JP6205240B2 - Sheet processing apparatus and image forming apparatus having the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a post-processing apparatus as a sheet processing apparatus that binds and folds a sheet conveyed from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer at a predetermined crease position. The present invention relates to a device that can be post-processed.

  In general, a post-processing apparatus that folds a sheet carried out from an image forming apparatus into a booklet shape is widely known. These post-processing apparatuses are provided with a plurality of sheet stacking means for post-processing the sheets, and the sheet stacking means has an apparatus configuration in which the sheets stacked in a bundle are bound and folded into a booklet. Further, in recent years, a binding apparatus that binds a sheet bundle without using a metal binding needle (metal staple) and a post-processing apparatus using the binding apparatus have been provided.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus for bookbinding without using metal binding staples and improving the recyclability and safety of the bound recording material bundle. In this apparatus, a folding plate and a pair of folding rollers fold a sheet bundle stacked on a stacking stacker in which a plurality of sheets are sequentially stacked. Then, the binding mechanism unit performs a process of binding the sheet bundle without using metal staples in the sheet bundle at a position separated from a folding position by the folding plate of the sheet bundle and the pair of folding rollers. An apparatus is disclosed.

As the binding mechanism of the binding mechanism unit, the sheet bundle is deformed in the thickness direction after the folding process of the sheet bundle folding plate and the pair of folding rollers, and the sheet bundle is bound. In the deformation in the sheet thickness direction, the crimping teeth formed in the concave and convex shapes engage with each other from above and below to cause local deformation in the sheets, and the sheets are intertwined and bound.

  In addition, as another configuration example of the binding mechanism using the pressure-bonding teeth, a cutter mechanism that cuts and deforms the sheet bundle to bind the sheets is shown. This apparatus includes a U-shaped blade that cuts a U-shaped cut into a sheet bundle, a slit blade that forms a slit-shaped cut in accordance with the width of the U-shaped blade, and a U-shaped formed by the U-shaped blade. Is also shown that is bound by a pushing means for pushing into the slit blade formed by the slit blade.

  In any of these binding devices, a portion to which the binding device performs binding is set so as to be separated by a predetermined interval from the folding position of the sheet bundle to the binding position (FIG. 7, Patent Document 1). (See FIG. 11). In other words, the folding position and the binding position are set differently.

  In Patent Document 2, a sheet to be conveyed is divided into one sheet or a plurality of sheets, punch holes are punched, and a ring binder is formed in the punch holes. What calculates the position is shown.

  Incidentally, Patent Document 3 discloses a stapler device that uses paper staples without using metallic staples in consideration of the environment and safety. In this case, the operator manually inserts a bundle of sheets into the binding processing port and binds them, but cuts the paper staples at the beginning of the connected staples in which a plurality of substantially straight paper staples are connected in parallel, and substantially copies the staples. It is formed in a letter shape, and both leg portions of the staple are passed through the binding paper, and both leg portions are bent along the binding paper and bonded to each other, thereby binding the binding paper using easily deformable paper staples. A tabletop stapler that makes this possible is shown.

  The above-mentioned Patent Document 1 is a device that binds the middle of a sheet bundle, and employs a mechanism that binds a booklet by crimping or cutting out by shifting a folding position and a binding position. Patent Document 2 is an apparatus that performs a dedicated ring binding on the end face of a sheet bundle. Patent Document 3 is an apparatus that binds with paper-made staples without using metal as staples when binding a sheet bundle.

JP 2011-201698 A JP 2012-45879 A Japanese Patent No. 49512929

  In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the portion to which the binding device performs binding is set to be separated by a predetermined interval between the folding position of the sheet bundle and the binding position (see FIGS. 7 and 11 of Patent Document 1). ). In other words, the booklet is generated by setting the folding position and the binding position to be shifted. However, compared with the staple stapled at the same position as the folding position, the binding position is offset from the folding position, so the page without the binding position and the page with the binding position are not. The opening range will be different.

Furthermore, the binding device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is formed by deforming and binding the sheet itself. For example, the deformation in the thickness direction of the sheet is locally applied to the sheet by engaging the pressing teeth formed in the uneven shape from above and below. Although it is shown that the sheets are entangled and bound together by causing various deformations, in order to engage the sheets, it is necessary to engage with a considerable pressure. Further, if the pressure is weak, the binding is insufficient, and there is a problem that the binding is not stable only with the pressure. When the binding by this crimping method is made coincident with the folding position, there is a problem that the deformation force due to the bending of the sheet works and the binding performance is insufficient.

Also, as another binding mechanism, a notch that is bent in a convex shape is formed on one side of the sheet bundle, and a binding portion that binds the sheet bundle is provided inside a range surrounded by the cut of the sheet bundle, and the notch is inserted into this binding portion. What is bound is shown. Since this makes a relatively large cut in the sheet itself, the sheet itself is damaged and the appearance is not so preferred.

  In view of this, binding by sheet crimping and binding by paper staples as shown in Patent Document 3 for binding a sheet bundle without making a large cut in the sheet are conceivable. However, this is one in which the operator manually inserts the edge of the sheet bundle into the binding opening and binds, and there is no consideration for folding and binding at half the position of the sheet bundle shown so far. It was not. Of course, it has not been shown that the binding position and the folding position of the sheet bundle are set to substantially the same position.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a method for ring binding by providing a dedicated ring binding to the end face of a sheet bundle, and does not indicate an apparatus close to simple ring binding for a folded sheet bundle. In the case of Patent Document 2, when the ring is bound to divide into one sheet or a plurality of sheets and punch holes are formed, if the sheet alignment is incomplete, the position of the punch holes is shifted as expected. There is a possibility that the member cannot penetrate the punch hole.

  In such a situation, a simple ring bookbinding can be performed by punching punch holes as necessary in a booklet state in which the sheet bundle is folded in the middle and performing binding close to simple ring bookbinding by passing a binding member through the punch holes. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet processing apparatus that can be provided and an image forming apparatus that employs the sheet processing apparatus.

The present invention adopts the following configuration in order to solve the above problems.
A stacker unit for temporarily stacking discharged sheets, a center folding unit for folding the sheet bundle stacked in the stacker unit, and a transport unit for transporting the folding side of the sheet bundle subjected to the center folding process from the beginning. A punching unit for punching a punch hole at a folding side end of a sheet bundle that is folded and conveyed by the center folding processing unit, and the punch hole is bound by paper staples. A binding processing unit is arranged.

Moreover, are disposed between the perforated portion and the folding portion of the binding processing unit.

The paper staple comprises a pair of legs and a leg connecting part that connects the legs,
At the time of binding processing, one leg portion is passed through the punch hole, the other leg portion is positioned outside the folding leading end, and the leading end of the sheet bundle is bound by folding to the side facing each other.

A first pressure roller is provided between the perforated portion and the binding portion to pressurize the folded sheet bundle in a direction to increase folding.

The first pressure roller is provided in a region where at least a punch hole punched by the front punching portion passes in the sheet width direction intersecting the conveying direction of the folded sheet bundle.

A second pressure roller is provided on the downstream side of the binding portion to pressurize the folded sheet bundle in an increasing direction.

The second pressure roller is provided at a position avoiding the binding position of the paper staple in the sheet width direction intersecting with the conveying direction of the folded sheet bundle.

A stacker unit for temporarily collecting discharged sheets, a center folding unit for folding the bundle of sheets stacked in the stacker unit, and a folding side of the sheet bundle folded in the center folding unit are conveyed from the top. A sheet processing apparatus including a conveying unit configured to convey the sheet bundle moved in the folding direction with respect to the stacked sheet bundle and a pair of the sheet bundle moved by the folding blade. A paper staple having a perforating portion that includes a folding roller and punches a punch hole at the front end of the sheet bundle conveyed by the folding roller with the folding side as a front end, and a pair of legs on the downstream side of the perforating portion. The binding portion for binding the sheet bundle is arranged, and the binding portion penetrates the punch hole punched by the punching portion, and the other leg portion is positioned downstream of the folding-side tip so that they are mutually connected. Is to bind the leading edge of the folded sheet bundle is bent in the direction of each other can.

An image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, and a sheet processing apparatus that performs post-processing on the sheet from the image forming unit. The sheet processing apparatus includes the configurations described above.

  According to the present invention, a simple ring binding can be provided because the front end of the folded booklet sheet bundle is bound by paper staples. Further, since the sheet bundle having the punch holes folded in the middle is punched as necessary and the binding member is passed through the punch holes, the paper stapler can be penetrated into the sheet bundle without difficulty. Binding close to ring binding can be performed.

  The present invention will be described in detail below based on the preferred embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an image forming system including an image forming apparatus A and a post-processing apparatus B according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a detailed configuration of the post-processing apparatus B.

[Configuration of image forming system]
The image forming system shown in FIG. 1 includes an image forming apparatus A and a post-processing apparatus (sheet processing apparatus; hereinafter the same) B. Then, a carry-in port 23 of the post-processing apparatus B is connected to the main body discharge port 3 of the image forming apparatus A, and a sheet formed with an image by the image forming apparatus A is stapled by the post-processing apparatus B and the first paper discharge tray 21. And a saddle tray (second paper discharge tray) 22.

[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus]
The image forming apparatus A will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming apparatus A is configured to send a sheet from the sheet feeding unit 1 to the image forming unit 2, print the sheet on the image forming unit 2, and then discharge the sheet from the main body discharge port 3. The sheet feeding unit 1 stores sheets of a plurality of sizes in sheet feeding cassettes 1 a and 1 b, and separates specified sheets one by one and feeds them to the image forming unit 2. In the image forming unit 2, for example, an electrostatic drum 4, a print head (laser light emitter) 5, a developing device 6, a transfer charger 7, and a fixing device 8 are arranged around the electrostatic drum 4. The image forming unit 2 forms an electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic drum 4 by the laser light emitter 5, attaches toner to the developer drum 6, transfers the image onto the sheet by the transfer charger 7, and fixes the image on the sheet. In step 8, the image is formed by heat fixing. The sheets on which images are formed in this way are sequentially carried out from the main body discharge port 3. 9 is a circulation path. A sheet printed on the front side from the fixing device 8 is reversed on the front and back via the switchback path 10 and then fed again to the image forming unit 2 to print on the back side of the sheet. This is the print path. The sheet printed on both sides in this way is turned upside down by the switchback path 10 and then carried out from the main body discharge port 3.

  11 is an image reading apparatus, which scans a document sheet set on a platen 12 with a scanning unit 13 and electrically reads it with a photoelectric conversion element (not shown). The image data is digitally processed by an image processing unit, for example, and then transferred to the data storage unit 14 to send an image signal to the laser emitter 5. 15 is a document feeder, which feeds document sheets stored in the document stacker 16 to the platen 12.

  The image forming apparatus A configured as described above is provided with a main body control unit (controller) 180 shown in FIG. Print conditions such as print designation and enlargement / reduction print designation are set. On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus A, image data read by the scan unit 13 or image data transferred from an external network is accumulated in the data storage unit 17. Image data is transferred from the data storage unit 17 to a buffer memory 19, and data signals are sequentially transferred from the buffer memory 19 to the laser emitter 5.

  From the controller panel 18, post-processing conditions are also input and specified simultaneously with the image forming conditions such as single-sided / double-sided printing, enlargement / reduction printing, and monochrome / color printing. For example, the post-processing conditions are set to, for example, “print-out mode”, “staple stitching finishing mode”, and “sheet bundle folding finishing mode”. In this “bundle folding finishing mode”, “booklet finishing mode”, “saddle stitching mode”, “ “Paper staple binding mode”, “paper staple simple ring binding mode” and the like are set. These modes will be described later.

[Configuration of sheet processing apparatus]
A sheet bundle processing apparatus B as a post-processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a single-sheet punch unit 28 that performs punching processing one by one on a sheet received from the carry-in port 23, and the single-sheet punch unit 28 includes the carry-in process. The sheet fed from the opening 23 is disposed between the sheet branching portion for branching the sheet fed to the saddle stitching unit and the center folding unit and between the conveyance paths to the end binding unit. The first sheet discharge tray 21 is disposed on the side surface side of the apparatus frame. The first sheet discharge tray 21 is discharged from the forward / reverse rotation roller 30 by moving up and down, and the sheet bundle 100 subjected to the end binding process. And the sheet bundle 100 subjected to the half-folding process that is discharged from a discharge port 22x described later. Here, the first paper discharge tray 21 is a paper discharge tray that can be raised and lowered.

  The post-processing apparatus B further includes a second paper discharge tray 22 disposed below the first paper discharge tray 21, and the second paper discharge tray 22 is a sheet discharged from the bundle discharge roller 50. Receive a bundle 100.

  The post-processing apparatus B receives a sheet on which an image has been formed from the main body discharge port 3 of the image forming apparatus A, and (1) whether the sheet is accommodated in the first discharge tray 21 (the “print-out mode” described above). ), (2) Sheets from the main body discharge port 3 are aligned in a bundle and stapled, and then stored in the first discharge tray 21 (the above-mentioned “binding finish mode”), or (3) Either align the sheets from the main body discharge port 3 in a bundled form and do not bind them, fold them into a booklet and store them in the second discharge tray 22 (the above-mentioned “booklet finishing mode”), or (4) the main body Sheets from the sheet discharge outlet 3 are bundled in the form of a sheet bundle 100, the center of which is saddle-stitched with a metal tape, the binding position is folded into a booklet shape, and the back side is conveyed as a leading end 100a. Stored in second discharge tray ("Saddle Stitching Mode" above) ( ) The sheet bundle from the main body discharge port 3 is bundled as a bundle of sheets as a bundle of sheets 100, folded in a booklet shape with the center as the folding position, conveyed with the back 100a as the leading edge, and the vicinity of the back 100a being paper Either bind with staples and store in the second discharge tray (the above-mentioned “paper staple binding mode”), or (6) align sheets from the main body discharge port 3 into a bundle as a sheet bundle 100 Folded in the form of a booklet with the center as the folding position, the back 100a is conveyed as the tip, punch holes are punched in the vicinity of the back 100a, and are bound to the second discharge tray 22 with paper staples so as to wrap the punch holes (front The “paper staple simple ring mode”) is configured as follows.

  The casing (exterior cover) 20 of the post-processing apparatus B is provided with a carry-in port 23, and this carry-in port 23 is connected to the main body discharge port 3 of the image forming apparatus A. The casing 20 is provided with a first processing unit BX1 that stacks and stacks the sheets from the carry-in port 23, and a second processing unit BX2 that stacks and stacks the sheets from the carry-in port 23 and finishes the booklet. It has been. A first transport path P1 is provided between the first processing unit BX1 and the carry-in port 23, and a second carry-in path P2 is provided between the second process unit BX2 and the carry-in port 23. The sheet is distributed and guided to the first processing unit BX1 and the second processing unit BX2 (sheet branching unit). The carry-in entrance 23 is provided with a carry-in roller 24, a sheet sensor S1, and a path switching means (flapper member) 27 for distributing sheets to the first or second carry-in paths P1 and P2.

  In the first transport path P1, a buffer path P3 is provided between the punch unit 28 for punching punch holes for each sheet and the processing tray 29. The buffer path P3 is a path for transporting the sheet received from the carry-in entrance 23 to the end-face stitching and stapling device 33 side after delaying the sheet by a predetermined time by overlapping the sheet. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 2, the buffer path P <b> 3 is branched from the first transport path P <b> 1 in the vertical direction of the casing 20 on the upstream side of the path reaching the processing tray 29. The sheet from the first conveyance path P1 is switched back and stays in this path. Therefore, when post-processing (end binding processing described later) is performed on the sheet bundle 100 that has been aligned and stacked on the processing tray 29, the subsequent sheet sent to the carry-in port 23 is temporarily retained, and a predetermined time has elapsed, and the processing tray 29 After the processing sheet is unloaded, the succeeding sheet on this path can be transferred to the processing tray 29.

  The first transport path P1 is disposed substantially horizontally in the upper part of the apparatus housing constituted by the casing 20, and the first processing unit BX1 is disposed downstream of the first transport path P1, and the first exhaust is disposed downstream thereof. A paper tray 21 is arranged. The second carry-in path P2 is arranged substantially vertically in the lower part of the casing 20, the second processing unit BX2 is arranged on the downstream side of the second carry-in path P2, and the second discharge tray ( Saddle tray) 22 is arranged. In the first transport path P1, a single punch unit 28 for punching punch holes for each sheet is disposed between the carry-in entrance 23 and the first processing unit BX1. In the second carry-in path P2, there is a batch punch unit that punches punch holes in a bundle of sheets 100, which will be described later, between the second processing unit BX2 and the second discharge tray 22, and a rear side thereof. A paper staple 68 that can be bound with a paper staple 68 is disposed so as to wrap the spine 100a at the front end of the sheet bundle 100 that is folded in half and conveyed with the spine 100a as the head.

  The first transport path P1 is provided with a forward / reverse roller 30 serving as a paper discharge roller at the exit end of the path, and a paper discharge sensor S2 is disposed on the upstream side of the forward / reverse roller 30. It is configured to detect a passing sheet, to detect a jam, and to count the number of passing sheets. The following processing tray 29 is arranged with a step formed downstream of the forward / reverse roller 30. In addition, a transport roller 36 is provided in the second carry-in path P2, and a stacker unit 35 that forms a step on the downstream side and serves as a second processing tray to be described later is disposed.

[Configuration of first processing unit]
The above-described first processing unit BX1 includes a processing tray 29 disposed on the first transport path P1 and an end-face stitching and stapling device 33 disposed on the processing tray 29.

[Processing tray structure]
The processing tray 29 is formed of a synthetic resin plate or the like and includes a sheet support surface for stacking and supporting sheets. The sheet support surface is disposed with a step formed downstream of the discharge port of the paper discharge roller 25 so that the sheets from the paper discharge roller 25 are stacked and stored. Note that the illustrated sheet support surface is formed to have a length shorter than the length of the sheet in the sheet discharge direction, supports the rear end portion of the sheet from the sheet discharge roller 25, and the sheet leading end portion of the first sheet discharge tray 21. It is designed to support (bridge support) on the uppermost sheet.

  The processing tray 29 is provided with a sheet end regulating means 32 and abuts and aligns the trailing end (or the leading end) of the sheet discharged from the discharge roller 25. Above the processing tray 29, a forward / reverse roller 30 for transferring a sheet carried on the tray to the sheet end regulating means 32, a sheet presser 34c, and a side alignment plate 34b are arranged. The main configuration will be described below.

[Configuration of sheet edge regulating means]
The processing tray 29 is provided with sheet end regulating means 32 for positioning one end edge of the leading and trailing ends of the loaded sheet. The sheet end regulating means 32 shown in FIG. 2 includes a stopper member having a sheet end surface regulating surface that abuts and regulates the trailing edge of the sheet, and a sheet upper surface regulating surface that regulates the position of the upper sheet surface of the uppermost sheet. The sheet end regulating means 32 is disposed at the rear end edge of the processing tray 29, and abuts and regulates the rear end edge of the sheet conveyed by the forward / reverse rotation roller 30 described later, so that a preset post-processing position (binding) is set. Position the sheet at the same position).

[Configuration of side alignment means]
The processing tray 29 is provided with a side alignment plate 34b for aligning and aligning sheets. The side alignment plate 34b employs either a center reference that aligns with the center of the sheet carried from the paper discharge roller 25 to the processing tray 29 or a side reference that aligns with the left and right side edges of the sheet as a reference. Is done.

"Corner staple mode"
Further, the post-processing control unit (control CPU) 190, when binding the sheet bundle 100 that has been aligned and stacked on the processing tray 29 by the end-face binding and stapling device 33, sets the left and right side alignment plates 34b in a predetermined amount in the sheet width direction. It is configured to move and offset. In the case of an apparatus configuration in which the end-face stitching stapling device 33 is moved to this position when binding the sheet corner, the size of the device increases in the sheet width direction. Therefore, the apparatus shown in the figure offsets the sheet bundle 100 on the processing tray by driving the shift motors MZ1 and MZ2 (described in FIG. 15) of the pair of side alignment plates 34b in the same direction in the corner staple mode.

[Configuration of sheet bundle carry-out means]
The processing tray 29 is provided with an unloading unit for unloading the sheet bundle 100 to unload the processed sheet bundle 100 to the first discharge tray 21 on the downstream side. The carry-out means is disposed at the bottom of the processing tray 29 and includes a grip claw 33a that holds and moves the sheet bundle 100 and a drive arm 34a that moves the grip claw 33a in the holding direction or the release direction. The grip claw is configured to reciprocate from the proximal end (post-processing position) of the processing tray 29 to the distal end (bundle unloading position).

[Configuration of the end binding staple device]
As shown in FIG. 3A, the end-face stitching and stapling device 33 includes a staple driver 53 and a clincher 42. The staple driver 53 includes a head member 41a that inserts staples into the sheet bundle 100 set at the binding position, a cartridge 41b that accommodates staples, a drive cam 41c, and a staple motor MD that drives the drive cam 41c. It consists of The clincher 42 includes a bending groove 42 a for bending the tip of the staple needle inserted into the sheet bundle 100. In the end face stapling device 33, the staple driver 53 and the clincher 42 are integrally attached to the unit frame. As shown in FIG. 3A, the head member 41a of the staple driver 53 is reciprocated by a drive cam 41c in the vertical direction, and a former 41f and a bending block 41g are incorporated therein. The structure of the former 41f and the bending block 41g is the same as that of the saddle stitching stapler 40 that binds the middle of the sheet bundle 100 with metal staples to be described later, and the structure will be described later with reference to FIG.

[Configuration of punch unit]
As shown in FIG. 2, in the first transport path P1, the one-sheet punch unit 28 for punching punch holes one by one between the carry-in roller 24 and the paper discharge roller 25 is disposed. A file hole is punched in the sheet passing through the first transport path P1. The configuration of the single punch unit 28 will be described. The single-punch unit 28 punches a sheet punch hole by engaging a single-punch drive cam with a punch member and rotating the drive cam with the drive motor MX, although not particularly shown.

[Configuration of Second Processing Unit]
As described above, the second processing unit BX2 shown in FIG. 1 has a stacker unit 35 as a second processing tray arranged in a substantially vertical state for temporarily collecting the sheets sent to the second carry-in path P2, and this stacker unit 35. The stacker unit 35 includes a saddle stitching stapler 40 using metal staples disposed in the stacker unit 35, a folding roller 45 serving as a folding processing mechanism, and a folding blade 46. Hereinafter, the stacker unit 35, the saddle stitching stapler 40, the folding roller 45 serving as a folding processing mechanism, and the folding blade 46 will be described in this order.

[Stacker]
The stacker unit 35 is configured to sequentially stack and store sheets conveyed continuously from the carry-in entrance 23 on the downstream side of the second carry-in path P2 in a standing posture. In particular, the stacker unit 35 shown in FIG. 2 is arranged in a substantially vertical direction so as to cut the casing 20 vertically, and is configured to stack sheets in a standing posture, thereby constituting a small and compact apparatus. The stacker unit 35 is formed in a length shape that accommodates the maximum size sheet therein. The stacker unit 35 is configured in a shape suitable for arranging a saddle stitching stapler 40 and a folding processing mechanism (a pair of folding rollers 45 and a folding blade 46), which will be described later. The stacker 35 is provided with a stopper 38 that is a leading edge regulating member for regulating the leading edge of the sheet. The stopper 38 is saddle-stitched according to the sheet size (length in the paper discharge direction) and when the sheet is loaded into the stack tray. During the binding operation with the stapler 40, when the folding operation is performed with the pair of folding rollers 45 and the folding blade 46, the stapler 40 moves to an appropriate position.

That is, the most elevated position Sh3 shown in FIG. 2 is a position when the sheet is received from the carry-in roller 36 disposed in the second conveyance path P2. The position Sh2 is a position when the saddle stitching stapler 40 performs a binding operation with metal staples in the center of the sheet bundle 100 in the carry-in direction. Further, the position Sh3 is a position where the folding blade 46 pushes the sheet bundle 100 toward the pair of folding rollers 45 and the folding roller 45 folds the sheet bundle 100 in half. This position is set to a position where the position previously bound by the saddle stitching stapler 40 is folded. As shown in FIG. 2, sheet side edge aligning members 39 for aligning the sheets carried into the stacker unit 35 are arranged on the front side and the back side in the drawing.

[Saddle Stapling Unit]
The above-described stacker unit 35 is provided with a saddle stitching stapler 40 that performs a saddle stitching process using metal staples, and staples the central portion of the sheet bundle 100 that is aligned and stacked on the stacker unit 35. The configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). The saddle stitching stapler 40 includes a staple driver 53 and a clincher 42. The staple driver 53 includes a head member 41a for inserting metal staples into the sheet bundle 100 set at the binding position, a cartridge 41b containing the staples, a drive cam 41c, and a staple motor for driving the drive cam 41c. It consists of MD. As shown in FIG. 4B, the staple driver 53 includes a driver member 41e, a former 41f, and a bending block 41g built in the vertical direction in the head member 41a of the frame. The driver member 41e and the former 41f are supported by the head member 41a so as to reciprocate up and down between the top dead center and the bottom dead center, and the bending block 41g has a linear staple. It is fixed to the head member 41a as a mold that bends in a letter shape.

  A cartridge 41b containing a staple is mounted inside the frame, and metallic staples are sequentially supplied to the bending block 41g. The driver member 41e and the former 41f are connected to a drive lever 41d that is swingably attached to the frame, and are driven up and down between a top dead center and a bottom dead center. The frame is provided with an accumulator spring (not shown) for driving the drive lever 41d up and down, a drive cam 41c for accumulating the accumulator spring, and a staple motor MD for driving the drive cam 41c. .

  The clincher 42 is disposed at a position facing the above-described staple driver 53 and the sheet bundle 100 therebetween. The illustrated clincher 42 is constituted by a structure separated from the staple driver 53, and the staple tip of a metallic staple needle inserted into the sheet bundle 100 is bent by the staple driver 53. Therefore, the clincher 42 is provided with a folding groove 42a for bending the tip of the staple needle. In particular, the illustrated clincher 42 is provided with a plurality of folding grooves 42a1 and 42a2 at two or more locations in the width direction of the sheet bundle 100 stacked in the stacker unit 35, and a plurality of locations in the sheet width direction are moved by the staple driver 53 that moves to this position. Is characterized by stapling. With this configuration, the left and right portions can be stapled in a state where the clincher 42 is fixed to the sheet bundle 100 supported by the stacker unit 35 without moving.

  In addition, the clincher 42 is provided with a wing member (not shown) that bends the needle tip of the staple needle, and the wing member swings in conjunction with (synchronizes with) the needle tip inserted into the sheet bundle 100 by the staple driver 53. It is also possible to adopt a configuration for rotating. In this case, a pair of bent wings are pivotally supported on the frame of the clincher 42 so as to be swingable at positions facing both ends of the U-shaped needle. Then, the pair of folding wings are swung in conjunction with the operation of inserting the staple needle into the sheet bundle 100 by the staple driver 53. By swinging the pair of wings, the staple tip of the staple needle is bent in a flat state along the back surface of the sheet bundle 100. In other words, the needle tip is bent into a U-shape (glasses clinching) when bent by the above-described bending groove, and the needle tip is bent linearly (flat clinching) when bent by a wing member described later. Any of the configurations can be adopted in the present invention.

  With such a configuration, the driver member 41e and the former 41f built in the head member 41a are driven by the rotation of the staple motor MD so that the drive cam 41c moves the drive lever 41d from the upper dead center to the lower dead point below the upper dead center. Press on a point. As the drive lever 41d is lowered, the driver member 41e and the former 41f connected thereto move from the top dead center to the bottom dead center. The driver member 41e is constituted by a plate-like member so as to press down the back portion of the staple needle folded in a U-shape, and the former 41f is constituted by a U-shaped member as shown in FIG. The staple is folded into a U shape between the block 41g. That is, metal staples are supplied from the cartridge 41b to the bending block 41g. This linear metal staple is press-formed in a U-shape between the former 41f and the bending block 41g. Next, the staple needle bent in a U-shape is inserted into the sheet bundle 100 by the driver member 41e pressing down toward the sheet bundle 100 with vigorous pressure.

[Folding mechanism]
As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of folding rollers 45 that fold the sheet bundle 100 is inserted into the folding position disposed on the downstream side of the above-described saddle stitching stapler 40, and the sheet bundle 100 is inserted into the nip position of the folding roller 45. A folding blade 46 is provided. As shown in FIG. 5, the folding roller 45 includes a pair of folding rollers 45 that are pressed against each other by the elastic force of the springs 45as and 45bs, and each roller is formed to have a substantially maximum sheet width.

  The pair of folding rollers 45 is formed of a material having a large coefficient of friction such as a rubber roller. This is because the sheet is bent and transferred by a soft material such as rubber, and may be formed by lining the rubber material. The folding roller 45 is formed in an uneven shape and has a gap in the sheet value width direction. This gap is arranged so as to coincide with the unevenness of the folding blade 46 described later, and consideration is given so that the knife edge 142 at the tip of the folding blade can easily enter between the roller nips. In other words, the pair of folding rollers 45 that are in pressure contact with each other are formed in a concavo-convex shape having a gap in the sheet width direction, and the staple binding portion of the sheet and the cutting edge of the fold blade 46 similarly formed in the concavo-convex shape are formed in this gap. It is designed to enter.

  Next, the operation of folding the sheet by the folding roller 45 will be described with reference to FIGS. The pair of folding rollers 46a and 46b is located in the middle of the stacker unit 35, and a folding blade 46 having a knife edge 142 is provided at a position facing the sheet bundle 100 supported by the stacker unit 35. . The folding blade 46 is supported by the apparatus frame so as to be able to reciprocate between a standby position in FIG. 5A and a nip position in FIG.

  Therefore, the sheet bundle 100 supported by the stacker portion 35 in a bundle shape is locked to the stopper 38 at the tip in the state shown in FIG. 5A, and the fold position is set to the folding position in a state where the sheet is bound with metal staples. Positioned. Upon obtaining the set end signal of the sheet bundle 100, the drive control means (“sheet bundle folding operation control unit 206” described later; the same applies hereinafter) turns off the clutch means.

Therefore, the sheet bundle folding operation control unit 206 moves the folding blade 46 from the standby position toward the nip position at a predetermined speed. Therefore, in the state of FIG. 5B, the sheet bundle 100 is bent at the fold position by the folding blade 46 and inserted between the rollers. At this time, the pair of folding rollers 45 are driven and rotated continuously with the sheet moved by the folding blade 46. Then, the sheet bundle folding operation control unit 206 stops the blade drive motor (not shown) after the expected time for the sheet bundle to reach a predetermined nip position, and stops the folding blade 46 at the position shown in FIG. Before and after this, the sheet bundle folding operation control unit 206 switches the clutch means to the ON state to drive and rotate the folding roller 45.
Then, the sheet bundle 100 is sent out in the feeding direction (left side in the figure). Thereafter, the sheet bundle folding operation control unit 206 moves and returns the folding blade 46 located at the nip position toward the standby position in parallel with the feeding of the sheet bundle 100 by the folding roller 45 in the state shown in FIG.

  When the sheet bundle 100 folded in this way is first engulfed between the pair of folding rollers 45, the sheet in contact with the roller surface is not drawn between the rollers by the rotating roller. That is, the folding roller 45 follows (follows) and rotates with the inserted (pushed) sheet, so that only the sheet in contact with the roller is not first wound. Further, since the roller follows and rotates following the inserted sheet, the roller surface and the sheet in contact therewith are not rubbed, and the image is not rubbed.

  Returning to FIG. 2 again, on the downstream side of the folding roller 45 described above, a sheet transfer path (hereinafter referred to as “transfer path”) 58 that guides the folded sheet to the second sheet discharge tray 22 that stores the booklet as a folded sheet bundle. The sheet bundle 100 folded into two in a booklet shape by the folding roller 45 is carried out to the second paper discharge tray 22. Therefore, in the transfer path 58, a batch punch unit 59 as a punching portion for punching punched holes in the bi-folded sheet bundle 100 at once, and a paper to be bound by a paper staple 68 to be described later at the leading end 100a of the bi-folded sheet bundle 100 further downstream. A stapler 60 is disposed. Further, post-punch pressurization is performed in this transfer path 58 so as to press the folded sheet bundle 100 in a folding direction (overlapping direction) between the batch punch unit 59 and the paper stapler 60 in order to ensure the folding. A roller 48 and a pressure roller 49 after stapling are arranged. Therefore, each of the folding roller 45, the post-punch pressure roller 48 as the first pressure roller, and the pressure roller 49 as the second pressure roller constitutes a means for conveying the folded sheet bundle 100. However, the front end of the sheet bundle of the present invention may be the front end side that is slightly spaced from the front end.

[Batch punch unit]
First, a batch punch unit 59 that punches punch holes in a bundle of sheets folded in two by the folding roller 45 will be described with reference to FIG. 6A is a side view, and FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view of the sheet bundle 100 from the conveyance direction. As shown in FIG. 6A, the collective punch unit 59 includes an upper guide 164 in which a punching mechanism such as a punch blade 153 is disposed, a die 155 that penetrates the punch blade 153, and a lower guide 165 in which a punch waste storage portion is disposed. It is composed of

In the upper guide 164, a drive shaft 158 rotated by a punch motor 162 and a drive cam 163 fixed to the drive shaft 158 are provided. The driving cam 163 is attached so that the operating arm 169 whose tip is attached to the punch blade 153 is always engaged. The operating arm 169 is attached so as to rotate about the rotation axis of the arm support frame 168 attached to the upper guide 164. The punch blade 153 and the operation arm 169 are attached so that a pin provided on the punch blade 153 fits into a long hole 173 provided at the tip of the operation arm 169. The other end of the operating arm 169 is in contact with the drive cam 163 via a roller. The roller 171 is biased against the driving cam 163 by a spring (not shown) and is brought into contact with the driving cam 163. The arm support frame 168 is provided with a punch blade guide 154 for guiding the vertical movement of the punch blade 153.

On the other hand, the lower guide 165 has a die 155 through which the punch blade 153 penetrates, and a punch blade 153 penetrates through the die 155 to punch punch holes in the sheet bundle 100 and stores punch waste in the punch holes. 166 can be taken out to the lower guide 165.

FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view of the batch punch unit 59 from the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle 100. A punch motor 162 is disposed at the end. The drive from the punch motor 162 is input to a drive shaft 158 that rotates the drive cam 163 via an inlet gear 159 and a gear train attached to the punch support frame 167. The rotation of the drive shaft 158 rotates the drive cam 163 and moves the punch blade 153 up and down as described above.

The phase of the drive cam 163 is set differently between the two inner punch units (fp) 152 and the punch units (rp) 151 on both sides thereof. This is because a punch hole (rp) for a simple ring through which a paper staple 68 (to be described later) passes is formed at the leading end 100a of the folded sheet bundle 100, and a punch hole (fp) for filing the folded sheet bundle 100 in a file. ) Are for performing the drilling operation independently. Accordingly, the two outer punch units become ring punch units (rp), and the two outer punch units become filing punch units (fp). The sheet bundle 100 folded in half by the folding blade 46 and the folding roller 45 is conveyed by the folding roller between the upper guide 164 and the lower guide 165. When punching holes, the sheet bundle 100 is collectively punched. To do.
By the way, as described above, in order to more reliably fold the folded sheet bundle 100 conveyed from the collective punch unit 59 on the downstream side of the collective punch unit 59, it is added in the folding direction (overlapping direction). A post-punch pressure roller 48 for pressing is provided in a direction crossing the conveying direction of the sheet bundle 100.

[Configuration of paper stapler]
Next, the paper stapler 60 that binds the back 100a side of the sheet bundle 100 folded in half with the paper staple 68 positioned on the downstream side of the batch punch unit 59 and the post-punching pressure roller 48 will be described. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of the paper stapler 60, FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram in which the paper staples 68 are passed through the ring punch by the batch punch unit 59 at the back of the leading end of the folded sheet bundle 100, and FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of a staple stapler 60, and FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of a paper stapler 60 of another embodiment of FIG.

The configuration of the paper staple 68 that is loaded on the paper stapler 60 and binds the sheet bundle will be described later. The paper staple 68 in the present application is a staple that binds the sheet bundle made of paper. The paper staples here may be thin plastic materials or the like as long as they are materials that are not only completely paper materials but also have the same flexibility as paper and can be discarded without being separated from paper. .

First, an outline of a paper stapler 60 in which the driver 53 and the clincher unit 57 shown in FIG. 7 are not separated will be described. The paper stapler 60 includes a frame 108 having a sheet insertion opening 107 and the like that are positioned below the drive motor 56 that drives the staples and into which the sheet bundle 100 is inserted, and a base 109 that supports the drive motor 56 and the frame 108. Configured.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the drive motor 56 is rotatably attached to the upper part of the frame 108. The drive motor 56 rotates the driver cam 52 when performing a binding operation. Further, when the roller-like paper staple 70 in which the paper staples 68 are connected to the staple holder 111 of the frame 108 to be described later is loaded, the staple cover 106 on the left side of the drive motor 56 is released. The upper surface of the frame 108 is in an open state.

The frame 108 includes a staple cartridge 51 as a staple loading unit for loading the roller-shaped paper staple 70 at the rear end. Further, the frame 108 includes a substantially planar conveyance path 113 as a staple conveyance unit that conveys the paper staple 68 forward from the staple holder 111. Plate springs (not shown) are provided on the left and right sides of the conveyance path 113.

The frame 108 is in the vicinity of the front end portion of the conveyance path 113 and rotates the driver cam 52 by driving the drive motor 56 to cut the paper staple 68 and form it into a substantially U shape. As a forming plate 115. The forming plate 115 is cut and molded. Further, the frame 108 includes a driver unit 69 as a staple penetrating portion for allowing the paper staple 68 to penetrate the binding sheet bundle 100 by driving of the driving motor 56. The driver unit 69 has a driver 53 that moves up and down a cutter blade 71 that allows a hole to penetrate the sheet. The frame 108 further includes a sheet presser 119 for pressing the binding sheet when the paper staple 68 is cut, molded, and penetrated.

Further, the frame 108 moves the paper staple 68 to the lower position of the conveyance path 113 from the position where the paper staple 68 is cut and molded to the position where the paper staple 68 penetrates the sheet bundle 100. As a moving mechanism, a pusher 117 biased forward by a spring is provided. Below the forming plate 1 15, the driver 53, the sheet presser 119, and the pusher 117, a sheet insertion slot 107 into which a binding sheet bundle to be bound is inserted and a table 120 on which the binding sheet is installed are provided.

At the lower part of the table 120, after passing the binding sheet bundle 100 at the penetration position, both the leg portions 61 and 62 of the paper staple 68 are bent along the sheet bundle 100, and both the bent leg portions 61 and 62 are bonded together. For this purpose, a bent portion is provided. A clincher unit 57, an extrusion unit 124, and a clincher slider 123 are provided as bent portions of the paper stapler 60, and the extrusion unit and the slider 126 are moved by the clincher motor 122 at an appropriate timing. The paper stapler 60 includes a clincher unit 57 including a clincher lifter 129 that supports a clincher center 127 and a clincher left 128 to determine a position as a bent portion.

 The paper stapler 60 has such a configuration, and moves the driver unit 69 through the sheet bundle 100 installed on the table 120 in the sheet insertion port 107 based on the operation of the drive motor 56. Then, the sheet bundle 100 is made to pass through the holes, and the paper staple 68 is inserted into the holes and bound.

[Explanation of cutter blade operation]
FIG. 8 is a view showing a cutter blade 71 provided for passing the paper staple 68 through the sheet bundle at the tip of the driver 53 shown in FIG. 7 and its operation.
The sheet bundle 100 has a punch hole (rp) for a ring formed at the leading end 100a of the folded sheet bundle by a batch punch unit 59 located on the upstream side of the paper stapler 60. A leg 62 on one side of the pair of staple legs 61 and 62 is passed through the ring punch hole (rp) through the ring punch hole, and the other leg 61 is located outside the front end 100 a of the folded sheet bundle 100. The position is shown.

FIG. 8A shows a state in which the paper staple 68 formed in a U shape by the forming plate 115 is set on the cutter blade 71 by the pusher 117. FIG. 8B shows a state where the paper staple 68 is lowered with the paper cutter 68 set on the cutter blade 71. The cutter blade 71 is in a state where one leg portion 62 is inserted into the ring punch hole of the sheet bundle 100 while holding the paper staple 68. On the other hand, the other leg portion 61 is in a state of being lowered at a position beyond the leading end 100 a of the folded sheet bundle 100. Thereafter, the leg portions 61 and 62 of the paper staple 68 are bent inward by the extrusion unit 124 and the clincher unit 57 and joined to each other. In accordance with this operation, when the driver 53 performs the upward return, the sheet bundle 100 is bound by the paper staples 68.

On the other hand, the cutter blade 71 returns to the original position as shown in FIG. 8C and waits for the next paper staple 68 to be mounted. In this way, the leading end 100a of the sheet bundle 100 is bound.
Therefore, when the punch holes (rp) for the ring are punched by the batch punch unit 59, a sheet bundle of simple ring binding shown in FIG. 14 (a) is obtained, and when the punch holes are not punched, the paper shown in FIG. 14 (b) is obtained. A folded sheet bundle 100 bound with staples is obtained. FIG. 14C shows a state in which a folded sheet bundle is bound only by the paper staples 68. Note that the details of the configuration of each part of the paper stapler 60 are detailed in the cited document 3 and will not be described here.

[Composition of paper staples]
Here, the paper staples 68 loaded in the paper stapler 60 of the present application will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9A shows the paper staple 68 in a flat state in which the rolled paper staple 70 loaded in the staple holder 111 is developed. FIG. 9B is a perspective view showing a state in which the paper staple 68 is formed in a substantially U shape. For example, these are configured as follows. The basic form is detailed in the conventional cited document 3.

 First, as shown in FIG. 9A, a plurality of paper staples 68 having a long and substantially straight shape are connected in parallel. Each paper staple 68 has, for example, a width of about 6 to 12 mm in the vertical direction (the connecting direction of the paper staples 68) in FIG. 9A, and the horizontal direction (longitudinal direction of the staples) in FIG. The width is about 25 to 50 mm. The vicinity of the end in the longitudinal direction of each paper staple 68 is formed in a trapezoidal shape, and the width becomes narrower toward the tip. Further, an adhesive portion 63 to which an adhesive is applied is provided on the back surface in the vicinity of the end portion in the longitudinal direction of each paper staple 68.

In addition, an elliptical feed hole is provided at a predetermined position from both ends of the sides where the paper staples 68 are connected and connected. Each paper staple 68 is completely cut off as a slit between the two feed holes. Out of the two feed holes, the paper staples 68 are connected as connecting and connecting portions 67 to both ends of the sides to which the paper staples 68 are connected. The feed hole is gradually fed with the feed claws on the stapler side engaged.

This paper staple 68 is provided with a folding position slit portion 64 cut into the inside of each paper staple at a substantially central position of the staple leg connecting portion 68a that connects the leg portions in the longitudinal direction of the staple. This is to make it easy to fold the paper staple itself so that the paper staple 68 is folded together with the sheet bundle 100 in the folding process described later.

Further, the paper staples 60 are separated from the staples in the connected state as shown in FIG. 9A by the paper stapler 60, and the staple leg connecting portions 68a and the staples are connected as shown in FIG. 9B. The staple leg portions 61 and 62 are formed in a substantially U shape by bending the leg connecting portion 68a at a substantially right angle from the left and right of the leg connecting portion 68a.

Thereafter, the paper staple 68 formed into a substantially U shape has the one leg portion 62 penetrating the sheet bundle 100 and the other leg moved in front of the front end 100a of the sheet bundle 100 in the order shown in FIG. The portions 61 are bent in directions facing each other, and the one leg portion 61 and the other leg portion 62 having the bonding portion 63 are bonded to each other.

The paper staple 68 shown in FIG. 9 is provided with the adhesive portion 63 on the back surface of one leg portion 62 in the longitudinal direction, but the adhesive portion 63 may be provided on the back surface of both the leg portions 61 and 62. In this case, the bonding portion 63 is bonded to the back surface of the sheet bundle with the leg portion 62 and bonded to the back surface of the leg portion 62 with the bonding portion 63 of the leg portion 61. Also in the paper staple 68, since the folding position slit portion 64 is provided in the staple leg connecting portion 68a, the folding processing is surely performed.

[Other examples of paper stapler / upper and lower separation type>
Up to this point, the non-separable type in which the driver unit 69 side and the clincher unit 57 side of the paper stapler 60 are not separated has been described. This is because the direction of the staple leg connecting portion 68a of the paper staple 68 is set in the same direction as the sheet conveyance direction, and the binding position is set so as to straddle the folding position of the sheet. However, if the driver unit 69 side and the clincher unit 57 side are separated as shown in FIG. 10 as another type, it can be set near the center in the paper width direction without any limitation in the width direction of the sheet bundle. it can.

This separation type will be described. 7 having the same functions as those of the non-separation type shown in FIG. First, in FIG. 10, the driver unit 69 side and the clincher unit 57 side are completely separated vertically. For this reason, the driver 53 or the like that is the mechanism of the driver unit 69 is placed on the base 109 that also serves as the upper sheet guide. The mechanism portion on the clincher unit 57 side is placed on the clincher base 130. Therefore, the folded sheet bundle 100 is conveyed along the direction 120 from the back side to the near side in FIG. The other mechanisms are the same as those of the paper stapler 60 shown in FIG.

[Planar layout from batch punch to paper stapler]
Next, a batch punch unit 59 disposed downstream of the pair of folding rollers 45 shown in FIG. 2 as shown in FIG. 11, a post-punch pressure roller 48 provided in a direction crossing the conveying direction of the sheet bundle 100, and a paper stapler. 60, the planar arrangement from the pressure roller 49 provided in the direction intersecting the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle 100 to the bundle discharge roller 50 from which the bundle is discharged will be described. FIG. 11 shows a state in which the sheet bundle 100 folded in two by the folding roller 45 is conveyed and the back 100a as the folding portion is positioned at the binding position of the paper stapler 60.

  First, a batch punch unit 59 is located on the downstream side of the folding roller 45, and a ring punch hole (fp) through which the paper staple 68 penetrates near the spine 100a of the sheet bundle 100 is formed in the width direction of the sheet bundle by the punch blade 153. Drill on both sides. A filing punch hole (fp) is punched by a punch blade 153 from the center of the sheet bundle width. On the downstream side of these punch blades 153, a post-punch pressure roller 48 for pressing the sheet bundle from the front and back is disposed in a region where the punched holes are pressed. The post-punch pressure roller 48 presses the folding of the double-folded sheet bundle 100 more reliably, and the burrs around the punch holes generated when the punch holes fp and rp punched by the punch blade 153 are punched. And the protrusions are pressed and flattened. Thereby, when the sheet bundle 100 with punch holes fp and rp punched is conveyed, burrs and protrusions of the punch holes can be caught in the transfer path 58 in the middle. The post-punch pressure roller 48 is not specifically shown, and the roller shaft is pressed by a spring.

  A sheet bundle alignment guide 74 for aligning the conveyance position of the folded sheet bundle is pressed from both sides of the sheet bundle on the downstream side of the post-punch pressure roller 48 so that the conveyance position does not shift. On this downstream side, paper staplers 60 placed on appropriate carriages 43 are placed on the left and right sides in the figure. Since the paper stapler 60 has been described with reference to FIG. 7 and subsequent figures, a staple cartridge 51 for storing the paper staple 68 in a roll state, a driver 53 for driving the cutter blade 71, and the driver 53 are not shown in FIG. A moving driver cam 52 and a drive motor 56 that rotates the driver cam 52 via a transmission belt 55 are shown.

  When the spine 100a at the front end of the folded sheet bundle 100 is positioned in the ring punch hole punched by the batch punch unit 59 at approximately the center in the conveyance direction of the cutter blade 71, the conveyance of the sheet bundle 100 is stopped, and the paper staple As shown in FIG. The paper staple 68 completes the binding and is conveyed toward the discharge port 22x again. A pressure roller 49 similar to the above-described post-punch pressure roller 48 is provided on the downstream side of the paper stapler 60 so as to ensure the folding of the folded sheet bundle 100. A bundle discharge roller 50 is provided on the downstream side of the pressure roller 49. As shown in FIG. 11, the pressure roller 49 and the bundle discharge roller 50 are set so as to avoid the position where the sheet bundle 100 is bound by passing the ring punch hole (rp) through the paper staple 68. Yes. The pressure roller 48 after punching is positioned so as to press the punch holes (rp, fp) punched by the batch punch unit 59, but the pressure roller 49 and the bundle discharge roller 50 are made of paper staples 68. The pressure roller 49 and the bundle discharge roller 50 are positioned so as to avoid the binding position so as to avoid the binding position, thereby preventing the peeling of the binding.

[Explanation of operations from batch punching to simple ring binding]
Next, the operation from the batch punch unit 59 as the punching portion having the above-described configuration to the binding portion by the paper staple 68 will be described with reference to FIGS.
In FIG. 12A, the sheet bundle 100 folded in half by the folding blade 46 and the folding roller 45 is conveyed by the folding roller 45 into the batch punch unit 59 with the back 100a on the folding side as the head. After detecting the leading end 100a of the folded sheet bundle 100 by a leading end detection sensor (not shown), the sheet bundle 100 is stopped at a position where one of the paper staples 68 penetrates.

Next, in FIG. 12B, the predetermined position near the spine 100 a of the stopped sheet bundle is punched with the punch blade 153 in a folded state. As described with reference to FIG. 6, the punch hole is punched by rotating the drive cam 163 and moving the operating arm 169 downward, whereby the punch blade 153 is also moved downward. Thereafter, when the drive cam 163 is rotated, the punch blade 153 is raised and the drive cam 163 is stopped at that position. Thereafter, when the folding roller 45 is rotated again in the metering direction, the folded sheet bundle 100 is conveyed downstream by the rotation of the pressure roller 48 after punching. Note that a 166 punch waste container is disposed below the punch blade 153.

  In FIG. 12C, the folded sheet bundle 100 is pressed by the post-punch pressure roller 48, and the movement of the sheet bundle 100 is stopped when the back 100 a of the sheet bundle at the leading end reaches between the cutter blades 71. The cutter blade 71 moves on the spine 100a from the state shown in FIG. 8 (a) to the state shown in FIG. 8 (b), and one leg portion 62 of the paper staple 68 is inserted into the ring punch hole (rp). The part 61 moves downward in front of the spine 100a.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 13A, the cutter blade 71 is raised, while the paper staple 68 is formed into a simple ring shape with the paper staple 68 at the back 100a of the sheet bundle 100 as shown in FIG. 8C. It will be bound. The sheet bundle bound with the back 100a by the paper staple 68 reaches the bundle discharge roller 50 while being pressed from above and below by the pressure roller 49, and is discharged toward the second discharge tray.
Note that the overlapping of one leg 61 and the other leg 62 in FIG. 8C is opposite to that in FIG. 8C (the leg 61 is positioned below the leg 62 and the adhesive part 63 is interposed therebetween). When the sheet bundle 100 is conveyed, peeling of these leg portions is reduced.

"Staple booklet"
Here, a booklet in a state in which the back 100a of the sheet bundle 100 is bound using the paper staple 68 by the saddle stitch stapler using the metal staple and the paper stapler 60 will be described with reference to FIGS. The binding booklet shown in FIG. 14 (a) is folded in half by a folding roller 45, and then a punching hole (rp) and a filing punch hole (fp) are punched by a batch punching unit 59, and a paper stapler 60 The staple 68 is bound through a ring punch hole (rp) and bound. According to this, a simple ring-shaped binding booklet can be generated.
The booklet of FIG. 14B shows a booklet in which the back 100 a of the sheet bundle 100 is bound only by the paper staples 68 without operating the batch punch unit 59. In this case, an environmentally friendly booklet can be provided without punching holes in the sheet bundle and using metal staples relatively firmly.

The booklet shown in FIG. 15A is obtained by binding only the upper side of the back 100a of the sheet bundle 100 with only the paper staples 68 without operating the batch punch unit 59 as in the booklet of FIG. 14B. Show. This can be created by operating only the paper stapler 60 of FIG. The booklet shown in FIG. 15 (b) is obtained by driving metallic staples with the saddle stitch stapler 40 without using the paper staples 68 as shown in FIGS. 14 (a), 14 (b) and 15 (a). This is a booklet in which filing punch holes (fp) are punched by a batch punch unit 59 after folding. Since this compound drilling filing punch holes (fp) of the sheet bundle 10 0 after binding with metal Suthep 40a, it is less punch holes is shifted.
As described above, the apparatus of the present invention can provide a booklet with variations of the generated saddle stitch booklet in consideration of the environment and the like.

[Storage unit 22]
As shown in FIG. 2, a first paper discharge tray 21 and a second paper discharge tray 22 are arranged vertically on the side wall of the casing 20, and the first paper discharge tray 21 is bound from the first processing unit BX1. It is arranged on the downstream side of the processing tray 29 so as to store the sheet bundle. The second paper discharge tray 22 includes a discharge port 22x, and is disposed on the downstream side of the stacker unit 35 so as to store the sheet bundle 100 processed in a booklet form from the second processing unit BX2.
The first paper discharge tray 21 is adjacent to be connected to the outlet end (tray discharge port) of the processing tray 29, and the second paper discharge tray 22 is connected to a stacker unit 35 and a folding processing unit including a folding roller 45. The sheet bundle 100 folded in half is disposed downstream through a batch punch unit 59 for punching punch holes and a paper stapler 60.

[Description of control configuration]
The control configuration of the above-described image forming system will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The image forming system shown in FIG. 1 includes a control unit (hereinafter referred to as “main body control unit”) 180 of the image forming apparatus A and a control unit (hereinafter referred to as “post-processing control unit”) 190 of the post-processing apparatus B. The main body control unit 180 includes an image formation control unit 181, a paper feed control unit 182, and an input unit 183. Then, the “image forming mode” and “post-processing mode” are set from the controller panel 18 provided in the input unit 183. As described above, the image forming mode sets the number of printouts, sheet size, color / monochrome printing, enlargement / reduction printing, duplex / single-sided printing, and other image formation conditions. The main body control unit 180 controls the image formation control unit 181 and the paper feed control unit 182 according to the set image forming conditions, and after the image is formed on a predetermined sheet, the sheets are sequentially carried out from the main body discharge port 3. .

  At the same time, the post-processing mode is set by input from the controller panel 18. The post-processing mode is set to, for example, “print-out mode”, “staple stitching finishing mode”, or “sheet bundle folding finishing mode”. In this “bundle folding finishing mode”, “booklet finishing mode”, “saddle stitching mode”, “ “Paper staple binding mode”, “paper staple simple ring binding mode” and the like are set. Therefore, the main body control unit 180 instructs the post-processing control unit 190 to finish the finishing process, the number of sheets, the upper number of copies, and the binding mode (one-position binding, two or more bindings, metal staple binding, paper staple binding). Transfer information. At the same time, the main body control unit 180 transfers a job end signal to the post-processing control unit 190 every time image formation is completed.

  The post-processing control unit 190 includes a control CPU 191 that operates the post-processing apparatus B according to a designated finishing mode, a ROM 192 that stores an operation program, and a RAM 193 that stores control data. The control CPU 191 includes a sheet conveyance control unit 196 that performs conveyance of the sheet sent to the carry-in entrance 23, a sheet accumulation operation control unit 197 that performs sheet accumulation operation, and a binding operation control that performs sheet binding processing. Unit 202, sheet bundle folding operation control unit 206 that executes a bundle folding operation of sheets, batch punch control unit 207 that collectively punches the folded sheet bundle 100, and paper staples on the back 100a of the leading end of the sheet bundle A ring binding control unit 209.

  The sheet conveyance control unit 196 is connected to the control circuit for the drive motor (not shown) of the carry-in roller 24 and the paper discharge roller 25 in the first conveyance path P1 described above, and from the sheet sensor S1 disposed in this carry-in path. The detection signal is configured to be received. Further, in order to accumulate sheets on the processing tray 29, the sheet is connected to the forward / reverse rotation motor MY of the forward / reverse rotation roller 30. The sheet stacking operation control unit 198 is connected to shift motors MZ1 and MZ2 of a pair of left and right side alignment plates 34b for aligning sheets on the processing tray, and the binding operation control unit 202 is further configured to bind end faces of the processing tray 29. The device 33 and the stacker unit 35 are connected to a drive circuit of a drive motor MD built in the saddle stitching stapler 40.

  The sheet bundle folding operation control unit 206 is connected to a driving circuit of a driving motor that drives and rotates the folding roller 45 and a driving circuit of a clutch unit. Further, the sheet bundle folding operation control unit 206 is connected to a control circuit of a shift unit that controls the movement of the transport roller 36 and the stopper 38 at the tip of the stacker unit 35 of the second carry-in path P2 to a predetermined position. Moreover, it has wired so that a detection signal may be received from the sheet sensor arrange | positioned in these paths | routes.

  The batch punch control unit 207 of the folded sheet bundle 100 includes an encoder sensor 160 and the punch cam position control means 208 is connected to a drive circuit of a batch punch motor 162 that drives and rotates a drive cam 163 that moves the punch blade 153 up and down. Has been. Further, although not particularly illustrated, it is configured to receive a detection signal from a sensor that detects the position of the leading end 100a of the sheet bundle 100.

  The ring binding control unit 209 that binds the paper staple 68 to the spine 100 a that is the leading end of the sheet bundle 100 includes a paper stapler control unit 210 and moves a driver 53 that drives the paper staple 68 into the sheet bundle 100. 56 and the clincher motor 122 that operates the clincher unit 57 that bends and joins the leg portions 61 and 62 of the driven paper staple 68 in a direction facing each other.

The control unit configured as described above causes the post-processing apparatus B to execute the next processing operation.
"Printout mode"
In this mode, the image forming apparatus A forms an image of a series of documents from the first page, for example, and sequentially unloads the sheet from the main body discharge port 3 in a face-down manner, and the sheet sent to the first conveyance path P1 reaches the discharge roller 25. Led. Therefore, after the estimated time that the sheet leading edge reaches the forward / reverse rotation roller 30 of the processing tray 29 based on the signal detected by the sheet discharge roller 25, the sheet conveyance control unit 196 moves the forward / reverse rotation roller 30 from the upper standby position onto the tray. And the roller is rotated clockwise in FIG. Then, the sheet that has entered the processing tray 29 is carried out toward the first paper discharge tray 21 by the forward / reverse rotation roller 30 and stored on the tray. The successive sheets are sequentially carried out to the first paper discharge tray 21 and accumulated and stored on the tray.
Accordingly, in this printout mode, the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming apparatus A passes through the first conveyance path P1 of the post-processing apparatus B and is accommodated in the first paper discharge tray 21. They are stacked and stored in the order of n pages.

"Staple binding finish mode"
In this mode, the image forming apparatus A forms an image of a series of documents from the first page to the nth page in the same manner as in the above-described mode, and carries out a face-down state from the main body discharge port 3 and enters the first transport path P1. The fed sheet is guided to the paper discharge roller 25. After the expected time that the leading edge of the sheet reaches the forward / reverse roller 30 of the processing tray 29 based on the signal detected at the roller outlet, the sheet conveyance control unit 196 lowers the forward / reverse roller 30 from the upper standby position onto the tray. The forward / reverse roller 30 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. Next, the sheet conveyance control unit 196 rotationally drives the forward / reverse rotation roller 30 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 2 after the estimated time when the sheet rear end is carried onto the processing tray 29. Then, the sheet that has entered from the paper discharge roller is switched back and conveyed onto the processing tray 29. By repeating this sheet conveyance, a series of sheets are stacked on the processing tray 29 in a face-down state.

  Each time the sheets are stacked on the processing tray 29, the control CPU 161 operates the side alignment plate 34b to align the width direction positions of the stacked sheets. Next, the control CPU 161 operates the edge-binding staple unit 31 in response to a job end signal from the image forming apparatus A to bind the trailing edge of the sheet bundle 100 stacked on the processing tray. After this stapling operation, the control CPU 161 moves the sheet bundle 100 by the carry-out means such as the grip claw 33a. Then, the stapled sheet bundle 100 is carried out and stored in the first paper discharge tray 21. As a result, a series of sheets formed by the image forming apparatus A are stapled and stored in the first paper discharge tray 21.

"Booklet finishing mode"
Next, the sheets conveyed through the second conveying path are temporarily accumulated by the stacker unit 35 to form a sheet bundle 100, and this sheet bundle is folded and processed by the folding blade 46 and the pair of folding rollers 45. The “mode” will be described. This “booklet finishing mode” is a mode in which the sheet bundle is stacked on the second discharge tray without being folded. In this case, the sheets sequentially fed through the second conveyance path by the conveyance roller 36 are conveyed to the stacker unit 35 arranged in a substantially vertical direction and discharged. The discharged sheets are collected at the leading end (lower end in FIG. 2) at the sheet receiving position Sh3 by the stopper 38 and accumulated as a bundle. At that time, both side edges in the width direction are adjusted by the sheet side edge aligning member 39 located in the sheet width direction. The sheet receiving position of Sh3 moves up and down depending on the sheet size.

Since the sheet bundle 100 is not bound in this booklet finishing mode, the stopper 38 moves to the sheet bundle folding position Sh1 at the lowermost end of the stack portion. This position is set to a central position that is a half of the sheet length. Thereafter, the folding blade 46 is moved in the folding direction of the sheet bundle by the sheet bundle folding operation control unit 206 and the folding roller 45 is rotated, and the sheet bundle 100 is folded in half by the pressing force of this roller. The other sheet bundle 100 that is folded in half is conveyed with the folding leading end 100a as the head at the top, and is fed by a bundle discharge roller 50 through a post-punch pressure roller 48 and a pressure roller 49 to increase folding more reliably. The sheet bundle folded in two on the second discharge tray 22 is discharged.

"Saddle stitching mode"
In this mode, the center of the sheet bundle 100 in the conveyance direction is bound using metal staples, and then the folding process is performed by the folding roller 45 or the like to discharge the bound booklet to the second tray. In this process, each sheet discharged by the conveyance roller 36 is received at the sheet receiving position Sh3. When the acceptance is completed, the center of the sheet bundle in the conveyance direction is lowered by the stopper 38 to the sheet bundle binding position Sh2 in FIG. The lowering position is controlled by the binding control unit so as to be in the center of the sheet bundle 100. When the sheet bundle is positioned at this position, the sheet bundle 100 is bound as shown in FIG.

When the binding is completed, the sheet bundle 100 is moved down to the folding position Sh1, which is the position where the sheet bundle 100 is folded. Thereafter, the sheet bundle 100 is folded in half by the folding roller 45 and the folding blade 46 described above. Then, it is discharged to the second discharge tray through the post-punch pressure roller 48, the pressure roller 49, and the bundle discharge roller 50. FIG. 15B shows a booklet in which the batch punch motor 162 is operated by the batch punch control unit 207 during the conveyance with the folding row 45 to punch the filing punch holes (fp).

"Paper stapling mode"
In this mode, the folding staple 100a, which is the back of the sheet bundle 100 folded in half by the folding roller 45 or the like, operates the paper stapler 60 by the ring binding control unit and performs the binding process by the paper staple 68.
Here, similarly to the booklet finishing mode, the folding roller 45 and the folding blade 46 are folded in two without being bound by the stacker unit 35. After that, when the folding leading end 100a as the spine is positioned within the range of the cutter blade of the paper stapler 60, the drive motor 56 is actuated to lower the driver 53 and bind the paper staples. FIG. 14B shows a booklet in which the left and right paper staplers 60 shown in FIG. 11 are actuated to bind the folding leading end 100a which is the back of the sheet bundle 100, and only one paper stapler 60 is actuated. The binding is shown in FIG.

"Paper staple simple ring binding mode"
In this mode, before the folding tip 100a which is the back of the sheet bundle is bound by the paper staple 68 described above, the batch punch motor 162 of the batch punch unit 59 is driven by the batch punch control unit 207 and the folding roller 45 or the like is used. A punch hole is punched in the vicinity of the folded leading end 100a which is the back of the folded sheet bundle 100. The position of the punch hole is set to a position (rp, see FIG. 8) through which one leg of the paper staple 68 driven by the paper stapler 60 located on the downstream side of the batch punch unit 59 penetrates. The batch punch unit 59 can also punch holes (fp) for filing booklets. As a result, a booklet with simple ring binding close to ring binding as shown in FIG.
In the present invention, the saddle stitching stapler 40 by the binding operation control unit 202 and the paper stapler 60 in the ring binding control unit 209 are controlled to be selectively executed.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a post-processing apparatus (sheet handling apparatus) in the system of FIG. 1. FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams of an end-face binding stapler device in the apparatus of FIG. 2, in which FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the saddle stitch stapler in the apparatus of FIG. 2, (a) is the whole structure, (b) is explanatory drawing of a clincher. FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams of a folding roller mechanism in the apparatus of FIG. 2, in which FIG. 3A shows a state where the sheet bundle 100 is accumulated, FIG. 2B shows a state where the sheet bundle 100 is inserted into the folding roller with a folding blade, and FIG. The initial state of folding with the folding roller is shown in (d), and the sheet bundle 100 is folded with the folding roller. It is explanatory drawing of the batch punch unit in the apparatus of FIG. 2, (a) is side explanatory drawing of the unit, (b) is sectional explanatory drawing of the unit. It is a block diagram of the paper stapler in the apparatus of FIG. FIG. 8 shows a state in which a sheet bundle having a ring punch hole punched in the apparatus of FIG. 7 is bound by a paper stapler. FIG. 7A shows a state in which the cutter blade starts to descend, and FIG. The state which the stapler penetrated to the punch hole rp for rings is shown, (c) The state which was mutually bent by the paper staple clincher which is not shown in figure, and the leg part adhere | attached and bound is shown. FIGS. 8A and 8B are explanatory views of a paper staple used in the apparatus of FIG. 7, wherein FIG. 8A shows a state where the paper staple is developed, and FIG. 8B is a perspective view of the paper staple used for binding. It is explanatory drawing of the separation type paper stapler which is the other Example of FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a plan view from a batch punch unit to a second discharge tray of the apparatus of FIG. 2. 12A and 12B are diagrams for explaining an operation state of the apparatus of FIG. 11, in which FIG. 11A is a state where a sheet bundle is folded in two by a folding roller and conveyed to a batch punch unit, and FIG. The state which has punched the hole at the tip of is shown. FIG. 13 shows a state following the operation shown in FIG. 12, wherein (a) shows a state in which a paper staple is inserted into a punch hole position of a sheet bundle having punch holes punched at the leading end, and (b) shows a sheet bundle leading end. The paper staples are bound and discharged. The booklet produced by this invention is shown, (a) shows the booklet bound in the simple ring state by paper staples to the booklet which the punch hole for ring and the punch hole for filing punched by the batch punch unit, (b) FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a booklet in which the booklet front end is bound with paper staples without punching holes; 1A shows a booklet made according to the present invention, FIG. 1A shows a booklet that is operated with only one of the paper staplers of FIG. 11 and is bound with paper staples on one side, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the booklet which punched the punch hole for filing in the made booklet. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control configuration in the image forming system of FIG. 1.

21 First discharge tray 22 Second discharge tray 29 Processing tray 33 End face stapling device 35 Stacker unit 38 Stopper (tip regulating member)
40 Saddle Stitcher 45 Folding Roller 46 Folding Blade 48 Post-Punch Pressure Roller 49 Pressure Roller 50 Bundle Discharge Roller 59 Batch Punch Unit 60 Paper Stapler 68 Paper Staple 71 Cutter Blade 100 Sheet Bundle 100a Sheet Bundle Tip 153 Punch Blade 162 Punch motor 163 Drive cam 190 Post-processing control unit

Claims (9)

A stacker unit for temporarily collecting discharged sheets;
A folding unit that folds the sheet bundle accumulated in the stacker unit;
A sheet processing apparatus including a conveying unit that conveys the folded side of the sheet bundle that has undergone the middle folding process,
A punching portion for punching a punch hole is provided at the folding-side end of the sheet bundle that is folded and conveyed by the center folding processing portion, and a binding processing portion that performs binding with paper staples is disposed in the punch hole. Sheet processing apparatus. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that disposed between said said perforations folding unit the binding processing unit. The paper staple comprises a pair of legs and a leg connecting part that connects the legs,
In the binding process, one leg portion is passed through the punch hole, the other leg portion is positioned outside the folding tip, and the leading end of the sheet bundle is bound by folding it to the side facing each other. Item 3. The sheet processing apparatus according to Item 2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a first pressure roller that pressurizes the perforated portion and the binding portion in a direction in which folding of the folded sheet bundle is increased. 5. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first pressure roller is provided in an area through which at least a punch hole punched by the front punching portion passes in a sheet width direction intersecting a conveyance direction of the folded sheet bundle. . 5. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a second pressure roller that applies pressure in a direction in which folding of the sheet bundle that has been subjected to folding processing is increased downstream of the binding unit. 7. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second pressure roller is provided at a position that avoids the binding position of the paper staple in the sheet width direction intersecting with the conveying direction of the folded sheet bundle. A stacker unit for temporarily collecting discharged sheets;
A folding unit that folds the sheet bundle accumulated in the stacker unit;
A sheet processing apparatus including a conveying unit configured to convey a folded side of the sheet bundle folded in the middle folding processing unit,
The middle folding processing unit is composed of a folding blade that moves in the folding direction with respect to the stacked sheet bundle and a pair of folding rollers that sandwich the sheet bundle moved by the folding blade,
The folding roller has a punching portion that punches a punch hole at the leading end of the sheet bundle conveyed with the folding side as the leading end, and a pair of legs on the downstream side of the punching portion, and binds the sheet bundle with paper staples. A binding means is arranged, and the binding means is a folded sheet obtained by passing one leg through the punch hole punched in the punching section and bending the other leg downstream from the front end of the folding side so as to face each other. A sheet processing apparatus for binding a leading end of a bundle. Image forming means for forming an image on a sheet;
A sheet processing apparatus that performs post-processing on the sheet from the image forming unit;
An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1.

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