JPH0228476A - Sheet folding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify a mechanism necessary for Z-folding by feeding a sheet having a fold generated by the first pairs of press rollers through a downward transport passage into a lateral transport passage and restraining the shift by the next stopper, in a sheet folding device for a copying machine, etc. CONSTITUTION:During the half folding mode for a sheet, the shift of the top edge of the sheet which is transported into an accommodation passage 106 from a downward transport passage 104 is restrained by the stoppers 134 and 136, and a curved part is generated in the intermediate part of the sheet. The sheet is nipped by a pair of press rollers 130, and a fold is formed in the middle part, and discharged through a pair of press rollers 132 through an upward transport passage 108. Further, in the Z-folding mode, the shift of the top edge of the sheet which is transported into the accommodation passage 106 from a transport passage 104 is restrained by stoppers 138 and 140, and a fold is generated at a position in 1/4 of the sheet nipped by a pair of rollers 130. The sheet is transported into a transport passage 110 in the lateral direction by a flapper 128 through a transport passage 108, and Z-folded by the stoppers 142 and 144 and a pair of rollers 132.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a sheet folding device, particularly a method for folding, collating, and binding sheets ejected from an image forming device such as a copying machine into a predetermined form. The present invention relates to a sheet folding device suitable for use in a sheet finisher.

[Prior Art 1] In general, a sheet folding device is required to have a half-folding function for folding a sheet in half, and a so-called Z-folding function for folding the half of the sheet in half.

Conventionally, a sheet folding device having such a two-folding function is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-217476.

A sheet folding conveyance path and a passing conveyance path having a pair of discharge rollers provided at the downstream end thereof are provided downstream of the artificial deflector which is switched in response to a request for sheet folding or not.

A first deflector is interposed downstream of this sheet folding conveyance path, and a first-stage folding roller pair consisting of a first and second folding roller and a first folding position regulating conveyance path are connected to each other. It is set up.

Further, a second deflector is interposed downstream of the first-stage folding roller pair, and the second-stage folding roller pair composed of the second and third folding rollers and the second folding position regulating conveyance path are connected to each other. has been established.

Furthermore, a third deflector is interposed downstream of the second-stage folding roller pair, so that the third-stage folding roller pair and the third folding position regulating conveyance path, which are composed of third and fourth folding rollers, are interposed downstream of the second-stage folding roller pair. has been established.

Further, downstream of the pair of folding rollers at the third stage, there is provided a folding end conveyance path whose terminal end merges with the above-mentioned passing conveyance path.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional sheet folding device, when forming a sheet fold, the leading end of the sheet is guided to the folding position regulating conveyance path and the fangs 3 of the leading end are moved. The resulting curved part in the middle of the sheet is held between a pair of folding rollers.
Since the first to third pairs of folding rollers and the conveyance path for regulating the folding position are provided, there are problems in that the structure is complicated and expensive, and it is difficult to reduce the size.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve such conventional problems and to provide a sheet folding device that has a simple conveying path structure, can be downsized, and is inexpensive.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first conveyance path and a second conveyance path for conveying sheets brought in, and an entrance of a first conveyance path and a second conveyance path. a first switching means provided in the section;
A storage path that is continuous with the first transport path and temporarily accommodates the leading edge of the sheet, a 31st general transport path that extends from the exit of the first transport path to the exit of the second transport path, and a third transport path. a first pair of press rollers provided at the entrance of the storage path to form a fold in the sheet; a first restraint means provided in the storage path to restrict the movement of the leading edge of the sheet; A second pair of press rollers adjacent to the exit portion of the conveyance path and forming folds in the sheet;
'A second switching means for switching between the M feeding path and the second pair of press rollers, a second restraining means provided in the second conveying path and restraining the movement of the edge of the sheet, and a first conveying path. It is characterized by comprising a first pair of conveyance rollers provided on the path and a second pair of conveyance rollers provided on the third conveyance path.

[Function] According to the present invention, when the sheet is folded in half, the first
Movement of the leading end of the sheet conveyed from the conveyance path to the storage path is restrained by the first restraining means at the % passing position of the sheet. Then, a curve is formed in the middle of the sheet, and due to this curve, the sheet is sandwiched between the first pair of press rollers, and a fold is formed in the middle of the sheet. This half-folded sheet is discharged via the second press roller via the third conveyance path.

Further, when the sheet is Z-folded, the movement of the leading end of the sheet conveyed from the first conveyance path to the accommodation path is restrained by the first restraint means at the position where the sheet passes through the station. and,
A curvature is formed at the position of the sheet, and this curvature causes the sheet to be sandwiched between the first pair of press rollers and a crease is formed at the position of the sheet.

This sheet is further conveyed in the opposite direction via the third conveyance path to the second conveyance path selected by the second switching means.

Then, the movement of the previously formed fold is restrained by the second restraint means, and a curve is formed at the % position of the sheet.

This curved portion is sandwiched between the second pair of press rollers, a fold is also formed at the folding position of the sheet, and the Z-folded sheet is discharged.

Further, when the sheet is not folded, the second conveyance path is selected by the first switching means, and the sheet is discharged via the second conveyance path and the second pair of press rollers.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the second conveyance path has both the functions of a conveyance path during non-sheet folding and a temporary accommodation path during Z-folding, and the configuration of the conveyance path can be simplified and miniaturization is possible. It becomes.

[Embodiment 1] Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a sheet folding device according to the present invention is applied to a sheet finisher will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheet finisher 10 has a main body 12 placed on a pedestal 16 equipped with casters 14. The main body 12 is provided with an upper tray 18 for receiving discharged sheets and a lower tray 20 for cumulatively storing processed sheets.

22 is a partition plate.

The sheet finisher 1o according to the embodiment includes a sheet folding mechanism 100 for folding a sheet ejected from a copier or the like (not shown) and carried in. Sheet discharge angle variable mechanism 200 that changes the discharge angle. A tray shift mechanism 300 that sorts the discharged sheets. Stitching mechanism 400 for stitching the ejected sheets.
i Sheet alignment mechanism 500 necessary before stitching. A tray rise mechanism for improving the alignment of ejected sheets on the upper tray 18; and an escape mechanism 600 for releasing sheets that have been processed on the tray 18 to the lower tray 20.
and a tray angle control mechanism 700 for improving the storage capacity in the lower tray 20. Each of the above-mentioned mechanisms will be explained in sequence below.

A. Sheet folding mechanism 100 The sheet folding mechanism 100 is connected to the carry-in path 10 as shown in FIG.
2. Downward conveyance path 104. Sheet storage path 1 that is continuous with this downward conveyance path 104 and temporarily stores the leading edge of the sheet.
06. Upward conveyance path 108. A horizontal conveyance path 110 is provided for conveying sheets that are not folded.

Further, at the tip of the carry-in path 102, there is a pair of carry-in rollers 112 for pinching and feeding the sheet carried in from the feed port 22.
is provided.

The member 24 in which the feeding port 22 is formed is the upper and lower guide member 2.
6.28, and its vertical position can be adjusted according to the ejection position of a copying machine (not shown) or the like.

In the middle of the downward conveyance path 104, the conveyance path 104
A first pair of conveyance rollers 116 is provided facing the conveyance rollers 116 whose nipping operation can be turned on and off by driving a solenoid 114. Furthermore, two pairs of second conveyance rollers 118 and 120 are provided midway along the upward conveyance path 108 .

A first flapper 122 is provided at the end of the carry-in path 102 and is driven by a solenoid 124 to select either the downward conveyance path 104 or the sideways conveyance path 110 as the conveyance direction of the carried-in sheet. Further, at the end of the upward conveyance path 108, a second flapper 128 is provided which switches the conveyance direction of the conveyed sheet to either the horizontal conveyance path 110 or a second pair of press rollers to be described later using a solenoid 126. There is.

Furthermore, a first pair of press rollers 130 is provided at the continuous portion of the downward conveyance path 104 and the sheet storage path 106, and a second press roller pair 132 is provided at the terminal end of the upward conveyance path 108 and the horizontal conveyance path 110. ing.

Further, the sheet storage path 10B is provided with a plurality of stoppers that abut against the ends of the sheets and restrict their movement. These stoppers are set according to the form of sheet folding and sheet size. The F3+1 stopper 134, which is used when folding the F3 size sheet in half, is of a fixed type and is provided at the lowest end of the sheet storage path 10B.

136 is B4 size and B4H used when folding in half
The stopper, 138 is the first A3Z stopper used for Z-folding in B3 size, and 140 is the 2nd A3Z stopper in B4 size.
A first B4Z stopper used during folding,
They are driven to protrude into the sheet storage path 106 by solenoids 1368, 138A and 1408, respectively.

Further, the horizontal conveyance path 110 is also provided with a second A3Z stopper 142, which is used for half-folding a regular size sheet, and a second B4Z stopper 144, which is used for Z-folding a B4 size sheet, as the same kind of stoppers. and horizontal conveyance path 11O by solenoids 1428 and 1448, respectively.
driven to protrude.

Note that a guide member 146 is provided on the exit side of the second press roller pair 132 to guide the sheet to a discharge roller pair to be described later.

Furthermore, a downward conveyance path 10 downstream of the first conveyance roller pair
4 and the guide member 146 downstream of the second press roller pair 132 are provided with sensors 14B and 150, respectively, for detecting arrival and passage of the sheet.
8 is a reflective photosensor, and sensor 150 is a photointerrupter with a trip added thereto.

B. Sheet discharge angle variable mechanism 200 The sheet discharge angle variable mechanism 200 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. A drive@204 on which a plurality of discharge rollers 202 are mounted is rotatably supported by a bracket 20G fixed to the main body frame. Discharge roller 202
A rotary shaft 210 on which a plurality of pinch rollers 208 that come into contact with the drive shaft 204 are mounted is rotatably supported by a support bracket 212 that is swingably supported around the drive shaft 204 .

The ejection roller 202 and the pinch roller 208 are hereinafter referred to as an ejection roller pair 203. A solenoid 214 and a support shaft 216 are fixed to the bracket 206, and an arm member 218 in which a slot 218 is formed is rotatably supported on the support shaft 216.

Further, a stopper piece 220 is formed by cutting and raising a part of the bracket 206, and a pin 224 to which one end of a spring 222 is locked is implanted. The other end of the spring 222 is attached to a first bin 226 embedded in the support bracket 212.
A second pin 228 , also implanted in the support bracket 212 , is secured to the slot 218 of the arm member 218 .
It is engaged with A. Movable rod 2 of solenoid 214
It is connected to the arm member 218 by a 14-layer connecting plate 230.

The dimensions of each of the above-mentioned components are such that the sheet ejection angle defined by the plane including the common contact point of the ejection roller 202 and the pinch roller 208 is approximately Q+=10° with respect to the horizontal plane when the solenoid 214 is demagnetized and when the solenoid 214 is energized. Approximately Q
2=30°. Incidentally, the upper tray 18 is provided so that its middle portion is inclined at approximately 30 degrees.

That is, during demagnetization, the support bracket 212 is pulled by the biasing force of the spring 222, and the arm member 2+8 rotates clockwise as shown in FIG. Accordingly, the initial discharge angle is set to 10 degrees.

C. Tray shift mechanism 300 and stitching mechanism 4
00 Next, the tray shift mechanism 300 and the binding mechanism 4
00 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

A bracket 302 is fixed to the lower side of the upper tray 18.

The motor 304 is connected to the tray chassis 1 on the side of the upper tray 18.
The cam wheel 3 is fixedly attached to 9 and has a bottle 306 implanted therein
08 is rotated. One end of a connecting plate 310 is engaged with a pin 306 installed in a cam wheel 308.
The other end is connected to the aforementioned bracket 302 with a pin 312. Each half rotation of the cam wheel 308 moves the upper tray 18 in the left and right directions.

Next, the stitching mechanism 400 is provided on a bracket 402 fixed to the main body frame (not shown) on the side of the upper tray 18 so as to be rotatable around a pin 401 implanted in the bracket 402. A base plate 406 is provided.

A motor 408 is fixedly installed on the lower side of the bracket 402.
A cam wheel 412 on which a pin 410 is installed is driven to rotate. A slot 406A is formed in the base plate 406 in parallel with the sheet discharging direction.
The bin 410 is engaged in the eighth position. Also, head plate 4
A stapler 414 is placed on the top surface of the stapler 414, and its stable position 414A is at the corner of the upper tray 18 as shown in FIG. The entire structure is laid out so as to be located in a notch 18G formed in the section.

D. Sheet alignment mechanism 500 Before explaining the sheet alignment mechanism 500, FIG.
The upper tray 18 will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 3, although details will be described later.

The upper tray 18 mainly includes a tray body 18A and a swinging member 18B.
.

It is composed of four parts: a door member 18G and a gate plate 18D, and side walls 18E and 18F are formed on each side of the tray body 18A and the swinging member 18B,
A door member 18C and a gate plate 180 are provided so as to be openable and closable as described later. And this side wall 18E
, 18F and the gate plate 18D are orthogonal to each other on their extended lines.

An opening 18H is formed in the gate plate 18D toward the notch 18G side, and the friction roller 540 of the sheet alignment mechanism 500 pops out from this opening 18) 1 during sheet alignment.

Therefore, the sheet alignment mechanism 500 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 7 to 11.

A support bracket 504 is fixed to the main body frame 502 that supports the secondary press roller 132 described above. The support bracket 504 is partially bent to have a cross-sectional shape, and has a side plate portion 5048 and an upper plate portion 504B. The side plate portion 504A has a guide whose terminal end is slightly curved upward.
Is M504G an oblique guide to upper plate portion 504B? m5
ou+ is formed respectively. Further, a motor 506 is fixedly attached to an extension of the side plate portion 504A to drive a pulley 508. A pulley 512 is further rotatably supported on the side plate portion 504A via a bracket 510 (see FIG. 8).

Further, as shown in detail in FIG. 8, a rail member 514 having stoppers 512 at both ends is fixed to the side plate portion 5048 located below the upper plate portion 504B. A pair of sliders 516 are slidably provided above and below this rail member 514, and this pair of sliders 516 is fixed to a holding plate 518. The retaining plate 518 has the above-mentioned bridges 508 and 512.
Both ends of the wire 520 stretched across are fixed. A pin 522 is embedded in the holding plate 518 and is fitted into a hole 524A at one end of the link plate 524 to be rotatably supported. The hole 524B at the other end of the link plate 524 has a first
A joint member 526 is rotatably fitted.

The first joint member is shown enlarged in FIG.
A guide (M
504C;
Annular grooves 526C and 526D for engaging washers are formed at the respective ends of the double-sided cylindrical portions 526A and 526B. Further, one end thereof has a protrusion 526E that is connected to the yoke 528A of the second joint portion with a pin. Protrusion 528B of second joint member 528
is connected to a yoke 530A formed at one end of a connecting rod 530 with a pin. Thus, the first joint member 526, the second joint member 528, and the connecting rod 530 constitute a universal joint.

Furthermore, an arm 532 whose tip is bent and formed into an L-shape is fixed to the end of the connecting rod 530, and a guide groove formed in the upper plate portion 50411 is provided near the yoke 5308 of the connecting rod 530. A portal member 534 having a follower 5348 engaged with 504D is rotatably provided.

A holding member 538 that holds the jacket of the flexible wire 536 is fixed to the arm 532 .

The tip of the flexible wire 536 is connected to the shaft 542 that supports the friction roller 54G, and the other end is connected to the shaft 542 that supports the friction roller 54G.
It is connected to the driven shaft of the press roller pair 132 (the seventh
(see figure).

When the pulley 508 is driven by the motor 506 and the holding plate 518 is moved to the right in FIG. The supporting arm 532 and the connecting rod 530 are integrally connected to the first
joint member 526 and second joint member 528
It rotates around the connection part with. Follower friction roller 5
40 moves while keeping its height substantially constant and passes through the opening 16H of the gate plate 180, as shown in FIG. 1O.

Further, as the holding plate 518 moves to the right, the first joint member 52 guided by the guide groove 504C
6 is lifted upward according to the curved shape of the rear end of the guide groove 504C, and the arm 532 and the connecting rod 530 rotate integrally around the connecting portion with the gate-shaped member 534. Therefore,
The friction roller 540 descends and contacts the upper surface of the upper tray 18, as shown in FIG.

At this time, it is preferable that the rotation plane of the friction roller 540 be inclined at about 15 degrees with respect to the gate plate +8D of the upper tray 18.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, when the discharged sheet is in the state shown in St, the sheet comes into contact with the side wall 18F of the upper tray 18 and the gate plate 180 as the friction roller 540 rotates, and is in the state shown in S2. are aligned.

It is preferable to form a folded portion in the tray 18 near the position where the friction roller 540 contacts the upper surface of the upper tray 18, since this can prevent the sheet from bending convexly downward and curling.

E. Tray rise mechanism and escape mechanism 600 The above-mentioned upper tray 18 is attached to the main body frame 5 as shown in FIG.
06 is slidably placed on a tray chassis 19 fixed to the tray chassis 19.

The tray chassis 19 has two wooden guide bars 198 and 1.
9B is installed horizontally.

In the upper tray 18, as shown in detail in FIG. 13, a roller 18 is mounted on the lower surface of the tray main body 18 and moves on the guide bar 19B of the tray chassis 19 via a bracket 18J.
K is provided.

Furthermore, the guide bar 1 of the tray chassis 19 is also placed on the bottom surface.
Bearing block 18L and solenoid 6 in sliding contact with 98
A bracket 18M for attaching 02 is fixedly installed.

Further, a boss 18N through which a guide bar 198 is inserted is integrally formed on the lower surface of the swinging member 18B. Thus, the swinging member 18B swings about the axis Z to the guide bar 19.

A movable rod 602 of a solenoid 602 for driving the swinging member 18B. An arm member 606 fixed to the boss 18N of the swinging member 18B via a shoulder connection plate 604.
is connected to.

Next, in FIG. 14, the swinging member 1811 and the door member 18G are connected to be rotatable relative to each other about the axis Y.

Also, on the side of the tray main body I8A, there is a bracket [i].
08 is fixedly installed, and this rotatably supports the gate plate 18[1 via a boss portion 18P formed integrally therewith. The first bracket 6 on the side of the tray body 18A
A second bracket 609 is provided below the bracket 08, and a third bracket 611 is provided at a predetermined distance apart from these by a plurality of studs δ10. 1st
A solenoid 612 is fixed to the bracket "608", and a first bottle 613 is installed.
3 is provided with a first spring 616 that biases the arm member 614 in the clockwise direction shown in the figure, and supports the arm member 614 so as to be rotatable.

One end of the arm member 614 is engaged with a slot 618A formed in the connecting plate 618, and the other end is engaged with a slot 6208 of an arm member 620 fixed to the boss portion 18P of the gate plate 18D.

One end of the connecting plate 618 is connected to the movable rod 612A of the solenoid [i12, and the other end is connected to a bell crank 624 rotatably supported by a second pin 622 implanted in the third bracket 611. slot 62 at one end of
48 is engaged.

The other end of the bell crank 624 is connected to the thrower 1-628A of the first stopper release arm 1i2B, which is rotatably supported by a third pin 626 implanted in the third bracket 611.
engage with.

Next, the lock mechanism 630 will be explained. Lock mechanism 6
30 has a housing 632, an actuating rod 636 housed within the housing 632 and biased in the projecting direction by a spring 634, and a pawl 638 screwed onto the tip of the actuating rod. In this embodiment, two identical mechanisms are used for the first and second locking mechanisms 630 and 630B, respectively.

That is, the first locking mechanism 630A is connected to the bracket 64.
0 through the first position 611A of the third bracket 611
is provided to restrict movement of the gate play 1-18D.

Although not shown, the second lock mechanism 630B is provided via a bracket at the second position 511B of the bracket 811 of S2 to restrict movement of the door member 18C.

Then, the end of the first lock release arm 628 is engaged with the claw 638 of the first locking mechanism 630A, and the clockwise rotation of the arm 6280 causes the actuation rod 536 to retract into the housing 632.

Furthermore, the second bracket 609 has a fourth pin 644.
, a fifth pin 646 is implanted, and a solenoid 648 is fixedly installed via a bracket 642.

A movable rod 648A of the solenoid 648 is connected by a connecting plate 652 to one end of a bell crank 650 rotatably supported on the fourth pin 644.

The fifth pin 646 has a slot 654A and a hole 654.
An arm member 654 having a shape B is rotatably supported, and a sixth pin 656 is implanted in the hole 654B.

The other end of the bell crank 650 has a slot 658 in the midsection.
A is formed and connected to the other end of the arm member 658, which is provided with a seventh pin 658B at one end, and is connected to the other end of the arm member 658, which is connected to the slot 65.
The sixth pin 65 implanted in the arm member 654 at B8
6 engages.

A seventh pin 65 provided at one end of the arm member 658
8B engages with a slot 662A of a second unlocking arm 662 rotatably supported by an eighth pin 660 implanted in the third bracket 611. The other end of the second lock release arm 662 engages with the pawl 638B of the aforementioned second locking mechanism 630B (not shown), and the counterclockwise rotation of the arm 662 allows the locking function of the second locking mechanism 630B. Release.

A ninth pin 664 screwed onto the side surface of the door member 18G is engaged with the slot 654A of the arm member 654.

A second spring 6δ6 and a third spring 668 are provided between the swinging member 18B and the first bracket 608 and between the door member 18C and the first bracket 608, respectively.
is set up with a bow.

F Tray Angle Control Mechanism 700 As shown in FIG. 16, the lower tray 20 has a plurality of tabs 20A at its base end, a through hole 20B through which the rod 702 is inserted in the side wall, and a notch 20C that engages with the shaft 704. have. The tab 208 is inserted into a hole (not shown) formed in the partition plate 22, and the lower tray 2o can swing around this base end.

The shaft 704 is rotatably supported by the main body frame 502, and has a hook plate 706 fixed to one end thereof.

The rod 702 passes through an arc-shaped elongated hole 502A formed in the main body frame 502, and one end thereof is connected to the hook plate 70.
6 is disposed so as to be able to engage with a stepped portion 7068 formed at the bottom.

This rod 702 is always urged upward by a spring 710 whose one end is locked to a pin 708 implanted in the main body frame 502.

A hole 705B provided at the end of the hook plate 706 engages with a collar 714 supported at one end of a bell crank 712 rotatably supported by a pin 711 on the main body frame 502. The other end of the bell crank 712 is the main frame 5
Movable rod 716 of solenoid 716 fixed to 02
8 through a connecting plate 718. Furthermore, the hook plate 706 is urged counterclockwise in the drawing by a spring 720 whose one end is locked to the main body frame 502.

Thus, when the solenoid 716 is in the OFF state, the stepped portion 706 of the hook plate 706 and the rod 702 are engaged, and the lower tray 20 is held at a predetermined angle.

When a predetermined number of sheets are accumulated on the lower tray 20, the solenoid 716 is energized and the bell crank 712
The hook plate 706 is rotated against the spring 720 and disengaged from the rod 702.

Then, the lower tray 20 rotates about its base end in accordance with its own weight and the weight of accumulated sheets so as to enlarge its acceptance angle.

When the maximum number of sheets accommodated is reached, the notch 20G and the shaft 704 engage, and the lower tray 20 is held substantially horizontally.

Next, the operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be explained.

A. In a non-sheet-folding copying machine, when the non-sheet-folding remote mode is set, the solenoid 124.12 is activated by a command from a control circuit configured using a microcomputer (not shown), etc.
6 and 214 perform predetermined operations. That is, the first flapper 122 and the second flapper 128 are switched to the solid line regular position shown in FIG. 2, and the variable sheet ejection angle mechanism 200 is set to the initial ejection angle Q of 410 degrees.

At the same time, solenoids 142A and 144 are turned off, causing both second 3Z stopper 142 and B4Z stopper 144 to be retracted from lateral transport path 110.

The sheet discharged from a copying machine or the like is nipped by a pair of carry-in rollers 112, passes through a horizontal conveyance path 110, a second press roller 132, reaches a pair of discharge rollers 203, and is discharged to an upper tray 18 at a discharge angle Q+. .

B. When the half-folding mode for the half-folded sheet is set, the solenoids 124, 126 and 214 perform predetermined operations in response to commands from a control circuit (not shown). And the first flapper 1
22 at the second dashed line position, the second flapper 128 at the solid line position, and the variable sheet ejection angle mechanism 200 at the ejection angle Q.
2# Set each to 30°. Further, the solenoid 136 is controlled according to the size of the sheet. For example, if the sheet is a medium size, turn off solenoid 136A,
If the size is B4, the solenoid 136 is turned on to cause the 8411 stroke member 136 to protrude into the channel 106.

Thus, the sheet carried in from the feed port 22 is nipped by the pair of carry-in rollers 112, passes through the first flapper 122, and enters the downward conveyance path 104. The downward conveyance path 104 has a first
A pair of transport rollers 116 are installed, and a pair of transport rollers 1
The sheet conveyed by the receiving path 12 is taken up and further transferred to the receiving path 1.
Transport to 06.

The rear end of the sheet conveyed to the storage path 1θ6 leaves the pair of carry-in rollers 112, and the conveying function is performed only by the pair of first conveying rollers +16.

83) 1 stopper 134 provided in the accommodation channel 106
and [14) 1 stopper 136 is the first press roller pair 1
The distance chicks to 30 nip locations are 83 and B4 respectively
It is set to be half the vertical length of the sheet.

The seat is a stopper 134. Or t arrives at +36
2 seconds (calculated as the difference between the expected arrival time and the elapsed time based on the feed speed of the first conveying roller pair 116 and the sheet size after the sensor 148 detects the passage of the leading edge of the sheet.)
When the solenoid 114 is operated to release the nip of the first conveying roller 116, the sheet hits the stopper due to its own weight and inertia. At that time, the seat is in a state where the restraint is released, so it stands at right angles to the stopper. Therefore, even if a sheet comes in obliquely from a copying machine or the like, the inclination of the sheet is corrected here.

Furthermore, when the solenoid 114 is operated and the sheet is nipped and conveyed again by the first conveying roller 116, the middle of the sheet whose front end hits the stopper and whose movement is restricted faces the first pair of press rollers 130, and the sheet is conveyed by the first conveying roller 116. A downward conveyance path 104 and a storage path 10 have a shape that smoothly bulges in the direction.
The intermediate portion thereof is curved along the continuous portion with 6, and is nipped by the first pair of press rollers 130. The contact line of the first pair of press rollers 130 and the stopper surface are parallel, and the sheet is folded parallel to the edge.

The sheet folded by the first pair of press rollers 130 is conveyed to the upward conveyance path 108. Two second pairs of conveying rollers 118 and 120 are provided on the upward conveying path 108 to convey the sheet folded in half.

In the second pair of transport rollers 118 and 120, the driven rollers are preferably independently suspended in order to prevent wrinkles from occurring due to skewing of the sheet.

The sheet is guided via a second flapper 128 to a first pair of press rollers 132.

The half-folded sheet is pressed by the second pair of press rollers 132 and the first
The paper is pressed with a higher pressure than the press roller pair 130, and is discharged from the discharge roller pair 203 via the guide member 146.

When the Z-folding mode for the C- and Z-folding sheets is set, the solenoids 124[deg.]12I] and 214 perform predetermined operations in response to commands from a control circuit (not shown). Then, the first flapper 122 and the second flapper 128 are respectively moved to the second dashed line position and the sheet ejection angle variable mechanism 200 is moved to the ejection angle Q.
2 Set to 30°.

Also, depending on the size of the seat, solenoid 1388 or 1408 and solenoid 11H8 or 14
4. For example, if the size is B3, solenoids 138A and 142A are turned on, and if the size is B4, solenoids 140A and 1448 are turned on.

Corresponding stoppers are thus projected into the storage path 106 and the lateral transport path 110, respectively.

A typical case of Z-folding a shoulder-sized sheet will be explained.

The sheet coming in from the feed port 22 is transferred to the carry-in roller 112.
The sheet is nipped by the paper sheet and conveyed to the storage path 106 via the downward conveyance path 104 in the same manner as when folding in half.

The first A3Z stopper 138 of the accommodation path 106 is in a protruding state.

To this 3z stopper 138 and B4Z stopper 14
0 is set so that the distance to the nip location of the first pair of press rollers 130 corresponds to the vertical length of each sheet.

The method for correcting the sheet inclination and folding the sheet is exactly the same as for half-folding.

The sheet folded from the leading edge of the sheet at the proper position by the first press roller pair +30 is guided through the upward conveyance path 108 to the horizontal conveyance path 110 opened by the second flapper 128. In the horizontal conveyance path 110, the second 3Z stopper 142 is in a protruding state.

The second A3Z stopper 142 and the 842 stopper 144 for secondary folding are each set so that the distance to the nip location of the second press roller pair 132 corresponds to the vertical length of each sheet.

Then, the A3Z stopper 142 hits the fold of the sheet folded from the tip to the scrap position by the first pair of press rollers 130, and its vertical movement is restrained, and further the upward conveyance path 108
When the trailing edge of the sheet is conveyed by the pair of S2 conveying rollers 120 provided in Then, it is nipped by the second pair of press rollers 132. Here the sheet is S
The sheet that is folded in the direction opposite to the primary fold by the pair of press rollers 130 and finally folded into a Z-shape is folded by the guide member 1 in the same way as when folding in half.
46 and is discharged from a pair of discharge rollers 203.

The discharge angle at this time is about 30°.

As shown in Fig. 3, the sheet S folded in half is placed in the upper tray 1.
8, the height of the side where the crease exists will be higher than the other side, and there is a risk that the leading edge of the ejected sheet will push out the sheets that have already been accumulated.
This can be prevented by increasing the discharge angle as described above.

D. Sorting is performed by a shift mechanism 300 provided at the bottom of the upper tray 18. The sheets discharged by the pair of discharge rollers 203 are stored in the upper tray 18 in order.

Therefore, when sorting mode is selected, guide member 1
The sensor 150 provided at the guide member 146
Manage sheets passing through. t2 after passing the front seat
If the next sheet is not detected for a second, the motor 304 at the bottom of the tray 18 is driven to rotate the cam wheel 308 by half a revolution. Then, tray 1 is connected via connecting plate 31O.
8 is shifted by a predetermined amount.

Thereafter, the sheet discharged by the pair of discharge rollers 203 is stored at a position shifted by a predetermined amount from the previously stored sheet. By repeating this process, the front and rear sheets can be distinguished, and the sorting operation can be performed until the maximum number of sheets that can be accommodated in the tray 18 is reached.

In this case, sorting can be performed regardless of whether the non-sheet folding mode, half-folding mode, or Z-folding mode is selected.

E Stitching When the stitching mode is selected, the guide member 14
The sheet alignment mechanism 500 detects the passage of the sheet by the sensor 150 installed at 6, and 3 seconds after the sheet passes for t4 seconds or until the next sheet is detected.
The sheets stored in the tray 18 are aligned.

As described above, the sheet alignment mechanism 500 is normally installed on the lower side of the guide member 146. And sensor 15
When the passage of the sheet is detected, the motor 506 is started and the friction roller 540 passes through the opening 1811 provided in the gate plate 18D and appears on the tray 18 as described above. Then, the sheet stored there is sent to the corner of the upper tray 18 where the notch 18G is formed by the frictional force of the friction roller 540. The edge of the sheet is fed by the friction roller 540 to the side wall 18 of the upper tray 18.
F and the gate plate 180 and are aligned.

Such sheet alignment operation is performed for a predetermined number of sheets.

By performing the alignment operation using the friction roller 540 in this way, even sheets of different sizes can be aligned. Then, a predetermined number of sheets aligned at the corners by the friction rollers 540 are moved to a stable position by shifting the tray 18. This position is the same as the shift position used in the aforementioned sorting mode. Tray 18
At the same time as the stapler moves to the stable position, the stitching mechanism 400 also operates, and the motor 408 is activated to move the stapler 4 to the stable position.
14 also moves to the stable position. and tray 18
Stabilization is performed when a sensor (not shown) confirms that the stapler 414 has moved to the stable position. After stabilizing, tray 18 and stapler 414
Together, return to the home position.

Note that the direction of the stable is a direction that is inclined with respect to both sides at the corner of the sheet, so that the bound sheet bundle can be easily turned over.

F. Tray Rise The tray rise operation is performed in accordance with the mode selection of the finisher 10.

That is, when the sheet is not folded, the door member 18C and the swinging member 18B, which constitute the base end of the tray 18, are lifted upward as shown in FIG.
When folding the sheets, the members 18C and 18B are held in the second lower position to improve the sheet storage capacity.

When the finisher 10 is in the non-sheet folding mode, the solenoid 602 is in the OFF state, and the swinging member 18
B rotates around the glaze Z of the first guide bar 19A by the biasing force of the second spring 666, and is held at the above-mentioned first position shown in FIG. 15 together with the door member 18G.

In this state, the distance between the ejection roller 202 and the top surface of the tray 18 is shortened, the IEW of the lifting force due to the air interposed between the ejected sheet and the tray top surface is small, and the ejected sheets are aligned without misalignment. Ru.

In addition, in order to facilitate this alignment operation, gate plate 1
A plurality of air vent holes 18Q are bored in 8D.

Next, when the finisher 10 is in the sheet folding mode and the binding mode, the swinging member 18B and the door member 18G are moved to the second position shown by the solid line in FIG. 15.

First, when the above mode is selected, the solenoid 612 is energized, and the initial stroke of the solenoid 612 releases the lock of the gate brake (180) by the tenth locking mechanism 630A, and the later stroke releases the lock of the gate brake 180.
Rotate D around axis X.

That is, the bell crank 624 rotates via the connecting plate 618 at the initial stroke of the movable rod 612A.

At this time, the arm member 614 is attached to the slot of the connecting plate 618! Due to the action of 118A, there is no force. The rotation of the bell crank 624 is transmitted to the first lock release arm 628, and the lock release arm 628 retracts the actuating rod 636 through the claw 638 to the tenth claw mechanism 630 to release the lock of the gate plate 180. .

Further, as the stroke of the movable rod 612A advances, the gate plate 18D is opened via the arm member 620.

In this state, the solenoid 602 is energized, and the arm member 606 fixed to the boss 18N of the swing member 18B is rotated via the connection plate 604.

Then, the swinging member 18B rotates downward about the axis Z against the second spring 666, and at the same time, the door member 18G connected to the door member 18G moves downward about the axis Y.

The door member 18C is biased by the third spring 668 in the direction of rotation about the axis Y, but this rotation is caused by the door member 18C being moved by the side wall 18F provided on the side of the swinging member 18B. It is blocked by coming into contact with the extension 18R, and its position is determined.

Thereafter, the solenoid 612 is demagnetized and the first spring 61
6, the gate plate 180 is returned to its original position, and the first locking mechanism is also returned to its original position.
Lock 8D.

G. Escape After the above-described binding operation is completed, the gate plate 180, the swinging member 18B, and the door member 18G are opened simultaneously, and the sheet bundle is transferred from the upper tray 18 to the lower tray 20.
An escape action is performed to drop the target.

Solenoid 612 and solenoid 648 are energized after a predetermined time after the end of the binding operation is detected.

Then, as described above, the lock by the 10th lock mechanism 630A is released and the gate plate 18D opens, and at the same time, the lock by the 20th lock mechanism 630B is released by the initial stroke of the movable rod 648A of the solenoid 648, and the door member 111C is opened by the later stroke. Swing member 18B
will be held.

That is, the bell crank 650 rotates with the initial stroke of the movable rod 648A and pulls the arm member 658.

At this time, the sixth pin 656 implanted in the arm member 654 is engaged with the slot 658A of the arm member 65&, so it only slides inside the slot 658, and the arm member 654 does not move.

The movement of the arm member 658 is caused by the movement of the second lock release arm 66.
0, and the door member 18C is unlocked by the second locking mechanism 630B.

Furthermore, as the stroke to the movable rod 648 progresses, the arm member 654 rotates around the fifth pin 646, and the door member 18c is moved along the axis Y through the ninth pin 664 that is engaged with the slot 654. Rotate around the center. As the rotation of the door member 18C progresses, the swinging member 18B also rotates about the axis Z together with the door member 18G. This movement is absorbed by the engagement of the movable rod 602A of the solenoid 602 and the slot 604A of the coupling plate 604.

After the sheet bundle falls to the lower tray 20, the solenoid 61
2 and 648, and return the gate plate 18D, door member 18G, and swinging member 18B to the second position in FIG. At this time, the solenoid 648
12 degaussing is delayed.

H3 Lower tray angle switching When a sheet bundle falls from the upper tray 18 onto the lower tray 20 held at a predetermined angle and accumulates, especially in the case of Z-folded sheets, the side where the fold exists is the other side. Since the thickness is more than three times that of the sheet stack SO, the effective angle for receiving the sheet bundle SO is narrowed, as shown in FIG.

In order to ensure a wide effective acceptance angle, in this embodiment, when the number of sheets reaches 120, the solenoid 716 is temporarily energized.

Due to this excitation, the engagement between the hook plate 706 and the rod 702 is released as described above, and the lower tray 20 rotates about its base end according to its own weight and the weight of the sheet, thereby expanding the acceptance angle.

Note that when the sheets stored in the lower tray 20 are removed, the lower tray 20 returns to its original position due to the restoring force of the spring 710 and is automatically locked, and the sheet bundle S is removed.

This prevents the lower tray 20 from bouncing due to impact when dropped.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a sheet on which a crease is formed by the first pair of press rollers via the first conveyance path is folded during a non-sheet folding operation. Since the sheet is fed into the 21st fi feed path used as a passing conveyance path and its movement is restrained by the second restraining means, the configuration of the conveyance path necessary for Z-folding is simplified, and a compact and low-cost sheet folding device is obtained. be able to.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment in which a sheet folding device according to the present invention is incorporated into a finisher, Fig. 2 is a side sectional view showing an outline of the embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are portions showing the tray shift mechanism and stitching mechanism of the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view, in which FIG. 5 shows a non-stitching state and FIG. 6 shows a stitching operation state. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a sheet alignment mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, with the variable sheet discharge angle mechanism omitted for simplicity of the drawing. Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the same as the above, Fig. 9 is a partially enlarged perspective view thereof, Fig. 1O is a side sectional view of the gate plate section to explain the behavior of the friction roller, and Fig. 11 is the upper tray and the friction roller. 12 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship of the tray chassis of the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the upper tray of the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 14 15 is an exploded perspective view showing the rise mechanism and escape mechanism of the upper tray according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 15 is a side view illustrating the raising operation of the upper tray, and FIG. 16 is an angle of the lower tray according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing the variable control mechanism, and a side view for explaining its operation. 104...Downward conveyance path (first I!il conveyance path), 10
6... Accommodation path, 108... Upward conveyance path (third conveyance path), 110...
- Lateral conveyance path (second conveyance path), 116...first conveyance roller pair, 118.120...second conveyance roller pair, 122...
・Flapper (first switching means), 128... flapper (
130...first press roller pair, 132...second press roller pair, 134, 136, 138, 140...stopper (first
(restraint means), 142.144...stopper (second restraint means), 2
00... Sheet discharge angle variable mechanism, 300... Tray shift mechanism,... Sheet stitching mechanism,... Sheet alignment mechanism,... Tray rise and escape mechanism,... Lower tray angle control mechanism. . Figure 1: 4 Sawa rollers 0 squares! 11 steps to increase power, number 10
figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A first conveyance path and a second conveyance path for conveying the brought-in sheet.
a conveyance path; a first conveyance path provided at the entrance of the first conveyance path and the second conveyance path;
a storage path that is continuous with the first transport path and temporarily accommodates the leading edge of the sheet; and a third transport path that extends from the exit of the first transport path to the exit of the second transport path. a first press roller pair provided at the entrance of the third conveyance path to form a fold in the sheet; a first restraint means provided in the storage path to restrict movement of the leading edge of the sheet; a second pair of press rollers that are adjacent to the exit portion of the second conveyance path and the exit portion of the third conveyance path and form folds in the sheet; a second switching means for switching to either one of the second conveyance path and the second press roller pair; a second restraining means provided in the second conveyance path and restraining movement of the edge of the sheet; A sheet folding device comprising: a first pair of conveyance rollers provided on the conveyance path; and a second pair of conveyance rollers provided on the third conveyance path.