JP6916636B2 - Sheet processing device and image forming device equipped with this - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet processing device for placing and processing a sheet and an image forming apparatus including the same, and more specifically, when placing a sheet on a processing tray, it is possible to reliably convey the sheet to a predetermined reference position. Regarding a sheet processing device that can be used.

Conventionally, image forming devices such as copiers, laser beam printers, facsimiles, and multifunction devices thereof are provided with a sheet processing device that transports and places a sheet on which an image is formed on a processing tray and performs processing such as alignment and binding. There is something.

In such an image forming apparatus, it is necessary to accurately place the sheet at the reference position of the processing tray before performing the sheet processing. For this reason, in order to transfer the sheet on which the image is formed on the processing tray by the processing tray, the paper ejection roller that ejects the bundle from the processing tray is rotated to the reference position side by the paper ejection roller every time the sheet is placed on the processing tray. There was something to set.

Moving the sheet to the reference position of the paper ejection roller does not cause any problem when the first sheet conveyed to the processing tray is first niped and moved, but the first image is displayed from the second sheet. The so-called "show-through" that was transferred to the second sheet occurred, and the images overlapped. This was caused by the nip force being too strong in the nip transfer by the paper ejection roller.

In order to improve this, in the transfer of the sheet in the second and subsequent processing trays, the above "show-through" state could be improved by transferring the elastic piece to the reference position by the paddle extended radially. ..

On the other hand, in recent years, there has been a demand for higher speed of the apparatus and larger capacity of sheet processing, and the number of sheets to be accommodated and placed in the processing tray has increased from 60 to 100. For this reason, if the paddle rotation shaft that rotates the above paddle is left fixed, the carrying force of the paddle when the first few sheets are used and the carrying force when the number of sheets is large will be different, and the paddle will move to the reference position when the number of sheets is small. There were bucklings and breaks in the seats at the standard positions of many sheets.

Patent Document 1 discloses that the distance between the seat and the paddle (paddle rotation axis) is kept constant so as to prevent the paddle from being unachieved due to insufficient carrying force when the processing tray is placed and buckling or bending due to excessive carrying force. It is shown.

This Patent Document 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 23 (a). An image-formed sheet is conveyed from an image forming apparatus (not shown) through a transport path FP and carried out to a processing tray ST by a carry-out roller FR. When the rear end of the conveyed sheet passes through the carry-out roller FR, the pull-in paddle (return paddle MP) is rotated counterclockwise in the drawing accordingly. As a result, the seat is placed while being pressed by the seat carry-in guide SHG and reaching the tray stopper TS by the rotation of the return belt RB and being aligned. In this device, a rotatable seat guide guide SAG and a rear end guide KG are provided between the return belt RB and the tray stopper TS to guide the seat.

This device is configured so that the return paddle MP rotation axis MPJ of the return paddle MP moves up and down by 10 mm as shown in FIG. 23 (a), and 100 sheets are placed on the processing tray ST in the drawing. It is shown that the sheet is transferred to the tray stopper TS while the return paddle MP is raised accordingly. The positional relationship between the number of sheets placed on the processing tray ST and the return paddle MP is set to a constant ratio relationship in which the return paddle MP increases by 1 mm as the number of sheets increases by 10.

This is shown in the graph on the upper left of FIG. 24, and the return paddle MP also increases proportionally as the number of sheets increases. Therefore, each time the number of sheets placed on the processing tray ST increases every 10 sheets, the number of sheets is increased by 1 mm in a stepwise manner. In other words, it can be seen that the return paddle MP is moved upward in proportion with one slope without changing the constant rate of increase. The rise at the inclination of 1 is similarly performed for the return belt RB, the seat guide guide SAG, and the rear end guide KG. Therefore, even if the number of sheets to be placed on the processing tray ST is increased, the conveying force and the guiding position of the top sheet are set to be always constant, which reduces the occurrence of conveying defects.

Japanese Patent No. 4838687

However, in recent years, various sheets have been used. In particular, when an image is formed on a sheet, for example, a sheet having a large curl such that the sheet undulates larger than usual due to the heat at the time of image formation is appearing on the market quite frequently. This large wavy sheet (Wave sheet WVS) has a larger top surface in the thickness direction than a normal sheet, is so-called "fluffy", and is less susceptible to the carrying force of the paddle. In this state, as the number of sheets increases, this "fluffy" occurs more frequently, and as shown in FIG. 23 (b), the sheet collides with the return belt RB or the seat guide guide SAG on the left side of the drawing of the return belt RB, and the sheet is the same. It will stop at the position and will not reach it, or it will roll up upward, and the alignment as a bundle of sheets will be impaired.

In this case, if the paddle (return paddle MP) is raised at a constant rate regardless of whether the number of sheets is small or large as in Patent Document 1, the above-mentioned wavy sheet WVS has a weak carrying force or a weak sheet rigidity. As a result, the alignment in the processing tray deteriorates. This is thought to occur even if heat is applied so that the properties of the sheet change significantly in image formation, or if a large amount of water is contained in printing with ink or the like.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce deterioration of alignment even in a sheet having a large waviness (wavy sheet).

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a sheet processing apparatus which processes the sheet for placing and conveying rollers for conveying the sheet, a processing tray for placing the sheets from the conveying roller, and criteria member provided at one end of the processing tray, a paddle member of the sheet switched back Ru includes an elastic piece for transferring to the criterion member side from the conveying roller in contact with the sheet fed by said paddle member The return feed member to be sent to the reference member side , the paddle member moving member for moving the paddle member upward in the sheet thickness direction as the number of sheets placed on the processing tray increases, and the paddle member moving member. depending on the number of sheets is increased to be placed on the processing tray, and sent back member moving member the return feed member Before moving above the sheet thickness direction, member moving feed back the paddle member moving member and the and a control member for controlling the member, the control member, when the sheet placed on the processing tray reaches a predetermined number, the paddle member and the return feeding member, the sheet thickness direction of the upper The paddle member moving member and the return feed member moving member are controlled so as to reduce the amount of movement to the paddle member .

According to this, even if the sheet has a large waviness (wavy sheet), it is possible to reduce the deterioration of the alignment at the time of placement.

Explanatory drawing which showed the whole structure which combined the image forming apparatus and the sheet processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. The whole explanatory view of the sheet processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. Explanatory drawing of the processing tray and its surroundings. Perspective view including a paper ejection roller and a return paddle located above the processing tray. Explanatory drawing of elevating and rotating drive of a paper ejection roller above a processing tray. Explanatory drawing of elevating and rotating drive of the return paddle above the processing tray. Explanatory drawing of the elevating drive of the drop guide above the processing tray. A planar explanatory view of the drive of the paper ejection roller, the return belt, and the drop guide shown in FIGS. 3 to 7. Explanatory drawing of elevating and rotating drive of a return belt located at the end of a processing tray. FIG. 10A is a diagram showing the elevating position of the return belt, and FIG. 10A shows the lowest position where the return belt is in contact with the processing tray. FIG. 10B is a diagram showing a state of being separated from the processing tray. Explanatory drawing which a paper ejection roller, a return paddle and a return belt take three positions. The figure which shows the positional relationship between the sheet placed on the processing tray, a paper ejection roller, a return paddle, and a return belt. A relationship table showing the positional relationship between the sheets placed on the processing tray, the paper ejection roller, the return paddle, and the return belt for each number of sheets. The graph of the relation table of FIG. The configuration explanatory view of the sensor which detects the type of a sheet on a processing tray. The processing flow diagram of the sheet processing tray mounting which concerns on this invention. FIG. 16 is a flow chart of sheet processing tray placement following FIG. FIG. 17 is a flow chart of sheet processing tray placement following FIG. The block diagram of the apparatus which concerns on this invention. A relationship table showing the positional relationship between the sheet placed on the processing tray of the first modification 1 and the paper ejection roller, the return paddle, and the return belt for each number of sheets. The graph of the relation table of FIG. It is a figure which shows the return paddle position of the apparatus of the modification 2, FIG. 22 (a) is the explanatory view in which the return paddle is at the uppermost position separated from the processing tray. FIG. 22B is an explanatory view in which the return paddle is in the lowermost position of the processing tray. It is a figure explaining the prior art, and FIG. 23A is the apparatus explanatory view of the prior art. FIG. 23B is a diagram illustrating a problem of the device. FIG. 23 is a graph illustrating a state in which the return paddle and the like of the conventional apparatus of FIG. 23A move at a constant rate for each number of mounted sheets (10 sheets).

[Image forming device]
The image forming apparatus A shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The illustrated image forming apparatus A includes an image forming main body apparatus A1 and a sheet processing apparatus B. Of these, the image forming main body device A1 shows an electrostatic printing mechanism, and is composed of a reading device A2 and a document transporting device A3. The device housing 1 of the image forming main body device A1 includes a feeding unit 2, an image forming unit 3, a paper ejection unit 4, and a data processing unit 5.

The paper feed unit 2 is composed of cassette mechanisms 2a to 2c for accommodating a plurality of sizes of sheets for forming an image, and feeds a sheet of a size specified from the image formation control unit 200 via the paper feed control unit 202 to the paper feed path 6. Go out to. For this reason, a plurality of cassettes 2a to 2c are detachably arranged in the device housing 1, and each cassette has a built-in separation mechanism for separating the internal sheets one by one and a paper feeding mechanism for feeding out the sheets. The paper feed path 6 is provided with a transport roller 7 for feeding sheets supplied from a plurality of cassettes 2a to 2c to the downstream side, and a resist roller pair 8 for aligning the tips of the sheets at the end of the path. ..

The large-capacity cassette 2d and the manual feed tray 2e are connected to the above-mentioned paper feed path 6, the large-capacity cassette 2d is composed of an optional unit for storing a large amount of sheets, and the manual feed tray 2e is , Special sheets such as thick paper sheets, coating sheets, and film sheets that are difficult to separate and feed can be supplied.

The image forming unit 3 shows an electrostatic printing mechanism as an example, and shows a photoconductor 9 (drum, belt), a light emitter 10 that emits an optical beam to the photophore, a developer 11 (developer), and a cleaner (non-existent). (Shown) is placed around the rotating photophore. The illustrated one shows a monochrome printing mechanism, and a latent image is optically formed on the photoconductor 9 by a light emitter, and toner ink is adhered to the latent image by a developing device 11.

Then, the sheet is sent from the paper feed path 6 to the image forming unit 3 at the timing of forming an image on the photoconductor 9, the image is transferred onto the sheet by the transfer charger 12, and the fixing unit (roller) arranged in the paper ejection path 14 ) 13 is fixed. A paper ejection roller 15 and a main body paper ejection port 16 are arranged in the paper ejection path 14, and the sheet is conveyed to the sheet processing device B described later.

The above-mentioned reading device A2 converts the platen 17 on which the document is placed, the optical carriages 18 and 19 reciprocating along the platen, the light source mounted on these, and the reflected light from the document on the platen into photoelectric conversion members. It is composed of a reduction optical system (a combination of a mirror and a lens) guided to 20.

Further, the reading device A2 is provided with a traveling platen 21, which is a second platen, on the side of the platen 17. In the traveling platen 21, the sheet document sent from the document transport device A3 is image-read by the above-mentioned optical carriages 18 and 19 and the photoelectric conversion member 20. The photoelectric conversion member 20 electrically transfers the photoelectrically converted image data to the image forming unit 3.

The document transport device A3 includes a document transport path 23 that guides a sheet document sent out from the document paper feed tray 22 to the traveling platen 21, and a document ejection tray 24 that stores the document whose image has been read by the traveling platen 21. Has been done.

By the way, the image forming main body apparatus A1 can adopt not only the above-mentioned mechanism but also a printing mechanism of an offset printing mechanism, an inkjet printing mechanism, and an ink ribbon transfer printing mechanism (thermal transfer ribbon printing, sublimation type ribbon printing, etc.).

[Sheet processing device]
The sheet processing device B is a device that receives and processes the sheet carried out from the main body output port 16 of the image forming main body device A1 from the entrance 36. The sheet processing device B includes (1) a printout mode, (2) a jog sorting mode, (3) a binding processing mode, and (4) a bookbinding (saddle stitching) processing mode. These modes will be described later.

The sheet processing device B does not need to be provided with all the above-mentioned processing modes, and may be appropriately configured according to the device specifications (design specifications). However, in the sheet processing device B disclosed here, the sheet processing device B is bound from the front and back of the edge of the sheet. The (end face) binding portion B1 for performing the above, the saddle stitching portion B2 for binding in the middle of the sheet conveying direction, and the escape portion B3 for sorting without binding processing are shown. In the present invention, a placement / stack configuration in which the sheets are once transported to a reference position and aligned and placed during the binding process of the sheets will be described as necessary.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the sheet processing device B. The sheet processing device B includes a sheet inlet 36 connected to the main body paper ejection port 16 of the image forming device A. From the entrance 36, an entrance sensor 38 for detecting the sheet and a punch unit 40 for punching punch holes at the end of the sheet are arranged as needed. Below the punch unit 40, a punch waste box is detachable from the processing device frame 30. Behind the punch unit 40, a carry-in roller 41 and a transport roller 48 for transporting the sheet to the downstream side are provided.

The sheet conveyed by the carry-in roller 41 has a substantially linear transfer path 43 conveyed to the processing tray 58 side, an escape path 33 branched upward from the transfer path 43, and a confluence 45 of the transfer path 43. A saddle stitch path 65 for guiding the passing switchback sheet is provided. The route switching of whether the sheet sent by the carry-in roller 41 is sent to the escape path 33 or the saddle stitch path 65 is performed by the first gate 42 and the second gate 44 provided in the middle of the transfer path 43.

[Escape part]
The sheets that are conveyed substantially linearly along the transfer path 43 are once placed on the processing tray 58, or are directly accumulated on the loading tray 34 as a single sheet or bundle from the paper ejection port 54. On the other hand, the sheets sent from the transport path 43 to the upper escape path 33 are accumulated in the escape tray 32. When accumulating the escape trays 32, although not particularly shown, the final discharge rollers can be moved by a specified number of sheets in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the transport path 43 when the sheets are ejected. As a result, it is possible to perform a division jog for sorting the sheets, and here, the escape portion B3 is configured.

[Saddle stitching part]
Further, the transport path 43 is provided with a seat sensor 39 that detects the rear end of the seat. After being detected by the sheet sensor 39, the transport roller 48 is reversed to feed the sheet to the branch roller 64. The branch roller 64 feeds the sheet along the saddle stitching path 65, and collects the sheet on the stacker portion 72 that is slightly inclined to perform saddle stitching. The bundle of sheets accumulated here is positioned in the middle of the sheet conveying direction at the binding position of the saddle stitching unit 66 rather than moving upward of the saddle stitching sheet stopper 74.

The bundle of sheets located in the middle of the transport direction is bound by the saddle stitching unit 66 located at the saddle stitching portion B2. The bundle of bound sheets is folded in half by the folding blade 70 and the folding roller 68 at the folding position by slightly lowering the binding position. The bundle of sheets folded by the folding roller 68 is discharged from the bundle discharge roller 76 to the bundle stacker 78, and is accumulated as a saddle-stitched bookbinding. As described above, the escape portion B3 is located on the upper side of the transport path 43, and the saddle stitch portion B3 is located on the lower side.

[End face binding (processing tray and its surroundings)]
Next, the end face binding portion B2 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 and subsequent drawings. First, FIG. 3 shows the processing tray and the periphery thereof constituting the end face binding portion B2. Here, in order to process the sheet sent from the transfer path 43 to the transfer roller 48 described above, a processing tray 58 on which the sheet is temporarily placed is arranged with a step from the outlet of the transfer roller 48. At the outlet of the transfer roller 48, a drop guide 46 for dropping the sheet onto the mounting surface of the processing tray 58 at the same time as the sheet is carried out from the transfer roller 48 is located. On the downstream side thereof is a return paddle 51 having a fin-shaped elastic piece that transfers (switchback) the sheet in the processing tray 58.

A paper ejection roller 52 is located on the loading tray 34 side of the return paddle 51. The paper discharge roller 52 is composed of a rotating paper discharge upper roller 52a and a fixed side paper discharge lower roller 52b. The paper ejection roller 52 feeds the sheet sent from the transport roller 48 to the nip, nips the first sheet to be stored in the processing tray 58 and switches back, or the sheet placed on the processing tray 58. Bundles are sent to the loading tray 34. Further, in the paper ejection roller 52 disclosed here, the paper ejection roller 52a rotates in the same direction as the return paddle 51 so that the sheet can be backed up in the processing tray 58 at the time of switchback transfer. This point will be described again later.

As shown in FIG. 3, a matching plate 59 is provided on the processing tray 58 on which the sheet is placed so that each time the sheet is carried out from the transfer roller 48, the sheet moves in the width direction intersecting from the sheet transfer direction. Although not shown, the matching plate 59 is provided so as to sandwich the sheet on both sides in the sheet width direction, and moves the matching plate 59 in a direction in which the distance between the matching plates 59 becomes narrower to align the sheets in the width direction. The processing tray 58 is inclined downward from the paper ejection port 54, and a reference stopper 62 for abutting a sheet to be switched back by the return paddle 51 or the like described above is arranged at an end thereof.

Further, a carry-in guide 57 for guiding the seat to be switched back is provided between the return paddle 51 and the reference stopper 62. The carry-in guide 57 hangs rotatably on the lower shaft of the transport roller 48 under its own weight to guide the carry-in of the sheet to be transferred by switchback. Further, a return belt 61 that further feeds the sheet sent by the return paddle 51 to the reference stopper 62 is arranged. An end face binding unit 60 is arranged at the end of the sheets stacked on the reference stopper 62 as a bundle.

The end face binding unit 60 uses a binding motor 60M to drive a known staple needle toward the anvil with a screwdriver, and binds a bundle of sheets whose ends are aligned with the reference stopper 62. Further, the end face binding unit 60 is moved on the end face binding unit moving table 108 in the width direction of the sheet (between the front and the rear of the apparatus) by the end face binding unit moving motor 108M, and is moved at the corner corner position of the sheet bundle and near the center of the end. It is possible to bind multiple positions to. When performing such a binding process, if the edges of the sheet are not aligned with the reference stopper 62, a defective booklet will be obtained, and the alignment here is important. The means for binding the sheet may be, in addition to the staple binding disclosed here, so-called needleless binding such as crimping or bending without using glue, an adhesive, or a binding member.

When the binding of the sheet bundle by the end face binding unit 60 is completed, the bundle moving belt 63 to which the reference stopper 62 is coupled is driven by the bundle moving belt motor 63M. As a result, the bound sheet bundle is pushed out and moved to the middle of the processing tray 58 by the reference stopper 62. After that, during the extrusion movement, the paper ejection upper roller 52a descends, nip the sheet bundle bound together with the paper ejection lower roller 52b, and eject the bundle from the paper ejection port 54 toward the loading tray 34.

Below the paper ejection port 54, a loading tray 34 for accumulating one sheet or a bundle of bound sheets is provided. The loading tray 34 is provided with a loading tray position sensor 34S that detects the upper surface of the sheet in order to keep the height position of the upper surface of the accumulated sheets constant. As a result, when a certain amount of sheets are accumulated, the accumulation tray motor 34M that moves the loading tray 34 is driven so that the upper surface of the sheets loaded on the loading tray 34 is always in a constant position from the paper ejection port 54.

The above is the configuration of the end face binding portion B1 and the processing tray 58 and its surroundings. From now on, the rotational drive of the paper discharge upper roller 52a, the return paddle 51, and the return belt 61 and the ascending / descending movement drive for moving in the sheet thickness direction of these will be further described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8. Here, FIG. 4 is a perspective view including a paper discharge upper roller 52a and a return paddle 51 located above the processing tray 58. FIG. 5 describes the elevating and rotating drive of the paper ejection roller 52a, and FIG. 6 describes the elevating and rotating drive of the return paddle 51. Further, in FIG. 7, the elevating drive of the drop guide 46 will be described. FIG. 8 is a planar explanatory view of the paper discharge upper roller 52a, the return paddle 51, the drop guide 46, and the drive system of the drop guide shown in FIGS. 3 to 7.

[Driving and raising / lowering the paper ejection roller (paper ejection roller)]
First, the paper ejection roller 52 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 8 with reference to FIG. The paper ejection roller 52 is provided at the paper ejection port 54 of the processing tray 58, and is composed of a paper ejection lower roller 52b fixed to the processing tray 58 and a paper ejection upper roller 52a that moves away from the paper ejection lower roller 52b. There is. The paper ejection roller 52a is supported by the roller arm 50 so as to be capable of forward and reverse rotation. The roller arm 50 is attached so as to rotate about an arm rotation shaft 55 located near the rotation axis of the upper roller of the transport roller 48, whereby the paper discharge upper roller 52a swings with respect to the paper discharge lower roller 52b. It moves to nip sheets and bundles and discharge them to the loading tray 34, or nip one sheet and transfer it back on the processing tray 58. Further, as will be described later, when the return paddle 51 sends the second sheet back to the reference stopper 62 side on the processing tray 58, the sheet is backed up and conveyed by rotating in the same direction as the return paddle 51. ..

The drive of the paper discharge upper roller 52a is transmitted from the paper discharge roller motor 52M that rotates in the forward and reverse directions to the transmission gear 110 provided on the arm rotation shaft 55 via the transmission belt 114 and the intermediate gear 112. The drive from the transmission gear 110 is provided on the roller arm 50, and the drive is transmitted to the paper discharge upper roller 52a via the transmission belt 116 in the arm and the transmission belt 120 on the roller side. Further, although the drive of the paper discharge lower roller 52b is not particularly shown, the drive of the paper discharge roller motor 52M is transmitted to the paper discharge lower roller 52b via the clutch on the rear side of the device, and the rotation of the paper discharge lower roller 52b is rotated. When it is not necessary, the drive is disengaged with a clutch.

The rotation (swing) movement that supports the roller 52a on the paper discharge is an intermediate gear 104 that meshes with two pairs of left and right fan-shaped elevating gears 102 that are provided integrally with the roller arm 50 as shown in FIG. The gear is driven by the roller arm motor 50M. An arm position sensor 102S is provided in the vicinity of the fan-shaped elevating gear 102, and this sensor detects at which height the roller arm 50 is located. By inspecting the position of the roller arm 50, the positional relationship between the paper ejection roller 52a and the return paddle 51 described later and the sheet can be grasped. The roller arm 50 here returns to the position detected by the arm position sensor 102S each time the sheet of the transport roller 48 is carried in to confirm the initial position (home position). This is to improve the accuracy of the descending position and to prevent the seat from being carried in.

[Drive and lift of return paddle]
Next, the return paddle 51 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 8 with reference to FIG. The return paddle 51 disclosed here is provided integrally with the roller arm 50 that supports the roller 52a on the paper ejection. The drive of the return paddle 51 is transmitted from the return paddle motor 51M, which is different from the paper ejection roller motor 52M, to the transmission gear 124 of the arm rotation shaft 55 via the motor belt 130 and the intermediate gear 128. From here, the return paddle unit 135 having two fin-shaped elastic pieces that are transmitted to the return paddle rotation shaft 134 via the belt 131 in the arm and rotate together with this shaft is rotated.

The return paddle 51 rotates the sheet carried out from the transfer roller 48 in the counterclockwise direction after being lowered by the drop guide 46, and then switches back the sheet carried out in the reference stopper 62 direction. At the time of switchback transfer of this sheet, the roller arm 50 is set to engage with the sheet surface to be transported by lowering to the processing tray 58 side and the tip portion of the elastic body of the return paddle 51 to apply a transport force. There is.

Further, the position (direction of the tip elastic piece) of the return paddle 51 is detected by the return paddle direction sensor 51S. As a result, for example, when the sheet is being discharged to the processing tray 58 by the transport roller 48, when the first sheet is switchback-conveyed by the paper discharge roller 52, or when the paper discharge roller 52 is used to transfer the sheet on the processing tray 58, a bundle of sheets on the processing tray 58 is used. Discharging means that the position is detected and set so that the two elastic pieces are both maintained in the upward state as shown in FIG. 6 so as not to interfere with the sheet transport / paper ejection. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the return paddle 51 is provided on both sides of the rear side and the front side on the outside of the paper ejection upper roller 52a and is rotationally driven.

[Elevating and lowering the drop guide]
Next, the drop guide 46 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 8 with reference to FIG. 7. As described above, the drop guide 46 disclosed here is provided to quickly guide the rear end of the sheet to the processing tray 58 in accordance with the unloading of the rear end of the sheet from the transport roller 48. The drop guide 46 is loosely fitted so as to rotate around the arm rotation shaft 55 of the roller arm 50. A guide rotating portion 138 is provided at the end of the drop guide 46, and the guide rotating portion 138 is fitted to the guide moving arm slit 142 of the guide moving arm 140 rotated by the drop guide motor 46M.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, when the drop guide motor 46M is driven and the guide moving arm 140 moves to the broken line position, the drop guide 46 also moves in the direction of forcibly dropping the sheet onto the processing tray 58. do. As shown in FIG. 8, the roller 52a on the paper discharge and the processing tray 58 on the outer side of the return paddle 51 are provided as a pair in the sheet width direction. The configuration of the rotary drive and the ascending / descending movement of the paper ejection upper roller 52a, the return paddle 51, and the drop guide 46 has been described above.

[Return belt drive and lift]
Next, a return belt 61 that can be raised and lowered in contact with the upper surface of the sheet at a position close to the reference stopper 62 of the processing tray 58 and feeds the sheet to the reference stopper 62 side will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. 9 shows the rotational drive of the return belt 61 and the elevating drive for moving up and down in the thickness direction of the sheet on the processing tray 58. The return belts 61 are provided as a pair apart from each other in the sheet width direction of the processing tray 58. FIG. 9 is a view from one side of the belt, in which the drive gear 150 in the return belt, which is the base point of the drive in the circumference of the belt, the central gear 152 in the belt engaged with the drive gear 150, and the belt engaged with the lower portion thereof. The inner and lower gears 154 are arranged. Further, the in-belt central gear 152 is positioned with an in-belt upper gear 158 that engages above the belt inner gear 152 and an in-belt lateral gear 157 that engages in the lateral direction thereof. Further, a belt holding roller 162 is provided at a position facing the return belt 61 of the upper gear 158 in the belt. These gears are supported by being sandwiched from both sides by a belt frame 160 whose axis is shown by a broken line.

The rotational drive of the return belt 61 in the counterclockwise direction (direction in which the seat is conveyed to the reference stopper 62) is transmitted to the in-belt drive gear 150 by means of an appropriate drive belt. The shaft that supports the in-belt drive gear 150 is configured as a belt elevating and rotating shaft 161. Then, the return belt 61 is moved up and down by a crank-shaped return belt arm on the lower gear arm engaging shaft 155 of the inner lower gear 154 in the belt so as to raise the belt frame 160 around the belt up / down rotation shaft 161. This is done by engaging 106. The return belt arm 106 moves by forward / reverse rotation of the return belt elevating motor 105M with the return belt arm rotation shaft 146 as a fulcrum. At this time, the height position of the return belt 61 is detected by the return belt position sensor 61S.

The return belt 61 having the above drive configuration transmits the rotation of the return belt elevating motor 105M from the in-belt drive gear 150 to the in-belt upper gear 158 via the in-belt central gear 152, and faces the in-belt upper gear 158. It is niped by the belt retainer roller 162 located so as to be rotationally driven. Further, even when the shape of the return belt 61 itself is changed by increasing or decreasing the number of mounting sheets, the drive is transmitted by the in-belt lower gear 154 and the in-belt lateral gear 157 so that the drive is smooth and eco-friendly. There is. A plurality of streaks are formed on the surface of the returned belt 61 shown in the drawing to form knurls. Further, although not particularly shown, the inner surface of the return belt 61 is also provided with engaging teeth that engage with each of the above gears.

Next, the ascending / descending movement of the return belt 61 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10A is a diagram showing the lowest position where the return belt is in contact with the processing tray, and FIG. 10B is a diagram showing a state in which the return belt is separated from the processing tray. As described above, the return belt arm 106 that moves up and down by the return belt elevating motor 105M is provided with a tip slit portion 148 at the tip on the crank thereof, and the lower gear arm of the lower gear 154 in the belt is engaged with the tip slit portion 148. The shaft 155 is loosely fitted. When the return belt arm 106 is moved in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 10A, the return belt 61 moves up and down with the belt elevating and rotating shaft 161 as a fulcrum.

FIG. 10 (a) shows the position when the return belt 61 places the first few sheets on the processing tray 58, and FIG. 10 (b) shows the position when the return belt 61 is raised when accepting a large number of sheets. The moved return belt 61 is shown. In each case, the sheet is omitted. Further, the belt pressing roller 162 facing the upper gear 158 in the belt that transmits the rotational drive in the counterclockwise direction shown in the drawing has a relationship of sandwiching the return belt 61 at any height position. The relationship between the number of sheets to be placed and the position of the return belt 61 whose lower surface is in contact with the sheets will be described below.

[Paper ejection roller / return paddle / return belt up / down]
From here, the elevating and lowering of the paper discharge upper roller 52a, the return paddle 51, and the return belt 61 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 14. As described above, since the paper ejection roller 52a and the return paddle 51 are attached to the roller arm 50 as moving members, their height positions are set according to the rotation of the roller arm 50. Further, the height position of the return belt 61 is set according to the rotation of the return belt arm 106 as a moving member.

As described above, when the first sheet of the paper ejection upper roller 52a is carried out to the processing tray 58 by the transport roller 48, the sheet is nipated between the paper ejection lower roller 52b and the sheet as the reference stopper 62. Switch back and carry. At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, the return paddle 51 does not hinder the loading of the first piece because the two elastic pieces are facing upward. The second and subsequent sheets are rotated in the counterclockwise direction shown in the drawing so as to carry out switchback transportation with the return paddle 51 without removing the sheet nip by the roller 52a on the output sheet in order to prevent the sheet from showing through.

At this time, since the sheet is carried out to the processing tray 58 and the number of sheets to be placed increases, the return roller 52a, the return paddle 51, and the return belt 61 are set in the sheet thickness direction (in order to keep the sheet position constant). The device moves in the direction away from the 58th surface of the processing tray), and the device disclosed here performs the following operations during this movement.

That is, as shown in FIG. 12, the paper ejection roller 52a is separated from the second sheet to be carried out, but its positional relationship (separation distance / clearance) L1 is ejected as shown in FIG. An ascending movement area is set, which is divided into three areas: a paper roller first ascending area L1a, a paper discharging roller second ascending area L1b, a paper discharging upper roller second ascending area L1b, and a paper discharging upper roller third ascending area L1c.

Next, as shown in FIG. 12, the return paddle 51 has a range in which the elastic piece is deformed in contact with the sheet on which the elastic piece is placed, in other words, a range in which the elastic piece overlaps with the sheet on which the elastic piece is placed (overlap amount L2) is shown in FIG. As shown in the above, an ascending moving member area divided into three areas, a return paddle first ascending area L2a, a return paddle second ascending area L2b, and a return paddle third ascending area L2c, is set.

Further, as shown in FIG. 12, the return belt 61 also has a range (contact relationship) L3 in which a relatively light contact pressure and a heavier contact pressure are taken in the contact relationship with the surface of the sheet placed on the processing tray 58. Also, as shown in FIG. 11, three ascending regions of the return belt first ascending region L3a, the return belt second ascending region L3b, and the return belt third ascending region L3c are set. In the device of this disclosure, the region indicated by c, that is, the third rising region L1c of the roller on the discharge paper, the third rising region L2c of the return paddle, and the third rising region L3c of the return belt are the most separated from the seat. The area where the action is small is shown on the sheet.

The above three areas are taken by the output roller 52a, the return paddle 51, and the return belt 61. These are shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 showing this as a graph according to the number of sheets placed on the processing tray 58. Make each as shown. Here, the description of the region c is omitted because it has little relation to the seat and is the most separated and retracted position.

The graph of FIG. 13 shows the relationship between the number of sheets. Here, the separation distance between the lower surface of the paper ejection roller 52a and the sheet is shown as a clearance (L1). It is shown that the number of sheets increases by 5 in the vertical direction up to 75 sheets. The a region in the left column of this number indicates the above-mentioned regions L1a, L2a, and L3a, and the b region indicates the above-mentioned L1b, L2b, and L3b regions, respectively.

Therefore, first, the paper ejection roller 52a rises by 4 mm in L1a until the number of sheets reaches 30 for every 5 sheets, and the range of rise is reduced so as to rise by 2.5 mm from the time when the number of sheets exceeds 30. ing. In other words, as shown in the left column of this separation distance, if the separation distance of up to 30 sheets is 4 mm, it will increase at a rate of about 63% when it exceeds 30 sheets. When the number of sheets exceeds a predetermined number, the rate of increase per 5 sheets is reduced (reduced).

Next, the return paddle 51 attached to the same roller arm 50 as the paper ejection upper roller 52a also rises in the same manner as the paper ejection upper roller 52a. As seen in FIG. 12, the elastic piece at the tip of the return paddle 51 bends with the sheet and conveys the sheet to the reference stopper 62. It is 7 mm until the number of sheets on which the bending range (apparent overlap B) of the return paddle 51 is placed reaches 30 sheets by 5 sheets each. Then, until the number exceeds 30 and reaches 75, this time it is set to 8.5 mm, which is more than 7 mm. Therefore, it can be seen that the overlap rate of the return paddle 51 is set to increase by about 121% when 7 mm up to 30 is set to 1.

By the way, since the above-mentioned output roller 52a and the return paddle 51 are attached to the roller arm 50 as the same moving member, when the number of sheets exceeds 30, the rate of increase of the roller arm 50 is lowered. As a result, when the number of sheets to be placed exceeds 30, the transfer of the sheet of the return paddle 51 becomes stronger. Further, the sheet to be transferred by switchback is pushed so as to be sent to the reference stopper 62 side in the same direction as the return paddle 51 of the paper discharge upper roller 52a on the loading tray 34 of the return paddle 51. As a result, for example, even if the sheet has a large wave, that is, a so-called fluffy sheet, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of an unreachable state in which the sheet stops before the reference stopper 62.

Further, in the disclosure here, the return belt 61, which comes into contact with the upper surface of the sheet placed near the reference stopper 62 and is sent to the reference stopper 62, also has the same rise as the above-mentioned paper ejection roller 52a and the return paddle 51 as a moving member. The return belt arm 106 is performing. That is, as shown in the leftmost column of the table of FIG. 13, the rate of increase (L3) of the return belt is 30 with respect to the case where the return belt 61 is substantially in contact with its own weight (this is indicated as 1). When the number of sheets is exceeded, the weight applied to the sheet is increased as 63%, which avoids the rate of increase. As a result, the sheet can receive a stronger conveying force and feed the sheet to the reference stopper 62. As a result, the wave sheet does not reach the reference stopper 62 and stops in the middle of the wave, so that the unreachable state is reduced and the sheet alignment is further improved.

Next, FIG. 14 is shown in a graph with a different view of a part of the table of FIG. The vertical axis shows the position of the return paddle rotation shaft 134 in order from the top, and the position of the lower surface of the roller of the paper ejection upper roller 52a is shown below the position. The bottom shows the position of the lower surface of the return belt 61. The horizontal axis indicates the number of sheets loaded on the processing tray 58 of the sheet, and shows how the return paddle rotation shaft 134, the lower surface of the paper discharge upper roller 52a, and the lower surface of the return belt 61 are raised by increasing the number of sheets.

As can be seen from this graph, the return paddle rotation shaft 134, the lower surface of the output roller 52a, and the lower surface of the return belt 61 are broken lines that differ from the rises so far when the number of sheets placed on the processing tray 58 exceeds 30. The ellipse shown has a change point CP. As a result, the position is once changed downward from the previous position, the distance between the roller 52a on the paper discharge and the sheet is reduced, and the sheet to be switched back is backed up more.

Further, the return paddle 51 increases the amount of overlap with the seat to be switched back, in other words, the amount of deflection due to contact with the seat, to increase the carrying force. Further, the lower surface of the return belt 61 is also lowered so that the sheet fed from the return paddle 51 is fed toward the reference stopper 62 with a stronger conveying force. Although not particularly shown, in a normal sheet with less waviness, the table of FIG. 14 and the graph of FIG. 13 rise in a substantially straight line without having a change point CP. In the present invention, as described above, the roller 52a on the paper ejection, the return paddle 51, and the return belt 61 have change points that make the rise rates different as described above, so that even a so-called fluffy sheet with large waves can be used. It is possible to provide a device that can be sent to the reference stopper 62 with high accuracy and does not deteriorate the alignment. Further, in the description here, the change point of the increase ratio is set to 30 sheets, but the change point may be changed to 20 sheets or 40 sheets according to the wavy state of the sheet.

[Sheet type detection configuration]
Next, the sheet type detection configuration referred to here, which detects whether the device disclosed here has a large wave, that is, a so-called fluffy sheet or a normal sheet having a small wave, will be described with reference to FIG. .. FIG. 15 shows the processing tray 58 of FIG. 3 and its surroundings, and the sheet type sensor 170 surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line is attached to the roller arm 50 so as to hang down.

As shown in the lead wire in FIG. 15, the sheet type sensor 170 is rotatably provided with the first type sensor flag 172 and the second type sensor flag 176 on the sensor rotation shaft 171 attached to the roller arm 50. ing. These flags are detected by the first type sensor 174 and the second type sensor 178, and the second type sensor flag 176 described above has a second type between the sensor rotation shaft 171 and the sensor rotation shaft 171 as shown in the figure. The sensor spring 180 is hung. As a result, when the roller arm 50 is lowered onto the sheet placed on the processing tray 58, the first type sensor flag 172 hanging by substantially its own weight immediately moves and is moved by the first type sensor 174. Is detected.

On the other hand, when the seat is a seat with less waviness, the second type sensor flag 176 moves against the second type sensor spring 180, and the second type sensor 178 detects the movement with less time lag. .. However, if the sheet is a fluffy sheet that is greatly wavy, the second type sensor 178 detects with a time lag from the detection of the first type sensor 174 due to the resistance of the second type sensor spring 180. Thereby, it is possible to detect how much the placed sheet is a wavy sheet according to the degree of this time lag.

In the sheet disclosed here, when about five sheets are placed on the processing tray 58, the roller arm 50 is once lowered to detect the first type sensor 174 and the second type sensor 178. Detect the time lag of. As a result, it is detected whether or not the sheet is fluffy with large waves, and the ascending rate of the roller arm 50 and the return belt 61 that support the 30 or more sheets of the paper ejection roller 52a and the return paddle 51 is adjusted. Here, the sheet type sensor 170 is provided on the sheet processing device B side, but the operator inputs information in advance to the image forming main body device A1 or the sheet processing device B as to whether or not the sheet has a large wave. You may instruct. Further, although it is assumed that the detection is performed with about 5 sheets, it may be detected when 10 sheets or 15 sheets are placed.

[Explanation of sheet placement flow on processing tray]
Next, the flow of the placing process when the sheet placed on the sheet processing device B disclosed here with reference to FIGS. 16 to 18 includes a sheet having a large wave wave will be described. When the processing tray storage for storing the sheet in the processing tray 58 is started from the transport path 43, the sheet is first carried in by the transport roller 48 (S10). Next, the rear end of the sheet moves the drop guide 46 to the processing tray 58 side by carrying out the transfer roller 48, and lowers the sheet (S20).

In the case of carrying in the first sheet by the transport roller 48, the roller arm 50 is lowered to press the upper roller 52a of the paper discharge to the lower roller 52b of the paper discharge and to feed the first sheet to the reference stopper 62 side. Switch back and transport (S30). At this time, the return paddle 51 does not rotate, and both of the fin-shaped elastic pieces face upward as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 or 6, and stand by at the initial position where the first sheet is carried out and the switchback is not hindered. I'm letting you.

On the other hand, when the second and subsequent sheets are carried into the processing tray 58 by the transport roller 48 and switched back, they are discharged to a position 4 mm away from the sheets (L1 in FIG. 12) until the number of mounted sheets reaches five. The paper roller 52a is moved to reverse the sheet in the switchback direction. At this time, the paper ejection upper roller 52a rotates in the switchback direction to back up and convey the sheet to be conveyed by the return paddle 51 described below (S30).

As the second sheet is carried out from the transport roller 48 and lowered by the drop guide 46, the return paddle 51 rotates in the direction of feeding to the reference stopper 62 side. At this time, the fin-shaped elastic piece of the return paddle 51 positions the roller arm 50 so that the overlap amount (L2) with the sheet is 7 mm as shown by the broken line in FIG. 12 (S40). ). This position is maintained until it reaches five.

The sheet is fed over the processing tray 58 by the return paddle 51 and guided by the carry-in guide 57. Then, this sheet is brought into contact with the reference stopper 62 and aligned by the return belt 61 which is already constantly rotating in the reference stopper 62 direction (S50). The contact position of the return belt 61 with the sheet here is positioned at the sheet bundle thickness position (L3 in FIG. 12) of every five sheets of the apparatus disclosed here. After that, the matching plates 59 are moved in a direction approaching each other to align the width directions of the sheets. Then, the above series of operations is repeated until the number of sheets reaches 5, and it is determined whether the number of sheets has reached 5 (S60).

When it is determined that the number of the paddles has reached 5, the roller arm 50 is lowered while keeping the return paddle 51 in the initial position (S70). As a result, the sheet type sensor 170 determines whether the sheet has a large wave and is a normal sheet or a normal sheet (S80). Since the detection operation here is as described with reference to FIG. 15, the description thereof will be omitted. In the sheet type determination, the operator may input the type information from the control panel 26 or acquire the type information from the image forming main body device A1 without using the sheet type sensor 170. Here, it is set to either A or B in the figure depending on whether or not the sheet type is a bundle of sheets having a large wave.

[Storing and placing the wave sheet]
In the case of the above information with a sheet having a large wave, the operation proceeds to the operation A shown in FIG. The operations from S100 to S140 here are the same as the operations from the second and subsequent sheets S10 to S50 described in FIG. That is, the position of the roller 52a on the paper ejection is positioned at a position 4 mm away from the sheet (clearance L1 position) for every 5 sheets, and the return paddle 51 is also at the position (L2) where the elastic pieces overlap by 7 mm, and the return belt. 61 is also set at a position (L3) substantially equal to the sheet bundle thickness until 30 sheets are reached (S100 to S140).

When the number of sheets stored and placed in the processing tray 58 reaches 30, the waves of the sheets to be carried in are large and fluffy, so that sufficient carrying force cannot be applied to the sheets in the conventional situation. Therefore, the sheet is carried in by the transport roller 48 (S160), and following the sheet lowering (S170) by the drop guide 46, the position of the lower surface of the roller of the roller 52a on the paper ejection is set every 5 sheets from the sheet, which is 4 mm so far. The roller arm 50 is lowered so as to change from (separation) to 2.5 mm (clearance position L1) as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. As a result, the sheet to be carried in is backed up at the time of carrying in or by rotating forward and reverse to the switchback (S180).

Further, the apparent overlap of the sheets of the two fin-shaped elastic pieces of the return paddle 51, in other words, the bending region (L2) of the tip as shown in FIG. 12 is set to 8.5 mm (S190). As a result, a stronger transporting force is generated, and the wave sheet is prevented from escaping from the return paddle 51, enabling reliable switchback transport.

Further, in the apparatus disclosed here, the position of the lower surface of the return belt 61 provided near the reference stopper 62 is set to a position (L3) which is about 60% lower than the thickness of the bundle of up to 30 sheets. As a result, the return belt 61 can also apply a stronger conveying force to feed the wavy sheet to the reference stopper 62 (S200).

Then, when the number of sheets to be placed on the processing tray 58 reaches 75, the storage process in the processing tray 58 is completed, the bundle is bound, and the bundle is discharged to the loading tray 34. In any of the flows, when the number of sheets carried into the processing tray 58 does not reach 30 or 75, for example, when the number of sheets carried into the processing tray 58 is completed, the number of sheets carried into the processing tray 58 is completed. When the number of sheets exceeds 30, the storage process is changed, and when 50 sheets are reached, the storage process in the processing tray 58 is completed, the bundle is bound, and the bundle is discharged to the loading tray 34.

[Normal seat storage]
When the information of the normal sheet is obtained instead of the wave sheet by the sheet type detection of FIG. 16, the operation proceeds to the operation of B shown in FIG. The operations of S300 to S340 here are the same as the operations of the second and subsequent sheets S10 to S50 described in FIG. That is, the position of the roller 52a on the paper ejection is positioned at a position (clearance L1) of 4 mm from the sheet for every five sheets, and the return paddle 51 is also at the position (L2) where the elastic pieces overlap by 7 mm, and the return belt. 61 is also set at a position (L3) substantially equal to the thickness of the sheet bundle until it reaches 75 sheets (S320 to S340).

Of course, even here, if the storage and placement of one bundle is completed without reaching 75 sheets, the storage and placement process is completed there, binding and bundle discharge are performed, and the bundle is discharged to the loading tray 34. As described above, in the case of a normal sheet with less waviness, the tip of the sheet is carried in even if the movement rate (distance and overlap with the sheet) of the roller arm 50 for every 1 to 5 sheets is processed without change. It is possible to prevent the guide 57 and the reference stopper 62 from abutting against each other and buckling or bouncing off to disturb the alignment.

[Explanation of control configuration]
From here, the control configuration of the disclosed image forming apparatus A will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The image forming apparatus A shown in FIG. 1 includes an image forming control unit 200 of the image forming main body apparatus A1 and a sheet processing control unit 205 (control CPU) of the sheet processing apparatus B. The image formation control unit 200 includes a paper feed control unit 202 and an input unit 203. Then, from the control panel 26 provided in the input unit 203, each setting of (1) printout mode, (2) jog sorting mode, (3) binding processing mode, and (4) bookbinding (saddle stitching) processing mode is performed. .. Each of these modes will be described later.

The sheet processing control unit 205 is a control CPU that operates the sheet processing device B according to the above-mentioned designated sheet processing mode. The sheet processing control unit 205 includes a ROM 207 that stores an operation program and a RAM 206 that stores control data. Further, the sheet processing control unit 205 acquires detection information from various sensor input units 220.

[Various sensor inputs]
The various sensor input units 220 have an entrance sensor 38 that detects the carry-in of the image-formed sheet from the image-forming main body device A1, detects the front and rear ends of the sheet, and manages the main various motor drives. A seat sensor 39 for detecting a sheet jam or the like is located on the downstream side of the entrance sensor 38.

Further, an arm position sensor 102S that detects the elevating position of the roller arm 50 that supports the roller 52a on the paper ejection and the return paddle 51 and moves up and down, and a return paddle orientation sensor 51S that detects whether the return paddle 51 is in the initial position. It has a drop guide sensor 46S that detects the position of the drop guide 46, and a return belt position sensor 61S that detects the elevating position of the return belt 61.

Further, the various sensor input units 220 include a bundle moving belt sensor 63S that detects the position of the bundle moving belt 63 that moves the sheets bundled in the processing tray 58 toward the paper ejection roller 52, and a sheet in the processing tray 58. A processing tray empty sensor 58S for detecting whether or not a device is mounted is provided. A loading tray position sensor 34S is provided to detect the paper surface of the loading tray 34 that accumulates the sheets discharged by the paper ejection roller 52 while gradually descending.

In addition, the sheet type sensor 170 for detecting whether the sheet stored and placed in the processing tray 58, which is described with reference to FIG. 15, is a fluffy sheet having a large wave or a normal sheet, is provided. In addition to this, there are sensors such as a punch unit 40, an end face binding unit 60, and a saddle stitching unit 66, but the description thereof will be omitted here.

[Output section of various motors, etc.]
The sheet processing control unit 205 is provided with a transport control unit 210 for transporting the sheet. The transport control unit 210 controls a carry-in roller motor 41M for carrying in the sheet, a transport roller motor 48M for transporting the sheet to the processing tray 58, and a drop guide motor 46M for directing the sheet to the processing tray 58. Further, a return paddle motor 51M that switches back the sheet, a paper discharge roller motor 52M that rotates forward and reverse to move the sheet, a roller arm motor 50M for the roller arm 50 that raises and lowers the paper discharge upper roller 52a and the return paddle 51, and a return. The return belt motor 61M for driving the belt 61 and the return belt elevating motor 105M for raising and lowering the return belt 61 are also controlled to control the elevating position and the ascending rate. The ascending / descending rate is controlled as described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 14 and 16 to 18.

Next, a punch control unit 211 is provided at the rear end of the sheet carried in by the carry-in roller 41 to perform a punching process. The punch control unit 211 controls a punch motor that punches holes at a designated position in the width direction of the sheet. Further, the next processing tray control unit 212 tray is mounted on the processing tray 58 and the matching plate motor 59M that moves the matching plate 59 that aligns the sheets carried out to the processing tray 58 from both sides in the sheet width direction. It controls a bundle moving belt motor 63M that moves a bundle of sheets together with a paper ejection roller 52.

The end face binding control unit 213 of the next stage controls a binding motor 60M that drives a known staple needle into the end of the sheet bundle and bends it, and an end face binding unit moving motor 108M that moves the binding unit 60 to a designated position in the sheet width direction. Then, try to bind two stitches or corners at the corners. The sheet bundle whose end faces are bound with a needle or the like is discharged to the loading tray 34 by the bundle moving belt 63 and the paper ejection roller 52. At this time, the tray elevating control unit 214 controls the integrated tray motor 34M by detecting the loading tray position sensor 34S so that the position of the upper surface of the sheet is always constant with respect to the paper ejection port 54.

On the other hand, for the bookbinding (saddle stitching) process described later, the transfer roller 48 is reversed to switch back the sheet on the processing tray 58, and the switched back sheet is conveyed to the saddle stitch path 65 by the branch roller 64. The sheet transported here drives the stopper moving motor 74M by the stacker control unit 215 and comes into contact with the saddle stitch sheet stopper 74 located in advance for each sheet length (size). After stacking a predetermined number of sheets, the saddle stitch sheet stopper 74 is raised to fold the saddle stitch position in half by driving the folding roller / blade motor 68M controlled by the folding / discharging control unit 217, and the bundle / discharging roller 76. Is discharged to the bundle stacker 78. In this way, the bookbinding (saddle stitching) process is performed.

[Explanation of sheet processing mode]
The sheet processing device B is a device that receives and processes the sheet carried out from the paper ejection port 16 of the image forming main body device A1 from the entrance 36. The sheet processing device B includes (1) a printout mode for loading and accommodating image-formed sheets, (2) a jog sorting mode for partially storing image-formed sheets, and (3) an image-formed sheet. It is provided with a binding processing mode in which the images are aligned and integrated and bound, and (4) a bookbinding (saddle stitching) processing mode in which the image-formed sheets are partially aligned and bound, and then folded and finished.

From here, a modified example of a form partially different from the conventional embodiments will be described. A modified example 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19, and a modified example 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21. In each of these modifications, components similar to the above will be designated with the same reference numerals.

[Modification 1]
20 and 21 show changes in the rising values of the paper ejection roller 52a lower surface position, the return paddle rotation shaft 134 position, and the return belt 61 lower surface position of the paper ejection roller 52 described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. .. In FIGS. 13 and 14, for example, the lower surface position of the roller 52a on the paper ejection is set to 4 mm for every 5 sheets up to a separation distance of 30 sheets, and 2.5 mm thereafter, but in this modification, every 5 sheets. The ascending range is changed to, and a change point (CP) that once descends when the number of sheets exceeds 30 is provided. Even in this way, the wave sheet can be sent to the reference stopper 62 with a small amount of non-delivery. Further, the overlap rate between the return paddle 51 and the seat and the rate of increase of the return belt 61 are the same, and this may be used. That is, in particular, even if a change point (CP) is not provided, the transport capacity may be increased by suppressing the rate of increase or increasing the overlap rate in accordance with the increase in the number of sheets placed.

[Modification 2]
FIG. 22 shows the paper ejection roller 52 in the conventional device omitted. Also by this, the sheet carried out by the transfer roller 48 is switched back and conveyed by the return paddle 51 attached to the return paddle arm 185 that rotates on the return paddle arm shaft 186. The return paddle 51 here also has L2a: return paddle first rising region (small overlap) and L2b:
It has a second ascending region of the return paddle (large overlap) and an L2c: third ascending region of the return paddle (non-contact region).

FIG. 22 (a) shows a state in which the return paddle 51 is located in the L2c: return paddle third ascending region (non-contact region), and FIG. 22 (b) shows the L2a: return paddle first ascending region. (Small overlap) is shown. The return paddle 51 is also configured as an increase ratio of the return paddle 51 of FIGS. 13 and 14 or 20 and 21 with respect to the wavy sheet. In this way, the wave sheet can easily reach the reference stopper 62.

[Other variants]
Until now, the rate of increase was changed although the paddle 51 was provided in the processing tray 58, but for example, even if the paddle is provided in the stacker portion 72, the effect of the present application is as long as the paddle moves from the seat surface. Can be enjoyed.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the disclosure here, the following effects are obtained.
1. A sheet processing device B for processing a sheet to be placed, which is provided at one end of a transfer roller 48 for conveying the sheet, a processing tray 58 for placing the sheet from the transfer roller, and a processing tray. The paddle member (return paddle 51) composed of the standard member (reference stopper 62) and the elastic piece that switches back the sheet from the transport roller and transfers it to the standard member side comes into contact with the sheet sent by the paddle member. Then, the return feed member (return belt 61) to be sent to the reference member, the paddle member, and the return feed member are moved at a predetermined movement ratio in the sheet thickness direction according to the number of sheets placed on the processing tray. This is a sheet processing device including moving members (roller arm 50, return belt arm 106), and the moving ratio of the moving members is reduced as the number of sheets placed on the processing tray increases. According to this, even if the sheet has a large waviness (wavy sheet), it is possible to reduce the deterioration of the alignment at the time of placement.

2. The return feed member is composed of an endless belt member (return belt 61), and is a moving member until the number of sheets placed on the processing tray reaches a predetermined number (30 sheets). The sheet processing apparatus according to 1 above, wherein the movement rate of the above is moved by the first movement ratio, and when the number of sheets exceeds the predetermined number of sheets, the movement rate is moved by a second movement ratio smaller than the first movement ratio. According to this, when the number of sheets exceeds a predetermined number, the return paddle 51 and the return belt 61 are suppressed from rising. Can be reduced.

3. The amount of overlap is increased (from 7 mm to 8.5) so that the elastic deformation of the paddle member at the time of contact with the seat is larger in the second movement ratio than in the first movement ratio of the moving member. The sheet processing apparatus according to 2 above, which increases the contact pressure between the sheet and the belt member as well as the millimeter). According to this, the apparent overlap of the elastic piece of the return paddle 51 with the sheet becomes large, so even if the sheet has a large wavy sheet (wavy sheet), it may not reach the sheet and may be placed at the time of placement. It is possible to reduce the deterioration of alignment.

4. The moving member is moved by a moving arm member (roller arm 50) that moves the paddle member in the seat thickness direction and a belt arm member (return belt arm 106) that moves the belt member in the seat thickness direction. The sheet processing apparatus according to 3 above. According to this, since the return paddle 51 and the return belt 61 are moved to each, the movement ratio can be set for each, and even if the sheet has a large waviness (wavy sheet), it cannot be reached when it is placed. It is possible to reduce the deterioration of the alignment of the above.

5. A sheet processing device B for processing the sheet to be placed, which is provided at one end of a transfer roller 48 for conveying the sheet, a processing tray 58 for placing the sheet from the transfer roller, and the processing tray. A paddle member (return paddle 51) composed of a reference member (reference stopper 62), an elastic piece that switches back the sheet from the transfer roller and transfers the sheet to the reference member side, and a sheet placed on the processing tray. Is in contact with the paper ejection roller (paper ejection roller 52a) that forwards and reverses the sheet transferred to the reference member side by the paddle member and the sheet transferred by the paddle member and the paper ejection roller. The endless belt member (return belt 61) to be sent to the reference member, the paper ejection roller, the paddle member, and the belt member are determined in the sheet thickness direction according to the number of sheets placed on the processing tray. It is a sheet processing device provided with a moving member (roller arm 50, return belt arm 106) that moves at the moving ratio of the above, and lowers the moving ratio of the moving member as the number of sheets placed on the processing tray increases. .. According to this, when the number of sheets placed on the processing tray 58 increases, the moving ratio of the paper ejection roller 52a, the return paddle 51, and the return belt 61 is lowered, so that the conveying force is increased and the sheet waviness is large. Even if it is a sheet (wave sheet), it is possible to reduce the deterioration of alignment at the time of placement due to undelivered or the like.

6. The moving member includes a support arm (roller arm 50) that supports and moves both the return pad member and the paper ejection roller, and also the paper ejection roller (paper ejection roller 52a) when the paddle member rotates. The sheet processing apparatus according to 5 above, which rotates in the same direction as the pad member. According to this, since the roller 52a on the paper ejection is also backed up and conveyed, even if the sheet has a large waviness (wavy sheet), it is possible to reduce the deterioration of the alignment at the time of placement due to undelivered sheets.

7. The movement rate of the support arm is moved at the first movement ratio (4 mm for every 5 sheets) until the number of sheets placed on the processing tray reaches a predetermined number (for example, 30 sheets). The sheet processing apparatus according to 6 above, which moves at a second movement ratio (2.5 mm for every 5 sheets) smaller than the first movement ratio when the number of sheets exceeds the predetermined number. According to this, when the number of corrugated sheets exceeds a predetermined number, the movement ratio is reduced, so that the transporting force is increased, and it is possible to reduce the deterioration of the sheet alignment at the time of placement due to undelivered or the like.

8. The second movement ratio of the support arm increases the amount of overlap (from 7 mm to 8.5 mm) when the seat and the return pad member come into contact with each other, and the above-mentioned exhaust. The sheet processing apparatus according to 7 above, wherein the separation distance between the paper roller and the sheet is reduced (from 4 mm to 2.5 mm) and the contact pressure between the belt member and the sheet is increased. According to this, even if the sheet has a large waviness (wavy sheet), it is possible to reduce the deterioration of the alignment at the time of placement due to undelivered or the like.

9. The moving member (return belt arm 106) of the belt member that moves in the seat thickness direction has a seat thickness with the drive shaft (belt elevating and rotating shaft 161) that rotates the belt member toward the reference member as a fulcrum. The sheet processing apparatus according to 8 above, which moves in the vertical direction. According to this, since the rotation drive shaft of the belt member is used as a fulcrum, the configuration can be simplified, and even if the seat has a large waviness (wavy seat), it cannot be reached and the alignment at the time of mounting is improved. It is possible to reduce the deterioration.

10. A sheet processing device B for processing a sheet to be placed, which is provided at one end of a transfer roller 48 for conveying the sheet, a processing tray 58 for placing the sheet from the transfer roller, and a processing tray. A paddle member (return paddle 51) composed of a standard member (reference stopper 62), an elastic piece that switches back the sheet from the transport roller and transfers the sheet to the standard member side, and a sheet placed on the processing tray. Is in contact with the paper ejection roller (paper ejection roller 52a) that forwards and reverses the sheet transferred to the reference member side by the paddle member and the sheet transferred by the paddle member and the paper ejection roller. The endless belt member (return belt 61) to be sent to the reference member, the paper ejection roller, the paddle member, and the belt member are moved in the sheet thickness direction according to the number of sheets placed on the processing tray. The moving member (roller arm 50, return belt arm 106) is provided, and the moving member is a paper ejection roller when the number of sheets placed on the processing tray exceeds a predetermined number (for example, 30 sheets). This is a sheet processing device that temporarily moves the paddle member in a direction approaching the sheet on which the paddle member is placed. According to this, when the number of placed sheets exceeds a predetermined number (for example, 30 sheets), there is a change point (CP) that brings the paper ejection roller, the paddle member, and the belt member closer to the sheet side than the previous sheet. Therefore, the transporting force is increased, and even if the sheet has a large waviness (wavy sheet), it is possible to reduce the deterioration of the alignment at the time of placement due to undelivered or the like.

11. The image forming apparatus A includes an image forming unit 3 that forms an image on a sheet, and the sheet processing apparatus according to any one of 1 to 10 above, which processes the sheet image formed by the image forming unit. According to this, it is possible to provide the image forming apparatus A which has the effect described in each of the above.

In the description of the effect in the above-described embodiment, for each part of the present embodiment, the corresponding members of each component within the scope of claims are shown in parentheses, or the relationship between the two is indicated by reference numerals. Was clarified.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the present invention, and all the technical matters included in the technical idea described in the claims are the present invention. It is the subject of the invention. Although the embodiments so far have shown suitable examples, those skilled in the art can realize various alternative examples, modified examples, modified examples, or improved examples from the contents disclosed in the present specification. These are included in the technical scope set forth in the appended claims.

A Image forming device B Sheet processing device (Fnisher)
38 Entrance sensor 41 Carry-in roller 41M Carry-in roller motor 43 Carrying path 46 Drop-in guide 46M Drop-in guide motor 48 Carrying roller 48M Carrying roller motor 50 Roller arm (moving member / support arm)
50M roller arm motor 51 return paddle (paddle member)
51M Return paddle motor 55 Arm rotation shaft 58 Processing tray 59 Matching plate 60 (end face) Binding unit 61 Return belt (return feed member / belt member)
61M Return belt motor 62 Reference stopper (reference member)
102 (Roller arm) Fan-shaped lifting gear 102S Arm position sensor 105M Return belt lifting motor 106 Return belt arm (moving member)
150 In-belt drive gear (drive shaft)
155 Lower gear arm engaging shaft 155
160 Belt frame 161 Belt elevating rotation shaft 170 Seat type sensor 172 Type sensor L (light) flag 176 Type sensor W (heavy) flag 185 Return paddle arm (moving member)
186 Return paddle arm shaft 200 Image formation control unit 205 Sheet processing control unit (control CPU)
210 Transport Control Unit CP Change Point
L1 Separation interval (clearance) between the paper ejection roller and the sheet
Overlap or deflection range between L2 return paddle and seat
Contact relationship between L3 return belt and seat
L1a Paper discharge roller 1st rising area (1st rising rate)
L1b Paper discharge roller 2nd rising area (2nd rising rate <1st rising rate)
L1c Paper ejection top roller 3rd rising area (separation area)
L2a return paddle 1st rising area (small overlap)
L2b return paddle 2nd rising area (large overlap)
L2c return paddle 3rd rising area (non-contact area)
L3a return belt 1st rising area (self-weight contact)
L3b return belt 2nd rising area (weighted contact area)
L3c return belt 3rd rising area (non-contact area)

Claims (7)

It is a sheet processing device that processes the sheet to be placed.
A transport roller that transports the sheet and
A processing tray on which the sheet from the above transport roller is placed, and
A reference member provided at one end of the processing tray and
A paddle member having an elastic piece that switches back the sheet from the transfer roller and transfers it to the reference member side.
A return feed member that comes into contact with the sheet sent by the paddle member and is sent to the reference member side,
A paddle member moving member that moves the paddle member upward in the sheet thickness direction as the number of sheets placed on the processing tray increases.
As the number of sheets placed on the processing tray increases, the return feed member moving member that moves the return feed member upward in the sheet thickness direction, and the return feed member moving member.
The paddle member moving member and the control member for controlling the return feed member moving member are provided.
The control member is a paddle member that reduces the amount of movement of the paddle member and the return feed member upward in the sheet thickness direction when the number of sheets placed on the processing tray reaches a predetermined number. A sheet processing device for controlling a moving member and the return feeding member moving member. The sheet processing device according to claim 1, wherein the return feed member is composed of an endless belt member. It said paddle member moving member includes a support arm that moves in supporting a paper discharge roller for conveying the sheets stacked on the paddle member and the processing tray to the outside,
The discharge roller, upon rotation of the paddle member to rotate in the same direction as the moving direction of the paddle member, the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that. Until the number of sheets placed on the processing tray reaches a predetermined number, the support arm is moved by the first movement amount, and when the number exceeds the predetermined number, it is less than the first movement amount. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sheet processing apparatus moves with a second moving amount. The first aspect of claim 1, wherein the return feed member moving member that moves in the sheet thickness direction moves in the sheet thickness direction with a drive shaft that rotates the return feed member toward the reference member as a fulcrum. Sheet processing equipment. It is a sheet processing device that processes the sheet to be placed.
A transport roller that transports the sheet and
A processing tray on which the sheet from the above transport roller is placed, and
A reference member provided at one end of the processing tray and
A paddle member having an elastic piece that switches back the sheet from the transfer roller and transfers it to the reference member side.
A return feed member that comes into contact with the sheet sent by the paddle member and is sent to the reference member side,
A paddle member moving member that moves the paddle member upward in the sheet thickness direction as the number of sheets placed on the processing tray increases.
As the number of sheets placed on the processing tray increases, the return feed member moving member that moves the return feed member upward in the sheet thickness direction, and the return feed member moving member.
The paddle member moving member and the control member for controlling the return feed member moving member are provided.
The control member controls the paddle member moving member so as to temporarily move the paddle member in a direction approaching the placed sheet when the number of sheets placed on the processing tray exceeds a predetermined number. , A sheet processing device characterized by that. An image forming part that forms an image on the sheet,
An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which performs processing on a sheet image formed by the image forming unit.

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