 5 up and down. When the discharge tray 5 is lowered and the upper surface detection sensor is turned off, the lowering is stopped. This operation is repeated, and when the paper discharge tray 5 reaches a specified tray full height, a stop signal is issued from the control unit of the post-processing apparatus 100 to the image forming unit to stop the image forming operation.

  The transport path 2 is provided with a staple tray 21 and a hitting roller 15 capable of moving toward and away from the staple tray 21. The staple tray 21 includes jogger fences 22 and 23 for aligning a plurality of sheets P stacked in the direction perpendicular to the sheet surface in the width direction, and a plurality of sheets stacked by abutting the leading ends of the sheets. Rear end reference fences 24 and 25 that perform vertical alignment of P, and a return roller 41 as an abutment conveying member that contacts the upper surface of the paper P and abuts the paper P against the rear end reference fences 24 and 25 are provided. Yes. Further, a stapler 50 as a binding unit that is movable in the paper width direction is provided in the downstream portion of the staple tray 21.

  In the stapling mode in which paper alignment and binding are performed, the control unit determines the reference position of the paper stacking surface of the staple tray 21 based on the paper size, and the discharge roller 12 is driven based on the reference position by a driving unit (not shown). Move in the paper width direction by a fixed amount. As a result, the paper discharge roller 12 discharges the paper so that the center of the paper matches the reference position on the paper stacking surface and stacks the paper on the staple tray 21. The paper P discharged onto the staple tray 21 is switched back by being hit by the hitting roller 15 and is abutted against the rear end reference fences 24 and 25 by the return roller 41 so that the transport direction is aligned. . Further, alignment in the sheet width direction is performed by jogger fences 22 and 23 arranged on the staple tray 21. The sheet bundles aligned in this manner are bound by the stapler 50 moving in the sheet width direction and stapling the appropriate position at the lower edge of the sheet bundle, and the discharge rollers 26 and 27 sandwich the paper discharge tray. 5 is discharged.

Next, abutting and conveying means for the sheets stacked on the staple tray 21 of this embodiment will be described.
3A and 3B are cross-sectional views of the staple tray 21 according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 3A illustrates the conveyance direction alignment process, and FIG. 3B illustrates the other standby time (hereinafter referred to as the home position). FIGS. 4A and 4B are enlarged top views showing the configurations of the return roller 41 and the stapler 50. FIG. 4A shows the conveyance direction alignment process, and FIG. 4B shows the home position.
As shown in FIG. 3, the abutting and conveying means rotates in contact with the upper surface of the paper P, so that the two return rollers 41 a, as abutting and conveying members that abut the paper P against the rear end reference fences 24 and 25. b and a holder 40 for supporting the two return rollers 41a and 41b. The holder 40 is provided so as to be swingable about the shaft 45 during the conveyance direction alignment process shown in FIG. 5A and the home position shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the two return rollers 41 a and 41 b are supported on both sides in the vicinity of the tip of the holder 40, and the two return rollers 41 a and 41 b are arranged symmetrically about the holder 40. On both sides of the holder 40, there are drive gears 43a and 43b and idler gears 42a and 42b fitted to the shafts, respectively, and the gears of the return rollers 41a and 41b via the drive gears 43a and 43b and the idler gears 42a and 42b. The driving force is transmitted to the portions 44a and 44b. The shaft 45 and the drive gears 43a and 43b have a fitting portion formed in a D-cut or the like, rotate in the rotational direction, and are slidable in the axial direction as will be described later. When the shaft 45 is rotated by driving means (not shown), the return rollers 41a and 41b are rotated through these gear portions, and the paper P is conveyed so as to abut against the rear end reference fences 24 and 25.

  Further, the holder 40 that supports the two return rollers 41a and 41b is configured to be movable along a shaft 45 extending in the paper width direction. In the present embodiment, the holder 40 is connected to a stapler 50 that can move in the paper width direction, and is configured to be movable in the paper width direction using the driving means of the stapler 50. Specifically, the holder hooking portions 40a and 40b are respectively provided on the holder 40 side, and the stapler hooking portion 53 is provided on the stapler 50 side, and the holder hooking portions 40a and 40b and the stapler hooking portion 53 are connected to each other. To do. The stapler 50 is fixed to the base 51 and is moved in the paper width direction along the shaft 52 so as to extend in the paper width direction by a stapler driving unit (not shown). Following the movement of the stapler 50 in the sheet width direction, the holder 40 moves along the shaft 45, and accordingly, the return rollers 41a and 41b can move in the sheet width direction. In addition, the fitting member 40c is provided in the fitting part of the holder 40 and the axis | shaft 45, and it is comprised so that it may become a mutually independent motion. That is, when the stapler 50 is moved in the paper width direction by a driving means (not shown), the return rollers 41a and 41b, the drive gears 43a and 43b, and the idler gears 42a and 42b arranged on the holder 40 are moved integrally along the shaft 45. It is configured. When the holder 40 moves along the axis 45 in the paper width direction, the two return rollers 41a and 41b move in the paper width direction in a state of being symmetrical with respect to the center of the holder 40.

  Further, the holder 40 swings about the shaft 45 as a center of rotation, and the return rollers 41 a and 41 b come in contact with and separate from the upper surface of the paper P. Guide portions 61 and 62 for guiding the holder 40 are provided at the end of the housing in the paper width direction. When the holder 40 is at the home position (FIGS. 3 and 4 (b)), the holder 40 is guided upward by the guide portions 61 and 62, whereby the return rollers 41a supported by the tip portion of the holder 40, b is separated from the upper surface of the paper P. On the other hand, in the vicinity of the alignment processing position (FIGS. 3 and 4 (a)), since there are no guide portions 61 and 62, the holder 40 is lowered by its own weight, and the return rollers 41a and 41b supported by the tip end portion of the holder 40 are paper. It will be in the state contacted to the upper surface of P. Further, taper portions 61 a and 62 a are provided on the end surfaces of the guide portions 61 and 62 on the center side in the paper width direction. With the taper portions 61a and 62a, the holder 40 can be smoothly guided onto the guide portions 61 and 62 when moving from the alignment processing position shown in (a) to the home position shown in (b). .

An example of sheet alignment and stapling operations in the post-processing apparatus 100 having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG.
(Step 1)
At the start of the processing operation, the stapler 50 and the holder 40 connected to the stapler 50 are in the home position (HP) position. At this time, the holder 40 is guided by the guide portion 61 or 62, so that the return rollers 41a and 41b are located away from the upper surface of the sheet.
(Step 2)
The control unit of the post-processing device 100 acquires the width direction center position information of the paper on the staple tray 21 based on the paper size. The central position information of the paper in the width direction is calculated from the paper size to be stacked and the reference position at which the paper is discharged onto the staple tray 21 from the paper discharge roller 12 having the shift mechanism.
(Step3)
By driving the hitting roller 15 downward from the retracted position to the paper contact position, the paper P discharged onto the staple tray 21 by the paper discharge roller 12 is switched back. When the paper reaches the return rollers 41a and 41b, the tapping roller 15 is retracted from the paper contact position.
(Step 4)
Based on the acquired paper width direction center position information, the control unit is configured so that the width direction intermediate point of the return rollers 41a and 41b, that is, the width direction center position of the holder 40 matches the width direction center position of the paper. Is used to move the holder 40 in the paper width direction. More specifically, the stapler 50 is moved in the sheet width direction by a moving unit (not shown), so that the center position in the width direction of the holder 40 connected to the stapler 50 is moved to the center position in the width direction of the acquired sheet. The two return rollers 41a and 41b are supported by the holder 40 so as to be symmetric in the paper width direction with respect to the center of the holder. For this reason, the return rollers 41 a and 41 b are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center in the width direction of the paper P stacked on the staple tray 21 regardless of the paper size.
(Step 5)
The stapler 50 and the holder 40 are aligned processing positions. At this time, since the holder 40 is not guided by the guide portion 61 or 62, the return rollers 41a and 41b are in contact with the upper surface of the sheet.
(Step 6)
By rotating the two return rollers 41a and 41b that are moved symmetrically with respect to the center in the width direction of the sheet, the sheet P is conveyed so as to abut against the rear end reference fences 24 and 25. Align.
(Step 7)
When the alignment in the sheet conveyance direction is completed, the return rollers 41a and 41b are moved from the conveyance direction alignment position to HP. This movement is also performed by moving the holder 40 connected to the stapler 50 in the paper width direction by moving the stapler 50 in the paper width direction by a moving means (not shown). When the holder 40 is guided by the guide portion 61 or 62, the return rollers 41a and 41b are positioned away from the upper surface of the sheet.
(Step 8)
The jogger fences 22 and 23 align the sheet bundle in the sheet width direction (step 9).
(Step 9)
It is determined whether it is the final sheet to be formed as a sheet bundle. If it is not the last sheet in the sheet bundle, the process returns to (step 3) and the above operation is repeated. If it is the final sheet, proceed to (step 10).
(Step 10)
When the alignment of the sheet bundle is completed, the stapler 50 is moved to the binding position and the binding process is performed.
(Step 11)
The sheet bundle that has been subjected to the binding process is ejected onto the paper ejection tray 5 by the ejection rollers 26 and 27 sandwiching it.
In this embodiment, the return rollers 41a and 41b are set to the HP position at all binding positions.

  By such an operation, regardless of the paper size, the return rollers 41a and 41b can be brought into contact with the paper at a position that is symmetrical with respect to the paper width direction so that the paper is brought into contact with the rear end reference fences 24 and 25. it can. As a result, the skew correction effect at the time of abutting is exerted equally to the left and right with respect to the center of the sheet, and a good transport direction alignment process is performed.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in order to move the return rollers 41a and 41b to a position that is symmetric with respect to the center in the width direction of the paper, the holder hooking portions 40a and 40b are attached to the holder 40 that supports the return rollers 41a and 41b. It is connected to a stapler hooking portion 53 provided on a stapler 50 provided so as to be movable in the paper width direction. Then, the return rollers 41a and 41b are moved to the desired positions by moving the stapler 50 by the moving means of the existing stapler 50. In other words, the existing stapler moving means can be used as the paper width direction moving drive means of the return rollers 41a and 41b. Accordingly, the return rollers 41a and 41b can be moved to the desired position in the paper width direction with a simple and inexpensive configuration.

  Further, in order to achieve an inexpensive configuration, when the sheet width direction shift driving means of the return rollers 41a and 41b is shared with the driving means of the stapler 50, after the sheets are brought into contact with the rear end reference fences 24 and 25 and aligned, Until the next sheet is aligned, the return rollers 41a and 41b are driven in contact with the sheet. For this reason, it takes a long time to slip the return rollers 41a, 41b and the paper, and there is a problem that the image formed on the paper is scraped or the paper is soiled.

  In the present embodiment, guide portions 61 and 62 for guiding the holder 40 are provided in the paper width direction so as to separate the return rollers 41a and 41b from the upper surface of the paper. Then, except for the alignment process, the holder 40 is moved to a position guided by the guide portions 61 and 62. This prevents slippage between the return rollers 41a and 41b and the paper except during paper alignment, and the above-described image disturbance and paper stain problems due to slip can be suppressed. Further, the above-described effect can be obtained with an inexpensive configuration in which only the guide portions 61 and 62 are provided.

  In the present embodiment, the description has been given using the configuration in which the holders 40 support the return rollers 41a and b symmetrically. However, the return rollers 41a and 41b depend on the position at which the holder 40 supports the return rollers 41a and 41b. The movement is appropriately controlled so that the center point in the width direction coincides with the center position in the width direction of the sheet. Further, the description has been given using the configuration in which the bound sheet bundle is bound by the binding processing unit in the sheet processing apparatus. However, as long as the holder 40 is connected to the processing unit provided so as to be movable in the sheet width direction. Other processing means may be used.

What has been described above is merely an example, and the present invention has a specific effect for each of the following modes.
(Aspect A)
A paper tray such as a staple tray 21 on which a plurality of sheets are stacked and stacked on the sheet stacking surface, and a center position in the width direction of the sheets discharged and stacked on the sheet stacking surface are defined on the sheet stacking surface. Paper discharge means such as a discharge roller 12 that can be changed above, and rear end reference fences 24 and 25 that abut the rear end of the paper loaded in the paper tray in the paper transport direction and align the rear end of the paper in the paper transport direction, etc. A rear edge aligning member, an abutting conveyance means for conveying the paper stacked on the paper tray so as to abut against the rear edge aligning member, and processing into a paper bundle composed of a plurality of papers aligned in the paper conveying direction at the rear edge The sheet processing apparatus includes a sheet bundle processing unit such as a stapler 50 that performs the above processing. As the abutting conveying means, a conveying member such as a plurality of return rollers 41a, 41b that can contact the upper surface of the sheet bundle, a conveying member moving means for moving the conveying member in the sheet width direction, and a conveying member moving means are controlled. Conveying member movement control means such as a control unit. The conveyance member movement control means acquires information on the center position in the width direction of the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking surface by the sheet discharge means, and obtains the center in the width direction of the sheets from which the middle point in the width direction between the plurality of conveyance members is acquired. The movement of the conveying member in the paper width direction by the conveying member moving unit is controlled so as to match the position.
According to this configuration, as described in the above embodiment, the plurality of conveying members abut on the upper surface of the sheet at positions that are symmetrical with respect to the sheet width direction, and convey the sheet so as to abut against the trailing edge aligning member. be able to. Therefore, the skew correction effect at the time of abutting against the paper center is exerted evenly on the left and right, and good alignment processing is performed. For this reason, there is an excellent effect that good alignment processing can be performed regardless of the paper size.

(Aspect B)
In (Aspect A), a sheet bundle processing unit such as a stapler 50 that processes the sheet bundle can be moved in the sheet width direction by the moving unit, and a holder 40 that supports a plurality of conveying members of the abutting conveying unit, etc. The support member is connected to the sheet bundle processing means. According to this configuration, as described in the above embodiment, the conveyance member can be moved in the sheet width direction via the support member by moving the sheet bundle processing unit in the sheet width direction. That is, since the moving means of the existing sheet bundle processing means can be used without separately providing the conveying member moving means, the conveying member can be moved in the paper width direction with a simple and inexpensive configuration. it can.

(Aspect C)
In (Aspect B), when the support member is moved to the end in the width direction, guide portions 61 and 62 are provided for guiding the support member so that the transport member is separated from the upper surface of the sheet. According to this configuration, as described in the above embodiment, except for the alignment process, the conveyance member can be separated from the upper surface of the sheet so that the conveyance member and the sheet do not slip. For this reason, it is possible to suppress problems such as image distortion and paper contamination due to slip. In addition, the above-described effect can be obtained with an inexpensive configuration in which only the guide portion is provided.

(Aspect D)
In an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit and a sheet processing unit that performs a predetermined process on a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming unit, the sheet processing apparatus is configured as (Aspect A), (Aspect B) or ( Any one of the paper processing apparatuses of the aspect C) is used. According to this configuration, as described in the above-described embodiment, it is possible to perform processing on a sheet bundle in which image-formed sheets are well aligned regardless of the sheet size.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Introduction path 2 Conveyance path 5 Discharge tray 6 Extension tray 8 Discharge sensor 10 Inlet roller 12 Discharge roller 13 Inlet sensor 15 Roller 21 Staple trays 22, 23 Jogger fences 24, 25 Rear end reference fence 26 Discharge roller 27 Driven roller 40 Holder 40a, b Holder hook part 40c Fitting member 41a, b Return roller 42a, b Idler gear 43a, b Drive gear 44a, b Gear part 45 Shaft 50 Stapler 51 Base 52 Shaft 53 Stapler hook part 61, 62 Guide part 61a, 62a Taper part 100 Post-processing device

JP 2008-024506 A

Claims (3)

A paper tray for stacking multiple sheets on the paper stacking surface, and discharging the paper onto the paper stacking surface, and the center position in the width direction of the paper to be ejected and stacked can be changed on the paper stacking surface. Paper discharge means, a rear end aligning member that abuts the rear end of the paper stacked in the paper tray in the paper transport direction, and aligns the rear end of the paper in the paper transport direction, and the paper stacked on the paper tray In a paper processing apparatus comprising: an abutting conveying means for conveying so as to abut on an aligning member; and a paper bundle processing means for processing a paper bundle consisting of a plurality of papers aligned in the paper conveying direction at the rear end,
As the abutting conveying means, a plurality of conveying members capable of contacting the upper surface of the sheet bundle, a conveying member moving means for moving the plurality of conveying members in the sheet width direction, and a conveyance for controlling the conveying member moving means Member movement control means,
The transport member movement control means acquires width direction center position information of the paper stacked on the paper stacking surface by the paper discharge means, and the width direction midpoint between the plurality of transport members is the acquired paper. so as to match the width-wise center position, and controls the sheet width direction movement of the conveying member by the conveying member moving means,
A sheet processing apparatus, wherein the sheet bundle processing means is movable in the sheet width direction by a moving means, and a support member supporting a plurality of conveying members of the abutting conveying means is connected to the sheet bundle processing means. . In the sheet processing apparatus 請 Motomeko 1, and characterized in that when moving the supporting member in the width direction end portion, provided with a guide portion for the conveying member to guide the supporting member to be separated from the sheet top surface Paper processing device. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit; and a sheet processing unit that performs a predetermined process on a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming unit.
An image forming apparatus using the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 as the sheet processing apparatus.

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