JPH02144371A - Sheet after-treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a shutter and to simplify a device by a method wherein only when it is detected by a detecting means that a discharge means to discharge sheets in a sheet containing tray is situated in a position, actuation of an after-treatment means is allowed. CONSTITUTION:In the case of a non-folding mode, a sheet discharged from a discharge roller pair 26 of a duplicator 3 is discharged through a first conveyance passage 73 and a discharge roller pair 76 in a manner to be positioned astride a space between a processing tray 77 and a stack tray 103. The directions of width of sheets are caused to coincide with each other by means of a width direction adjusting plate 80 and the longitudinal directions of the sheets are caused to coincide with each other by means of the base end part of the tray 77. When copying of the given number of pages is completed, rotation of a disc 93 causes switching ON of a microswitch 97 through a lever 90, and a swing guide 88, simultaneously, is also swung leftwardly to bring a discharge roller 86 and a rock roller 89 into contact with each other with a sheet bundle therebetween, and the sheet bundle is bound by means of a stapler 85. The bound sheet bundle is discharged and loaded on the stack tray 103 by means of the discharge means 86 and 89. This constitution enables reduction of the size of a device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing bag used in image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and racer beam printers. A sheet post-processing bag (related to a) that includes a post-processing means for performing post-processing such as binding or punching on sheets.

(B) Conventional Technology Is there any known sheet post-processing device that includes post-processing means for performing post-processing such as binding or punching on sheets?
In this apparatus, sheets on which images have been formed are discharged from an image forming apparatus, are bound or punched by a post-processing means, and then stacked on a sheet storage tray.

However, in the above-mentioned sheet post-processing device, there is a risk that hands or fingers may enter the post-processing means. To overcome this drawback, there is a method in which the post-processing means is covered with a cover, and a method with a shutter has also been proposed by Hitoshi Motoyama (unpublished).

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention By the way, the sheet 1 in which the above-mentioned post-processing means is covered with a cover
The post-processing apparatus has disadvantages in that the size of the apparatus increases, the cost increases, and the operability decreases.

In addition, a sheet processing apparatus equipped with a shutter has the disadvantage of complicating the apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet post-processing device in which the above-mentioned line layer is eliminated by activating and stopping the post-processing device based on the signal No. 18 from the detection device that detects the position of the ejecting device. be.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and as shown, for example, with reference to FIGS. A sheet storage tray (103) for storing sheets (S), a processing tray (77) comprising post-processing means (85) for binding etc. on the sheets (S), and a processing tray (77) for storing sheets (S) in ), the sheet post-processing device includes discharging means (86), (89) for discharging the discharging means (86), (89), in which the discharging means (86), (89) are supported movably; A detection means (97) is provided for detecting the position of the detection means (89).
Based on the signal from the ejection means (86), (97),
89) is provided at a predetermined position, a control means (62) is provided for permitting the operation of the post-processing means (85);
It is characterized by this.

(N) Operation--Based on the configuration described above, the control means (62) controls the discharge means (
Based on the signal from the detection means (97) that detects the positions of the discharge means (86) and (89), the post-processing means (85) is activated only when the ejection means (86) and (89) are located at predetermined positions. To give permission. The post-processing means (85) binds the sheets (S) stacked on the processing tray (77), and the bound sheets (S) are sent to the discharge means (86), (89).
The sheets are discharged and stacked onto the sheet storage tray (103).

Note that the above-mentioned symbols are shown for reference and do not limit equivalent configurations.

(F) Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.6 As shown in FIG. The main body 3 is a platen 5,
Light source 6, mirrors 7, 8, 9, 10, lens 11, two cassettes 12, 13 and deck 15 for storing sheet S
Paper feed rollers 16, 1.7.19 are provided above the cassette 12.13 and the deck 15, respectively. A conveyance section 20 is disposed downstream of the paper feed roller 19 on the machine main body 3 side, and a pair of registration rollers 2 is disposed downstream of the conveyance section 20 and the paper feed rollers 16 and 17.
1 is installed. Further, downstream of the pair of rollers 21, the copying section 2 is disposed, and downstream of the copying section 2, a conveyor belt 22 and a fixing device 23 are disposed.

Further, downstream of the fixing device 23, a pair of discharge rollers 24,
A flapper 25 and a pair of paper ejecting rollers 26 are disposed, and a folding section 27a for folding the sheet S in half or Z-folding, etc., adjacent to the copying machine main body 3 and a sheet folding section 27a are provided downstream of the pair of paper ejecting rollers 26. S! Sheet post-processing device 2 consisting of a finisher section 27b that performs J4ffl or stapling, etc.
7 is provided. Further, a re-conveyance path 29 is provided branching off from the flapper 25, and the re-conveyance path 29 is branched off from the flapper 25.
9 includes an intermediate tray device 30. In addition, Sl, S
2. What is indicated by S3 is a sensor.

On the other hand, the copying machine main body 3 is provided with an automatic document feeder 31 on its upper part, and the feeder 31 has a document tray 32 on which documents M are stacked. A paper feed roller 3 for feeding the document M on the tray 32 is placed near the tray 32.
A separation belt 35 that rotates counterclockwise and a conveyor belt 36 that rotates counterclockwise are disposed downstream of the roller 33. In addition, the belt 3
6 (near M is a sensor 37 that detects the size of the document M)
, 39 are arranged linearly in the transverse direction with respect to the document conveyance direction, and downstream of the sensors 37, 39, a drive roller 4 is provided.
A conveyor belt 42 is stretched between the roller 0 and the driven roller 41. Furthermore, a flapper 45 is disposed on the document discharge section 43 on the left side of the belt 42, and around the flapper 45 there is a conveyance path 46 that is switched and guided by the flapper 45.
゜47.49 is provided. Then, the conveyance path 46
A pair of conveyance rollers 50 is disposed on the conveyance path 47 , a pair of conveyance rollers 51 is disposed on the conveyance path 47 , and a discharge roller 52 is disposed on the conveyance path 49 . Note that the reference numeral 84 in the figure is a sensor that detects one cycle of the sheet.

Furthermore, the sheet post-processing device 27, as shown in FIG.
The controller 61 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 62, a ROM 63 storing a control program for controlling the CPU 62, and a RAM 65 serving as a main storage device. An output interface 66 that outputs control signals, an input interface 67 that manually inputs detection signals from each sensor,
is connected to. Further, each load, each sensor, etc. of the copying machine main body 3 and the automatic document feeder 31 are similarly connected via each interface (not shown). The output interface 66 includes a bundle conveying motor Ml.
, swing motor M2, stepping motor 82, stapler motor M3, tray lifting motor M4, and conveyance motor M
5 is connected to the input interface 67,
Seat detection sensor 35. S6, width board home position sensor S7, seat level sensor 105 and micro switch 97 are connected.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, the sheet post-processing device 27 has a swingable hook 70 that engages with an engaging member 69 provided on the side surface of the copying machine main body 3. 7
0 engages with the engaging member 69, the sheet post-processing device 27 is positioned. A carry-in lower 1 for carrying in the sheet S discharged by the pair of paper discharge rollers 26 is provided on the side surface of the device 27, and a deflector 2 is disposed on the downstream side of the carry-in lower 1. . Further, on the downstream side of the deflector 2, a first conveyance path 7 is provided.
3, and the path 73 is provided with a pair of transport rollers 75.
is installed. Furthermore, a pair of paper ejection rollers 76 is disposed downstream of the first conveyance path 73, and the pair of rollers 76
A processing tray 77 is arranged downstream of the processing tray 6 . A portion of a belt 79 is wound around the lower roller 76a of the roller pair 76, and the top end of the belt 79 is in contact with the processing 1-ray 77. The tray 77 also includes a movable width board 80 that aligns the sheets S in the width direction.
A rack 81 is provided at the bottom of the width plate 80, and the 36 racks 81 are connected to a stepping motor 82 disposed below the processing tray 77. It meshes with a pinion gear 83 driven by. Further, a stapler 85 is disposed close to the processing tray 77, and the stapler 85 is configured to staple the sheets S stacked on the binding tray 77. A paper discharge roller 86 is disposed at the tip of the tray 77, and the roller 86 has a swinging arm 88 which is swingably supported by a shaft 87. A roller 89 comes into contact with it. Further, a guide lever 90 is installed upright on the guide 88, and a spring 92 whose one end is fixed to the fuselage frame 91 is connected to the lever 90, so that the swing guide 88 is moved counterclockwise. energized. Furthermore, the guide lever 9
0, a disk 93 rotated by a swing motor M2
The guide lever 90 is disposed on the disk 93.
A pin 95 that engages with is provided upright. A plate spring 96 having a square shape when viewed from the front is swingably supported adjacent to the disk 93, and a microswitch 97 is disposed adjacent to the spring 96. Further, a rail plate 99 is provided on the body frame 91 so as to extend in the horizontal direction, and the rail plate 99 allows the drainboard guide 1
A rotatable roller 101 provided at 00 is supported. The guide 100 includes a tray moving table 102.
The movable table 102 has a stack tray 10 having a recess on the proximal end and stacking sheets S thereon.
3 are arranged. Further, the swing guide 88 includes:
A sheet level sensor 105 is provided to detect the level of sheets S stacked on the stack tray 103.
The sensor 105 includes a sensor lever 106 that comes into contact with the sheets S stacked on the stack tray 103 and a photosensor 107. On the other hand, the deflector 7
A second conveyance path 109 is provided which is branched into two, and a deflector 110 is provided at the end of the stable conveyance path 109. Further, a bending third conveyance path 111 is provided downstream of the deflector 110, and the inner guide surface of the conveyance path 111 is constituted by a large roller 112. It is connected to 73. Further, a folding conveyance path 113 is provided branching off from the deflector 110, and the folding portion 27a is provided downstream of the conveyance path 113. In addition, 35. What is indicated by S6 is a sheet detection sensor that detects the sheet.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

When the power is turned on, the CPU 62 clears the storage sheet number counter to 0 (F1), reverses and starts the stepping motor 82, and moves the width plate 80 to the home position. Then, the CPU 62 determines whether the width board 80 is located at the home position (F2) or not based on the signal from the width board home position sensor S7.
0 or the home position, the stepping motor 82 is stopped (F3). Furthermore, cpu
62 turns on a tray lift motor (not shown), contacts the stack tray 103 or sensor lever 106 and swings the lever 106, and turns on the sheet level sensor 105.
t, it is determined whether or not (F4). And CPU 6
2, the tray lifting motor is stopped and the stack tray 10
3 movement is completed (F5). As a result, the tray 1
03 is in a state where the seat S can be stored. In addition, the above F
If the home position sensor S7 is not turned on in step 2, the stepping motor 82 is reversed until the sensor S7 is turned on (F6).

Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the seat level sensor 10
If it is determined that the sensor 105 is not ON, the tray lifting motor M4 is rotated upward until the sensor 105 is turned ON (F7).

When the document M is loaded on the document tray 32 and a start key (not shown) is turned on, a motor (not shown) is rotated to drive the paper feed roller 33, and the separation belt 35 and conveyor belt 36 are rotated counterclockwise. driven by

The originals M stacked on the original tray 32 are
The sheets are fed by a paper feed roller 33, and separated and conveyed one by one from the bottom by a separation belt 35 and a conveyor belt 36.

Then, the document M is conveyed between the platen 5 and the conveyor belt 42, and conveyed and stacked on the document reference position on the platen 5 by the conveyor belt 42. Then, an image of the original M is read by a lamp 6, a mirror 7.8.degree. 9.10, and a lens 11, and an image is formed on the copying section 2. On the other hand, the cassette 12. selected by a selection switch (not shown).
13 or deck 15 to sheet S or paper feed roller 16
．． 17 or 19, and the sheet S is further conveyed by a pair of registration rollers 21 in synchronization with the image formed on the copying section 2. Then, the sheet S has an image copied thereon by the copying unit 2, and is then conveyed to the fixing device 23 by the conveying belt 22.
3, the image is fixed, and in the case of one-sided copying, the sheet is guided by a flapper 25 and conveyed to a sheet post-processing device 27 by a pair of sheet discharge rollers 26. Further, in the case of multiple copying or double-sided copying, the sheet S is branched and guided by the flapper 25 and conveyed to the re-conveying path 29. Further, by the same operation as described above, the sheet S has an image copied on its back side and is conveyed to the sheet post-processing bag 827.

On the other hand, when the CP II 62 of the sheet post-processing device 27 receives the start signal from the copying machine 3, the transport motor M
5 to ONL/drive each roller (F8).
When the binding mode is selected from the operation unit (not shown) of the copying machine 3, the CPU 62 causes the swing motor M2 to rotate the disc 93 by a predetermined amount, and the pin 95 that rotates together with the disc 93 to rotate the disc 93 by a predetermined amount. The guide lever 90 is swung clockwise (
See Figure 6'M). Further, due to the swinging of the lever 9, the swinging guide 88 swings clockwise about the shaft 87, and the swinging roller 89 and the IJE paper roller 86 are separated from each other. Then, the sheet S discharged from the copying machine 3 is carried in from the carry-in lower 1 and guided to the first conveyance path 73 or the second conveyance path 109 by the deflector 72. For example, in the non-folding mode, the Mti sheet S is guided to the first conveyance path 73, and conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 75 to the paper ejection roller pair 76 (see FIG. 7(a)). , whether or not the sensor S5 has detected the leading edge of the sheet S according to the signal from the sheet detection sensor S5 ↑ definitely F9), if it has been detected, the rear end of the sheet S has been detected by the sensor S5 is detected (Flo). And H.A.
When the sensor S5 detects the trailing edge of the sheet S and is disconnected, the CPU 62 starts a tray storage timer set at a predetermined time (Fil). Then, the sheet S is ejected across the processing tray 77 and the stack tray 103 by the paper ejection roller pair 76 (see FIG. 7(b).
)), the width direction is aligned by abutting against the positioning plate by the width board 80, and the paper ejection roller 86 rotates clockwise only for the first sheet S, and the paper discharge roller 86 rotates counterclockwise. The processing tray 77 is brought into contact with the base end portion of the processing tray 77 by the belt 79 and aligned in the front-rear direction. Furthermore, when the tray storage timer ends (F12), the CPU 62
The number of stored sheets is incremented (F13),
Then, based on the signal from the sensor S4, it is determined whether the original M has gone through one cycle, that is, whether one cycle of copying processing has been completed (F14). Furthermore, if it is determined that one cycle of copy processing has not been completed, the CPU 62
The aforementioned F4. After checking the height of the stack tray 103 in the same manner as in F5, the operations from F9 onwards are performed. Also, when one cycle of copy processing is completed, CPU6
2 starts the swing motor M2 to rotate the disk 93 clockwise (F15). Then, due to the rotation of the disc 93, the urging force of the guide lever 90 by the pin 95 disappears, and l
The flavor 90 is biased counterclockwise by a spring 92. Then, when the lever 90 comes into contact with the plate spring 96 and swings the spring 96 counterclockwise, the micro switch 97 is turned on by the ON signal of the switch 97.
P U 62 stops the swing motor M2 (F16
), (') At this time, due to the swinging of the lever 90, the swinging kite 88 also swings in the counterclockwise direction 31 together with the lever 90,
The paper discharge roller 86 and the swinging roller 89 come into contact with each other. After confirming that there is a sheet S on the processing tray 77 using a sensor (not shown), the CPL 62 operates the stapler 85 to staple the sheet bundle S (F17
), then when the staple is finished (F18), C
PL162 connects the bundle conveyance motor M1 (not shown) to oNL(
F19), the sheet bundle S is discharged onto the stack tray 103 by the sheet discharge roller pair 86 and the swinging roller pair 89 (see FIG. 7(c)). At this time, the sheet bundle S...
The sensor lever 106 is pushed + and the beam of the photosensor 107 is turned on (see Fig. 8).
are guided to the third conveyance path 11, stay in the RAM path 11, and after ejecting the sheet bundle S of the previous job, are ejected to the processing tray 77 in a stacked manner with the second sheet S (see FIG. 7).
d)). Furthermore, the CPU 62 controls the tray lifting motor M.
4 and lower the stack tray 103 (F20)
, a timer is started for the amount of decrease according to the number of stored sheets counter (F21). For example, if the sheet thickness is 0.1 mm, this timer value is 2 if the counter value is 10.
1/4'3 descending value, if the counter value is 20, then 31
The value is set slightly lower than the thickness of the sheet, like a value that decreases in height. Then, when the timer ends (F22)
, CPtJ62 turns off the tray lifting motor M4 (F23). At this time, the CPU 62 moves the stack tray 103 and the drainboard guide 100 in the sheet width direction using a drive unit (not shown), offsets the sheet stack S stacked on the tray 103, and moves the stack tray 103 and the drainboard guide 100 in the sheet width direction so as to offset the sheet stack S... from the stubble needle portion. Make sure it doesn't swell. Then, cPU62
After performing the initial processing from F1 to F5 described above (F24), the operation from F9 described above is performed for the next job.

In addition, in the above-mentioned F16, the microswitch 97 is turned off.
If not, that is, if there is a foreign object (for example, a hand, finger, book, etc.) on the processing tray 77, the CPU 62 stops the system (F25).

Further, when the folding mode is selected, the sheet S carried in from the carry-in lower 1 is guided by the deflector 72 to the deflector 110, and the deflector 110
It is guided through the conveyance path 113 to the folding section 27a, and is folded in half or Z-folded by the folding section 27a. Then, the folded sheet S is transferred to the third light path 111 by the large roller 112.
, and the operations after F8 described above are performed.

Note that when the non-stapling mode is selected, the swinging roller 89 is in a position where it is in contact with the paper ejection roller 86 (see Figure 3).
The sheet S carried in from the carry-in lower 1 is guided to the first conveyance path 73 by a deflector 72, and is directly discharged onto the stack tray 103 by a pair of paper discharge rollers 76, a paper discharge roller 86, and a swinging roller 89. be done.

(g) As described in detail, according to the present invention, the post-processing means is configured to be operated only when the ejection means is located at a predetermined position, so a shutter is not required and the mounting; a can be simplified, the device can be made smaller, and the operability can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a sheet post-processing device u according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing its control section, and FIG. 3 is a hemostasis sectional view showing its main parts. Also,
4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the operation of the present invention. Furthermore, Fig. 6, Fig. 7 (a), (b),
(c), (d) and FIG. 8 are hemostatic sectional views showing the operation of the present invention. 62...control means, 77...processing tray 85.
...Post-processing means 86.89...Discharge means,
97...Detection means, 103...Sheet storage tray S sheet

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sheet storage tray that is movably supported with respect to the machine body and stores sheets, a processing tray that includes post-processing means that performs binding etc. on the sheets, and discharges sheets to the sheet storage tray. A sheet post-processing device comprising: a discharging means for movably supporting the discharging means; a detecting means for detecting the position of the discharging means; and a detecting means for detecting the position of the discharging means. A sheet post-processing device comprising: a control means that permits the operation of the post-processing means only when the ejection means is located at a predetermined position.