JPH0542903A - Post-processing device for image-forming apparatus and enclosing method for paper in envelope thereby - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable automatically transferring paper laid on bins into an envelope. CONSTITUTION:To enable automatically transferring a sheet of paper P laid on a bin 35 into an envelope a means for transferring paper P on a bin 35 into an envelope is provided. This means for the transfer of paper P comprises: a pack unit 46 by which a sheet of paper P on a bin 35 while being gripped is brought to the position of an envelope; envelope guides 57, 58 which guide the envelope to the position where the paper P is brought; an envelope chuck 45 which holds the envelope at the position to which the envelope is guided; and an envelope-opening mylar 61 which is placed close to the envelope chuck 45 and whose forward end is inserted into the opening of the envelope in a manner of guiding the paper P brought by the pack sit 46 into the opening of the envelope.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a post-processing apparatus for an image forming apparatus capable of sorting the sheets on which images are formed and discharged from the image forming apparatus and discharging them into a sheet stacking bin (hereinafter also simply referred to as a bin). ..

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a post-processing device for an image forming apparatus, which can sort the discharged sheets on which an image is formed and discharge them into a plurality of sheet stacking bins, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. There is one described in JP-A-61-145069.

This post-processing device has means for sandwiching the paper discharged onto the bin with a clip, and tilting the entire bin to slide the paper placed on the bin to transfer it to another large paper storage portion. Means for stopping the copying operation even when a large number of sheets exceeding the number of sheets that can be stored in one bin are copied, even when the number of copies reaches the number of sheets that can be stored per bin. The copy operation is continued without interruption.

[0004]

However, in such a post-processing apparatus, even when the total number of copies exceeds the storable number per one bin, the job unit is begun before the storable number is reached. Since the paper is clipped and transferred to the large paper storage unit due to the inclination of the bin, the copying operation of the copying machine is not interrupted on the way, so the worker fills the bin halfway. It is convenient and convenient because you do not have to perform the troublesome operation of restarting the copying operation after removing the dead paper, but this device allows you to insert the copy, which is increasing in number recently, into the envelope. I couldn't do it even if I tried to get the work done.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a post-processing apparatus capable of automatically performing a work of packing papers sorted and discharged on each bin into an envelope. The purpose is to improve the efficiency of comprehensive copying work.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a post-processing apparatus for an image forming apparatus as described above, which is provided with a means for carrying a sheet on a sheet stacking bin into an envelope. Is.

[0007] Then, the hand for carrying the paper on the paper loading bin into the envelope is moved to a position where the envelope is held while holding the paper on the paper loading bin, and the envelope is transported. An envelope guide that guides the position, an envelope holding portion that holds the envelope at the guiding position, and an envelope holding portion that is disposed in the vicinity of the envelope holding portion. The tip end side is inserted into the opening portion of the envelope and the pack unit transfers the envelope. It can be constituted by an unsealing member for guiding the paper into the opening of the envelope.

Further, it is effective to provide means for storing the envelope filled with the paper by means for carrying the paper into the envelope, and the width of the paper at the paper receiving side end of each of the paper stacking bins. Both ends in the direction are cut to form notches, a pair of pack units is provided, and rollers that can rotate in the direction in which the paper placed on the paper stack bin is discharged from the bin are provided in the unit. A moving mechanism is provided to move the units closer to and away from each other. When the moving mechanism moves the pack units closer to each other, the units move into the notches, and when the pack units are moved away from each other, the cut units move the cut units. It may be arranged so as to retract from the notch.

Further, the sorting means and the means for carrying the sheet into the envelope are attached to the same holding member to form a unit, and the sheet discharged by the sorting means is discharged onto the sheet stacking bin of each stage. A unit moving device for moving to each possible position is provided, or an envelope holding portion for holding an envelope of a means for carrying a sheet into an envelope is arranged below the sorting / discharging means, and the envelope holding portion moves the envelope. The opening side may be held so as to hang downward.

Further, the envelope holding part for holding the envelope of the means for carrying the paper into the envelope may be constituted by a pair of rollers or rollers which are in pressure contact with each other, and the envelope holding part may also serve as a means for conveying the envelope. , Arranging the pair of rollers or rollers in the vertical direction, providing an envelope guide that guides the envelope substantially along the outer peripheral surface of the roller or roller below the roller, or further, on the conveying path for conveying the envelope. A sensor is provided on the upstream side of the pair of rollers or rollers for conveying, and when the sensor detects the envelope, the conveyance of the envelope is stopped when the flaps of the pair of rollers or rollers are held by the pair of rollers or rollers. It is good to set.

Further, it is effective to dispose the envelope guide so that the surface of the envelope conveyed by the pair of rollers or rollers on the side having the flap portion is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the lower roller or roller.

In the post-processing apparatus of the image forming apparatus described above, the sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are sorted into respective sheet stacking bins and discharged, and then the stack of sheets stacked in each bin is packed by the pack unit. (EN) A method of packing an envelope in which the sheets are held and transported to a position where the envelope is set, and are collectively carried into the envelope.

Further, in the envelope packing method for the paper, there is provided a paper envelope packing method by a post-processing device of an image forming apparatus that conveys the envelope packed with the paper to an envelope storage section and stores the envelope therein. ..

[0014]

According to the post-processing device of the image forming apparatus having the above-described structure, the sheets on which the images are formed, sorted on the respective sheet stacking bins, and discharged are automatically fed by the means for carrying the sheets into the envelope. Be packed in an envelope.

Further, if the means for loading the paper into the envelope is constituted by the pack unit, the envelope guide, the envelope holding portion and the opening member, the envelope is guided and held by the envelope guide to the envelope holding portion, Since the front end side of the unsealing member can be inserted into the opening portion of the envelope, the paper held by the pack unit can be transferred there,
The paper can be automatically inserted into the envelope. If a means for storing the envelope filled with the sheet is provided, the envelope can be stored therein.

Further, notches are formed at both ends of the sheet receiving side of each sheet stacking bin, a pair of pack units are provided, rollers are provided in each unit, and the units are moved toward and away from each other. If a mechanism is provided, each time a sheet is discharged onto the sheet stacking bin, the pair of pack units are moved toward and away from each other, and the rollers are used to move the sheet to move the pack unit to the leading edge and both sides of the sheet. It can also be used as a jogger that aligns the edges.

If the sorting device and the unit for carrying the paper into the envelope are attached to the same holding member to form a unit and a unit moving device for moving the unit is provided, a sorting operation can be performed with a compact component structure. The envelope packing operation of the sheets can be performed at one place, and the empty space can be effectively used by disposing the envelope holding section below the sorting means.

Further, if the envelope holding portion is constituted by a pair of rollers or rollers, it also serves as a means for conveying the envelope, so that the number of parts can be reduced, and the pair of rollers or rollers are arranged in the vertical direction and are arranged below the envelope holding portion. If an envelope guide is provided along the outer peripheral surface of the roller or roller on the side, the envelope can be held horizontally between the rollers or rollers, and the portion below the holding portion can be held by the envelope guide. Since the sheet can be bent and held downward, it is possible to reliably carry out the envelope packing operation for the sheets.

Further, a sensor is provided on the conveying path for conveying the envelope, and when the sensor detects the envelope and then the flap portions of the envelope are held between each other by a pair of rollers or rollers, the conveyance is stopped. By doing so, the operation of opening the opening of the envelope can be performed easily and surely, and the surface of the envelope on which the envelope guide is conveyed, on which the flap is formed, contacts the outer peripheral surface of the lower roller or roller. With this arrangement, the flap portion of the envelope functions as a guide member when inserting a sheet.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A post-processing apparatus for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below together with a method for packing paper envelopes using the same. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a main part of a post-processing device of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing a digital copying machine as an image forming device to which the post-processing device is attached. is there.

The digital copying machine shown in FIG.
A recycle type automatic document feeder (RDH) 2 is mounted on the upper part of the printer, and a sorter stapler packager device (hereinafter referred to as SSP device) 3 which is a post-processing device is mounted on the upper part of the left side surface.
And a storage carrier 4 serving as a means for storing an envelope filled with paper sheets, at the bottom thereof.

In this digital copying machine, the image information after the image processing by the image scanning section 5 is written on the photosensitive drum 7 in the form of a set of light points by the raster scanning of the laser beam by the writing section 6. Be done. A semiconductor laser is used as the laser light source.

The surface of the photosensitive drum 7 is uniformly negatively charged by the charging charger 8 of the corotron system. When the negatively charged photosensitive drum 7 is irradiated with laser light and the potential of the image portion is dropped,
The surface potential of the photosensitive drum 7 is -750.
At -800V, an electrostatic latent image with an image portion potential of about -50V is formed.

The electrostatic latent image is visualized by the negatively charged toner when the developing roller of the developing device 9 applies a bias voltage of -500 to -600V.
The visualized image is fed from the paper feeding unit 11 and is timing-adjusted in accordance with the rotation of the photoconductor drum 7 onto the paper surface (transfer paper) P, and the back side of the paper surface by the transfer charger 12. It is transferred by applying a positive potential charge from.

The sheet on which the image is transferred is separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 7 by AC charge removal by the separation charger 13 which is integrally held with the transfer charger 12. At this time, the residual toner remaining on the photoconductor drum 7 is scraped off from the surface of the photoconductor drum 7 by the cleaning blade of the cleaning device 14, and is stored in the recovery tank. Then, the potential remaining on the surface of the photoconductor drum 7 is erased by being irradiated with light by a charge eliminating lamp (not shown).

On the other hand, the paper P to which the image is transferred is the four-stage paper feed cassettes 15A to 15A provided in the paper feed section 11.
It is selectively sent out from D according to the paper size.
That is, when the operator selects a paper feed cassette in one of the stages and presses the start button, the paper feed roller of the selected stage rotates to feed the paper in the paper feed cassette, and the paper is conveyed. The paper is fed until it abuts on the nip of the registration roller 16 by a roller provided on the road.

The registration roller 16 feeds the image toward the photosensitive drum 7 at a timing so that the position of the image formed on the photosensitive drum 7 and the position of the sheet coincide with each other.

In this way, the sheet P is fed, the image is transferred to the sheet P by the method described above, and the image (toner image) is fixed by the fixing roller. Then, the paper P on which the image is fixed is then fed into the SSP device 3, and is guided to the switching claw 21 in the straight advance position during normal printing and discharged onto the paper discharge tray 22.

Paper feed cassettes 15A to 15 of the paper feed unit 11
As shown in FIG. 3, a size indicating plate 31 formed corresponding to each paper size to be stored is attached to D, and when the paper feeding cassette is set in the main body of the apparatus, the size indicating plate 31 is attached to the main body side. The corresponding size detection sensor 32 detects the size indicating plate 31,
The size of the paper or envelope (with the envelope Pf in FIG. 2) contained in the cassette is detected.

A size sticker 33 is attached to each side surface 15a of the paper feed cassettes 15A to 15D so that the user can tell at a glance the size of the items stored in the cassette. Further, paper feeding in this copying machine is also performed from a manual feed tray 23 that can be opened and closed on the right side surface of the apparatus main body 1 in FIG. 2 to a position shown by a solid line and a virtual line, and a tray 24 provided below it. You can do it.

The tray 24 includes paper feed cassettes 15A ...
More sheets and envelopes than 15D can be set. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the sheets and envelopes Pf are placed on the bottom plate 25 and the guide rods 26 shown in FIG. It is sandwiched by a pair of side guides 27, 28 that can slide in the direction of arrow A, and is set at the central position of the bottom plate 25.

Below the bottom plate 25, the side guide 2 is provided.
A size detection device 30 (for example, a variable resistance position sensor) that detects the paper size on the bottom plate 25 by detecting the position 8 is provided, and the value detected by this is compared with the size data stored in advance. Thus, the size of the paper P or envelope Pf set on the bottom plate 25 can be recognized.

The SSP device 3, which is a post-processing device, ejects the paper, envelopes, etc. on which an image is formed and ejected from the device body 1 shown in FIG. 2 to the paper ejection tray 22 as described above,
The sheets or the like are sorted according to the selected contents and discharged onto each of the bins 35 arranged in multiple stages, and further, the sheets or the like are bound by a stapler 47 which is a binding means, and the sheets or the like are placed in an envelope. It plays the role of sending.

The SSP device 3 has a lateral transport section 4 for discharging the paper or the like discharged from the main body 1 of the apparatus onto a discharge tray 22.
1 and a vertical transport unit 42 that transports a sheet or the like guided downward by the switching claw 21 of the horizontal transport unit 41 downward.
And the SSP unit 40 and the like for selectively discharging the paper fed to the vertical transport unit 42 onto the bin 35.

The SSP unit 40 is moved up and down between bins by an elevating device 43 consisting of a motor, upper and lower pulleys, and a drive belt stretched between the pulleys. The SSP unit 40 guides sheets and the like to the bin 35. A sort guide portion 44 serving as a sorting device and a bin 35 provided below the sort guide portion 44.
A pack unit 46 that conveys the sheets ejected and stacked above to a position where the envelope is held, and a stapler 4 that is integrally attached to the pack unit 46.
7 and an envelope chuck portion 45 that serves as an envelope holding portion that holds the envelope in an opened state.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vertical conveying section 42 comprises a conveyor belt 48 which is rotatably stretched between pulleys 49, 49 (not visible on the lower side) provided above and below the conveyor belt 48. A feeding belt 50 is provided so as to come into contact with. The feeding belt 50 has one end fixed to an upper end of a frame 51 of the SSP unit 40 and the other end fixed to a winding roller 52 rotatably attached to a fixed portion of the apparatus body, and the arrow of the roller is fixed. It is adapted to be wound by rotation in the direction B shown.

The take-up roller 52 is always biased by a spring (not shown) in the direction of the arrow B for taking up the pay-out belt 50, so that the SSP unit 40 moves vertically. The feeding belt 50 is fed or wound, and a predetermined tension is always applied to the feeding belt 50 so that a vertical conveyance path is formed between the feeding belt 50 and the conveyance belt 48 without slack.

The sort guide section 44 puts the paper P into each bin 3
This is a device for sorting (sorting) into five, and rotating parts 53a and 54a are respectively formed near the lower ends of a pair of sort guides 53 and 54 in which plate-like members are formed in an arc shape. Each movable guide portion above 54a is made rotatable in the direction of arrow C, and the movable shaft of the solenoid 55 is attached to each movable guide portion. I am trying to move to the position shown by the virtual line.

The rotating portion 53 of the sort guides 53, 54.
The respective end portions below a and 54a are fixed to the frame 51, respectively, and the paper discharge roller pair 56 is inserted into the notch groove formed therein without interference.

As shown in FIG. 6, the lower sort guide 54 is provided with a notch groove 54b which can receive a plurality of conveyor belts 48 arranged at substantially equal intervals in the front-rear direction without interfering with each other. Therefore, even when the sort guide 54 is in the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, it does not affect the driving of the conveyor belt 48.

When the sheets P are sorted into the bins 35, the sorting guide section 44 moves downward by the transport belt 48 of the vertical transport section 42 because the solenoid 55 remains off as shown in FIG. The conveyed paper P is sent between the sort guides 53 and 54 at the positions shown in the figure, and the paper P is designated by the paper discharge roller pair 56.
5 discharged on top.

Further, when the sheet conveyed to the vertical conveying section 42 is an envelope and the sheet is conveyed to the envelope chuck section 45, the solenoid 55 is turned on this time, so that both sort guides 53 and 54 are shown in FIG. Rotating part 53 at the position shown
a and 54a are rotated to retract from the vertical transport path,
A vertical conveyance path is formed by the rear surface (lower surface) of the sorting guide 54 located on the lower side and the conveyance belt 48.

Therefore, the envelope Pf conveyed downward in the vertical conveyance section 42 is conveyed to the envelope chuck section 45 by the conveyance belt 48. As shown in FIG. 9, the envelope chuck portion 45 is composed of upper and lower chuck rollers 59 and 60, in which the envelope guides 57 and 58, an opening mylar 61 as an opening member, and a pair of chuck rollers 59 and 60. And an unsealing sensor 62 arranged upstream of the conveyance of these components, these components are attached to the frame 51 (FIG. 1) in a unit state and move up and down together with the sort guide portion 44.

The chuck rollers 59, 60 are arranged substantially vertically and are in pressure contact with each other. Further, the envelope guides 57 and 58 guide the envelope Pf to a position where the sheet is transported from the vertical conveyance unit 42 and guide it to the nip portion between the chuck rollers 59 and 60, and the envelope Pf that has passed through the chuck rollers 59 and 60. Is guided further downward, and at that time, the envelope is guided substantially along the lower chuck roller 60.

The unsealing mylar 61 is formed of, for example, a thin film resin material, and is arranged in the vicinity of the chuck roller 60 and fixed at its upper end side. The lower chuck roller 60 is brought into contact with the lower chuck roller 60 with a predetermined pressing force by the elastic force of the material itself. However, when guiding the sheet into the envelope, the lower end 61a side is opened at the opening of the envelope as shown in FIG. The sheet P inserted in the Pon and guided by the pack unit 46 is guided into the opening Pon.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the envelope Pf is conveyed downward by the conveyor belt 48, the envelope chuck portion 45 guides the envelope Pf between the chuck rollers 59 and 60 by the envelope guides 57 and 58. .. Then the envelope P
f is sent between the chuck roller 60 and the unsealing mylar 61 as shown in FIG. 9 by the conveying force of the chuck rollers 59 and 60 which rotate in the directions shown by the arrows in FIG.

Then, the flap (envelope cost) P of the envelope Pf
As shown in FIG. 10, the fc portion is chuck rollers 59, 60.
When the opening sensor 62 detects the passage of the end portion of the flap Pfc when the flaps Pfc are clamped by each other, the chuck rollers 59 and 60 stop rotating and the envelope Pf stops. At this time, the opening Pon of the envelope Pf is located below the lower end 61a of the opening mylar 61 as shown in FIG.

Next, the chuck rollers 59 and 60 start reverse rotation in the direction of arrow E, respectively, and the envelope Pf is switched back to move up the vertical conveying section 42. At that time, since the lower end side of the unsealing mylar 61 is in contact with the flap Pfc of the envelope due to its own elastic force, the lower end 61a of the unsealing mylar enters the opening Pon of the envelope as shown in FIG. In this state, the reverse rotation of the chuck rollers 59 and 60 is stopped and the rise of the envelope Pf is stopped.

Therefore, the envelope Pf is set in an opened state in which the lower end 61a of the opening mylar 61 is inserted into the opening Pon of the envelope Pf as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the pack unit 46 includes an upper pack portion 63 and a lower pack portion 64, and an upper roller 65 is provided on the upper pack portion.
The lower roller 66 is rotatably attached to the lower pack portion.

Further, insertion guides 67 and 68 are rotatably attached to the right end sides of the upper and lower pack portions 63 and 64 in the figure, and they are urged by a weak spring so that the front end sides approach each other. When the bundle of sheets P pass therethrough, they are pushed open so that the sheets can be conveyed without receiving a great resistance.

The pack unit 46 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of front and rear portions are provided so as to sandwich the bin 35, and the notches 35b on both sides are formed by notching the bin fence 35a formed at the rear end side (right side) of the bin 35,
The inside of 35c can be moved up and down by a mechanism to be described later, and as shown in FIG. 14, the paper P on the bin 35 can be held between a pair of upper rollers 65 and lower rollers 66 on both sides thereof. It is like this.

Each pack unit 46 is shown in FIG.
Is attached to the pack bracket 69 shown in FIG. 1 and can be rotated in the arrow F direction to a position indicated by an imaginary line in FIG.

Further, the pair of pack units 46
Are provided so as to be able to approach and separate from each other by a mechanism using a rack and a pinion, so that they can be withdrawn from the notches 35b and 35c of the bin 35 in FIG. The upper and lower pack parts 6 in FIG.
The upper roller 65 and the lower roller 66 can be moved toward and away from each other by closing and opening the spaces between 3, 64.

The pack units 46, 46
Whenever the paper P is discharged onto the bin 35, the paper P
It plays the role of a side jogger that approaches the paper from both side edges and positions the paper with the central reference.

Further, the sheet of paper centered at the center is clamped between the upper and lower rollers 65 and 66 by bringing them closer to each other.
The upper and lower rollers 65 and 66 are respectively rotated in the direction of moving them toward the bin fence 35a, and the edges of the paper are aligned until the edges of the paper hit the bin fence 35a. That is, it also plays a role as an end jogger.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the main part of the pack unit 46. The upper roller 65 is built in the upper pack portion 63 and exposes only the lower portion thereof. Further, the lower roller 66 is built in the lower pack portion 64 and exposes only the upper portion thereof. Moreover, the pack part 63
Has a female screw portion 63a formed in the vertical direction by projecting a part of the side surface, and the female screw portion 63a is provided with a vertical feed screw 7a.
The two are engaged.

A worm wheel 73 is fixed to the lower end of the vertical feed screw 72, and a worm 77 fixed to the rotation shaft of the motor 74 is engaged therewith as shown in FIG. Although not shown in FIG. 15, the vertical feed screw 72 is rotatably supported by the lower pack portion 64.

Therefore, when the motor 74 is rotated in both forward and reverse directions, the upper pack portion 63 moves up and down together with the upper roller 65. The upper roller 65 has a rotating shaft 75A as shown in FIG.
Is fixed to one end thereof, and its rotating shaft 75A is rotatably attached to the upper pack portion 63. Similarly, the lower roller 66 is fixed to one end of the rotating shaft 75B as shown in FIG. 17, and is rotatably attached to the lower pack portion 64 (FIG. 15).

A gear 76 is attached to the other end of the rotary shaft 75A.
Gears 78 are fixed to the other end of the lower rotary shaft 75B. The gear 76 meshes with the intermediate gear 79,
The intermediate gear 79 meshes with the drive gear 81.

On the other hand, the gear 78 on the lower roller 66 side meshes with the intermediate gear 82, which meshes with the intermediate gear 83, and the intermediate gear 83 meshes with the drive gear 81. The drive gear 81 is fixed to the rotary shaft of the chuck motor 84. Since the gear 76 and the gear 78 have the same number of teeth, the chuck motor 84 always rotates at the same number of revolutions in the opposite directions by the rotation of the chuck motor 84.

In the pack unit 46, a stapler 47 is attached to the bin fence 35a as shown in a simplified form in FIG.
(FIG. 13) It is integrally attached to the side. The stapler 47 lowers the staple hitting portion 19 by the rotation of the eccentric cam 18 which rotates around the shaft 17 connected by the staple motor 10 shown in FIG. 18 and a reduction gear (not shown), and is moved to the staple outlet 38. Stitched staple 2
0 is driven into a sheet or the like, and the tip of the staple is bent by the curved needle seat 29 to complete the stapling operation.

The movement of the binding needle 20 to the needle outlet 38 is
The rotation of the delivery belt 37 is performed, and the delivery belt 37 is stretched between the delivery pulley 34 and the pulley 39 to which the rotational force of the staple motor 10 is transmitted via a reduction gear (not shown).

The rotating shafts 75A and 75B for supporting the upper and lower rollers 65 and 66, respectively, are vertical guide grooves 69 formed on the vertical surface of the pack bracket 69 as shown in FIG.
Each gear group, which is movably fitted in a and meshes with the gear 76 fixed to one end of the rotary shaft 75A, that is, the intermediate gear 79 and the drive gear 81 are rotatably attached to the upper gear support plate 85 together with the gear 76. The rotational force from the drive gear 81 is supported and smoothly transmitted to the gear 76.

The intermediate gears 82 and 83 and the drive gear 81, which mesh with the gear 78 fixed to one end of the lower rotary shaft 75B, are also rotatably supported by the lower gear support plate 86 together with the gear 78. The rotational force from the drive gear 81 is smoothly transmitted to the gear 78. The drive gear 81 is rotated in both forward and reverse directions by a motor (not shown), and a shaft 87 that fixes and supports the central portion of the drive gear 81 is movably fitted in a horizontal guide groove 69b formed in the pack bracket 69.

Therefore, the pack unit 46 is
Motor 74 mounted on pack bracket 69
When (Fig. 15) is rotated, the vertical feed screw 72 is rotated via the worm 77 and the worm wheel 73 (see Fig. 15), and the upper pack portion 63 in which the female screw portion 63a is engaged with the vertical feed screw 72 is vertically moved. Move.

At this time, when the gear 76 moves up, the gear 76 and the drive gear 81 are connected by the upper gear support plate 85, so that the drive gear 81 moves in the horizontal guide groove 69.
b in the direction of arrow G, the lower gear 78 connected to the drive gear 81 by the lower gear support plate 86 moves downward in the vertical guide groove 69a, and the rotary shaft 75B moves. It descends with the lower roller 66.

When the motor 74 rotates in the direction in which the upper pack portion 63 descends, the upper and lower gears 76 and 78 approach each other, and the drive gear 81 moves in the direction of arrow G, contrary to the above case.
And move in the opposite direction. In the pack unit 46, a shaft 71 is horizontally inserted into a lower portion of a pack bracket 69, and the entire unit is movable in the arrow K direction along the shaft 71. Similarly, the pack unit 4 on the other side facing each other is also movable.
6 (see FIG. 14) is also movable.

Both ends (only one side is shown in FIG. 19) of the shaft 71 are fixed to the moving frame 91.
The movable frame 91 has a guide rod 92 that is vertically fixed to the apparatus main body fixing portion, and a hole portion 91b formed in the protruding portions 91a at both ends is fitted in the movable frame 91 so as to be vertically movable, and one side edge of the protruding portion 91a. Is fixed to a part of a drive belt 93 that is stretched between upper and lower pulleys 94 (only the upper side is shown) that constitute an elevating device 43 (unit moving device) rotatably attached to a device body fixing portion. ..

Therefore, the pack unit 46 moves up and down integrally with the moving frame 91 by rotating the drive belt 93 in both forward and reverse directions, and the moving frame 9 moves.
Since the sort guide portion 44 and the envelope chuck portion 45 described with reference to FIG. 1 are also attached (or may be directly) to the frame 1 via the frame 51, all of them move up and down as a unit. Further, in the pack unit 46, the pack bracket 69 can rotate about the shaft 71 as a fulcrum in a direction indicated by an arrow F in FIG.

The mechanism for rotating the pack bracket 69 is, for example, one end of a link rod which is connected to a rotary plate fixed to a rotary shaft of a motor and which moves linearly is connected to the pack bracket 69 by using a ball joint or the like. By moving the link rod, the pack bracket 69 is rotated about the shaft 71 as a fulcrum,
A spline is formed in the entire range of movement of the pack bracket 69 of the shaft 71, a spur gear is fixed to the shaft end, a driving force is transmitted to the gear, and the shaft 71 is rotated to rotate the pack bracket 69. It can be done by a mechanism for making it.

The movement of the pack unit 46 in the direction of arrow K in FIG. 19 is performed by driving the drive wire 96 stretched between the pulleys 95, 95 (only one of which is shown) rotatably attached to both ends of the moving frame 91. Part of the wire 96 is fixed to the pack bracket 69, and the wire 96 is rotated in both forward and reverse directions by a jogger motor (not shown).

Next, the upper and lower rollers 65 and 66 are shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. The upper roller 65 is shown in FIG.
As shown in Fig. 21, a cylindrical rubber 97 is fixed to the outer circumference of the rotary shaft 75A to have an outer diameter of D1, and a plurality of annular urethane 98 are wound around the outer circumference at intervals as shown in Fig. 21. It is fixed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 22, the lower roller 66 has a cylindrical rubber 99 fixedly attached to the outer periphery of the rotary shaft 75B so that its outer diameter is D2. The outer diameters D1 and D2 are substantially the same, and D1 is set so that the distances (radius) R1 and R2 from the center of each roller to the paper surface are R1 = R2 under the following conditions.
, D2 are set.

That is, when the paper P is conveyed, as shown in FIG. 23, the upper roller 65 and the lower roller 66 move toward each other, and a predetermined pressure is applied to the paper P in the "feed mode position". Positioned on the paper P
Are conveyed in the direction of the arrow. At this time, the paper 9 has urethane 9
The relationship between the radius R1 of the upper roller 65 and the radius R2 of the lower roller 66 when the portion 8 is pressed and deformed is R
The outer diameters R1 and R2 of the upper and lower rollers 65 and 66 are set so that 1 = R2.

By the way, the positions of the upper roller 65 and the lower roller 66 include an "approach mode position" in addition to the above-mentioned "feed mode position". Each of these positions corresponds to the upper pack portion 63 and the lower pack portion 6 shown in FIG.
4 position, which is determined by the rotation amount of the motor 74.

The "shift mode position" and the "feed mode position" differ depending on the number of sheets of paper on the bin, but the rotation amount of the motor 74 corresponding to the number of sheets of paper is controlled by the control unit each time. The optimum position can always be obtained by reading the data stored in the RAM and indicating the relationship between the number of sheets and the amount of rotation.

When the pack mode for inserting paper or the like into the envelope is selected, the pack units 46, 46 are rotated by the motor 74 (FIG. 15) at the positions shown in FIG. The lower rollers 65 and 66 come close to each other, and the sheet P (state of the sheet bundle when stapled) is sandwiched and fixed between them.

Next, the drive belt 93 of FIG. 19 is rotated in the direction of the arrow M to raise the pack unit 46, and the lower surface of the held paper P is placed on the bin fence 35a of the bin 35 as shown in FIG. When the position exceeds the upper end, the ascent is stopped.

After that, as shown in FIG. 25, the pack unit 46 is rotated about the shaft 71 so that the insertion guides 67 and 68 on the front end side are opened in the envelope chuck portion 45 described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. The Pon is moved to the opening Pon of the envelope Pf in the opened state, and the insertion guide 6
7, 68 are moved to the upper part of the opening mylar 61 or inside the opening Pon of the envelope.

In this state, the upper roller 65 and the lower roller 66 of the pack unit 46 are respectively rotated in the directions (feeding directions) shown in FIG. 25, and the paper P held between them is held therebetween.
Is inserted into the envelope Pf as shown in FIG.

As described above, in this embodiment, the envelope Pf is guided by the envelope guides 57 and 58 to the position where the sheet is transferred, and the chuck rollers 59 and 6 serving as an envelope holding portion.
0, the lower side of the opening mylar 61 is inserted into the opening Pon of the envelope Pf in the holding state, and the paper P transported by the pack unit 46 is stored in the envelope Pf.
Insert it into the opening. That is, in this embodiment, the envelope guides 57 and 58, the chuck rollers 59 and 60, the opening mylar 61, and the pack unit 46 function as means for carrying the paper on the bin into the envelope.

Next, the storage carrier 4 will be described in detail. The storage carrier 4 is entirely covered with a box-shaped case 100, and an upper surface thereof has an insertion opening 101 for inserting an envelope filled with paper. A handle 102 is attached to one end of the upper surface, and four casters 103 are attached to the lower surface so that the entire carrier can be detached from the apparatus main body.

Further, the upper outlet 10 is provided on the upper surface of the case 100.
8 has front outlets 104 formed on the front surface so that the envelope after packaging can be easily taken out from the respective outlets. Then, on the side surface on the right side in FIG. 28 of the case 100, the lock mechanisms 105 and 106 are vertically attached and the connector 115 is attached to the upper part, and the storage carrier 4 is attached to a predetermined position of the apparatus main body as shown in the figure. At times, they are locked by the upper and lower lock mechanisms 105 and 106, and the connector 115 is connected to the connector on the main body side so that electrical connection is made.

In the storage carrier 4, there are provided a plurality of vertical bins 107 that are slightly inclined in the vertical direction and are movable in the direction of the arrow N, and among them, the vertical bins 107 moving to the position of the insertion opening 101. The envelope Pf inserted through the insertion opening 101 is received as shown in the figure.

As shown in FIG. 29, each of the vertical bins 107 has a bottom plate portion 107a formed on the lower side thereof, and receives the envelope Pf received by the bottom plate portion 107a. Arms 113 are attached to both lower ends of the bottom plate portion 107a, and as shown in FIG. 30, the arm 113 of the previous vertical bottle 107 is inserted into a hole 113a formed at the tip thereof.
Are sequentially slidably engaged with each other, and when the respective vertical bins 107 are brought close to each other, the respective vertical bins are brought into close contact with each other, and when they are separated from each other, the respective vertical bins are moved up to the slide limit of the arm 113 and the respective vertical bins are moved. The bottle 107 is designed to open up to a predetermined interval.

Then, the first vertical bin 1 on the left side in FIG.
The lower side of the arm 113 of 07 is fixed to a belt 111 stretched between pulleys 109 and 110 serving as a bin moving device, and a motor 112 rotates a predetermined amount by a signal sent through a connector 115 (FIG. 28). Then vertical bottle 10
7 is moved to sequentially move the vertical bin 107 to the envelope receiving position, which is the position immediately below the insertion opening 101 (FIG. 28), in the order of the second and the third for each job.

The envelope is conveyed into the storage carrier 4 as follows.
In this embodiment, this is performed by rotating the chuck rollers 59 and 60 of the envelope chuck portion 45 shown in FIG. That is, in this embodiment, the envelope chuck portion 4 is
The numeral 5 also serves as an envelope conveying means for conveying the envelope containing the sheet bundle to the storage carrier 4.

Next, as a concrete example of making a copy using the copying machine of FIG. 1, description will be made on a case where three copies of five single-sided originals are copied and stapled one by one and packed in an envelope. To do. The operator sets five originals on the original table of the circulating automatic document feeder 2 and selects the ADF mode. Further, the sort key, the staple key, and the package mode key are respectively pressed on the operation section provided in the apparatus main body 1.

When the start key is pressed, the first original is sent to the image reading section at the top of the apparatus main body 1 to read the image, and the image information is written in the writing section 6.
And three copies are created by the image forming process described above.

The three copied sheets are sequentially sent to the SSP device 3, and are sent to the vertical transport section 42 by the switching claw 21 which is rotated to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. Then, the first copied sheet is sorted into the uppermost first bin 35 and is rotated to the position shown by the solid line in FIG.
When the discharge is completed, the SSP unit 40 is lowered by the interval of the bin 35, and the second copied sheet is discharged to the second bin (second bin from the top).

Similarly, the third copied sheet is the third
It is discharged to the bin 35, and at that time, the circulation type automatic document feeder 2 replaces the original on the original table with the second original, and three copies are made as in the case of the first original copy. Is performed and it is sent to the SSP device 3.

The SSP device 3 has moved up to the discharge position to the first bin position before the first copy of the second document passes through the switching claw 21, and discharges the copy there. Thereafter, the copying operation and the sorting operation are repeated in the same manner, and finally, the five copies corresponding to the five pages of the original are arranged in the page order and discharged in the first to third bins.

As described above, each time a sheet (copy) is discharged onto each bin, a pair of pack units 4
6 and 46 approach each other and align the sheets from both sides with reference to the center, and the upper and lower rollers 6 shown in FIG.
5, 66 causes the edge of the sheet to move to the bin fence 35a.
The tip is aligned by hitting against.

Then, the sheets aligned on the bin 35 are bound by the stapler 47 by lowering the upper pack portion 63 shown in FIG. Similarly, this binding operation is also performed in the second and third bins. Next, for the delivery of envelopes, see FIG.
When the sheet is fed from the sheet feeding section 11, the tray 24, or the manual feed tray 23, the sheet is fed to the SSP device 3. At this time, if the original is set in the circulating type automatic document feeder 2, printing can be performed on the envelope, but if not set, the envelope without printing is fed.

The envelope sent to the SSP device 3 is sent to the vertical conveying section 42 by the switching claw 21, and this time, the sort guides 53 and 54 of the SSP unit 40 are retracted to the positions shown by phantom lines in FIG. Therefore, the envelope is conveyed downward by the conveyor belt 48, and is guided between the chuck rollers 59 and 60 of the envelope chuck portion 45 by the envelope guides 57 and 58 to be in the opened state as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. become.

At this time, the SSP unit 40 is located in the third bin (final sort position) 35, and the sheets bound on the bin are shown in the pack unit 46 in FIG. 1 (the unit is shown in the position of the second bin). It is inserted into the envelope by rotating to a position indicated by a virtual line. After that, the pack unit 46 returns to the original position (solid line position in FIG. 1),
The envelope is lowered between the chuck rollers 59 and 60 while the SSP unit 40 is lowered while being held in pressure contact with the chuck rollers 59 and 60, and is stopped at the lowest position.

Therefore, the upper and lower chuck rollers 59, 60
When is rotated, the envelope in which the bundle of sheets after copying is packed falls into the storage carrier 4 of FIG. 28 and is stored in a predetermined vertical bin 107. After that, the SSP unit 40 moves up to the position of the second bin, similarly performs the envelope packing operation and stores it in the storage carrier 4, and thereafter repeats the same operation for the first bin. End all operations.

[0098]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. In the invention of claim 1, the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking bin can be automatically carried into the envelope, so that the efficiency of the overall copying operation can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the envelope is guided and held by the envelope guide to the envelope holding portion, the leading end side of the unsealing member is inserted into the opening portion of the envelope, and the sheet sandwiched by the pack unit there. Since the sheet can be transferred, the sheet can be reliably inserted into the envelope. According to the third aspect of the invention, since the envelope filled with the paper can be stored in the means for storing the paper, a large number of envelopes filled with the paper can be processed at one time.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, each time a sheet is discharged onto the sheet stacking bin, a pair of pack units are moved toward and away from each other, and further, the sheet pulling operation is performed by the rollers, whereby the pack unit is moved. Since it can also be used as a jogger for aligning the positions of the tip and both side edges, the number of parts can be reduced.

According to the invention of claim 5, the sorting operation and the sheet envelope packing operation can be performed in one place with a compact component structure, and the portion performing the sorting operation and the sheet envelope packing operation are performed mutually. Since the sheet transport distance between the sheets is shortened, it is less likely that a problem will occur during transportation, and reliability is improved.

According to the invention of claim 6, since the envelope holding portion is arranged in the empty space below the sorting means, the space can be effectively used and the apparatus can be made compact. Since the sheet is held in the state of facing upwards, the transport distance of the sheet from the sheet stacking bin to the position where the envelope packing operation is performed is shortened, so that problems during transport are less likely to occur and reliability is improved.

In the invention of claim 7, the pair of rollers or rollers of the envelope holding portion which are in pressure contact with each other also serve as means for conveying the envelope, so that the number of parts can be reduced and the entire apparatus can be made compact. ..

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the envelope is held horizontally by a pair of rollers or rollers arranged in the vertical direction, and the portion below the holding portion is bent and held downward by the envelope guide. Since it is possible to store the envelope in a vertically narrow space, the device can be made compact. Further, since the holding of the envelope is in the horizontal direction in which it does not easily fall, it can be held reliably.

According to the ninth aspect of the invention, when the flap portion of the envelope is held by the pair of rollers or rollers, the conveyance of the flap is stopped. Therefore, the operation of opening the opening of the envelope can be performed easily and reliably. Therefore, the device can be made compact accordingly.

According to the tenth aspect of the invention, the envelope is guided by the envelope guide so that the surface on the side where the flap is formed is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the lower roller or roller, so that the flap portion of the envelope is a sheet. Since it functions as a guide member during insertion, the insertion operation can be performed more reliably. In addition, the device can be made compact.

By carrying out the method for packing the envelopes of the sheet by the post-processing device of the image forming apparatus according to claim 11, the bundle of sheets sorted and discharged onto each bin can be automatically inserted into the envelope collectively. The efficiency of paper envelope packing work can be improved.

If the method for packing envelopes of paper by the post-processing device of the image forming apparatus according to the twelfth aspect is carried out, the envelope after packing the paper is automatically conveyed and stored in the envelope storage section, so that a large amount of paper is stored. Easy envelope packing work.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a main part of a post-processing device of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing a digital copying machine as an image forming apparatus in which a post-processing device is also mounted.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a paper feed cassette mounted in the paper feed section 11 of the digital copying machine.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which an envelope is set on the tray 24 of the digital copying machine.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the same.

6 is a perspective view showing a positional relationship between a sort guide 54 of the SSP unit 40 provided in the post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1 and a conveyor belt 48. FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing how sheets are discharged onto a bin by the sort guide portion of the SSP unit 40.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the envelope is conveyed to the envelope chuck portion 45 in the same SSP unit 40.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing the envelope chuck portion 45 of the same.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the envelope is held in the envelope chuck portion 45 with the opening Pon below the lower end of the opening mylar 61.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the lower end of the opening mylar 61 has entered the same envelope.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the opened mylar of the same type.

13 is a perspective view showing a positional relationship between a pack unit 46 and a bin provided in the SSP unit 40 of FIG. 1 as a pair.

FIG. 14 is a front view showing the positional relationship between the pack unit 46 and the bin.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the main part of the pack unit 46 of the same.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the pack unit 46 of the same.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a drive system for respectively driving the upper and lower rollers of the pack unit 46.

18 is a configuration diagram showing a stapler provided in the SSP unit 40 of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing the SSP unit 40 and a drive system for moving the unit.

20 is a schematic view showing an upper roller 65 of the pack unit 46 of FIG.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing an upper roller 65 of the same.

22 is a schematic view showing a lower roller 66 of the pack unit 46 of FIG.

FIG. 23 is a schematic view showing a state where a sheet is sandwiched between the upper roller 65 and the lower roller 66.

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram showing a state where the lower surface of the sheet held by the pack unit 46 in FIG. 15 has risen to a position beyond the upper end of the bin fence 35a.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram for explaining how the pack unit 46 similarly moves to a position where it holds a sheet and inserts the sheet into the envelope.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the paper held by the pack unit 46 is inserted into the envelope.

27 is a perspective view showing a storage carrier 4 mounted in the digital copying machine of FIG.

FIG. 28 is a configuration diagram showing the inside of the storage carrier 4 together with a part of the apparatus main body.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view showing a large number of vertical bins provided in the storage carrier 4 together with their drive systems.

FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a state in which the arms fixed to the bottom of each of the vertical bottles are also engaged with the previous arm.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Device Main Body 3 SSP Device 4 Storage Carrier 35 Paper Loading Bins 35b, 35c Cutout 40 SSP Unit 43 Lifting Device (Unit Moving Device) 44 Sort Guide Part 45 Envelope Chuck 46 Pack Unit 47 Stapler 57, 58 Envelope Guide 59, 60 Chuck roller 61 Opening mylar (Opening member) 62 Opening sensor 65 Upper roller 66 Lower roller P Paper Pf
envelope

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Kazunori Sakauchi 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of sheet stacking bins for stacking sheets,
A post-processing device for an image forming apparatus, comprising: a sorting discharge unit that sorts and discharges a sheet on which an image is formed and discharged from an image forming apparatus into an envelope, and a sheet on the sheet stacking bin. A post-processing device for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that it is provided with a means for carrying it in. 2. The post-processing apparatus of the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for loading the paper on the paper stacking bin into the envelope is an envelope with the paper on the paper stacking bin held in between. A pack unit for transporting the envelope to a position, and an envelope guide for guiding the envelope to a position where the sheet is transported,
An envelope holding portion which holds the envelope at the guide position, and an envelope holding portion which is disposed in the vicinity of the envelope holding portion and inserts the leading end side into the opening portion of the envelope so that the sheet transferred by the pack unit is inside the opening portion of the envelope. A post-processing apparatus for an image forming apparatus, which comprises an unsealing member for leading to the sheet. 3. The image processing apparatus post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for accommodating an envelope filled with paper by means for introducing the paper into the envelope. Post-processing equipment for forming equipment. 4. A post-processing device of an image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein both ends in a paper width direction of a paper receiving side end of each of the paper stacking bins are cut to form a cutout portion, and the pack is formed. A pair of units is provided, and each unit is provided with rollers capable of rotating in the direction of discharging the paper placed on the paper loading bin from the bin, and provided with a moving mechanism for moving the units closer to and farther from each other. ,
The pack mechanism is arranged so that when the pack units are brought closer to each other by the moving mechanism, the units move into the notches, and when they are separated from each other, they retract from the notches. Post-processing device for image forming apparatus. 5. The post-processing apparatus of the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sorting unit and the unit for loading a sheet into an envelope are attached to the same holding member. And a unit moving device for moving the unit to a position where the sheets discharged by the sorting discharge unit can be discharged onto the sheet stacking bins of each stage. 6. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an envelope holder that holds an envelope of a unit that carries a sheet into the envelope below the sorting unit. A post-processing device for an image forming apparatus, wherein a portion is provided, and the envelope holding portion holds the envelope so as to hang down with the opening side facing upward. 7. The post-processing device according to claim 1, wherein the envelope holding portions holding the envelope of the means for loading the paper into the envelope are pressed against each other. The post-processing device of the image forming apparatus, wherein the post-processing device is composed of rollers or rollers, and the envelope holding portion also serves as means for conveying the envelope. 8. The post-processing device of the image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the pair of rollers or rollers of the envelope holding portion are arranged in a vertical direction, and the rollers or rollers below the rollers are arranged substantially along the outer peripheral surface. A post-processing device for an image forming apparatus, further comprising an envelope guide for guiding the envelope. 9. The post-processing device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a sensor is provided upstream of the pair of rollers or rollers on the conveying path for conveying the envelope, and the sensor detects the envelope. A post-processing device for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that when the flap portion of the envelope reaches a position where it is held by the pair of rollers or rollers, the conveyance is stopped. 10. The post-processing apparatus of the image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the envelope guide has the surface on the side where the flap portion of the envelope conveyed by the pair of rollers or rollers is lower, A post-processing device for an image forming apparatus, wherein the post-processing device is arranged so as to be in contact with an outer peripheral surface of a roller. 11. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a plurality of sheet stacking bins for stacking sheets; and a sorting device for sorting and discharging the sheets on which images are formed and discharged from the image forming apparatus to each of the sheet stacking bins. In the post-processing device of the apparatus, the sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are sorted into the respective sheet stacking bins and discharged, and then the bundle of sheets stacked in each bin is held by the pack unit to set the envelopes. A method for packing envelopes in a sheet by a post-processing device of an image forming apparatus, characterized in that the sheet is transferred to a certain position and is carried into the envelope all at once. 12. The method for packing an envelope of a sheet according to claim 11, wherein the envelope packed with the sheet is conveyed to an envelope storage section and stored therein, and the sheet is provided by a post-processing device of an image forming apparatus. Envelope packing method.