JPH0780589B2 - Sheet processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus for processing a recording sheet sent from a recording apparatus such as a copying machine or a printing machine, and more specifically, for example, recording The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus capable of folding paper sheets (hereinafter, also referred to as “sheets”) such as papers as recording sheets sent from the apparatus by a folding apparatus and stacking these sheets and binding them by a stapler or the like. It is a thing.

[Prior Art] In a conventional sheet processing apparatus of this type, a pair of folding rollers are provided at a sheet folding portion as a folding device, and a loop-shaped recording medium is provided at a nip portion between the folding rollers. It is common to hold a paper sheet and fold it.

However, in a sheet processing apparatus having such a folding device, creases or skewing of the sheet, dust attached to the folding roller, flaws on the folding roller, etc. may not cause folds to be formed at an accurate folding position, resulting in false folding. Therefore, there is a risk of causing a jam at the downstream of the sheet conveyance. Further, even if the paper is not jammed, if the paper is stapled at the staple portion as it is, it may be necessary to re-staple, or in some cases, a large number of sheets may be re-stapled.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a sheet processing apparatus in which a binding operation is prohibited in the case of a defective folding. Especially.

[Means for Solving Problems] That is, according to the present invention, a folding unit that performs a folding process on a recording sheet sent from a recording apparatus, and a folding defect of the recording sheet that is disposed downstream of the folding unit are detected. Detection unit, a binding unit disposed downstream of the detection unit for binding a folded recording sheet, and the detection unit does not detect a folding failure of the recording sheet, the recording operation of the recording apparatus ends. And a unit for prohibiting the binding operation of the binding unit when the binding unit performs the binding operation later and the detection unit detects a defective folding of the recording sheet.

[Operation] In the present invention, when a recording sheet folded by the folding unit has a defective folding, the defective folding is detected and the binding operation of the recording sheets is automatically prohibited, thereby recording the defective folding. The sheets will not be bound, and the trouble of rebinding the sheets will be avoided.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

As an example of the present invention, FIG. 1 shows an outline when the recording apparatus is a copying machine. Reference numeral 1 denotes a copying machine, and the recording paper 2 discharged from the copying machine 1 is carried out to a stacker 5 or a staple unit 6 of a finisher device 4 via a folding device 3.

However, here, the folding device 3 can operate according to the following five modes.

The first through-pass mode is a mode in which the sheet does not need to be folded and passes through. In this mode, the recording paper 2 carried by the pair of inlet rollers 7 and 8 is operated by the inlet deflector 9 as shown in FIG. The paper is guided to the paper path 10 and delivered to the finisher device 4 by the paper discharge roller pairs 11 and 12.

The second folding mode is carried out when half-size paper of A4 or B5 size or smaller is carried in. Similarly, in FIG. 2, the recording paper 2 guided to the entrance deflector 9 by the entrance roller pairs 7 and 8 is Here, it is guided to the paper path 13, and further by the operation of the deflectors 14, 15 and 16, between the folding rollers 17 and 18, between the rollers 18 and 19 and between the rollers 19.
It is sent out by a pair of discharge rollers 11 and 12 via a paper path 21 after passing through 20.

The third two-fold mode is a mode in which a recording sheet of A3 or B4 or larger is folded in two. The recording sheet guided from the pair of inlet rollers 7 and 8 to the sheet path 13 by the inlet deflector 9 is folded by the operation of the deflector 14. Introduced on Pass 22. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the leading end of the recording paper 2 comes into contact with the stopper 23, the loop 24 formed in the central portion of the recording paper 2 is formed.
However, it is gripped in the nip between the folding rollers 17 and 18, and a fold 2A is formed in the central portion of the paper 2 as shown in FIGS. 3B and 4 (A) to form a half-folded sheet. The folded recording paper 2 is then deflector 15
And 16 to be guided between the folding rollers 18 and 19 and further from there, between the rollers 19 and 20 and the paper path 21, and then delivered by the pair of discharge rollers 11 and 12.

The fourth Z-folding mode is a mode in which only one half is folded and one of them is folded again to the opposite side. In this case, the recording paper guided from the pair of entrance rollers 7 and 8 to the paper path 13 by the entrance deflector 9 is , Is first introduced into the folding path 22 by operating the deflector 14. Then, when the leading edge of the recording paper 2 comes into contact with the stopper 25 that is projected by the operation of the solenoid 25A, a loop is formed in a portion of about 1/4 from the leading edge of the paper 2, and the loop is formed by the folding roller. By being held in the nip between 17 and 18, a first fold 2B is formed as shown in FIG. 4 (B).

Then, the recording paper 2 folded in this way is introduced into the folding path 26 by operating the deflector 15. Thus, when the crease 2B of the recording paper 2 folded in two is abutted against the stopper 27, the crease 2B of the recording paper 2 folded in two is further laid in the vicinity of the latter half of the 1/4 in the same manner as described above. Loop is formed, and this loop is gripped in the nip between the folding rollers 18 and 19 to form the second fold 2C. The Z-folded sheet folded back to the front side in this way is further operated by the deflector 16 to form a pair of folding rollers.
And 20 and is further sent out to the finisher device 4 by the paper discharge roller pairs 11 and 12 via the paper path 21.

In the case of the fifth back Z-folding mode, the recording paper 2 guided to the paper path 13 from the pair of entrance rollers 7 and 8 by the operation of the entrance deflector 9 is deflected in the same manner as described above.
Is guided to the pair of folding rollers 17 and 18, and is introduced into the folding path 26 from here by operating the deflector 15. When the leading edge of the recording paper 2 comes into contact with the stopper 27, a loop formed at about 1/4 of the leading edge of the recording paper 2 is gripped in the nip between the folding rollers 18 and 19, As shown in FIG. 4 (C), the first fold 2D is formed.

After this, the deflector 16 is introduced into the folding path 28 and the fold 2D of the recording paper 2 comes into contact with the stopper 29, so that the fold 2D of the recording paper 2 is further formed in the vicinity of the overlap portion of about 1/4. The loop thus formed is held in the nip between the folding rollers 19 and 20, and a second fold line 2E as shown in FIG. 4 (C) is formed.

Thus, the Z-folded sheet folded back to the back side is the paper path 21.
And is delivered by the pair of paper ejection rollers 11 and 12.

In FIG. 2, S0 is an entrance sensor of the recording paper 2 in the folding device 3, and S5 is a fold detection sensor provided in the paper path 21 through which the folded sheet is finally guided and which measures the length of the folded sheet. Is.

Next, the finisher device 4 will be described with reference to FIG. The finisher device 4 is roughly divided into a stacker 5 side on which the recording papers 2 are successively sent out and accumulated, and a stapler 6 side on which the sheets are bound by a stapler.

First, in the stacker mode, the recording paper carried in by the entrance roller pair 30 and 31 is guided to the paper path 33 by the operation of the deflector 32, from which the paper discharge roller pair 34 and
The sheet is discharged onto the stacker 5 by 35. In addition, stacker 5
When the cumulative height of the upper recording paper 2 increases, a large amount of recording paper 2 can be accommodated by lowering the stacker 5 accordingly.

Next, in the staple mode, the pair of entrance rollers 30 and
The recording paper carried in by 31 is guided to the other paper path 36 by the operation of the deflector 32, and is temporarily discharged onto the intermediate tray 39 by the roller pairs 37 and 38. Here, 40 is a belt suspended by rollers 37, and the recording paper 2 is once aligned by this belt 40.

Thus, the recording papers 2 aligned on the intermediate tray 39 are stapled at their ends by a stapler 41, as will be described later, and then the rotation of a stopper 42 causes the stapled recording paper bundles to be transferred onto a lower tray 43. Drop and store.

Here, S1 is an inlet sensor provided at the recording paper inlet of the finisher unit 4, S2 is a stacker outlet sensor, S3 is an intermediate tray outlet sensor, S4 is an intermediate tray sensor, and S6 is provided along the stacker 5. It is a level detection sensor.

FIG. 6 shows the operation parts of the finisher device 4 and the folding device 3, wherein 50A is the operation part of the finisher device and 50B is the operation part of the folding device. 52 in the operation unit 50A
Is a mode selection switch of the finisher and can select either the stack mode or the staple mode. Reference numerals 55 and 53 are light-emitting diode LEDs or lamps indicating the mode selected by the switch 52, and the indicator light 55 indicates the stack mode by simultaneous display with the pictorial display 56 indicating the stack mode. Further, the indicator light 53 shows the staple mode by simultaneous display with the pictorial display 54 showing the staple mode.

On the other hand, reference numeral 58 is a mode selection switch of the folding device provided in the operation unit 50B, and can select either the two-fold mode or the Z-fold mode. 61 and 59 are switches 58
LED or lamp indicating the mode selected by, the indicator 61 is a pictorial display 62 indicating the two-fold mode.
Indicates the two-fold mode, and the indicator light 59 indicates the Z-fold mode by the pictorial display 60 showing the Z-fold mode. Reference numeral 57 is a jam display lamp that displays a jam in the folding device 3 and the finisher device 4. When the back Z-fold is selected, the Z-fold and the back Z-fold provided inside the folding device 3 are selected.
A folding switch (not shown) can be used to select one of them according to the user's preference.

Next, an example of the control circuit of the recording paper post-processing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

Asynchronous serial communication partially overlapping is performed between the copying machine 1 and the microcomputer MC provided in the finisher unit 4. In response to the communication request signal REQ from the copying machine 1, a communication enable signal ACK from the finisher side. Is output, and then communication is sequentially performed by transmitting DI for each data signal DO. The data signal DO transmitted from the copying machine 1 is mainly an intermediate state signal such as copy start, end, copy size, number of copies, JAM, etc., and the data signal DI transmitted from the finisher side is the number of completed sheets or staple. None, intermediate state such as JAM, etc. Reference numeral 50 denotes the operation unit shown in FIG. 6, and S1, S2, S3, and S4 are the finisher inlet sensor, the stacker outlet sensor, the intermediate tray outlet sensor, and the intermediate tray paper detection sensor, respectively. In addition, the up / down signals U / D and ON / OFF for controlling the stacker unit 5 ascending / descending and on / off.
The signals are input to the control circuit 68 via the buffers 66 and 67, respectively, and the stacker motor M1 is controlled. The stacker unit 5 is provided with an upper limit sensor, a 69 lower limit sensor 70, and a stacker level sensor S, and these sensor groups also contribute to the control of the stacker motor M1.

Reference numeral 72 is a signal for operating and controlling the deflector 32 (hereinafter, refer to FIG. 5) provided at the entrance of the finisher device 4, and the signal 72 drives the solenoid 32A through the buffer 74 to cause the recording paper 2 Is sent to the stacker unit 5 or the intermediate tray 39.

73 is a signal for controlling the rotation of the stopper 42.
73 drives the solenoid 42A via the buffer 75,
The stapled sheet bundle can be dropped onto the lower tray 43.

Reference numeral 76 is a signal for driving the conveying motor M2 for the recording paper 2 via the buffer 77, and 79 is a signal for driving a staple plunger 81 to be described later via the buffer 80. 78 is a transport motor
An interrupter that outputs a pulse proportional to the rotation speed of M2,
Reference numeral 82 is, for example, a reflection sensor that detects the presence or absence of staples in the staple unit 6 as described later.

Further, reference numeral 83 is a manual switch for stapling, which is used in the book mode and stapling.

On the other hand, for the folding device 3, a buffer 85 is generated by the signal 84.
The sheet conveying motor IM can be driven through the buffer, and a plurality of deflectors and stoppers associated with the folding mode can be driven by the mode signal 89 depending on the type of the folding mode. The one selected from the stopper solenoids 87 is appropriately driven. Reference numeral 88 is an interrupter that outputs a pulse proportional to the rotation speed of the carry motor IM.

Next, an operation of detecting a folding defect according to the present invention will be described. Such a folding failure is caused by the folding detection sensor S5 of the folding device 3 described with reference to FIG. 2, and as described above, the folding detection sensor S5 is provided along the final paper path 21. The length of the recording paper 2 passing therethrough in the finally folded state is detected.

In the following, the case of folding in half will be described to facilitate understanding of the description. Assuming that the sensor S5 detects the presence of paper when the A3 size recording paper 2 which cannot be folded at the folding detection size S5 is passed, the signal Ta is as shown in FIG. 8A. Become.

That is, the microcomputer MC generates clock pulses as shown in FIG.
Thus, by detecting the number of pulses in the signal during the period with paper, the detected length of the folded recording paper can be judged by the microcomputer MC.

Next, the recording paper 2 correctly folded in half as shown in FIG. 9A.
Is detected by the sensor S5, the signal Tb corresponding to the length is half of the signal Ta as shown in FIG. 8 (B). Further, in the case of being illegally folded in two as shown in FIG. 9B, a signal as indicated by Tb ′ in FIG. 8B is output.

Therefore, in the microcomputer MC, if such a detection signal T is Tb ', it is determined that the folding is illegal, the sheet binding is prohibited, and the illegally folded recording paper 2 is discharged to the lower tray 43, etc. Then, stapling can be prohibited (see FIG. 5).

FIG. 9C shows a state in which a plurality of folded recording papers 2 are correctly bound, and FIG. 9D shows that the staples themselves are also in an incorrect state when they are bound without detecting false folding as in the past. This is shown as an example, and 92 is a staple.

Next, the control operation in the recording paper post-processing apparatus of this example will be further described with reference to FIG. At the same time when the recording operation is detected to be started in step K1, the folding device 3 and the finisher device 4 are driven, but steps K2 and K3 are performed.
At, it is determined whether the mode is the folding mode or the staple mode. Here, if the conditions of K2 and K3 are both satisfied, the process proceeds to step K4, but otherwise the process branches to another flow A to operate. Since this flow A is not directly related to the present invention, its explanation is omitted.

In step K4, the deflector for the above-mentioned three folding modes (two folding modes, Z folding mode, back Z folding mode),
The stopper group 87 is selectively driven, and in the next step K5, the folding detection sensor S5 that detects a folded sheet determines the start of passing the sheet. Thus, in step K6, the passage time of the sensor S5 is counted to determine whether it is within the normal range. That is, it is determined whether or not the folding is performed normally, and if it is determined that the folding is abnormal, the folding abnormality flag is set to "1" in step K7.
Then, move to step K8. When the determination is normally made in step K6, the process directly proceeds to step K8, and the recording paper folded here is ejected to the staple unit of the finisher device 4. In the next step K9, it is determined whether or not the recording operation is completed. If the recording operation is continued, the process returns to step K5 to repeat the above operation.

When the recording operation is completed, the process proceeds to step K10, and it is determined whether or not all folding operations are normal, and if normal, step K11.
Go to and staple and finish.

On the other hand, if the folding abnormality flag is "1" in step K10, there is an abnormality, so the process branches to step K12, and the stopper 42 is rotated without being stapled and dropped onto the lower tray 43 to end the operation.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a folding unit that performs a folding operation on a recording sheet sent from a recording apparatus, and a binding unit that binds the recording sheet folded by the folding unit. In addition, when the recording sheet folded by the former folding means is defective in folding, the defective folding is detected, and the binding operation by the latter binding means is automatically prohibited. Thus, it is possible to prevent a defectively folded recording sheet from being bound, avoid a troublesome re-binding by the operator, and ensure high reliability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a recording paper post-processing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a folding device together with a conveyance path, and FIGS. 3A and 3B are the same. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a process of forming a fold in the first fold forming device, and FIG. 4 shows three forms of the fold formed in the fold forming device of (A), (B) and (C). FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the constitution of the finisher device together with the conveying path, FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the constitution of the operation part of the finisher device and the folding device, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a control circuit of the recording paper post-processing apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a waveform diagram of detection signals and clock pulses from the folding detection sensor according to the present invention, and FIGS. 9A and 9B are recording paper. Diagonal to indicate whether the fold is correct or not FIG. 9C and FIG. 9D are perspective views showing a correct binding condition and an incorrect binding condition of a plurality of recording sheets, respectively, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the control of this embodiment. . 1 ... Copier, 2 ... Recording paper, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E ... Folds, 3 ... Folding device, 4 ... Finisher device, 5 ... Stacker unit, 6 ... Stapling unit, (7,8), (11,12), (30,31), (34,35), (37,3)
8) …… Roller pair, 9,14,15,16,32 …… Deflector, 10,13,21,22,26,33,36 …… Paper path, 17,18,19,20 …… Folding roller, 23,27 …… Stopper, 24 …… Loop, 26,27 …… Fold path, S0 to S6 …… Sensor, 39,43 …… Tray, 40 …… Belt, 41 …… Stapler, 42 …… Stopper, 50A , 50B, 50 …… Operation part, 52,58 …… Mode selection switch, 53,55,59,61 …… Indicator, 54,56,61,62 …… Picture display, 57 …… Jam indicator, 66 , 67,74,80,85,86 …… Buffer, M1 …… Stacker motor, 69,70 …… Sensor, 72,73,76,84,89 …… Signal, 32A, 42A, 87 …… Solenoid, 81 …… Plunger, 78,88 …… Interrupter, 82 …… (reflection) sensor, 83 …… Manual switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A folding unit for folding a recording sheet sent from a recording apparatus, a detecting unit disposed downstream of the folding unit for detecting a defective folding of the recording sheet, and a detecting unit downstream of the detecting unit. A binding unit that performs a binding process on the arranged and folded recording sheets, and if the detection unit does not detect a folding defect of the recording sheets, the binding operation of the binding unit is performed after the recording operation of the recording apparatus is completed, A sheet processing apparatus, comprising: a unit that prohibits the binding operation of the binding unit when the detection unit detects a folding failure of the recording sheet.