JP6299239B2 - Sheet processing apparatus, image forming apparatus including the same, and image forming system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides a sheet processing apparatus (also referred to as a sheet post-processing apparatus) that performs post-processing including cutting of a predetermined portion (so-called small edge) of a stack of sheets on which sheets are stacked, and serves as a destination for discharged sheets. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a paper processing apparatus that is used in combination with an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and performs post-processing as a destination for a paper discharged from a discharge unit of the image forming apparatus, a central portion for one or more sheets The booklet can be bound with a pair of folding rollers installed in parallel with the paper folding direction, allowing the saddle stitch booklet to be bound, further improving the quality of the saddle stitch booklet, reducing the size of the device, and cost. For the purpose of aiming at down, for example, a technique for cutting a small edge of a saddle-stitched booklet by sliding a round blade is already known.

  As a well-known technique related to the edge cutting of saddle-stitched booklets in such a field, for example, “a sheet bundle cutting apparatus, a sheet processing apparatus, and image formation that can cut a thick sheet bundle with a small cutting force and a small number of cutting operations” Apparatus "(see Patent Document 1).

  The technique described in Patent Document 1 described above is a method in which a round blade-type cutting blade is slid to the left and right while reciprocating while holding the sheet bundle in order to cut the edge of the sheet bundle in which a plurality of stacked sheets are aligned with a small cutting force. However, if the number of sheets to be cut (sheet bundle) becomes thicker and thicker, the number of times that the cutting blade is slid back and forth increases, resulting in reduced productivity. The problem cannot be avoided.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and the technical problem is that the number of sheets increases when a predetermined position (small edge) of a sheet bundle is cut by sliding the round blade back and forth. To provide a paper processing apparatus having a function capable of increasing the cutting amount per time, shortening the cutting time, and cutting with good productivity even when the thickness is increased, an image forming apparatus including the same, and an image forming system. It is in.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a sheet processing apparatus comprising: a cutting unit that cuts a predetermined portion of a sheet bundle on which sheets are stacked; and a transport unit that transports the sheet bundle to the cutting unit. The cutting means is disposed on one main surface side and the other main surface side of the sheet bundle, and a round blade pressed in a direction perpendicular to the sheet surface of the sheet bundle has one main surface and the other of the sheet bundle. The cutting is performed by repeatedly reciprocating the slide while being in contact with the main surface.

According to the present invention, the above structure, when cutting the round blade by sliding back and forth small of the sheet bundle, the sheet bundle surface direction (upper surface direction), it is possible to cut simultaneously from the rear direction (the lower surface direction), Even when the number of sheets increases and becomes thicker, it is possible to increase the cutting amount per time, shorten the cutting time, and perform cutting with high productivity.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a basic configuration of a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus provided in the paper processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3A shows a post-processing transition of a sheet bundle by the saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus shown in FIG. 2, in which FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a conveyance state during a saddle stitching and folding process of a sheet bundle, and FIG. FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating an alignment operation state in which the conveyance direction of the bundle is aligned, FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating an upward movement state of the aligned sheet bundle, and FIG. 8D is a diagram illustrating a folding state by folding processing of the sheet bundle. () Is a diagram showing a discharge state of a sheet bundle after folding processing and fore edge cutting. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a transition of a cutting operation for a saddle stitch booklet by a cutting device according to an example applicable as a small edge cutting mechanism provided in the saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus shown in FIG. (A) is a diagram regarding the initial cutting state in the forward direction, (b) is a diagram regarding the late cutting state in the forward direction, and (c) is a diagram regarding the initial cutting state in the backward direction. The outline which showed the halfway state of the cutting operation in the outward direction with respect to the saddle-stitched booklet by the cutting device which can be applied as a small edge cutting mechanism with which the saddle-stitch bookbinding apparatus shown in FIG. FIG.

  Embodiments of a sheet processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus including the sheet processing apparatus, and an image forming system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This sheet processing apparatus performs post-processing including cutting a predetermined portion (small edge) of a stack of sheets on which sheets are stacked as a destination of a sheet discharged from a discharge unit of a schematic image forming apparatus. The stack unit receives sheets one by one from the discharge unit and sequentially stacks and aligns them to create a sheet bundle. The stack unit conveys the sheet bundle downstream and conveys the sheet bundle by a sheet bundle discharge roller 10. The sheet bundle processing apparatus 1 to be discharged and the sheet bundle are received from the discharge port of the sheet bundle processing apparatus 1, and a saddle stitch booklet is created as a folding process by the folding means, and a saddle stitch booklet is created. A saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus 2 to which a fore edge cutting mechanism serving as a cutting means for cutting the edge is applied is connected.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus 2 provided in the sheet processing apparatus. FIG. 3 shows the post-processing transition of the sheet bundle by the saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus 2, and FIG. 3A shows the conveyance state during the saddle stitching and folding process of the sheet bundle. (B) is a diagram showing an alignment operation state in which the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle is aligned, (c) is a diagram showing an upward movement state of the aligned sheet bundle, and (d) is a sheet bundle folding process. FIG. 5E is a diagram showing the folded state, and FIG. 5E is a diagram showing the discharged state of the sheet bundle after the folding process.

  Referring to FIG. 2, in the saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus 2, the sheet bundle superposed and aligned in the sheet bundle processing apparatus 1 by the opposing entrance roller 201 is carried into the apparatus. A branching claw 202 provided on the downstream side of the entrance roller 201 switches between a path 207 for saddle stitching and middle folding that extends downward and a path for passing through that path 207 extends in a vertical direction. I do. A sheet bundle passing through the passage path is carried out to a discharge tray or a downstream portion in the apparatus (not shown) by the upper discharge roller 203 facing the sheet bundle.

  The sheet bundle for which the saddle stitching / folding process is selected is arranged along the path 207 for the saddle stitching / folding process to the position shown in FIG. Is conveyed by. At this time, the position of the sheet bundle in the path 207 is detected by the sheet position detection sensor 291, but the leading end of the sheet bundle contacts the movable fence 210 that is waiting and is stacked. However, the stop position of the movable fence 210 here stands by in a different form depending on the size of the sheet bundle in the conveyance direction. When the leading end of the sheet bundle comes into contact with and stacks on the movable fence 210 that is waiting, the pressure of the lower conveying roller 206 is released as shown in FIG. The trailing edge tapping claw 221 that has been moved with driving is struck by the trailing edge of the sheet bundle, and the final alignment is performed by the saddle stitching jogger fence 225 disposed in the saddle stitching space 208 connected to the path 207 below. An alignment operation is performed in which the width direction is aligned and the conveyance direction is aligned by the movable fence 210 and the rear end tapping claw 221.

  At this time, matching is performed by changing and setting the pushing amount of the trailing edge tapping claw 221 and the saddle stitching jogger fence 225 to optimum values based on the size information, the number of sheets information, and the sheet thickness information. In addition, since the space in the conveyance path (in the path 207) decreases when the thickness of the paper bundle is increased, the alignment may not be completed in a single alignment operation. Therefore, the alignment state can be improved by increasing the number of alignments. Can be obtained. Further, the time for sequentially stacking the sheets in the upstream sheet bundle processing apparatus 1 increases as the number of sheets increases, so that it takes more time to accept the next sheet bundle, resulting in an increase in the number of alignments. However, since there is no loss in the post-processing time of the apparatus, it is possible to efficiently perform good matching. In other words, the number of alignments can be controlled according to the upstream processing time.

  Therefore, the center of the aligned sheet bundle is bound by the saddle stitching stapler 220. Here, the movable fence 210 is positioned by pulse control from the movable fence home position sensor 292, and the rear end tapping claw 221 is positioned by pulse control from the rear end tapping claw home position sensor 294. As shown in FIG. 3C, the saddle-stitched sheet bundle is moved by the lower conveyance roller 206 after the rear end tapping claw 221 is moved to the home position in accordance with the clockwise driving of the driving belt 222. While the pressure is released, the movable fence 210 is moved upward as it moves.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3 (d), the vicinity of the staple portion of the bound sheet bundle is pushed by a folding plate 215 as a folding means in a substantially right-angle direction and guided to the nip of the opposing folding roller 230. It is burned. The folding roller 230, which has been rotated in advance, creates a saddle-stitched booklet by performing a folding process on the center of the sheet bundle by pressure-conveying the sheet bundle, and further uses the edge-cutting mechanism 240 as a cutting means to cut the edge of the saddle-stitched booklet. Is cut. Here, the folding roller 230 functions as a conveying unit that conveys the saddle stitch booklet (sheet bundle) when cutting by the fore edge cutting mechanism 240 and a sheet suppressing unit that suppresses the sheet binding booklet.

  Further, the saddle-stitched booklet that has been subjected to the folding process and the fore edge cutting is discharged by the opposed lower discharge roller 231 as shown in FIG. At this time, when the trailing edge of the saddle-stitched booklet is detected by the folding portion passage sensor 293, the folding plate 215 and the movable fence 210 are returned to the home position, the pressure of the lower conveying roller 206 is restored, and the next sheet is detected. Prepare to receive a bundle. Incidentally, if the next job is a sheet bundle of the same size and the same number, the movable fence 210 may be moved again to the position shown in FIG.

  By the way, in the paper processing apparatus according to the embodiment, the basic structure of the fore edge cutting mechanism 240 as the cutting means described above is arranged on one main surface side and the other main surface side of the paper bundle (saddle stitch booklet). A feature is that a round blade pressed in a direction perpendicular to the sheet surface of the sheet bundle has a function of performing cutting while being in contact with one main surface and the other main surface of the sheet bundle. Incidentally, one main surface of the sheet bundle indicates the surface or top surface of the sheet bundle, and the other main surface indicates the back surface or bottom surface of the sheet bundle. This will be described as the lower surface.

  FIG. 4 shows the transition of the cutting operation for the saddle-stitched booklet 311 by the cutting device according to an example applicable as the fore-edge cutting mechanism 240 provided in the above-described saddle-stitched bookbinding apparatus 2 in the transport direction of the saddle-stitched booklet 311 in stages. FIG. 4A is a diagram regarding an initial cutting state in the forward direction, FIG. 5B is a diagram regarding a late cutting state in the forward direction, and FIG. 4C is an initial cutting state in the backward direction. FIG.

  Referring to the initial cutting state in the forward direction shown in FIG. 4A, this cutting device is arranged on the upper surface side and the lower surface side of the saddle stitch booklet 311 and is perpendicular to the paper surface of the saddle stitch booklet 311. Are provided with a pair of round blades 301 and 302 that are elastically urged and pressed by springs 305 and 306 as pressing members, and the round blades 301 and 302 are bound as shown by dotted lines before starting cutting. The booklet 311 is in a stopped state located outside one end side, and the center of rotation of the round blades 301 and 302 is previously saddle-stitched so that the round blades 301 and 302 do not touch each other without the saddle-stitched booklet 311. The booklet 311 is offset from the position on the same straight line in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface. The offset setting for the position of the rotation center of the round blades 301 and 302 is effective to prevent cutting scraps from coming out when the round blades 301 and 302 pass through the same position when the saddle stitch booklet 311 is cut. At the start of cutting, when the round blade 301 pressed by the spring 305 and the round blade 302 pressed by the spring 306 move to the position indicated by the solid line in the right direction of the arrow that is the forward direction, the saddle stitch booklet 311 is It is cut with the cutting depth d1 by the round blade 301 on the side, and is cut with the cutting depth d2 by the round blade 302 on the lower surface side.

  In addition, referring to the state of the late cutting in the forward direction shown in FIG. 4B, the round blade 301 pressed by the spring 305 and the round blade 302 pressed by the spring 306 as shown by the dotted line are the forward path. When the sheet is continuously moved in the direction and cut to the end of the saddle-stitched booklet 311, the pair of round blades 301 and 302 pass over the saddle-stitched booklet 311 as shown by the solid line in the forward direction. The saddle-stitched booklet 311 is stopped outside the other end and is prepared for cutting in the return direction.

  Further, referring to the initial cutting state in the backward direction shown in FIG. 4C, the pattern is the reverse of the case described in FIG. 4A, and at the start of cutting, the round blade 301 pressed by the spring 305 and When the round blade 302 pressed by the spring 306 moves to the position indicated by the solid line in the arrow left direction which is the return path direction, the saddle-stitched booklet 311 is cut at the cutting depth d3 by the round blade 301 on the upper surface side. The lower blade 302 is cut with a cutting depth d4.

  The cutting in the return direction also ends in a stopped state in which the pair of round blades 301 and 302 passes through the saddle stitch booklet 311 and is located outside one end of the saddle stitch booklet 311. The cutting operation by reciprocating the blades 301 and 302 is repeated a predetermined number of times until the cutting is completed.

  According to the cutting apparatus here, the round blades 301 and 302 that contact the upper and lower surfaces of the saddle-stitched booklet 311 are configured to be slidably pressed in a direction perpendicular to the saddle-stitched booklet 311. 301 and 302 can be simultaneously cut while being pressed against the upper surface side and the lower surface side of the saddle-stitched booklet 311, and even when the number of sheets of the saddle-stitched booklet 311 increases and becomes thicker, The cutting amount can be increased, the cutting time can be shortened, and cutting can be performed with high productivity.

  FIG. 5 shows the intermediate state of the cutting operation in the forward direction with respect to the saddle stitch booklet 311 by the cutting device according to another example applicable as the fore edge cutting mechanism 240 provided in the saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus 2 described above. It is the schematic shown by the direction.

  Referring to FIG. 5, this cutting device is used as a pressing member having the same functional configuration other than the round blade 301 that contacts the upper surface of the saddle stitch booklet 311 described in FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (c). The round blade 303 pressed by the spring 307 is provided adjacently, and the round blade 302 pressed by the spring 308 as a pressing member having the same functional configuration is also provided for the round blade 302 that contacts the lower surface of the saddle stitch booklet 311. Are provided adjacent to each other.

  In this cutting apparatus, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, in the cutting operation in the forward direction, first, cutting is performed at the cutting depth d1 by the round blade 301 on the upper surface side of the saddle stitch booklet 311, and the round blade 302 on the lower surface side. After the cutting at the cutting depth d2 is performed, the cutting at the cutting depth d3 by the round blade 303 on the upper surface side of the adjacent saddle stitch booklet 311 and the cutting depth d4 by the round blade 304 at the lower surface side are continued. Therefore, it is possible to increase the depth of cut with a single cutting operation, and continuous with a plurality of round blades (showing combinations of round blades 301 and 303 and round blades 302 and 304). Productivity can be further improved by performing appropriate cutting.

  The sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment described above is characterized by the detailed structure of the cutting apparatus applied to the edge cutting mechanism 240 provided in the saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus 2, but integrated with the image forming apparatus. In this case, the image forming system is a combination of the image forming apparatus and the sheet processing apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sheet bundle processing apparatus 2 Saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus 10 Sheet bundle discharge roller 201 Entrance roller 202 Branch claw 203 Upper sheet discharge roller 205 Upper conveyance roller 207 Path 208 Space for saddle stitching 210 Movable fence 220 Saddle stitch stapler 221 222 Driving belt 225 Saddle stitching jogger fence 230 Folding roller 231 Lower discharge roller 240 Small edge cutting mechanism 291 Paper position detection sensor 292 Movable fence home position sensor 294 Rear end tapping claw home position sensor 301, 302, 303, 304 Round blade 305 , 306, 307, 308 Spring 311 Saddle-stitched booklet

JP 2005-169599 A

Claims (6)

In a sheet processing apparatus comprising: a cutting unit that cuts a predetermined portion of a sheet bundle on which sheets are stacked; and a transport unit that transports the sheet bundle to the cutting unit.
The cutting means is disposed on one main surface side and the other main surface side of the sheet bundle, and a round blade pressed in a direction perpendicular to the sheet surface of the sheet bundle has one main surface of the sheet bundle and A sheet processing apparatus that performs cutting by repeating reciprocating slides while being in contact with the other main surface. In the paper cutting device according to claim 1 ,
Sheet processing apparatus characterized by comprising: a folding means for folding processing for the previous SL sheet bundle, and a restraining means to restrain the sheet bundle during the cutting by the cutting means. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
Before SL cutting means, the sheet processing apparatus characterized by said the position of the center of rotation of the circular blade is shifted from a position on the same straight line in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of the sheet bundle is offset. The sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
Before SL cutting means, one main surface side of the circular blade the sheet bundle, and the sheet processing apparatus characterized by comprising a plurality on the other main surface side.   5. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a discharge unit that discharges the sheet, and integrally including the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 as a destination of the sheet discharged from the discharge unit. Image forming apparatus.   An image forming apparatus having a discharge unit for discharging the paper and a paper processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 as separate destinations as a destination of the paper discharged from the discharge unit. An image forming system comprising:

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