JPH0920456A - Sheet after processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute efficiently further surely taking out a sheet sheaf while forming into compactness is attained. SOLUTION: A plurality of sort trays are successively moved to a sheet fetching position by a tray drive mechanism. A gripper mechanism 32, collectively gripper sheet sheaves P0, P1, P2 accumulated on the sort tray also to be made movable reciprocating between a gripping position and a draw out position of the sheet sheaves P0, P1, P2, is provided. This constitution is formed by providing an energizing pulley 206 of energizing the gripper mechanism and a gripper drive mechanism of driving the gripper mechanism moved from the draw out position to the gripping position also to be driven moving from the gripping position to the draw out position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an electrophotographic copying machine, O
A. A sheet post-processing apparatus having a post-processing function for image-recorded sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a printing machine, particularly a post-processing function for a sheet bundle sequentially distributed and accumulated on a plurality of sort trays Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a system in which a sheet post-processing device having a sorting function is installed on the discharge side of an image forming apparatus, it is an important technical problem to make the entire system as compact as possible. There is.

In recent years, this type of sheet post-processing apparatus sequentially distributes and stacks the image-recorded sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus on a plurality of sort trays, and then, for each sheet bundle in which the number of stacked sheets reaches a predetermined number. However, there is a tendency to adopt a configuration in which stapling is performed to bind the parts one by one, and further, so-called jogging processing in which the sheets are discharged on the stack tray again in a divided state is adopted, and there is an increasing demand for compactification. .

[0004]

However, for example, when the stacker is positioned behind the sort tray in the sheet conveying direction in the sheet post-processing apparatus, the stacker and the stacker are arranged side by side in the sheet take-in direction. Including the main body, it becomes very large and takes up a lot of system installation space. Further, when the operator takes out the stack of sheets on the stack tray after the copying operation is completed after inputting the copy operation on the operation unit of the main body of the copying machine or the like, the operation unit and the stacker are separated from each other. You have to go around to the outlet side,
It has been pointed out that there is a problem that the workability is extremely deteriorated.

Further, since a compact structure is used, various restrictions are imposed on the execution of the post-processing, and it becomes impossible to execute the post-processing efficiently, and the workability is deteriorated. Problems have also been pointed out.

On the contrary, if efficiency is emphasized when executing the post-processing, there is a problem that compactness is impaired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus capable of efficiently and reliably executing a sheet bundle take-out processing while achieving compactness. To aim.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention, the image-recorded sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are sequentially distributed and accumulated, and in the stacking direction. A plurality of sort trays arranged along the stacking direction and movably supported in the stacking direction; tray driving means for sequentially moving the plurality of sort trays to a sheet taking-in position where the sheets are taken in; and the trays. The bundle of sheets accumulated on the sort tray that has been moved to the sheet take-out position by the driving unit is collectively grasped, and the grip position for grasping the sheet bundle on the sort tray at the take-out position and the sheet bundle are The gripper means disposed so as to be reciprocally movable between the gripping means and the pulling-out position where the gripper means is pulled out from the sort tray is located at the gripping position. The biasing means for constantly biasing toward the pull-out position and the gripper means are moved and driven from the pull-out position to the gripping position against the biasing force of the biasing means, and the biasing means And a gripper drive unit that is driven by an urging force to move from the gripping position to the pulling position.

According to the second aspect of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention, the image-recorded sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are sequentially distributed and stacked, and a plurality of sheets are stacked along the stacking direction. A plurality of sort trays that are provided and movably supported along the stacking direction, a tray drive unit that sequentially moves the plurality of sort trays to a sheet take-in position where the sheets are taken in, and a sheet by the tray drive unit. A gripping position for collectively gripping the bundle of sheets accumulated on the sort tray that has been moved to the take-out position, and a gripping position for gripping the sheet bundle on the sort tray at the take-out position, and the sheet bundle on the sort tray. A gripper means disposed so as to be capable of reciprocating between a pull-out position pulled out from the A gripper drive means for moving and driving the gripping position to the holding position and a gripper driving means for driving the gripper means to move from the pulling position to the gripping position are charged with the gripping position. To a pull-out position.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the gripper means for the sheet bundle on the sort tray located at the take-out position. The pull-out direction by
It is characterized in that it is a direction intersecting with the direction of taking in the sheets to the sort tray at the taking-in position.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the third aspect, the take-in direction is parallel to the sheet discharge direction in the image forming apparatus. It is characterized by being set to.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the gripper means is pulled up to a predetermined pull-up position by the gripper driving means. And a storage tray that is located immediately below the storage tray and that has its tip inclined upward along the pulling-out direction and that sequentially stacks the sheet bundle released from the gripped state at the pulling-up position. It is characterized by doing.

According to a sixth aspect of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention, in the apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the storage tray is arranged on the downstream side with respect to the pull-out direction of the sort tray. It is characterized by being installed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the pull-out position is from the sort tray at the take-out position. It is characterized in that the sheet bundle on the sort tray is biased by a first predetermined distance along the pull-out direction by the gripper means and is set as a pull-up position biased by a second predetermined distance along the upward direction. .

According to claim 8, the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is the apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the pull-out direction is such that the sheet is taken into the sort tray at the take-in position. The feature is that the direction intersects with the direction.

According to a ninth aspect of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention, in the apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the take-in direction is parallel to the sheet discharge direction in the image forming apparatus. It is characterized by being set to.

According to a tenth aspect of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention, in the apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the gripper drive means is a drive motor and an output shaft of the drive motor. An attached motor pulley, a drive pulley arranged near the pulling position, a driven pulley arranged near the take-out position, and an endless first pulley wound between the drive pulley and the driven pulley. No. 1 driving force transmitting belt, fixing means for fixing the gripper means to the first driving force transmitting belt, an intermediate pulley, the motor pulley, the driving pulley, the intermediate pulley, and the endless second belt. A driving force transmission belt, and the urging means includes a spring for urging the intermediate pulley to rotate in a predetermined direction.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the tenth aspect, wherein the spring is the intermediate pulley and the gripper means is in the pulling position. It is characterized by constantly urging it so that it can be lifted.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet post-processing device according to the eleventh aspect, wherein the intermediate pulley is rotatably supported by an intermediate shaft. The spring is wound around the intermediate shaft, and has one end locked to the intermediate shaft and the other end locked to the intermediate pulley.

The image-recorded sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are sequentially distributed and stacked, and a plurality of sort trays arranged in the stacking direction, and the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention, According to the thirteenth aspect, a bundle of sheets accumulated on a predetermined sort tray is collectively gripped, and a gripping position for gripping the sheet bundle on the sort tray and the sheet bundle is the sort tray. A gripper means disposed so as to be able to reciprocate between a pull-out position pulled out from above, a biasing means for constantly biasing the gripper means from the gripping position toward the pull-out position, and the gripper means. , Is driven to move from the pull-out position to the gripping position against the biasing force of the biasing means, and is biased by the biasing force of the biasing means to move from the gripping position to the gripping position. It is characterized by comprising a gripper driving means for moving driven to a position out come.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet post-processing apparatus, the image-recorded sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are sequentially distributed and accumulated, and
A plurality of sort trays arranged along the stacking direction, and a gripping position for collectively gripping a bundle of sheets stacked on a predetermined sort tray and gripping a bundle of sheets on the sort tray, While moving the gripper means arranged so as to reciprocate between the pull-out position where the sheet bundle is pulled out from the sort tray and the gripper means, from the pull-out position to the gripping position,
The gripper driving means for moving and driving the grip position to the pull-out position, and the movement of the gripper means from the pull-out position to the grip position are charged with an urging force to move from the grip position to the pull-out position. And a biasing means for biasing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The construction of an embodiment of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Schematic Description of Configuration of Sheet Post-Processing Apparatus 10] As schematically shown in FIG. 1, the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 is connected to, for example, an electrophotographic copying apparatus 1000 as an image forming apparatus, and the electronic processing apparatus Upon receipt of a copied (that is, image recorded) sheet discharged through a discharge port (not shown) formed on the discharge section side of the photocopier 1000 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a sheet S), The sheet is configured to undergo a predetermined post-treatment.

Here, as the post-processing in this embodiment, when the non-sorting state is set, all sheets S are sequentially accumulated on the non-sorting tray 12 in a non-sorting process and stored in a batch. When the state is set and the sort mode is set, the sheets S of all pages are stacked in a state in which the sort trays corresponding to the number of copies in the plurality of sort trays 14 are aligned. When the sorting process and the group mode are set, the grouping process in which the sheets S of the same page are sequentially gathered in the sort tray 14 corresponding to the number of copied pages and the sorting state is set. In the case where the sort processing or the group processing is performed (that is, before being distributed and accumulated in the sort tray 14).
The dual punching process of forming a pair of binding holes (punch holes) in the edge portion of the sheet S, and the stack of sheets P distributed and accumulated on the plurality of sort trays 14 from the sheet take-out position are sequentially stacked. ) 16 a stack process for discharging onto a sheet stack, a stapling process for stapling a sheet bundle P being discharged during the stacking process, and a stack of a plurality of sheet bundles P sequentially discharged during the stacking process. Jog processing for alternately accumulating on the tray 16 is included.

Although not shown, the copying machine 1000 is provided with an automatic document feeder, and through this automatic document feeder, the copying machine 1000, under the control of a predetermined program, detects a plurality of pages of originals. It is configured to make a desired number of copies and sequentially eject the copied sheets S from the ejection port. In the following description, for convenience of description, the direction of the discharged sheet S is such that the short side (that is, the side orthogonal to the longitudinal direction) of the discharged sheet S is parallel to the discharge direction X (see FIG. 1). It is assumed that it is set to be in a portrait orientation.

[Schematic Description of Each Constituent Element of Sheet Post-Processing Apparatus 10] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 includes (A): a sheet for receiving the sheet S discharged from the copying apparatus 1000. An apparatus main body 20 in which a receiving port 18 (only shown in FIG. 2) is formed, and (B): a sheet S brought into the sheet receiving port 18 to a non-sort tray 12 or a sort tray 14 brought to a sheet take-in position. Sheet conveying mechanisms 80C and 80D that selectively convey,
(C): a non-sort tray 12 which is fixed to the upper part of the apparatus main body 20 and whose upper part is completely open;
(D): A plurality of sort trays 14 in this embodiment, which are movably attached to the main body 20 of the apparatus below the non-sort tray 12 in the up-and-down direction (separate description is required). 1 if there is
4A to 14T), (E): a sort tray drive mechanism 24 for sequentially moving the sort tray 14 to a sheet take-in position or a sheet take-out position, and (F): an attitude changing mechanism 26 for changing the attitude of the sort tray 14. (G): an aligning mechanism 28 for aligning the stacking state of the sheet bundle P stacked on the sort tray 14 in the sort direction X and the take-out direction Y, and (H): a dual punch mechanism 30 for executing the above dual punch processing. And (I): a gripper mechanism 32 that collectively holds the sort trays 14 that have been moved to the sheet take-out position, and (J): the gripper mechanism 32 that takes in a sheet while holding the bundle of sheets P together. The sheet P is moved along the sheet take-in direction (hereinafter referred to as the sort direction) X for taking in the sheet P on the sort tray 14 'located at the position. By a jog driving mechanism 34 to perform the above-mentioned jog treated, (K): the gripper mechanism 3
2, while holding the bundle of sheets P together, sort direction X
Along the take-out direction Y intersecting (in this embodiment, substantially orthogonal to), the front side, that is, the operation unit 1002 of the copying apparatus 1000 is arranged and pulled out to the side where the operator stands, and the upward direction Z is kept as it is. And (L): the gripper drive mechanism 36 pulls up the bundle of sheets P that have been collectively grasped from the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position and pulls them up to the pull-up position on the near side. Stack tray 16 arranged immediately below the sheet bundle P pulled up to
And (M): a stack tray elevating mechanism 38 that lowers the stack tray 16 according to the stacking thickness of the sheets on the stack tray 16 (that is, the height position of the upper surface of the sheet bundle P stacked on the stack tray 16). And (N): a staple mechanism 40 that staples the sheet bundle P that is being pulled up by the gripper drive mechanism 36, and (O): a staple mechanism 40.
A staple advancing / retreating mechanism 42 for driving the sheet advancing / retreating between the staple position capable of stapling the sheet bundle P collectively held by the gripper mechanism 32 and the retracted position retracted from the movement path of the gripper mechanism 32, (P): A control mechanism 44 that controls the overall control of the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 is roughly provided. Hereinafter, various components of the above-described sheet post-processing apparatus 10 will be sequentially and individually described in detail.

[A: Description of Apparatus Main Body 20] The apparatus main body 20 is provided with the above-mentioned stack tray 16 on its front surface. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. It is hidden by the cover member 50 when not in use. The front cover member 50 is movable in the vertical direction, and is elastically held at the upper position where the stack tray 16 is completely closed. In addition, the front cover member 50
Is pushed downward, the lower end of the stack is gradually pulled inward, and as shown in FIG. 4, the stack tray 16 is completely opened, that is, the stack of sheets P stacked on the stack tray 16 is released. It can be taken out.

As shown in FIG. 3, the left side surface of the apparatus main body 20 is opened along the vertical direction of the main body 20 so that the vertical movement of the 20 sort trays 14 is allowed. Here, the upper surface of the apparatus main body 20 is opened over substantially the entire surface, and an internal space communicating with the open space on the left side surface and having a large open left side surface and upper surface is defined. As a result, the sort tray 1 will be described in detail later.
4 is capable of projecting upward from this internal space as the sort tray drive mechanism 24 is driven. The non-sort tray 12 is fixed in the illustrated position in an inclined state, and in a state where the sort tray 14 projects most upward from the internal space, a predetermined space is provided between the non-sort tray 12 and the uppermost sort tray 14A. The gap is set to be secured.

[B: Description of Sheet Conveying Mechanisms 80C and 80D] As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet conveying mechanisms 80C and 80D are detachably mounted on the upper right side surface of the apparatus main body 20. Has been. That is,
As shown in FIG. 5, the sheet conveying mechanisms 80C and 80D are configured so that they can be removed from the apparatus body 20 by pulling them upward from the apparatus body 20.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the sheet conveying mechanisms 80C and 80D are arranged directly inside the sheet receiving unit 18 and the unit main body 52 in which the sheet receiving port 18 described above is formed in the substantially central portion. Pair of upper and lower inlet rollers 54
A and 54B, and the sheet P that is swingably disposed directly inward of the inlet rollers 54A and 5B and taken into the unit main body 52 in accordance with the rotation of the inlet rollers 54A and 54B.
And a flapper 58 for selectively switching the conveyance path of No. 1 to the non-sort conveyance path 56A directed to the upper non-sort tray 12 or the sort conveyance path 56B directed to the sort tray 14 'at the lower sheet take-up position.
A non-sort switching position for switching the transport path so that the sheet P is directed to the non-sort transport path 45A,
A flapper rocking mechanism 60 that selectively rocks and drives a sort switching position that switches the transport path toward the sort transport path 56B, and a flapper swing mechanism 60 that is disposed inside the unit main body 52 and swings around the lower end. A transport support plate 62, which is freely supported and defines a transport path (non-sort transport path 56A and sort transport path 56B) for the sheet P with the unit main body 52, is provided.

The flapper oscillating mechanism 60 described above includes a drive motor (not shown), and the drive motor rotates in one direction to rotate the flapper 58 counterclockwise in FIG. The flapper 5 is driven by switching and driving the sheet P toward the upper non-sort conveyance path 56A and rotationally driving it in the other direction opposite to the one direction.
6 is configured to rotate clockwise to switch the sheet P toward the lower sort conveyance path 56B.

Further, the sheet conveying mechanisms 80C and 80D
When the sheet P is jammed, the sheet transport mechanisms 80C and 80D are pulled up as shown in FIG. 5 and the transport support plate 62 is swung in a direction away from the unit main body 52 to open the transport path. Thus, the jammed sheet P can be easily taken out. By thus forming the sheet conveying mechanisms 80C and 80D as a unit and detachable from the apparatus main body 20, it is possible to take out the jammed sheet P extremely easily, and the operability for releasing the jam is significantly improved. It will be.

Further, as described above, the sheet conveying mechanism 80C,
When the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 is applied to a copying apparatus having a different sheet discharge position by making the 80D a unit and detachable, the sheet conveying mechanisms 80C and 80D in which only the formation height of the sheet receiving port 18 is changed. By preparing only this and replacing it with this, the sheet post-processing apparatus can be easily applied to different types of copying apparatuses. In this way, by adopting a structure in which the sheet conveying mechanisms 80C and 80D are unitized and detachable, in other words, a replaceable structure, it is possible to easily achieve application to various copying apparatuses.
The production efficiency can be improved and the cost can be reduced significantly.

As shown in FIG. 5, two sheets P are conveyed to the sort conveyance path 56B immediately below the flapper 58 and face the conveyance path to the sort conveyance path 56B. Punch mechanism 3 for punching holes
0 is provided. The structure of the punch mechanism 30 will be described in detail later.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, at the end of the non-sorting transport path 56A, the sheets P transported up to this point are placed on the non-sort tray 12 in the sorting direction (that is, the sheet loading direction) X. A pair of upper and lower first take-up rollers 64A and 64B for taking-in along are arranged in a state of rolling contact with each other. On the other hand, at the end of the sort conveyance path 56B, the sheet P conveyed up to this point is conveyed.
A pair of upper and lower second take-in rollers 66 for taking in the sheets along the sorting direction (that is, the sheet taking-in direction) X on the sort tray 14 'at the sheet taking-in position.
A and 66B are arranged in a state of rolling contact with each other.

[C: Description of Non-Sort Tray 12] The non-sort tray 12 is fixed to the upper portion of the apparatus main body 20 as described above. It is fixed as it faces. The non-sort tray 12 is attached in an inclined state, and is set in an inclined posture in which the tip end is biased upward by a predetermined height from the base end portion. This tilt angle is set to be substantially the same as the tilt angle set when the sort tray 14 described later is placed at the sheet take-in position.
Further, the non-sort tray 12 is configured so as not to undergo the alignment operation by the alignment mechanism 28 which will be described in detail later. Therefore, the sheet P taken in on the non-sort tray 12 slides down to the base end side according to the inclination state, and although not shown, the non-sort tray 1
By contacting the standing wall formed at the base end of 2,
Only matching along the sorting direction X will be made.

[D: Description of Sort Tray 14] Each sort tray 14 is formed in a flat plate shape as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, and a mounting plate on which the sheets P taken in are stacked. 68 and an edge of the mounting plate 68 on the base end side,
That is, the standing wall 70 and the mounting plate 68 that are formed integrally with each other from the upstream edge with respect to the sorting direction X
A pair of retainers 72A and 72B that are movably attached along the sorting direction X, respectively, on both side edges on the tip end side, that is, on both sides of the downstream side portion in the sorting direction X,
An opening 76 is formed at a position deviated from the standing wall 70 of the mounting plate 68 by a predetermined distance from the sorting direction, and an opening 76 through which an aligning rod 74 of the aligning mechanism 28, which will be described later, is inserted, and upper portions of the right and left ends of the standing wall 70 are taken out. Engagement pins 78A and 78B as a pair of engagement members that are fixed in a state of extending along the direction Y and projecting outward respectively, and a pair of retainers 72A and 72B at the tip ends of the retainers 72A and 72B, respectively. , Y direction
Engagement pins 78C as a pair of engagement members that are fixed in a state in which they respectively extend outwardly and project in an outward direction,
And 78D, and is generally configured.

As shown in FIG. 9, the mounting plate 68 has a first concave portion 68a formed at a portion located on the downstream side edge in the sheet take-out direction Y and upstream in the sorting direction X, The second concave portion 68b is deeply formed in a side edge located downstream with respect to the sorting direction X and at a portion located substantially in the center with respect to the sheet removal direction Y. Here, in the sheet bundle P stacked on the placing plate 68, the first concave portion 68a has a portion (in other words, a protruding portion) facing the first concave portion 68a, the gripper mechanism 3 described later.
It is provided so that it can be grasped by 2.

The sorting direction X of the first recess 68a is X.
The formation range along is set so as not to hinder the jog operation of the gripper mechanism 32 described later. Further, the second recess 68b does not take out the sheet bundle P accumulated on the sort tray 14 in a state of being discharged to the stack tray 16, but when the operator tries to take out the sheet bundle P directly from the sort tray 14, It is provided so that the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 can be easily gripped by the hand.

Here, as seen from the function of the sort tray 14, the tray main body is composed of the placing plate 68 and the pair of retainers 72.
It can be expressed as composed of A and 72B. In this case, the tray body is
2 is divided into an upstream side and a downstream side, and is configured to be expandable and contractable along the sorting direction X. In other words, in the sort tray 14 in this embodiment, a pair of engagement pins 78A, 78B located upstream in the sorting direction X and a pair of engagement pins 78C, 78D located downstream in the sorting direction X. The distance between and is set to be variable.

In this embodiment, all sort trays 14 arranged in 20 stages are formed in the same shape. As a result, the productivity of the sort tray 14 is improved, and the cost can be reduced. Further, when the attitude of the sort tray 14 is changed, which will be described later, the attitude of each sort tray 14 (that is, the attitude of the sort tray 14 by swinging with the engaging pins 78A and 78B located on the upstream side in the sorting direction X as the swing center). , Tilted)
Will be changed.

[E: Description of Sort Tray Drive Mechanism 24]
Next, the configuration of the sort tray drive mechanism 24 for sequentially moving the 20-stage sort tray 14 having the above-described configuration to the sheet take-in position or the sheet take-out position will be described with reference to FIGS.
Description will be made with reference to FIGS.

E-1) Description of Lead Screw Rod This sort tray drive mechanism 24 has four pieces arranged in a state corresponding to the four corners of the sort tray 14 as schematically shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. Lead screw rod 80A, 8
0B, 80C, 80D, and a first rotary drive mechanism 82 for rotating the two lead screw rods 80A, 80B located on the upstream side in the sorting direction X in synchronization with each other.
A second rotary drive mechanism 84 for rotating two lead screw rods 80C and 80D positioned on the downstream side in the sorting direction X in a state of being synchronized with each other is roughly provided.

Incidentally, these four lead screw rods 80A, 8
0B, 80C, and 80D are set such that the respective upper end positions thereof have substantially the same height. This makes it possible to set the installation height of the apparatus main body 20 in which the total 20 sort trays 14 are built in lower than that of the conventional one.
As shown in FIG. 1, a copying machine 10 to which this is attached
It is possible to set the same height as the arrangement height of 00. In this way, the overall structure of the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 can be compactly housed, and the upper surface of the copying apparatus 1000 to which the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 is attached is set to be flush with
You will be able to lay out the appearance well.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, a pair of lead screw rods 80 located upstream in the sorting direction X are used.
A and 80B are set to incline at an inclination angle of about 9 degrees with respect to the vertical line, and the pair of lead screw rods 80C and 80D located on the downstream side with respect to the sorting direction X extend in a substantially vertical direction. It is set to go out. The effect of inclining the lead screw rods 80A and 80B will be described in detail later.

E-2) Schematic Description of Lead Grooves 86, 88 These four lead screw rods 80A, 80B, 80C, 80
Of D, two lead screw rods 80A, 80B located upstream in the sorting direction X are engraved with lead grooves 86 with which the corresponding engaging pins 78A, 78B engage. , 24 lead screw rods 80A, 80B, 80C, 80 located downstream in the sorting direction X
On the outer peripheral surface of D, lead grooves 88 with which the corresponding engaging pins 778C and 78D engage are respectively engraved. Further, the lead grooves 88 of the lead screw rods 80C and 80D located on the downstream side with respect to the sorting direction X are open upward at their upper ends. In other words, these lead screw rods 8
Engaging pin 7 that engages with 0C and 80D lead grooves 88, respectively
8C and 78D come out from the corresponding lead groove 88,
It is ready to be lifted up.

E-3) Engagement pin guides 90A to 90D
Description of each lead screw rod 80A, 80B, 80C, 80
Engaging pins 78A and 7 that engage with D respectively
8B, 78C, 78D, corresponding lead screw rod 80
Engagement pin guide 90 for restricting movement so as to move along the longitudinal direction of A, 80B, 80C, 80D.
A, 90B, 90C and 90D are arranged. Each of the engagement pin guides 90A, 90B, 90C, 90D has a corresponding lead screw rod 80A, 80B, 80C, 8 respectively.
A long groove extending along the longitudinal direction of 0D is formed, and the engagement pins 78A, 78B, 78C, 78D are respectively provided with corresponding engagement pin guides 90A, 90B, 90C, 90.
Corresponding lead screw rods 80A, 80 through the long groove of D
B; engaged with the lead grooves 86; 88 of 80C, 80D.

For convenience of illustration, the pair of engagement pin guides 90A, 90B located upstream in the sorting direction X are shown.
Is not shown in the drawing, and only the pair of engagement pin guides 90C, 90D located downstream in the sorting direction X are shown in the drawing. Further, in this embodiment, the pair of engagement pin guides 90A and 90B located on the upstream side in the sorting direction X are attached with their positions fixed, while the positions on the downstream side in the sorting direction X are set. The pair of engaging pin guides 90C and 90D are supported so as to be movable only along the respective longitudinal directions with respect to the corresponding lead screw rods 80C and 80D.

As described above, the pair of lead screw rods 80C and 80D located on the downstream side in the sorting direction X are each movable only along the longitudinal direction of the engaging pin guide 90.
Since C and 90D are provided, the sort tray 14 is lifted while maintaining the inclined state, and the corresponding lead groove 88 is formed.
When it reaches the upper end of, the sort tray 14 located immediately below is abutted and pushed up from below, so that the engagement pins 78C and 78D have corresponding lead grooves 88.
From the corresponding engaging pin guide 90C,
In a state where the position along the sorting direction X is restricted only by the long groove of 90D, the engaging pin guides 90C and 90D are pushed up and further raised.

As a result, in this embodiment, the lead groove 88 is provided over the entire moving range of the engagement pins 78C and 78D.
In other words, even if the upper end positions of the downstream side lead screw rods 80C and 80D are not set higher than the upper end positions of the upstream side lead screw rods 80A and 80B, the uppermost sort tray does not have to be provided. 14A can be raised to the uppermost position (that is, the position where the engaging pins 78A and 78B engage with the upper ends of the upstream lead grooves 86) while maintaining the inclined state. In this way, as described above, it is possible to make the apparatus main body 20 compact.

E-4) Detailed Description of Lead Grooves 86, 88 Here, the lead grooves 86 of both lead screw rods 80A, 80B are shown.
As shown in FIG. 7, the lead angles (lead pitches) of the three types of parts are 86a, 86b, 86 of three types from the lower end to the upper end.
The central portion 86b is defined as a portion facing the above-described second take-in rollers 66A and 66B, and the lead angle (lead pitch) of the substantially central portion 86b.
Is set to be larger than the lead angle (lead pitch) in the other portions 86a and 86c.

On the other hand, the lead angle (lead pitch) of the lead groove 88 of both lead screw rods 80C and 80D is, as shown in FIG.
The upper end of the lower half portion 88a is set to be substantially the same height as the upper ends of the lower portions 86a of the lead grooves 86 of the lead screw rods 80A and 80B described above. The lead angle (lead pitch) of the lower half portion 88a of the lead groove 88 is set to be the same as that of the lower portion 86a of the corresponding lead groove 86, and the lead angle (lead pitch of the upper half portion 88b of the lead groove 88 (lead Pitch) is approximately the center portion 8 of the corresponding lead groove 86.
It is set the same as that of 6b.

As described above, by forming the lead grooves 86 and 88 respectively located on the upstream side and the downstream side in the sorting direction X as described above, the positions (at least) facing the second take-in roller pair 66A and 66B ( That is, the vertical height (vertical distance) between the sort tray 14 located directly above the sort tray 14 at the sheet take-in position),
The vertical height with respect to the sort trays 14 located immediately below is wider than the vertical heights of the other sort trays 14. This facilitates the distribution of the sheets to the sort tray 14 'at the sheet take-in position, and allows the operator to manually take out the sheet bundle P accumulated on the sort tray 14' at the sheet take-in position. It can be done easily.

Here, the reason why the vertical gap between the sort tray 14 'at the sheet take-in position and the sort tray 14 immediately below is also widened is the second take-up roller pair 66A, 6A.
As for the sort trays 14A, 14B, and 14C brought to the position facing 6B and the vertically adjacent positions,
This is to allow the lower jaw of the gripper mechanism 32, which will be described later, to be accommodated in the vertical height (vertical space) of the sort tray 14. In this embodiment, the sheet take-in position and the sort trays 14A, 14B and 14C located above and below the sheet take-in position.
Prior to the expanding operation in (1), the upper and lower spaces between the sort tray 14C and the sort tray 14D located immediately below the sort tray 14C are widened in advance so that the following operation can be smoothly performed.

E-5) Lead screw rods 80A, 8 on the upstream side
Description of the inclined mode of 0B In order to avoid the bulky stacking state of the sort tray 14, among the lead screw rods 80A, 80B, 80C, 80D, a pair of lead screw rods 80A located upstream in the sorting direction X, As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, 80B is a pair of lead screws whose longitudinal center line (that is, longitudinal axis) is downstream from the vertical line by a predetermined angle α (about 9 ° in this embodiment). It is inclined to the rods 80C and 80D side. In the side view, the lead screw rods 80A and 80B are erected in parallel with each other and in an upright state as shown in FIG.

Here, in each sort tray 14, the engaging pins 78A, 78B, 78C and 78D are engaged with the corresponding lead grooves 86 and 88, respectively. Therefore, as the sort trays 14 are positioned above the lead screw rods 80A and 80B on the upstream side, the tips of the sort trays 14 are arranged on the second lead screw rods 80C and 80D on the downstream side along the sorting direction X. It will slip in.

However, as described above, the amount of this deviation along the sorting direction X is absorbed in each sort tray 14 without any problem by the expandable structure of the sort tray 14 itself, and the sort tray 14 is moved up and down. It has no effect.

Thus, the lead screw rod 80 on the upstream side
By tilting A and 80B along the sorting direction X toward the downstream side by about 9 ° from the vertical, each sort tray 14 has the upper one inserted inside the lower one in order to achieve a compact stacked state. Therefore, the space occupied by the device in the vertical direction is correspondingly small. Specifically, between the sort trays 14 that are vertically adjacent to each other, diagonally forward of the standing wall 70 of the sort tray 14 located below,
Since the standing wall 70 of the sort tray 14 located above enters, the vertical distance between the two mounting plates 68 becomes extremely small.

On the other hand, the upstream side lead screw rods 80A, 80B
Assuming that the trays were vertical, each sort tray 14
Since the ascending and descending while changing the angle, the standing walls 70 of the upper and lower sort trays 14 collide with each other, but as described above, by tilting the tray movement locus from the vertical by about 9 °, This problem can be solved. In other words, in the case of the present embodiment, the inclination angle α (about 9 °) of the upstream side lead screw rods 80A and 80B makes contact with the standing surface of the standing wall 70 even if the angle θ of the sort tray 14 changes. The angle is set so that they do not conflict, and the angle is such that the entire device is as compact as possible.

E-6) First and second rotation drive mechanism 8
Description of Nos. 2 and 84 Further, the above-described first rotary drive mechanism 82 includes the first drive motor 92 that is reversible and the first drive motor 92.
And a first endless transmission belt 94 for simultaneously transmitting the driving force to the pair of lead screw rods 80A and 80B located on the upstream side in the sorting direction X. On the other hand, the second rotary drive mechanism 84 described above
Is a reversible second drive motor 96 and a second drive motor 96 for transmitting the drive force of the second drive motor 96 to the pair of lead screw rods 80C, 80D located on the side with respect to the sorting direction X at the same time. Endless transmission belt 98 of FIG. The first and second drive motors 92 and 96 are set to be driven and controlled by the control mechanism 44, which will be described later, in an independent state.

E-7) Description of Drive Operation Next, the sort tray drive mechanism 2 configured as described above.
The driving operation for driving the sort tray 14 in No. 4 will be described.

All the four lead screw rods 8 are driven by the simultaneous drive of the first and second rotary drive mechanisms 82 and 84.
0A, 80B, 80C, 80D are rotated, and in response to these rotations, lead screw rods 80A, 80B; 80
C and 80D are the corresponding engaging pins 78 of the sort tray 14.
A, 78B; lead groove 86 with which 78C and 78D engage;
The height position of the 88 part is gradually changed.
All sort trays 14 can be simultaneously moved up and down while maintaining the current posture. As a result, for example, the sort tray 14 shown by reference numerals 14B, 14C, and 14D in FIG.
One rotation in the direction of arrow A of 80B, 80C, and 80D (that is, the counterclockwise direction in the drawing) indicates the reference numerals 14A, 14B, and 14 respectively.
It is raised to the position indicated by C. Of course, the sort tray 14 is lowered by one rotation in the direction opposite to the arrow A direction of the lead screw rods 80A, 80B, 80C, 80D (that is, the clockwise direction in the drawing).

Further, as is clear from the above description,
By driving only the first rotation drive mechanism 82, only the pair of lead screw rods 88A, 88B located on the upstream side in the sorting direction X are rotated, and the sort tray 14 is rotated.
It is also possible to drive up and down only the base end side of
By driving only the second rotation drive mechanism 84, only the pair of lead screw rods 88C and 88D located on the downstream side in the sorting direction X are rotated, and the sort tray 14 is rotated.
It is also possible to drive up and down only the tip side of the.

[F: Description of Posture Change Mechanism 26] As is clear from the above description of the sort tray drive mechanism 24,
The pair of lead screw rods 80A, 80B located on the upstream side in the sorting direction X and the pair of lead screw rods 80C, 80D located on the downstream side are rotationally driven independently of each other, whereby the sort tray 14 The relative height positions of the base end (that is, the upstream end with respect to the sorting direction X) and the front end (that is, the downstream end with respect to the sorting direction X) are arbitrarily changed. The posture of the sort tray 14 is arbitrarily changed. That is, as described above, the posture changing mechanism 26 is defined by the structure that independently drives the lead screw rods 80A, 80B: 80C, 80D located on the upstream side and the downstream side in the sorting direction X, respectively. It will be.

As described above, the control mechanism 44 controls the posture change control when changing the posture of the sort tray 14, but when the posture of the sort tray 14 in the inclined posture is changed to the horizontal state, the control is performed. The mechanism 44 is a sort tray 1.
The first and second rotary drive mechanisms 82, 8 are arranged so that the end portion of 4 on the tip end side is relatively lowered with respect to the end portion on the base end side.
4 are independently driven and controlled. In this case, while the driving of the first rotation drive mechanism 82 is stopped, the lead screw rods 80C and 80D corresponding to the second rotation drive mechanism 84 are rotated to lower the end portion of the sort tray 14 on the front end side. May be controlled as described above, or the first and second rotary drive mechanisms 82, 8
4 may be driven together, and the descending amount of the end portion on the leading end side of the sort tray 14 may be controlled to be larger than the descending amount of the end portion on the base end side.

In this embodiment, the sort tray 14
When changing the posture of the sorting posture from the tilted posture shown in FIG. 7 to the horizontal posture shown in FIG.
A pair of lead screw rods 80A located upstream with respect to
The first rotation drive mechanism 82 is driven and controlled so that the base end portion of the sort tray 14 (that is, the end portion on the upstream side with respect to the sorting direction X) is rotated by 0.5 revolutions in 80B, and the sorting direction is changed. The pair of lead screw rods 80C and 80D located on the downstream side with respect to X rotate in a direction in which the leading end portion of the sort tray 14 (that is, the downstream end portion with respect to the sorting direction X) rotates by 5.5 rotations. The rotary drive mechanism 84 of No. 2 is driven and controlled.

On the other hand, when the control mechanism 44 changes the attitude of the sort tray 14 in the horizontal state to the tilted state (specifically, the tilted state in which the leading end portion is biased upward from the base end portion), the tilting described above is performed. It is set so as to drive and control in the opposite direction to the case where the posture is changed from the state to the horizontal state.

Here, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, when the sheet take-in mode in which the sheet S conveyed through the sheet conveying mechanism 22 is taken into the sort tray 14 is set, As shown by the broken line in the figure, the sorting tray 14 including at least the sorting tray 14 ′ in the sheet take-in position and brought to a position higher than this is provided with a predetermined inclination angle (for example, about 30 degrees in this embodiment). ) Is set so as to take an inclined posture and, on the other hand, when the take-out mode for taking out the sheet bundle P accumulated on the sort tray 14 is set, as shown by the solid line in the figure. The posture is changed so that at least the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is in a substantially horizontal state.

[G: Description of Alignment Mechanism 28] In this embodiment, in order to align the position of the sheet S on the sort tray 14 with a predetermined regular position, the sheets along the sort direction X of the sort tray 14 are aligned. A first aligning mechanism 28A for aligning and a second aligning mechanism 28B for aligning the sheet along the direction orthogonal to the sorting direction X of the sort tray 14 (that is, the sheet take-out direction Y) are provided. Is configured.

G-1) Description of First Alignment Mechanism 28A As described above, the lead angle (lead pitch) in the lead groove 88 of the pair of lead screw rods 80C and 80D located downstream in the sorting direction X is enlarged. The upper end position of the upper half portion 88b is the upper end of the substantially middle portion 86b in which the lead angle (lead pitch) in the lead groove 86 of the pair of lead screw rods 80A and 80B located upstream in the sorting direction X is enlarged. It is set higher than the position. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the sort tray 14 positioned at least above the sheet take-in position has its leading end portion (that is, the end portion on the downstream side in the sorting direction X) at the base end portion (that is, the sorting end). It is possible to maintain the tilted state in which the position is higher than the upstream end portion in the direction X).

Accordingly, the second take-up roller pair 66A,
The sheet S conveyed through the sheet 66B has the sort tray 14 inclined as described above in the sheet take-in position.
Will be captured on top. As described above, the inclination angle θ of the sort tray 14 is set to 30 ° here, but it may be an angle that allows the sheet S to slide out due to its own weight, for example, about 20 to 45 °. Can also be used.

As described above, the sheet S is fed in the sorting direction X according to the rotation of the second take-in rollers 66A and 66B with respect to the inclined sort tray 14 at the sheet take-in position. , Dropped onto the sort tray 14 'at the sheet take-in position,
The trailing edge of the sheet S (that is, the edge on the upstream side with respect to the sorting direction X) is located at a position deviated to the downstream side with respect to the sorting wall X with respect to the standing wall 70 due to the momentum during loading. Therefore, the sheet S dropped on the sort tray 14 ′ at the sheet take-in position slides in the direction opposite to the sorting direction X due to its own weight based on the inclination of the sort tray 14 and hits the standing wall 70 to stop. Become.
In this manner, the sheets S are aligned by the upstream edge (rear edge) along the sorting direction X abutting the standing wall 70. As described above, in this embodiment, the inner surface of the standing wall 70 of the sort tray 14 functions as an alignment reference surface when aligning the position of the sheet S in the sorting direction X.

In short, the inclined and standing walls 70 of the sort tray 14 constitute a first sheet aligning mechanism 28A for aligning the sheets in the sorting direction X of the sheets S. The standing wall 70 also functions to prevent the sheet S from slipping off.

G-2) Description of Second Alignment Mechanism 28B This second sheet alignment mechanism 28B is equivalent to the sort tray 14
The aligning rod 74 penetrating up and down through the opening 76 formed in the loading plate 68 and the front side of the sort tray 14 along the sheet take-out direction Y, in other words, the downstream side with respect to the sheet take-out direction Y. The front shielding plate 100 (FIGS. 15 and 16) that entirely covers the front side portion of the tray 14.
Shown in ) And an alignment rod drive mechanism 102 that reciprocates the alignment rod 74 one time in the sheet take-out direction Y orthogonal to the sorting direction X. The aligning rod 74 is swung forward in the sheet take-out direction Y. Move it,
The sheet S (or the sheet bundle P) on the sort tray 14 is configured to be pressed against the front shielding plate 100. In this way, the sheet bundle P has its sheet take-out direction Y.
With respect to, the edge on the downstream side (front edge) comes into contact with the front shield plate 100 and is aligned thereby. As described above, in this embodiment, the front shield plate 100 functions as an alignment reference plane when aligning the position of the sheet bundle P in the sheet take-out direction Y.

The aligning rod drive mechanism 102 of the aligning mechanism 28 is driven and controlled under the control of the control mechanism 44. The control mechanism 44 drives the aligning rod only in the sheet take-in state. The mechanism 102 is set to operate, and the aligning rod drive mechanism 102 is set not to operate in the sheet take-out state. In other words, the aligning rod driving mechanism 102 is driven only when the sort tray 14 is in the inclined state, and the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 104 is set to align along the sheet take-out direction Y, and the sort is performed. When the tray 14 is horizontal, the aligning rod drive mechanism 102 is not driven and the sort tray 14 is not driven.
The upper sheet bundle P is stopped at that position.

Although the aligning operation is set not to be performed when the sort tray 14 is in the horizontal state as described above, when the sort tray 14 is already in the inclined state, the sheets on the sort tray 14 are set. The bundle P is aligned with respect to the sorting direction X and the sheet taking-out direction Y, and simply, with the change from the sheet taking-in state to the sheet taking-out state, the sort tray 14 is changed from the inclined state to the horizontal state, and the posture is changed as described above. Since the posture is only changed via the mechanism 26, the aligned state of the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 brought to the horizontal state is maintained as it is.

G-3) Description of the take-out opening 104 As described above, the front shield plate 100 is arranged on the downstream side of the sort tray 14 in the sheet take-out direction Y. The front shielding plate 100 is an obstacle when taking out the sheet bundle P from the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the sort tray at the sheet take-out position is shown. 1
In the state corresponding to 4 ″, the gripper mechanism 32 holds the sheet bundle P stacked on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position, and the sheet take-out direction of the gripper mechanism 32 that holds the sheet bundle P collectively. In order to allow movement along Y, the front shielding plate 100 is formed with a take-out opening 104 that extends substantially horizontally.

The size of this take-out opening 104 is as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, with respect to its width direction (that is, the sorting direction X), it is exposed over substantially the entire length of the sorting tray 14 along the sorting direction X, and its height direction (that is, later described). With respect to the pulling direction Z), the upper end of the sort tray 1 is located immediately below the sort tray 14 located immediately above the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position, and the lower end thereof is at the sheet take-out position.
It is set so as to be located immediately above the sort tray 14 located immediately below 4 ″. As a result, the gripper mechanism 32, which will be described later, allows the sort tray 14 ″ located at the sheet take-out position to pass through the take-out opening 104. hand,
The sheet bundle P is taken out along the sheet take-out direction Y. At that time, there is no possibility that the sheet bundle P is erroneously taken out through the take-out opening 104 from the sort trays 14 that are vertically adjacent to the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position.

On the other hand, when the sort tray 14 is in the inclined state and the aligning operation along the sheet take-out direction Y is performed, the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 diagonally crosses the take-out opening 104. Also, the size of the extraction opening 104 is set so that a predetermined alignment operation is performed. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 15, the sort tray 1 diagonally crosses the take-out opening 104.
In the state in which the minimum size sheets S (or the sheet bundle P) are received (or accumulated) on the sheet 4, the upstream end and the downstream end of the minimum size sheets S in the sorting direction X are The size of the take-out opening 104 is set so as to maintain the state in which the front shield plate 100 defining the peripheral edge of the take-out opening 104 can be contacted.

Since the position and size of the take-out opening 104 are set in this manner, the front shielding plate 1 is
Even if the extraction opening 104 is formed in 00,
When the front shielding plate 100 performs the aligning operation, the sheet take-out direction Y for the sheet bundle P on all sort trays is obtained.
Will certainly function as a matching reference surface for. In other words, in this embodiment, it is not necessary to provide the aligning shutter mechanism, which is conventionally required, to openably close the take-out opening, and the structure is simplified and the control operation is also simplified. Therefore, the cost can be reduced.

G-4) Description of Alignment Rod Drive Mechanism 102 Although not shown in detail, the swing mechanism 100 has a rotary shaft 106 extending vertically in parallel with the alignment rod 74, and the rotary shaft 106 being endless. A swing motor 110 that rotates in both forward and reverse directions via a belt 108 is connected to the upper and lower ends of the rotary shaft 106 and the upper and lower ends of the alignment rod 74, and a pair of upper and lower connecting arms 112 having a predetermined length.
A and 112B are included in the schematic configuration.

The standby position of the alignment rod 74 is defined when the alignment rod drive mechanism 102 swings the alignment rod 74 to a position farthest from the front shield plate 100. The standby position is the sheet post-processing device 10
When the sheet S of the maximum size that can be used in the sheet is received, it is set so as to be positioned further upstream in the sheet take-out direction Y than the upstream edge in the sheet take-out direction Y of the maximum size sheet S. ing. Further, in order to detect that the aligning rod 74 is swung to the standby position in this way, a aligning rod standby position sensor 114 is provided, which is connected to the control mechanism 44.

On the other hand, the alignment rod drive mechanism 102 is
Under the control of the control mechanism 44, from the standby position to the upstream side in the sheet removal direction Y from the front shielding plate 100 by the length along the sheet removal direction Y of the sheet S on the sort tray 14 to be aligned. The alignment rod 74 operates so as to swing and drive to the biased position.
The size information of the sheet S is included in various control information transmitted from a control mechanism (not shown) of the copying apparatus 1000, and the control mechanism 44 drives the alignment rod drive based on this control information. It is configured to calculate the drive amount of the mechanism 102.

Since the aligning mechanism 28 is constructed as described above, a mechanism for swinging the aligning rod in the vertical direction in the horizontal plane as a conventional sheet aligning mechanism is the vertical direction of the sheet (ie, the sort direction X) and the horizontal direction. Although two types were required for alignment in the sheet take-out direction Y, this embodiment does not require a sheet alignment rod for aligning the longitudinal direction of the sheet and its swing mechanism. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is not necessary to provide each sort tray 14 with an opening or a notch for penetrating an alignment rod for vertically aligning the sheets in order to align the sheets in the vertical direction. In this way, the first sheet aligning mechanism 2 including the tilting of the sort tray 14 and the standing wall 70 is formed.
According to 8A, the structure of the device is greatly simplified and the cost can be reduced as compared with the configuration using two types of alignment rods in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction of the sheet. As a component of the first sheet aligning mechanism 28A, instead of providing the entire sort tray 14 with an inclination, one corner of the surface area of the sort tray 14 may be bent to slide the sheet on the standing wall 70. good.

[H: Description of Dual Punch Mechanism 30] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, the sheet S discharged from the copying apparatus 1000 is taken into the sheet conveying mechanism 22 by the pair of inlet rollers 54A and 54B. When the flapper 58 is rotated to the sort switching position, the flapper 58 switches the transport path toward the lower sort transport path 56B, passes through the sort transport path 56B (length L), and then on the way. The punching mechanism 30 punches holes one by one, and the punching mechanism 30 is set so that the sheets are taken into the sort tray 14 along the sorting direction X.

Here, between the punching mechanism 30 and the second pair of take-in rollers 66A, 66B of the sort conveying path 56B, there are interposed a pair of conveying rollers 114A, 114B which are in rolling contact with the conveying path 56B. The pair of conveying rollers 118A and 118B are also configured to function as so-called registration rollers. That is, the pair of conveying rollers 118A and 118B which are in a standby state after being stopped from rotating.
It is set so that the orientation of the sheet S is corrected by the contact of the leading end of the sheet S with the rolling contact portion. The punch mechanism 30 performs a punching operation using this waiting period. Therefore, it does not take a long time to convey the sheet S to perform the punching process.

This dual punch mechanism 30 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 18, the passage 1 through which the paper S can pass
A closed loop frame 122 having an electromagnet 124
Is used as a driving source, and the return spring 126 is driven by the electromagnet 124.
Two actuators 132, each having a blade 130 formed at the tip of an iron piece 128 that is sucked against, are attached. When the two electromagnets 124 are energized at the same time, a large rush current flows, so that the energization is slightly shifted to energize. This reduces the load applied to the punching process at one time. The punch holes formed by the punching process are long holes in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction in order to be able to cope with a slight lateral shift of the sheet during the punching process. However, a circular hole having a large diameter can also be used. As shown in FIG.
The sheet S having two punch holes punched by the dual punch mechanism 30 has the sort tray 1 at the sheet take-in position as the second take-up rollers 66A and 66B rotate.
Will be captured on 4 '.

The dual punch mechanism 30 is selectively installed as an optional device. In the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 to which the dual punch mechanism 30 is not installed, the punching process is simply not executed, and the other devices are not used. It has no effect on the operation.

[I: Description of Gripper Mechanism 32] As described above, the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position.
A gripper mechanism 32 is provided for collectively gripping the upper sheet bundle P.
Is provided. The gripper mechanism 32 is configured as shown in FIG. 19 in a state where the jog mechanism 34 is built in, and as shown in FIG. 20, passes through a predetermined curved movement locus and via a gripper drive mechanism 36 described later. , The sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position
So as to be reciprocally driven between a gripping position for collectively gripping the sheet and a standby position (upper limit position) that is biased to the downstream side with respect to the sheet removal direction Y with respect to the gripping position and is biased in the upward direction Z by a predetermined distance. It is configured.

As will be described in detail later, under the control of the control mechanism 44 described above, the gripper driving mechanism 36 stops the gripper mechanism 32 at an arbitrary position on the way of the movement path and holds it at that position. Is set so that

I-1) Description of Configuration of Gripper Mechanism 32 Hereinafter, the gripper mechanism 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 19 to 23.
The configuration of No. 2 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 19, the gripper mechanism 32 includes a gripper housing 134 which is driven to move along a predetermined movement path by a gripper driving mechanism 36 described later. The gripper housing 134 has a lower surface and a front surface (that is, a surface facing the sort tray 14, that is, a surface facing the sort tray 14, in other words, in the illustrated state (that is, a horizontal gripping state in which the gripped sheet bundle P is in a substantially horizontal state).
The surfaces located on the upstream side in the sheet take-out direction Y) are opened.

Further, the gripper mechanism 32 is mounted in the gripper housing 134 so as to extend in the sorting direction X, and the slide guide shaft 136 is disposed in the gripper housing 134. And a gripper unit 138 slidably supported in the sorting direction X (that is, a direction orthogonal to the sheet take-out direction Y). The gripper unit 138 is slidably driven along a sorting direction X (that is, a direction orthogonal to the sheet take-out direction Y) by a jog mechanism 34 described later.

The gripper unit 138 includes a slide case 140 slidably supported on a slide guide shaft 136 along a sorting direction X (that is, a direction orthogonal to the sheet take-out direction Y), and the inside of the slide case 140. And the upper support shaft 1 on both side walls
An upper jaw member 144 swingably supported via 42 and a lower jaw member 148 swingably supported via a lower support shaft 148 and an upper support shaft 142 swingably supported. The intermediate member 150, the upper grasping piece 152 attached to the tip of the upper jaw member 144, the lower grasping piece 154 attached to the tip of the lower jaw member 148, and the upper and lower grasping pieces 154,
A rocking mechanism 156 for rocking the 154 to move closer to each other or to move away from each other.

The swing mechanism 156 extends in the sorting direction X and is supported by the swing rod drive motor 160 so as to be reciprocally movable in the sheet take-out direction Y. The drive force transmission mechanism 1 that transmits the rotational drive force of the drive motor 160 to the drive rod 158 in the state of being converted into the drive force along the sheet take-out direction Y.
And 62. That is, the rotation of the swing drive motor 160 in one direction pushes the drive rod 158 along the sheet take-out direction Y, and the rotation in the other direction pulls it in the direction opposite to the sheet take-out direction Y. become.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 21A to 21D, arcuate grooves 164 are formed on both side walls of the upper jaw member 144, and the arcuate grooves 164 are attached to both side walls of the intermediate member 150. Both ends of each of the formed intermediate rods 166 are slidably fitted. In addition, a first drive groove 168 having a substantially "V" shape is formed on both side walls of the intermediate member 150, and a second drive having a shape upside down with respect to the first drive groove 168 is formed. Grooves 170 are formed in both side walls of the lower jaw member 148, respectively. The above-mentioned drive rod 158 is fitted in these first and second drive grooves 168, 170.

The intermediate member 150 constantly receives a rotational biasing force for rotating the upper jaw member 144 around the upper support shaft 142 in the counterclockwise direction by the spring member 172 (shown in FIG. 21C). That is, the position of the intermediate rod 166 is elastically held in the state where the intermediate rod 166 is in contact with the end edge of the arc groove 164 on the counterclockwise side.

I-2) Description of Grip Operation of Gripper Mechanism 32 Since the gripper mechanism 32 is configured as described above, the swing drive motor 160 is driven to rotate in one direction under the control of the control mechanism 44. Thus, as shown in FIG. 21A,
The drive rod 158 is extruded along the sheet take-out direction Y, whereby the drive rod 158 is extruded to the tips of the first and second drive grooves 168, 170.
As a result, the upper jaw member 144 is rotated counterclockwise about the upper support shaft 142, while the lower jaw member 148 is rotated clockwise about the lower support shaft 148. In this way, the upper gripping piece 152 and the lower gripping piece 154 are moved in the directions in which they are separated from each other, and the two are largely opened. In this state, it becomes a grippable state. Note that this grippable state is defined as the standby state in the gripper mechanism 32.

As described above, when the gripper mechanism 32 is held in the standby state and the operation of taking in the sheet S to the sort tray 14 'at the sheet taking-in position is completed and the sheet taking-out operation is started, control is performed. The mechanism 44 operates the posture changing mechanism 26 described above to rotate the lead screw rods 80A and 80B located on the upstream side in the sorting direction X by 0.5 rotations, and the lead screw rod 80C located on the downstream side. Rotate 80D by 5.5 revolutions. As a result, the posture of the sort tray 14 in the inclined state as shown in FIG. 15 is changed so as to be in the horizontal state as shown in FIG.

Here, as is clear from the above description, the control mechanism 44 drives the first and second rotary drive mechanisms 82 and 84 in synchronization with each other so that the sort tray 14 descends. , Only 0.5 rotations (ie 180 degrees only)
It will be driven to rotate. That is, if the control mechanism 44
However, when the lead screw rods 80A, 80B located on the upstream side with respect to the sorting direction X are not rotated at all and the lead screw rods 80C, 80D located on the downstream side are rotated by 5 turns, this results in the result shown in FIG. The sort tray 14 in the inclined state is brought to the horizontal state shown in FIG. In the horizontal state shown in FIG. 16, the sort tray 14 and the take-out opening 104 facing the take-out opening 104.
Between the upper end of the sort tray 14 and the take-out opening 10 facing the take-out opening 104.
However, the control mechanism 44 drives the first and second rotary drive mechanisms 82 and 84 in a state of being synchronized with each other, and the sort tray 14 is moved to the position shown in FIG. The sort tray 14 facing the take-out opening 104 faces the take-out opening 104, as shown in FIG. With the state maintained, the sheet is lowered by the half lead pitch and brought to the sheet take-out position. As a result, the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position and the upper edge of the take-out opening 104 are largely opened. As a result, the upper jaw member 144 that is largely swung upward is easily and It is possible to reliably enter the take-out opening 104. As the sort tray 14 descends by the amount opposite to the lead pitch, the sort tray 1 at the sheet take-out position is located.
4 ″ and the lower end edge of the take-out opening 104 are narrowed, but since the amount of lower swing of the lower jaw member 148 is set small, no problem occurs.

On the other hand, the gripper mechanism 32 is moved from the upper pulling position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 23 to the solid line in FIG.
The sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is brought to a gripping position where the gripper mechanism 32 is lowered to the gripping position. 2 in 23
As indicated by the dotted line, the above-described placement plate 68 of the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position
It is located at a position that is largely separated upward from the upper surface of the portion that is formed in the first concave portion 68a formed in the above (this separation amount obviously changes according to the thickness of the sheet bundle P). The lower grip pieces 154 are set so as to be located at positions slightly separated downward from the lower surface of this portion.

From this standby state (that is, the grippable state), the swing drive motor 160 is controlled under the control of the control mechanism 44.
Is driven to rotate in the other direction, the drive rod 158 is gradually pulled in along the direction opposite to the sheet take-out direction Y. As a result, the first and second drive grooves 1
According to the groove shapes of 68 and 170, the upper jaw member 144 is also rotated clockwise around the upper support shaft 142 in the clockwise direction around the upper support shaft 142 of the intermediate member 150, while the upper jaw member 144 is rotated clockwise around the upper support shaft 142. The member 148 is directly rotated around the lower support shaft 148 in the counterclockwise direction. In this way, the gripping piece 152 and the lower gripping piece 154 are moved in the directions in which they approach each other, and the two are gradually closed.

Then, as shown in FIG. 21B, when the lower surface of the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is brought into contact with the lower surface of the sheet bundle P, the drive rod is driven in accordance with the groove shape of the second drive groove 170 thereafter. Even if 158 is further retracted, the lower jaw member 148 is held in that position, and only the upper jaw member 144 is rotated clockwise in the figure. Is moved toward the lower gripping piece 154 in the direction in which the lower gripping piece 154 approaches, and the two are gradually closed.

Then, in FIG. 23, the solid line and FIG.
As shown in C, the pair of upper and lower grip pieces 154 and 154 are
As shown in FIG. 21C, the driving rod 158 slightly contacts the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet bundle P to be gripped, as compared with the rear end portions of the first and second driving grooves 168 and 170. It will be brought to a position biased forward.

From the state shown in FIG. 21C, when the swing drive motor 160 is further driven to rotate in the other direction, the drive rod 158 is further retracted in the direction opposite to the sheet take-out direction Y, and finally. 21D, the rear end portions of the first and second drive grooves 168, 170 are reached. By displacing the drive rod 158 from the state shown in FIG. 21C to the state shown in FIG. 21D, the intermediate member 150 follows the groove shape of the first drive groove 168 and the biasing force of the spring member 172 around the upper support shaft 142. Further, the intermediate rod 166 is further rotated in the clockwise direction, and the intermediate rod 166 is moved in the arc groove 164 in the clockwise direction. Further, the intermediate rod 166 abuts on the end of the arc groove 164 on the clockwise side. , It will be strongly pressed in the clockwise direction. On the other hand, the lower jaw member 148 does not rotate according to the groove shape of the second drive groove 170,
It will be held in the position shown in FIG. 21C.

As a result, in the gripping state shown in FIG. 21D, the upper gripping piece 152 is strongly pressed toward the lower gripping piece 154, and as a result, the sheet bundle P sandwiched by the two gripping pieces 154, 154 becomes strong. It will be held together.

As is clear from the above description, the swing range for gripping is set such that the upper jaw member 144 is large and the lower jaw member 148 is small. In other words, the swing range for gripping the lower jaw member 148 is set smaller than the swing range for gripping the upper jaw member 144. Here, the swing amount for gripping the lower jaw member 148 is, as shown in FIG. 21C, the lower jaw member 148.
The upper surface of the lower gripping piece 154 and the upper surface of the placing plate 68 of the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position are set to be substantially flush with each other in the end state of the swinging operation.

With such a configuration, the gripper mechanism 32
The upper and lower gripping pieces 154 and 154 of the upper and lower gripping pieces 154 and 154 in the gripping operation start state shown in FIG. The sheets are separated from each other vertically by the gap and do not hinder the stacked state of the sheet bundle P. Further, the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position has its gripped portion It is gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 without substantially changing the height position in the vertical direction.

[J: Description of Jog Drive Mechanism 34] J-1) Description of Configuration of Jog Drive Mechanism 34 As described above, the gripper unit 138 has a pair of upper and lower jaw members 144, 14 in the slide case 140.
8 is supported by the slide guide shaft 136 so as to be reciprocally movable in the sorting direction X (that is, the direction orthogonal to the sheet takeout Y). The jog drive mechanism 34 is configured as a mechanism for reciprocatingly driving the gripper unit 138, and as shown in FIG. 19, a reversible drive motor 17 for jog operation.
4, a drive pulley 176 rotated by the drive motor 174 about an axis extending in the sheet take-out direction Y, and a position offset from the drive pulley 176 toward the downstream side in the sorting direction X. , A driven pulley 178 rotatably supported around an axis extending along the sheet take-out direction Y, an endless timing belt 180 wound around a drive pulley 176 and a driven pulley 178, and the timing belt 180. And a fixture 182 for fixing a part of the above to the slide case 140.

J-2) Description of Jog Operation of Jog Drive Mechanism 34 Since the jog drive mechanism 34 is configured as described above, a pair of upper and lower jaw members 144, 148 (that is, A pair of upper and lower grip pieces 154, 1
The gripper unit 138 incorporating 54) is driven to reciprocate in the sorting direction X and stopped at an arbitrary position.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 22, the gripper unit 138 collectively holds the bundle of sheets P on the horizontal sort tray 14 at the sheet take-out position (grip position). ) P0, or a sheet take-out position (or a first jog position) P1 that is deviated from the home position P0 downstream by the first distance L1 in the sorting direction X, or downstream from the home position P0 in the sorting direction X. It is set so as to move to a jog position (or second jog position) P2 that is offset by a second distance L2 that is longer than the first distance L1, and stop at the movement position.

Here, the home position P0 is defined as the standby position of the gripper unit 138, and as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. In this state, the gripper unit 138 is held at this home position P0 and the gripper mechanism 3
While 2 is being lowered from the upper standby position to the gripping position (the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 23) for collectively gripping the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position, the home position P0 is maintained. It is set to be retained.

On the other hand, the sheet take-out position P1 is defined as a common sheet take-out position when the above-mentioned jog process is not executed, and is also defined as a first jog position when the jog process is executed. . As described above, in this embodiment, even when the jog process is not executed, the jog drive mechanism 34 is activated and the gripper mechanism 32 is moved to the home position P0 along the sorting direction X.
From the first predetermined distance L1 to the sheet take-out position P1 because the apparatus main body 20 is compact, the sorting direction X
Two lead screw rods 80A located upstream with respect to
The lead screw rod 80A in the sheet 80B, which is located on the downstream side in the sheet take-out direction Y, enters the take-out range of the sheet bundle P and interferes with the take-out operation of the sheet bundle P. Therefore, avoid the lead screw rod 80A. Therefore, the lead screw rod 80A can be moved once in the sorting direction X to avoid the lead screw rod 80A.

Further, at the jog position P2, when the jog process is executed, the sheet bundle P taken out from the first jog position is discharged onto the stack tray 16 and is predetermined in the sorting direction X. Distance (L2-L
It is defined as a position to be ejected (that is, stacked) in a state of being displaced by 1).

Here, the control mechanism 44 includes a home position sensor 182 and two stop position sensors 184 and 186 for controlling the stop position of the gripper unit 138. The home position sensor 182 is the gripper unit 138. Is positioned so as to be turned on when the vehicle is at the home position P0, the first stop position sensor 184 is
The gripper unit 138 is positioned so as to be turned on when the gripper unit 138 is at the sheet take-out position P1, and the second position is set.
The stop position sensor 186 is positioned so that the gripper unit 138 is turned on when the gripper unit 138 is at the jog position P2.

[K: Description of Gripper Driving Mechanism 36] Next, referring to FIGS. 19, 20, and 23 to 29, the gripper mechanism 32 having the above-described configuration will be shown in FIG. Gripper drive mechanism 3 for reciprocating and driving between the standby position of No. 2 and the lower grip position shown by the solid line.
6 will be described.

K-1) Description of Movement Path (Movement Trajectory) of Gripper Driving Mechanism 36 As shown in FIG. 23, the gripper driving mechanism 36 causes the gripper mechanism 32 to move the sheet bundle on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position. From the gripping position where P can be gripped toward the downstream side along the sheet withdrawing direction Y, that is, toward the front side where the operator who operates the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 and the copying apparatus 1000 stands in FIG. It is pulled out substantially horizontally, and immediately after being pulled out from this gripping position, it is lifted so as to be gradually biased upward with this pulling operation, and from the middle, it is pulled straight up diagonally upward,
While being pulled up to the standby position as the upper limit position,
It is set so as to descend the same path from the pull-up position to the grip position. In other words, in this embodiment, the movement trajectory of the gripper mechanism 32 first follows a curved path from the gripping position, and then gradually moves upward from the front shielding plate 100 (that is, the sort tray 14). It is set so as to reach an upper standby position through a substantially linear path that tilts away (specifically, in this embodiment, tilts at about 9 degrees with respect to the vertical axis). That is, the upper standby position is set to a position that is offset from the lower gripping position by a predetermined distance in the downstream direction in the sheet take-out direction Y and upward in the vertical direction Z by a predetermined distance.

Further, in this embodiment, the gripper drive mechanism 36 is arranged so that the gripper mechanism 32 is oriented in the upper standby position so that the sheet bundle P gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 becomes horizontal at the lower grip position. Is set so that the sheet bundle P grasped by K-reverses substantially vertically downward, and its posture becomes horizontal as the gripper mechanism 32 moves from the grasping position to the standby position through the above-mentioned movement path. It is set such that the state is gradually changed to the substantially vertical state, and that the posture is gradually changed from the substantially vertical state to the horizontal state as the position moves from the standby position to the gripping position.

K-2) Description of the structure of the gripper drive mechanism 36 The gripper drive mechanism 36 for moving the gripper mechanism 32 in the state where the posture as described above is changed through the movement path as described above In order to define the movement path and posture of the gripper mechanism 32, as shown in FIG.
With both sides of the movement path of the gripper mechanism 32,
Both side plates 18 both extending along the sheet take-out direction Y
8A, 188B, and three guide grooves 190A, 190B, 190C formed in each side plate 188A, 188B,
As shown in FIG. 19, the guide grooves 190A, 190B,
Guide pins 1 slidably fitted in 190C
92A, 192B, 192C.

Here, the guide groove 190A located on the rightmost side in FIG. 23, that is, the three guide grooves 190A,
Of the 190B and 190C, the guide groove 190A closest to the front shielding plate 100 (in other words, on the other side)
Are set parallel to the above-mentioned inclined path and are formed so as to extend linearly over the entire length. This guide groove 1
The guide pin 192A fitted into the 90A is planted on the side surface of the gripper housing 134, as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the middle guide groove 190B and FIG.
The guide groove 190C located on the leftmost side of 0, that is, the lower part of the guide groove 190C on the front side is formed in a curved state so as to approach the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position as it goes down. Groove 190
The guide pin 192B fitted in B and the guide pin 192C fitted in the guide groove 190C on the front side are planted at predetermined intervals in brackets 194 rotatably attached to upper portions on both sides of the gripper housing 134. There is.

In this way, the three guide pins 192A, 1
92B and 192C are guide grooves 190A and 190B,
The gripper mechanism 3 is fitted into the gripper mechanism 32 and slides in the guide grooves 190A, 190B, and 190C in accordance with the ascending / descending movement of the gripper mechanism 32.
The movement path of 2 is defined, and its posture is also changed and controlled according to the height position.

Further, the gripper drive mechanism 36 described above is
In order to drive the gripper mechanism 32 for movement, a reversible drive motor 200 for movement drive, and this drive motor 20.
A motor pulley 202 coaxially fixed to the output shaft of 0,
The drive pulley 204 attached to the one side plate 188A at a position slightly higher than the above-mentioned standby position, and the biasing pulley 206 disposed near the drive pulley 204 and the motor pulley 202. And a driven pulley 208 attached to a position slightly higher than the above-mentioned lower gripping position so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the sorting direction X, respectively. Here, the urging pulley 206 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 210 planted in the side plate 188A, and a coiled spring (not shown) is loosely wound around the support shaft 210.
One end of the coiled spring is locked to the support shaft 210, and the other end is locked to the urging pulley 206. The coiled spring is wound around the support shaft 210 so as to exert a biasing force that constantly biases the biasing pulley 206 in a direction in which the gripper mechanism 32 is pulled upward.

On the other hand, the motor pulley 202 and the drive pulley 2
04 and the urging pulley 206, an endless first driving force transmission belt 212 is stretched over, and a driving pulley 204 and a driven pulley 208 are stretched over by an endless second driving force transmission belt 214. It has been passed. Then, a part of the second driving force transmission belt 214 is attached to the bracket 194 via the fixture 216 (shown in FIG. 23).
It is fixed to.

Since the gripper drive mechanism 36 is constructed as described above, the gripper mechanism 32 reciprocates along a predetermined movement path between the lower grip position and the upper standby position in accordance with the drive of the drive motor 200. It will be driven to move. Specifically, the drive motor 200 is the motor pulley 202.
Is rotated in one direction, the gripper mechanism 32 is moved and driven from the upper standby position toward the lower grip position, and the gripper mechanism 32 is driven in the other direction in the other direction, and is rotated from the lower grip position to the upper standby position. It will be driven to move toward.

The lower end surfaces of the side plates 188A and 188B described above are formed in a curved state in a state corresponding to the conveyance path, as shown in FIG.
The lower end portion of 88B functions as guide portions 218A and 218B that guide and guide both ends of the sheet bundle P that is being conveyed. That is, although it is related to the staple mechanism 40 described later, one side of the sheet bundle P being conveyed must be inserted into the staple passage 250 (described later) of the staple mechanism 40. However, what is collectively gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 is the substantially central portion of the sheet bundle P.
Assuming that 18A and 218B are not provided, one side of the sheet bundle P is provided with the stapling path 2 of the stapling mechanism 40.
There is no guarantee that it will be inserted within 50. However, in this embodiment, since the guide portions 218A and 218B are respectively provided on the lower portions of the side plates 188A and 188B, the gripper mechanism 32 collectively holds the guide portions 218A and 218B when the staple processing described later is executed. A stack of sheets P
The one side is surely guided into the staple passage 250 of the staple mechanism 40 and inserted therethrough.

In the state where the stapling process is not executed, the staple advancing / retreating mechanism 42 to be described later
The stapling mechanism 40 has been moved to a retreat position for retreating from the movement path of the gripper mechanism 32, that is, the conveyance path of the sheet bundle P collectively held by the gripper mechanism 32. Mechanism 42
The positional relationship with the staple passage 250 does not pose any problem.

K-3) Description of the taking-out operation of the sheet bundle P by the gripper drive mechanism 36. With reference to FIGS. 23 to 29, the gripper mechanism 32 having the above-described structure is moved to drive the gripper mechanism 32. , Sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet removal position
The operation of taking out the upper sheet bundle P will be described in detail.

As described above, when the operation of taking out the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 is started, the control mechanism 44 is activated.
23 controls the drive motor 200 of the gripper drive mechanism 36 so that the motor pulley 202 rotates in one direction, and moves the gripper mechanism 32 at the upper standby position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 23 along a predetermined movement path. It is lowered and moved to the grip position shown by the solid line in FIG. At this gripping position, the upper and lower gripping pieces 152, 154 of the gripper mechanism 32 are
Is set in a grippable state in which it is opened vertically as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. That is, in the state in which the upper and lower gripping pieces 152 and 154 are moved to the gripping position, the first and second gripping pieces 152, 154 of the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 ″ in the sheet take-out position are already described with reference to FIG. 21A. Opening 6
8A is brought to a grippable position above and below the gripped portion of the sheet bundle P, with the portion protruding to 8A interposed therebetween.

After that, as described with reference to FIGS. 21A to 21D, the gripping operation is performed.
23, the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is collectively gripped at its leading end, as indicated by the solid line in FIG. 23. Upon completion of this gripping operation, the control mechanism 44 , The jog drive mechanism 34 is activated, and the gripper unit 138 is slid from the home position P0 shown in FIG. 22 by the distance L1 along the sorting direction X to the sheet take-out position P1.

Here, for simplification of the description, a take-out operation in a state in which neither the jog process nor the stapling process is executed will be described. The take-out operation while the stapling process or the jog process is executed is separately performed by the control mechanism 44.
The control operation will be described.

After that, the control mechanism 44 controls the drive motor 20.
0 is driven and controlled so that the motor pulley 202 is rotated in the other direction, and the gripper mechanism 32 that holds the sheet bundle P collectively.
Is first drawn out and moved only along the sheet take-out direction Y, and the three guide grooves 190A, 190B, 190
Guide pins 192A, 192B, 1 which are fitted into C and respectively
92C, and a pulling operation is performed upward along a predetermined movement path defined by the reference numeral 92C. In other words, if expressed as the operation of the gripper drive mechanism 36, the gripper drive mechanism 36 moves the gripper mechanism 32 to the sheet pull-out direction Y.
Immediately after the withdrawal movement is started along, the curved path is moved while gradually rising upward, and the grasping posture is gradually downward from the horizontal state,
It is pulled up toward the upper standby position.

With the pulling-out operation of the gripper mechanism 32 by the gripper driving mechanism 36, the rear end portion of the sheet bundle P (that is, the end portion located downstream in the sheet pulling direction Y) is in the sort tray at the sheet pulling position. 1
It will be pulled out from 4 toward the front side and will be dropped from now. In this state, as shown in FIG. 24, the intermediate portion of the sheet bundle P is maintained in a curved state during conveyance while the lower surface thereof is supported by the stack tray 16 described later. Thus, in this embodiment,
During the conveyance by the stack tray 16, specifically, the conveyance posture of the sheet bundle P immediately after being pulled out from the sort tray 14 at the sheet pull-out position is maintained in a curved state similar to the movement path of the gripper mechanism 32. As a result, the action of an unreasonable force on the sheet bundle P during conveyance is suppressed as much as possible, and a good drawing state is achieved.

The control unit 44 controls the copying apparatus 1
25, the rear end of the sheet bundle P is placed on the upper surface of the stack tray 16 (the sheet bundle P has already been stacked on the stack tray 16) based on the size information of the sheets S transmitted from the control mechanism of 000. In this case, it is detected that the gripper mechanism 32 that collectively holds the sheet bundle P is pulled up so that the upper surface of the stacked sheet bundle P (the same applies hereinafter) is slightly contacted. At this time, the driving of the drive motor 200 is stopped, the pulling-up operation of the gripper mechanism 32 is completed, and the gripper mechanism 32 is held at the pulling-up position.

From the state shown in FIG. 25, the control mechanism 44
26 controls the drive motor 200 so that the motor pulley 202 rotates in one direction, and as shown in FIG. 26, the rear end of the sheet bundle P functions as a standing wall 220 (to be described later) of the stack tray 16 (hereinafter, referred to as a standing wall 220). , The gripper mechanism 32 is pulled down until it abuts against the standing wall 220. The amount of pulling down of the gripper mechanism 32 is determined by a calculation unit (not shown) in the control mechanism 44, the sheet size information from the copying apparatus 1000 described above, the position information of the pulling position described above, and a single striking at the time of stapling processing. It is set to be calculated based on the mode / 2-shot mode information or the like.

In the state shown in FIG. 26, the control mechanism 44 activates the swing drive motor 160 of the gripper mechanism 32 to push out the drive rod 158 to drive the drive rod 158, as shown in FIG. 21D.
21A to the position shown in FIG. 21A. As a result, the upper and lower grip pieces 152, 154 are separated from each other, and as a result, the gripped state of the sheet bundle P is released. With the release of the gripping, in the normal case, the sheet bundle P falls due to its own weight so as to be collapsed so as to be accumulated on the stack tray 16 as a whole. Therefore, when the gripping piece 154 located in the outer side is closely contacted and locked in this state, the gripping piece 154 is kept leaning and drops onto the stack tray 16. May be damaged.

Therefore, in this embodiment, FIG.
27, the gripper mechanism 32 is released from the gripping operation, and the drive motor 200 is driven and controlled so that the motor pulley 202 rotates in the other direction, and the gripper mechanism 32 is pulled up by a predetermined amount as shown in FIG. Move it to the retracted position. As a result, the released sheet bundle P has no place to lean against,
It is forcibly dropped so as to fall on the stack tray 16. In this embodiment, the retracted position where the gripper mechanism 32 is pulled up by a predetermined amount is set so as to coincide with the standby position described above.

Thus, as shown collectively in FIG. 28, the gripper mechanism 32 collectively grips the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 at the sheet pull-out position and reaches the upper standby position in the sheet take-out direction Y. When the rear end of the sheet bundle P comes into contact with the standing wall 220 of the stack tray 16, the sheet is pulled down in this state, and is gripped in this state. It is driven so as to be released and pulled up to a predetermined position. As a result, the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is reliably discharged onto the stack tray 16, and if the sheet bundle P has already been accumulated, the already accumulated sheet bundle P It will be newly stacked on the upper surface.

K-4) Effects when the bundle of sheets P is taken out by the gripper drive mechanism 36. As is apparent from the above description, the above-mentioned pull-up position can be changed according to the size of the sheet S along the sheet take-out direction Y. Has become. Therefore, assuming that the pulling-up position shown in FIG. 25 is, for example, the case where the A4 size sheet S is taken out in the vertical direction (that is, the longitudinal axis of the sheet S is along the sheet withdrawing direction Y). As shown by the solid line in FIG. 29, when the B5 size sheet S is taken out in the portrait orientation, or the B4 size sheet S is oriented horizontally (that is, the short axis of the sheet S is along the sheet withdrawing direction Y). When the A4 size sheet S is taken out in the vertical direction, the pulling-up position in the case of taking out in the vertical direction is automatically set to a position lower than the pulling-up position in the case where the A4 size sheet S is taken out in the vertical direction. Become.

Further, as described above, the gripper mechanism 32
In the state where the sheet bundle P that is collectively gripped by the sheet bundle is pulled up to the pulling position, the trailing end of the sheet bundle P is always slightly contacted with the upper surface of the stack tray 16 as shown in FIG. 25 or 29. Has been maintained. Here, assuming that the rear end of the sheet bundle P brought to the pull-up position floats slightly above the upper surface of the stack tray 16, the so-called “habit” of the sheet S causes the rear end to move. Is curved so as to bend in a direction away from the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 (that is, outward), when the sheet bundle P is lowered to be stacked on the stack tray 16, the sheet bundle P is curved outward. The trailing end does not contact the upper surface of the stack tray 16 as shown in FIGS. 25 and 29, but contacts the upper surface of the stack tray 16 in the opposite direction. As a result, the sheets S are stacked on the stack tray 16 in a bent state, which is a problem.

However, in this embodiment, the trailing end of the sheet bundle P is never the upper surface of the sort tray 16 (if the sheet bundle P is already stacked on the sort tray 16, the already stacked sheet bundle P Therefore, even if the sheet S has an outward curl, the sheet S can be loaded on the stack tray 16 in a bent state even if the sheet S has an outward curl. There is no possibility of being damaged, and a good loading state is achieved.

Prior to releasing the grip of the sheet bundle P lifted to the pulling position, the gripper mechanism 32 is lowered to bring the rear end of the sheet bundle P into contact with the standing wall 220 of the stack tray 16, The grip is released. Here, it is assumed that the rear end of the sheet bundle P is brought into contact with the standing wall 220 of the stack tray 16 as shown in FIG.
Further, if the gripping of the sheet bundle P is released in the state shown in FIG. 29, the gripped release of the sheet bundle P causes the stack tray 16 (the sheet bundle P has already been stacked on the sort tray 16 due to its own weight). If it is present, it slides down on the already stacked sheet bundle P) and comes into contact with the standing wall 220, thereby stopping. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the sheet will slide straight down in the direction opposite to the sheet take-out direction Y, based on the difference in the released state and the slipped state.
Therefore, there is a possibility that the previously stacked sheet bundle P and the currently stacked sheet bundle P may be stacked while being displaced in the direction orthogonal to the sheet take-out direction Y. The condition cannot be maintained well.

However, in this embodiment, the rear end of this sheet bundle is the standing wall 220 of the stack tray 16.
Since the movement until it comes into contact with the sheet bundle P is forcibly executed by the movement of the gripper mechanism 32 that holds the sheet bundle at once, the sheet bundle P stacked this time is placed above the sheet bundle P stacked previously. The sheets are stacked in a state of being stacked straight on the upper side, and the stacked state is maintained well.

Further, in the state where the gripper mechanism 32 holds the bundle of sheets P collectively and the rear end of the bundle of sheets P is moved to the position where it abuts against the standing wall 220 of the stack tray 16, as shown in FIG. The front end portion of the sheet bundle P is inclined with a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical plane.
In other words, the sheet bundle P has its upper end outward (that is,
The tilted posture is maintained in a state of being displaced (in a direction away from the front shielding plate 100). As a result, when the gripper mechanism 32 is released from the gripping state in the state shown in FIG. 26, the sheet bundle P will surely fall on the stack tray 16 without falling on the front shield plate 100 side. The sheets will be stacked on the stack tray 16 (when the stack of sheets P is already stacked on the sort tray 16, the upper surface of the stacked stack of sheets P) without mistake.

[L: Description of Stack Tray 16] As described above, the stack tray 16 is discharged in the state where the sheet bundles P taken out from the sort tray 14 are accumulated.
As shown in FIG. 1, the front surface of the apparatus main body 20 (that is, the front surface), in other words, is disposed in the downstream side with respect to the sheet take-out direction Y of the sort tray 14, and the tip thereof is provided. The part is attached in an inclined state so as to be biased upward with respect to the base end part. In other words, the stack tray 16 is disposed immediately below the sheet bundle P that is collectively gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 and moved to the pulling position, and the gripped sheet bundle P is released.
It is configured to receive this and be integrated.

Since the stack tray 16 is arranged in an inclined state as described above, the area where the stack tray 16 is arranged (that is, the projected area onto the floor on which the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 is placed).
Can be set to be small, and the size of the apparatus main body 20 incorporating this can be kept compact.

In this embodiment, the stack tray 1
The inclination angle of 6 is always kept constant (in this embodiment, it is set to about 45 degrees), and the stack tray elevating mechanism 38, which will be described later, vertically moves it so that it can be moved up and down. It is movably supported. Here, a large number of sheets S, for example 100
It is set so that 0 sheets S can be stacked.

In this embodiment, the sheet bundle P
The standing wall 220 with which the rear end of the stack tray abuts is the stack tray 1
20 and FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 29, the take-out opening 1 of the front shield plate 100 standing upright at the base end of the stack tray 16.
It is set so as to be defined by the portion below 04.

Further, as shown in FIG. 30, the stack tray 16 is provided with an empty sensor 222 for detecting that the sheet S is not placed thereon. The empty sensor 222 is configured to be turned off when at least one sheet S is placed on the stack tray 16 and turned on when it is completely absent.

Further, the space above the stack tray 16, that is, the movement path of the gripper mechanism 32 is entirely shielded by the above-mentioned front cover member 50 even during use (that is, at the time of loading). Has been done. That is, during the discharging operation of the sheet bundle P, the gripper mechanism 32 reciprocates between the grip position and the pulling position, and if the operator mistakenly inserts his / her hand in the movement path of the gripper mechanism 32. The touch of the gripper mechanism 32 during movement causes a problem from the viewpoint of safety.
Since the space above is completely shielded, safety is guaranteed.

Although the front shield plate 50 is constructed so as to be manually opened and closed in this embodiment, it is automatically shielded only while the gripper mechanism 32 is driven through the drive mechanism. It may be configured to be closed.

[M: Description of Stack Tray Lifting Mechanism 38] Next, with reference to FIGS. 20, 30 and 31A to 31E, the stack tray 162 described above is indicated by a solid line in FIG. In order to drive up and down with respect to the lower limit position shown by the chain line, in other words, the stack tray 16
Stack tray lifting mechanism 3 for adjusting the height position of the stack tray
8 will be described.

M-1) Description of Structure of Stack Tray Lifting Mechanism 38 As shown in FIG.
Is a reversible drive motor 224 for up-and-down drive, a drive gear 226 coaxially attached to the motor shaft of the drive motor 224, a driven gear 228 constantly meshing with the drive gear 226, and a driven gear 228. And a drive pulley 230 that is mounted coaxially with the stack tray 16 and is disposed at a position slightly lower than the lower limit position of the stack tray 16, and is rotatably mounted immediately above the drive pulley 230 and the upper limit position of the stack tray 16. The driven pulley 232 disposed at a position slightly higher than the drive pulley 2
30 and the endless timing belt 234 hung around the driven pulley 232.
4 is provided with a fixing tool (not shown) for fixing the base end portion of the stack tray 16 to a part of the structure.

Further, the stack tray lifting mechanism 38
Is an upper limit sensor 23 for activating the descending operation of the upper limit sensor 23.
As will be described later, the control mechanism 44 activates the drive motor 224 and drives and controls the stack tray 16 so as to descend, as will be described later.

That is, the upper limit sensor 236 is arranged such that the stack of sheets P is stacked next (in the stack tray 16 where the stack of sheets P is not yet stacked, the upper surface of the stack tray 16 or the stack of sheets P). In the stack tray 16 in which the stack trays 16 are already stacked, the stack tray 16 is arranged to control the stack tray 16 so that the height position of the stacked sheet bundle P) is kept constant at a predetermined height position. Has been done.

Although not shown, the stack tray 1
6 further includes a lower limit sensor that is turned on when the lower limit position is turned on. When the lower limit sensor is turned on, the control mechanism 44 stops driving the drive motor 224, and the front side of the upper surface of the apparatus main body 20 is reached. The warning lamp of the display panel 274 disposed on the side is turned on to notify the operator that the sheet discharging operation to the stack tray 16 cannot be performed any more.

M-2) Description of Sheet Bundle Pressing Mechanism 238 Here, at the time of the above-mentioned operation of taking out the sheet bundle P, as already described with reference to FIGS. 24 and 25,
For example, when the sheet bundle P has already been accumulated on the stack tray 16 at the time when the sheet bundle P is pulled out to the state shown in FIGS. 24 to 25, as shown in FIG. Between the sheet bundle P that is supported by the sheet bundle P on the stack tray 16 and is pulled out from the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position while maintaining the curved state, and the sheet bundle P on the stack tray 16. As a result, a situation occurs in which the sheet bundle P on the stack tray 16 is moved along the sheet take-out direction Y as the sheet bundle P pulled out along with the movement of the gripper mechanism 32 is pulled out. In addition, similar frictional engagement causes the rear end of the sheet bundle P, which is being taken out, to be pulled up by the gripper mechanism 32, as shown in FIG. As the sheet stack P on the stack tray 16 slides on the upper surface of the stack tray 16 in accordance with the upward movement toward the stack, the sheet stack P in the process of being taken out and the sheet stack P on the stack tray 16 are also removed. Occur.

When the movement of the sheet bundle P on the stack tray 16 along the sheet take-out direction Y occurs due to such frictional engagement, when this frictional engagement is released,
Based on the inclination of the stack tray 16, the stack tray 1
The sheet bundle P moved along the sheet removal direction Y on 6 tries to return to the original position. However, due to the difference in the disengaged state and the slip state, the sheet bundle P is moved in the direction opposite to the sheet removal direction Y. There is no guarantee that it will slide straight down. For this reason, when the rear end contacts the standing wall 220, there is a risk that the stack of sheets P stacked below may be shifted and stacked along the direction orthogonal to the sheet take-out direction Y, and the stack The stacked state on the tray 16 cannot be maintained well.

For this reason, in this embodiment, when the sheet bundle P collectively held by the gripper mechanism 32 is taken out in the sheet take-out direction Y, the sheet bundle P on the stack tray 16 is stacked. A sheet bundle pressing mechanism 238 for pressing the tray 16 to prohibit its movement is provided.

As shown in FIG. 30, the sheet bundle pressing mechanism 238 is arranged in the vicinity of the upper limit position of the stack tray 16 and pivots about the spindle 240 extending along the sorting direction X at a substantially central portion. A pressing member 242 freely attached to the front end of the stack of sheets P stacked on the stack tray 16 and pressably provided from above, and an upper limit sensor 236 that is integrally attached to the rear end of the pressing member 242. By crossing the mask member 244 for turning it on and the supporting shaft 240 described above, one end is locked to the supporting shaft 240 and the other end is formed on the pressing member 242. A torsion spring (not shown) that urges the coil spring 246 to rotate in the clockwise direction (that is, to rotate in the direction away from the stack tray 16) and presses it through the coil spring 246. Connected to the timber 242, it is schematically constituted by an electromagnetic solenoid 248 that attracts to pivot the pressing member 242 in a counterclockwise direction in the drawing due to the excitation.

M-3) Description of Pressing Operation of Sheet Bundle Pressing Mechanism 238 Since the sheet bundle pressing mechanism 238 is configured in this way, under the control of the control mechanism 44, the electromagnetic solenoid 248 is demagnetized. The pressing member 242 is pushed by the urging force of a torsion spring (not shown).
6 is rotated in the clockwise direction in the drawing so as to be separated from above (or from the sheet bundle P accumulated on the stack tray 16), and is brought to a retracted position shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. On the other hand, when the electromagnetic solenoid 248 is excited by the control operation of the control mechanism 44, the pressing member 242 is rotated toward the stack tray 16 by the attractive force of the electromagnetic solenoid 248 against the biasing force of the torsion spring.
When there is no sheet S on the stack tray 16, it abuts on the upper surface of the stack tray 16 with a predetermined elastic force,
Further, when the sheet bundle P has already been accumulated on the stack tray 16, it comes into contact with the upper surface of the sheet bundle P with a predetermined elastic force and presses it against the stack tray 16.

The mounting position of the upper limit sensor 236 is
As shown in FIG. 30, in a state in which no sheet S is discharged onto the stack tray 16 brought to the upper limit position, the pressing member 242 is provided on the upper surface of the stack tray 16 at the upper limit position to excite the electromagnetic solenoid 248. Along with the elastic contact, the upper limit sensor 236 is traversed and set to a position where it can be turned on. Here, as is clear from the above description, the upper limit sensor 236 includes a photo interrupter including a pair of a light emitting element (LED) and a light receiving element (PT), and the optical path between the light emitting element and the light receiving element is masked by the mask member 244. Is crossed over, the ON operation is performed, and the OFF operation is performed in a state where the optical paths are not blocked at all.

M-4) Description of Lifting and Lowering Operation of Stack Tray 16 Considering Pressing Operation in Sheet Bundle Pressing Mechanism 238 Next, the lifting and lowering operation of the stack tray 16 in the stack tray lifting and lowering mechanism 38 will be described with reference to the stacking in the sheet bundle pressing mechanism 238. Description will be given with reference to FIGS. 31A to 31E in a state in which the pressing operation of the sheet bundle P stacked on the tray 16 is taken into consideration.

First, when the stack tray 16 is raised to the upper limit position, the control mechanism 44 reads the detection output of the empty sensor 222, this is turned on, and there is no sheet S on the stack tray 16. Is confirmed, the control mechanism 44 causes the electromagnetic solenoid 24
8 is excited and the pressing member 242 is driven to rotate counterclockwise two times in the drawing to be brought into contact with the upper surface of the stack tray 16 and press it. When the upper limit sensor 236 is turned on by the mask member 244 along with this pressing operation, it is determined that the stack tray 16 is already at the upper limit position, and the stack tray 16 is retained at that position.

On the other hand, when the upper limit sensor 236 is off, it is determined that the stack tray 16 is located below the upper limit position, so the control mechanism 44 drives and controls the drive motor 224. Stack tray 16
To raise. With this raising operation, the pressing member 24
2 is rotated clockwise in the figure. When the mask member 244 blocks the optical path of the upper limit sensor 236 and the upper limit sensor 236 is turned on, the stack tray 16
Is determined to have reached the upper limit position, the control mechanism 44 stops driving the drive motor 224, and the stack tray 1
Hold 6 in its upper limit position. In this way, FIG.
As shown in A, the upper limit position of the stack tray 16 is defined.

When the upper limit position of the stack tray 16 is defined in this way, the control mechanism 44 causes the electromagnetic solenoid 248 to operate.
Degauss. As a result, as shown in FIG. 31B, the pressing member 242 is rotated clockwise by the urging force of the torsion spring and brought to a position largely separated from the stack tray 16. In this state, the preparatory operation for receiving the discharge of the sheet bundle P onto the stack tray 16 is completed.

Thereafter, in accordance with the take-out operation from the sort tray 14 "at the sheet take-out position of the sheet bundle P by the gripper mechanism 32 through the above-mentioned gripper drive mechanism 36, as shown in FIG. 31C, first, Sheet bundle P is discharged onto the sort tray 16 and accumulated there. When the accumulation of the first sheet bundle P is completed in this way, the operation of taking out the next sheet bundle P is started. However, with the start of this take-out operation, the control mechanism 44
Excites the electromagnetic solenoid 248 to rotate the pressing member 242 in the counterclockwise direction in the drawing, and presses the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 16 toward the sort tray 16 as shown in FIG. 31D. As a result, the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 16 is pressed by the pressing member 242 and is immovably locked on the sort tray 16.

On the other hand, the control mechanism 44 uses the electromagnetic solenoid 2
At the time when 48 is excited, the detection state of the upper limit sensor 236 is read. As a result of this reading, the upper limit sensor 236
When it is determined that the output is off, the control mechanism 4
4 starts the drive motor 224, and the stack tray 16
Is lowered. Along with this lowering operation, the pressing member 242 rotates counterclockwise in the figure, and as shown in FIG. 31E, the mask member 244 blocks the optical path of the upper limit sensor 236, and when the upper limit sensor 236 is turned on, control is performed. The mechanism 44 stops driving the drive motor 224 and holds the stack tray 16 in that position.

As described above, in the state shown in FIG. 31E,
The height of the upper surface of the stack of sheets P on the stack tray 16 is set to be the same as the height of the upper surface of the stack tray 16 at the upper limit position shown in FIG. 31A. In this way, even if the sheet bundle P is successively accumulated on the stack tray 16 after this, the stack tray 16 is gradually lowered according to the amount of the sheet bundle P placed thereon by repeating this operation. The height of the upper surface of the stacked sheet bundle P is always set to the same height as the upper surface of the stack tray 16 at the upper limit position shown in FIG. 31A.

As a result, when the next sheet bundle P is taken out from the sort tray 14 at the sheet take-out position,
Since the height of the upper surface of the sheet bundle P on the stack tray 16 with which the slide contact is made is always maintained at a constant height, the control mechanism 44 determines the height of the gripper mechanism 32 at the pulling position of the sheet S. The control operation is simplified, and the trailing end of the sheet bundle P that is collectively gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 that has been pulled up to the pulling position can be reliably defined based on the length of the sheet along the sheet take-out direction Y. To
The upper surface of the stack tray 16 or the stack tray 16
The state of being in contact with the upper surface of the sheet bundle P accumulated above is maintained.

In the state shown in FIG. 31E, the next sheet bundle P is taken out by sliding on the upper surface of the sheet bundle P already stacked on the stack tray 16 as described above. However, the posture of the sheet bundle P on the stack tray 16 is not disturbed by the sheet bundle P in the process of being taken out, and the stacking state of the sheet bundle on the stack tray 16 is maintained in a good and stable state. Will be.

[N: Description of Stapling Mechanism 40] FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 20, the sheet bundle P pulled out from the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet pull-out position in the sheet take-out direction Y is then gradually turned upward along the curved movement path. The stapling mechanism 40 is arranged at a position where the moving direction is changed upward and the straight moving path is started to be pulled up toward the pulling up position. Although a detailed description is omitted, a staple path 250 extending along the moving path is provided on the side surface facing the moving path, and one staple ( A sheet bundle P can be integrally joined by driving (not shown).

In the stapling mechanism 40, the staple advancing / retreating mechanism 42, which will be described later, positions the staple path 250 in the moving path so that the sheet bundle P is moving in the moving path.
Is rotatably supported so as to be reciprocally moved between a staple position that is configured to pass through the staple path 250 and a retracted position that is retracted from the movement path.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the stapling mechanism 40 is arranged below the linear movement path of the sheet bundle P that is moved diagonally upward, the stapling mechanism 40 is collectively operated by the grip mechanism 32. When performing a two-point stapling process on the sheet bundle P that is being gripped and is moving, first, the sheet bundle P is moved along the moving direction of the sheet bundle P.
The first staple is driven into the linearly extending portion on the downstream side with respect to the moving direction of the sheet, and the sheet bundle P is further moved after the stapling operation, and the upstream side with respect to the moving direction of the sheet bundle P. Thus, it becomes possible to drive the second staple into a portion that extends linearly in the same plane as the downstream portion. In this way, when performing the stapling process, it is not necessary to move the sheet bundle P in the opposite direction, and it is only necessary to move the sheet bundle P toward the pull-up position at all times, so that the discharge time of the sheet bundle P is unnecessarily lengthened. There is no fear that the operating time can be shortened.

If, in the stapling process at two places, stapling is performed on the curved sheet bundle portion, when the stapled sheet bundle P is placed on a flat surface, both staple portions are placed. In the middle part of the above, the situation that the thickness of the bundle swells occurs, which is not preferable.
In this case, the first staple is driven into a portion on the upstream side in the moving direction of the sheet bundle P, then the sheet bundle P is pulled back, and the second staple is moved to the downstream side in the moving direction of the sheet bundle P. Drive into the site and finally 2
By moving the sheet bundle P on which the individual staples have been driven toward the pull-up position, it is possible to prevent the above-described bulge at the center of the bundle. However,
In this aspect, it is necessary to once move the sheet bundle P in the opposite direction, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of shortening the operation time.

[O: Description of staple advancing / retreating mechanism 42] The staple mechanism 40 will be described below with reference to FIG.
The configuration of the staple advancing / retreating mechanism 42 that drives the sheet advancing / retreating between the staple position where the sheet bundle P gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 can be stapled and the retracted position retracted from the movement path of the gripper mechanism 32 will be described.

This staple advancing / retreating mechanism 42 is used for the mounting table 2
54, a reversible reversible drive motor 256 mounted on the mounting table 254 for forward / backward drive, and the drive motor 25.
6, a worm gear 258 directly connected to a motor shaft that rotates about a horizontal axis, and a worm wheel 260 that meshes with the worm gear 258 and that is rotatably supported on a mounting table 254 about a vertical axis. A circumferential groove 262 formed on the upper surface of the worm wheel 260 in a state of being eccentric with respect to the rotation axis and a cam pin 264 fitted into the circumferential groove 262 from above are attached to one end of the worm wheel 260 to move the stapling mechanism 40 up and down. A mounting shaft 266 mounted and fixed so as to penetrate through the rocking arm 268 attached to the other end integrally extends from the mounting table 254, and the upper end of the mounting shaft 266 is rotatably supported at the tip. The mounting stay 270 is provided.

The lower end of the mounting shaft 266 is rotatably supported by the mounting table 254. Also, the mounting table 2
54 is rotatably supported around a horizontally extending support shaft 272. In the operating state, the support shaft 272 is supported by a lock mechanism (not shown) so as to take a horizontal posture. It is fixed to. On the other hand, when replenishing the staples of the staple mechanism 40, by unlocking the lock mechanism and rotating the mounting table 254 around the support shaft 272, it is possible to rotate to a position where the staples can be easily replenished. It will be possible. In this way, the staple replenishment operation can be performed very easily.

Since the staple advancing / retreating mechanism 42 is constructed as described above, the drive motor 256 is driven in one direction under the control of the control mechanism 44, whereby the worm wheel 260 rotates clockwise in the drawing. And this allows
The swing arm 268 having the cam pin 264 fitted in the eccentric circumferential groove 262 swings clockwise in the drawing around the central axis of the mounting shaft 266 according to the eccentric state of the eccentric circumferential groove 262. Will be driven. As a result, the staple mechanism 4 integrally attached to the attachment shaft 266 integrally fixed to the other end of the swing arm 268.
Similarly, 0 is also swung in the clockwise direction in the figure, and is retracted from the illustrated staple position to the retracted position.

On the other hand, when moving the staple mechanism 40 from the retracted position to the staple position, the control mechanism 4
4 drives the drive motor 256 in the one direction described above, or in the other direction opposite to the one direction. As a result, the cam pin 264 returns to the original position in the circumferential groove 262, and accordingly, the swing arm 268 also swings to return to the original position. In this way, the staple mechanism 40 is moved from the retracted position to the staple position.

[P: Description of Control Operation of Jog Processing and Stapling Processing by Control Mechanism 44] The control mechanism 44 that controls the overall control of the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 is, as shown in FIG. , 24, 28, 30,
32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 422 and the display panel 274 described above to output various drive control signals, receive various detection signals from each mechanism, and copy apparatus 1000. It is also configured to be connected by communication with each other to receive various information necessary for sheet post-processing such as size information and number of sheets of the sheet S.

The control operation of each mechanism in the case where the jog process and the stapling process are not executed in this control mechanism 44 has already been described, and therefore, in the following, the control operation of each mechanism in executing the jog process and the stapling process. Will be described with reference to FIGS. 31A to 31E.

Incidentally, when the sheet conveying processing at the time of non-sorting in such a sheet post-processing apparatus, the sort mode at the time of sorting processing or the group mode is set, a plurality of sheets are transferred onto the multi-stage sort tray 14. Since the distribution and integration operation of is well known, its description is omitted here.

P-1) Description of Staple Processing Control Operation First, as shown in FIG. 33A, when the execution of the staple processing is instructed, the control mechanism 44 causes the staple advancing / retreating mechanism 4 to move.
2 is started, and the staple mechanism 40 is rockably driven from the retracted position to the staple position. On the other hand, the control mechanism 44
The jog drive mechanism 34 is activated, and the gripper unit 13 is activated.
8 is moved to the home position, and both gripping pieces 152,
The gripper mechanism 32 is moved from the standby position to the gripping position while the gripper mechanism 32 is held wide open to the grippable position. Then, the swinging mechanism 156 of the gripper mechanism 32 is activated to swingably drive both gripping pieces 152 and 154 in the direction of closing each other, and the first bundle of sheets P on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is moved. The portion (that is, the tip end portion) that overhangs the recess 68a is collectively gripped.

After that, the control mechanism 44 activates the jog drive mechanism 34 to move the gripper unit 138 by the first predetermined distance L1 along the sorting direction X, and it is biased from the home position P0 to the sheet take-out position P1. Let After that, the control mechanism 44 activates the gripper driving mechanism 36 to move the gripper mechanism 32 in the sheet take-out direction Y. As a result, the sheet bundle P whose ends are collectively gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 is pulled out from the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet pull-out position along the sheet take-out direction Y, and then along a predetermined curved movement path. The sheet is pulled up toward the pulling position along the upward direction Z. In the middle of this pulling operation, one side of the sheet bundle P that is collectively gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 passes through the staple passage 250 of the staple mechanism 40. It will be.

Here, at the time point when the leading end of the sheet bundle P moves a predetermined first moving distance after leaving the staple path 250 (or after entering the staple path 250),
The control mechanism 44 temporarily stops the driving of the gripper drive mechanism 36, activates the staple mechanism 40, and executes the driving operation of one staple. As a result, one (or the first) staple is driven into the sheet bundle P, and the sheets are integrated. In the present embodiment, the above-mentioned predetermined first movement distance differs depending on the sheet size, and even if the sheet size is the same, the one-shot staple mode is set in this stapling process. And the two-staple staple mode is set differently.

Thereafter, when the one-shot staple mode is set in this stapling process, the control mechanism 44 causes the gripper driving mechanism 36 to raise the gripper mechanism 32 to the position shown in FIG. 25 or 29. Then, the sheet bundle P taken out from the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet pull-out position is discharged onto the stack tray 16 as described above.

On the other hand, when the two-staple staple mode is set in the staple processing, the control mechanism 44 moves the second staple according to the sheet size after the first staple driving operation. Then, the driving of the gripper drive mechanism 36 is temporarily stopped, the staple mechanism 40 is activated, and the second staple driving operation is executed. As a result, two staples are driven into the sheet bundle P, and as a result, they are more surely integrated as compared with the case of one staple. The control mechanism 44 executes the returning operation of the gripper mechanism 32 to the state shown in FIG. 26 at the time when the operation of driving the second staple is completed. Here, in this embodiment, the disposition height of the staple mechanism 40 is set so that the rear end of the sheet bundle P is set to the state shown in FIG. 25 in the state where the second staple is driven. Has been done.

In this way, when the stapling process is executed, the jog process is prohibited, and it is set not to be executed at the same time. That is, the plurality of stapled sheet bundles P are stacked on the stack tray 16 at the same position without being staggered.

P-2) Description of Jog Processing Control Operation On the other hand, when execution of the jog processing is instructed, the control mechanism 44
Activates the staple advancing / retreating mechanism 42 to swing the staple mechanism 40 from the staple position to the retracted position. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 33A, the control mechanism 44 activates the jog drive mechanism 34 to cause the gripper unit 138 to move.
Is moved to the home position, and both gripping pieces 152, 1
The gripper mechanism 32 is moved from the standby position to the gripping position while the gripper mechanism 32 is held wide open to the grippable position. Then, the swinging mechanism 156 of the gripper mechanism 32 is activated to swing the gripping pieces 152 and 154 in a direction to close each other, so that the sheet bundle P on the odd-numbered sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is moved. , The first recess 68a
The portion (that is, the tip end portion) that overhangs is gripped at once.

Thereafter, the control mechanism 44 activates the jog drive mechanism 34 to move the gripper unit 138 by the first predetermined distance L1 along the jog direction (ie, the sorting direction X), and from the home position P0. It is biased to the first jog position (that is, the sheet take-out position) P1. After that, the control mechanism 44 activates the gripper driving mechanism 36 to move the gripper mechanism 32 in the sheet take-out direction Y. As a result, the sheet bundle P whose ends are collectively gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 is pulled out from the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet pull-out position along the sheet take-out direction Y, and then along a predetermined curved movement path. The gripper mechanism 32 is pulled up toward the pulling position along the upward direction Z.
Drive control of the gripper drive mechanism 36 so as to rise to the position shown in FIG. 25 or 29, and, as described above, the stack of sheets P taken out from the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet pull-out position is stacked. The sheet is discharged to a position on the tray 16 corresponding to the first jog position P1.

Next, the control mechanism 44 activates the sort tray drive mechanism 24 to drive the four lead screw rods 80A, 80.
B, 80C, and 80D are all rotated once to move (raise or lower) the even-numbered sort tray 14 located immediately below to the sheet pull-out position. After this, the control mechanism 4
As shown in FIG. 33B, 4 activates the jog driving mechanism 34 to move the gripper unit 138 to the home position and also moves the gripper mechanism 32 from the standby position to the gripping position. Then, the swinging mechanism 156 of the gripper mechanism 32 is activated to swingably drive both gripping pieces 152 and 154 in the direction of closing each other, and the first bundle of sheets P on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is moved. The portion (that is, the tip end portion) that overhangs the recess 68a is collectively gripped.

Thereafter, the control mechanism 44 activates the jog drive mechanism 34 to move the gripper unit 138 by the second predetermined distance L2 along the jog direction (ie, the sorting direction X), and from the home position P0. Bias to the second jog position P2. After that, the control mechanism 44 activates the gripper driving mechanism 36 to move the gripper mechanism 32 in the sheet take-out direction Y. As a result, the sheet bundle P whose ends are collectively gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 is pulled out from the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet pull-out position along the sheet take-out direction Y, and then along a predetermined curved movement path. The gripper mechanism 32 is pulled up toward the pulling position along the upward direction Z. Thereafter, the control mechanism 44 drives and controls the gripper drive mechanism 36 so as to raise the gripper mechanism 32 to the position shown in FIG. Hereinafter, as described above, the sheet bundle P taken out from the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet pull-out position is discharged to the position corresponding to the second jog position P2 on the stack tray 16.

In this way, the control mechanism 44 moves the next sort tray 14 to the sheet take-out position, and every time the sheet bundle P is taken out, the take-out position of the sheet bundle P in the sorting direction X is set to the first position. By alternately switching control between the jog position P1 and the second jog position P2, the sheet bundle P is sequentially stacked from the bottom on the stack tray 16 as shown in FIG. 33C. It is discharged to the position corresponding to the position alternately and the distance (L2-L
They are stacked one after the other in a state where they are displaced by 1) along the jog direction (that is, the sorting direction X).

In the case where the stapling process is instructed, this jog process is performed when there are no staples to be driven in the stapling mechanism 40.
The jog process is automatically executed, and after the discharge operation of all the sheet bundles P, each sheet bundle P can be easily identified.

[0194]

Description of Modifications It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments and can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiments, the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 is described as being applied to the copying apparatus 1000, but the present invention is not limited to such application, and for example, Needless to say, any image forming apparatus such as a printer or a facsimile machine that discharges a sheet on which an image is formed can be applied.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the sheet take-out direction and the sort direction are explained as being the same, but the present invention is not limited to such a constitution, and for example, the sheet take-out direction and the sort direction. It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to the case where the directions are set to intersect.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the sheet take-out direction Y is described as being orthogonal to the sorting direction X, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and for example, other than 90 degrees. Needless to say, they may intersect at any angle.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the jog direction at the time of the jog processing is explained so as to be along the sort direction X, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration.
For example, it goes without saying that the jog direction may be set to the direction intersecting the sorting direction X or the direction orthogonal thereto.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the above-described jog direction is described as being a direction orthogonal to the sheet take-out direction Y, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and for example, It goes without saying that they may intersect at any angle other than 90 degrees.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the standby position of the gripper mechanism 32 shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG.
Although the retracted position of the gripper mechanism 32 indicated by the solid line has been described as being at the same height, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and the two may be set differently. Needless to say.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, in the control operation of the jog process in the control mechanism 44, the sheet bundle P on the odd-numbered sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is the first jog position P1. It has been described that the sheet bundle P on the even-numbered sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is taken out from the second jog position P2, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. Conversely, the sheet bundle P on the even-numbered sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is taken out from the first jog position P1, and the sheet bundle P on the odd-numbered sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position is arranged. It goes without saying that P may be configured to be taken out from the second jog position P2.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the sheet bundle P taken out from the sort tray 14 "at the sheet take-out position is completely taken out at the rear end of the sort tray 14" at the sheet take-out position. As described above, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, a sheet bundle P whose front end is collectively gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 maintains a state in which the rear end remains on the sort tray 14 ″. It is pulled out as it is, for example,
It is also possible to perform a stapling process via the stapling mechanism 40 and then to return it to the sort tray 14 ″ again. That is, in this case, the stack tray 16 is not used, and the sort tray is not used. 14 will function as a discharge tray.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the gripper mechanism 32 is provided after the gripping operation of the sheet bundle P in order to avoid the lead screw rod 80A in the operation of taking out the sheet bundle P.
Is described to be moved by the predetermined distance L1 along the sorting direction X, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and, for example, the lead screw rod 80A may be a sheet bundle P.
When the sheet is taken out along the sheet take-out direction Y,
It goes without saying that the home position P0 and the sheet take-out position (or the first jog position P1) may be defined from the same position as long as they do not interfere.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the gripper mechanism 32, which collectively holds the sheet bundle P on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position at the holding position, directly moves from the home position P0 in the sorting direction X. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and the placement plate 68 of the sort tray 14 described above is used. Until it comes off from the first recess 68A formed in
It may be slightly moved so as to be pulled out along the sort take-out direction Y.

As described above, when the gripper mechanism 32 is moved from the home position P, the gripper mechanism 32 is slightly pulled out along the sort take-out direction Y, so that the edge of the sheet bundle P on the upstream side in the sort direction X is as described above. The first recess 68 while avoiding interference between the lead screw rod 80A and the lead screw rod 80A.
It is possible to avoid the interference between the gripper mechanism 32 and the downstream end of the sorting direction X of a. If the tip of the sheet bundle P gripped by the gripper mechanism 32 is on the front side of the first recess 68a, such an operation is unnecessary, and the sorting of the first recess 68a is unnecessary. If the formation area along the direction X is larger than the movement area of the gripper mechanism 32 during the gripper operation, again, such operation is unnecessary.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the sheet bundle P is taken out from the second jog position P2 in the jog processing, first, the jog drive mechanism 34 is activated to move the gripper mechanism 32 from the home position P0 to the first position. It is explained that the gripper drive mechanism 36 is activated after moving the gripper mechanism 32 to the 2 jog position P2 along the jog direction (that is, the sort direction X), and then the gripper mechanism 32 is moved along the sheet take-out direction Y. did. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and for example,
As shown as a first modification in FIG. 33D, the jog mechanism 34 is activated to move the gripper mechanism 32 to the home position P0.
To move in the jog direction (that is, the sorting direction X) and when the first jog position P1 is passed, the gripper drive mechanism 36 is activated to simultaneously move the gripper mechanism 32 in the sheet take-out direction Y. It may be configured to move. That is, while the gripper mechanism 32 moves from the first jog position P1 to the second jog position P2 along the sorting direction X by the distance (L2-L1), the gripper mechanism 32 simultaneously moves in the sheet take-out direction Y. It will be pulled out and moved along.

By configuring the first modification in this way, it is possible to shorten the time required for the operation of taking out the sheet bundle P.

Further, in the operation of taking out the sheet bundle P from the second jog position P2 in the above-mentioned jog processing,
As shown as a second modification in FIG. 33E, the jog mechanism 34 is activated to move the gripper mechanism 32 to the home position P0.
Is moved along the jog direction (that is, the sort direction X) from the first to the first jog position P1, and once,
The drive of the jog mechanism 34 is stopped, and the gripper drive mechanism 3
6 is activated to move the gripper mechanism 32 along the sheet take-out direction Y, and when the movement amount along the sheet take-out direction Y reaches a predetermined third movement amount L3, the jog mechanism 34 is again turned on. The gripper mechanism 32 may be activated to move simultaneously in the jog direction (that is, the sorting direction X) and the sheet removal direction Y.

Here, the third movement amount L3 is set to a distance sufficient for the rear end of the sheet bundle P to be taken out outward from the sort tray 14 "at the sheet taking-out position along the sheet taking-out direction Y. By setting in this way, when the sheet bundle P is moved along the jog direction (that is, the sorting direction X) on the sort tray 14 ″ at the sheet take-out position, the gripper mechanism 32 is set.
The torque generated in the gripped portion of the sheet bundle P is suppressed as much as possible, and the occurrence of the change in the gripping posture of the sheet bundle P with respect to the gripper mechanism 32 during the jog operation is effectively suppressed.

Further, in the operation of taking out the sheet bundle P from the second jog position P2 in the above-mentioned jog processing,
As shown as a third modification in FIG. 33F, the jog mechanism 34 is activated to move the gripper mechanism 32 to the home position P0.
To the jog direction (that is, the sorting direction X), and after passing the first jog position P1, further move by a predetermined fourth movement amount L4 {L4 <(L2-L1)}. At this point, the gripper drive mechanism 36 may be activated to simultaneously move the gripper mechanism 32 along the sheet take-out direction Y.

By constructing the third modification in this way, it is possible to at least shorten the time taken to take out the sheet bundle P as compared with the above-described embodiment.

[0212]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of an embodiment of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention in a state of being attached to a copying apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the sheet post-processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 independently from the copying apparatus with the front cover member closed.

3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the sheet post-processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 from a direction different from FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the sheet post-processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2 separately from the copying apparatus with the front cover member opened.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the sheet transport mechanism in a state where the sheet transport mechanism is taken out upward from the sheet post-processing device and the transport support plate is rotated so as to be separated from the unit main body.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the sheet conveying mechanism shown in FIG. 5, centering on the flapper swinging mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a front view schematically showing the configuration of the inside of the apparatus main body with the sort tray in an inclined posture.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view schematically showing an internal configuration of the apparatus body.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the configuration of a sort tray taken out independently.

10 is a front view showing the front shape of the sort tray shown in FIG. 9. FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a lead screw rod and a drive mechanism thereof, and engagement pin guides attached to two lead screw rods located on the downstream side in the sorting direction.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a planar shape of a configuration inside the apparatus main body.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing an arrangement state of lead screw rods.

FIG. 14 is a right side view showing an arrangement state of lead screw rods.

FIG. 15 is a front view showing a relationship between a sort tray in a tilted posture and a takeout opening.

16 is a front view showing the sort tray shown in FIG. 15 in a horizontal state with its posture changed.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing the construction of a dual punch mechanism.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view showing an actuator of a dual punch mechanism.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing configurations of a gripper mechanism and a gripper drive mechanism.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration for taking out a sheet bundle from the sort tray and discharging it onto the stack tray.

FIG. 21A is a side view showing the gripper mechanism in a grippable state.

FIG. 21B is a side view showing the gripper mechanism in a state where the lower gripping piece of the gripper mechanism is in contact with the lower surface of the sheet bundle at the sheet take-out position.

FIG. 21C is a side view showing the gripper mechanism in a state where the upper and lower grip pieces are in light contact with both the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet bundle at the sheet take-out position.

FIG. 21D is a side view showing the gripper mechanism in a state where the upper and lower grip pieces firmly grip the sheet bundle at the sheet take-out position.

FIG. 22 shows a sort tray whose posture has been changed to a horizontal state,
FIG. 6 is a front view showing a state in which the sheet is lowered by 0.5 lead pitch and moved to a regular sheet take-out position.

FIG. 23 is a side view showing a state in which the gripper mechanism grips a sort and thank-you sheet bundle by the gripper drive mechanism.

FIG. 24 is an intermediate portion of the sheet bundle whose front end portions are collectively gripped by the gripper mechanism, which is supported from below by the stack tray while the gripper mechanism is being moved from the grip position to the pull-up position, and maintains a curved shape. It is a side view showing that what is done.

FIG. 25 is a side view showing a state in which the gripper mechanism is pulled up to a raised position.

FIG. 26 is a side view showing a state in which the gripper mechanism is lowered until the rear end of the sheet bundle gripped by the gripper mechanism comes into contact with the standing base.

FIG. 27 is a side view showing a state in which the sheet bundle is discharged onto the stack tray by releasing the grip by the gripper mechanism and moving the gripper mechanism upward by a predetermined distance.

FIG. 28 is a diagram collectively showing a moving state of the gripper mechanism by the gripper driving mechanism.

FIG. 29 is a side view showing the state in FIG. 25 and the state in which the size of the sheet of the held sheet bundle is different.

FIG. 30 is a side view showing the configuration of a sheet bundle pressing mechanism that holds the sheet bundle discharged onto the stack tray.

FIG. 31A shows a state in which sheet bundles are not accumulated at all,
It is a side view which shows the structure of a sheet bundle pressing mechanism.

FIG. 31B is a side view showing the configuration of the sheet bundle pressing mechanism with the electromagnetic solenoid excited.

FIG. 31C is a side view showing the configuration of the sheet bundle pressing mechanism in a state where the sheet bundle is discharged onto the stack tray.

FIG. 31D is a side view showing the configuration of the sheet bundle pressing mechanism in a state where the pressing member is pressing the upper surface of the sheet bundle discharged onto the stack tray.

FIG. 31E is a side view showing the configuration of the sheet bundle pressing mechanism with the stack tray being lowered until the sensor is turned on.

FIG. 32 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system in the sheet post-processing apparatus.

FIG. 33A is a skeleton diagram schematically showing a state in which the gripper mechanism 32 takes out the sheet bundle from the sheet taking-out position (first jog position) P1.

FIG. 33B is a skeleton diagram schematically showing a state in which the gripper mechanism 32 takes out the sheet bundle from the jog position (second jog position) P2.

FIG. 33C is a diagram schematically showing the stacking state of the sheet bundle stacked on the stack tray 16 by executing the jog process.

FIG. 33D is a skeleton diagram schematically showing a first modified example when the gripper mechanism 32 takes out the sheet bundle from the jog position (second jog position) P2.

FIG. 33E is a skeleton diagram schematically showing a second modified example when the gripper mechanism 32 takes out the sheet bundle from the jog position (second jog position) P2.

FIG. 33F is a skeleton diagram schematically showing a third modification example when the gripper mechanism 32 takes out the sheet bundle from the jog position (second jog position) P2.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Sheet Post-Processing Device 12 Non-sort Tray 14 (14A to 14T) Sort Tray 16 Stack Tray 18 Sheet Receiving Port 20 Device Main Body 22 Sheet Conveying Mechanism 24 Sort Tray Drive Mechanism 26 Posture Changing Mechanism 28 Aligning Mechanism 30 Punch Mechanism 32 Gripper Mechanism 34 Jog Drive mechanism 36 Gripper drive mechanism 38 Stack tray raising / lowering mechanism 40 Staple mechanism 42 Staple advancing / retreating mechanism 44 Control mechanism 50 Front cover member 52 Unit body 54A: 54B Inlet roller 56A Non-sort conveying path 56B Sort conveying path 58 Flapper 60 Flapper rocking mechanism 62 Conveying Support plate 64A: 64B First take-up roller 66A: 66B Second take-up roller 68 Placement plate 70 Standing wall 72A: 72B Retainer 74 Alignment rod 76 Opening 78A: 7 B: 78C: 78D Engaging pin 80A: 80B: 80C: 80D Lead screw rod 82 First rotation drive mechanism 84 Second rotation drive mechanism 86 (86a; 86b; 86c) Lead groove 88 (88a; 88b) Lead groove 90A: 90B: 90C: 90D Engagement pin guide 92 First drive motor 94 First transmission belt 96 Second drive motor 98 Second transmission belt 100 Front shield plate 102 Alignment rod drive mechanism 104 Extraction opening 106 Rotation axis 108 Endless Belt 110 Swing Motor 112A: 112B Connecting Arm 114A: 114B Conveying Roller 116 Alignment Rod Standby Position Sensor 118A: 118B Conveying Roller 120 Passage 122 Frame 124 Electromagnet 126 Return Spring 128 Iron Piece 130 Blade 132 Actuator 134 Gripper Ha Jing 136 Slide guide shaft 138 Gripper unit 140 Slide case 142 Upper support shaft 144 Upper jaw member 146 Lower support shaft 148 Lower jaw member 150 Intermediate member 152 Upper gripping piece 154 Lower gripping piece 156 Oscillating mechanism 158 Drive rod 160 Oscillating drive Motor 162 Drive force transmission mechanism 164 Arc groove 166 Intermediate rod 168 First drive groove 170 Second drive groove 172 Spring member 174 Drive motor 176 Drive pulley 178 Driven pulley 180 Timing belt 182 Fixing device 182 Home position sensor 184 First Stop position sensor 186 Second stop position sensor 188 Side plate 190A: 190B: 190C Guide groove 192A: 192B: 192C Guide pin 194 Bracket 200 Drive motor 202 Motor pulley 20 Drive pulley 206 Energizing pulley 208 Driven pulley 210 Spindle 212 First drive path force transmission belt 214 Second drive force transmission belt 216 Fixture 218A; 218B Guide portion 220 Standing wall 222 Empty sensor 224 Drive motor 226 Drive gear 228 Driven gear 230 Drive pulley 232 Driven pulley 234 Timing belt 236 Upper limit sensor 238 Sheet bundle pressing mechanism 240 Support shaft 242 Pressing member 244 Mask member 246 Coil spring 248 Electromagnetic solenoid 250 Staple passage 254 Mounting table 256 Drive motor 258 Worm gear 260 Worm wheel 262 Yen The peripheral groove 264, the cam pin 266, the mounting shaft 268, the swing arm 270, the mounting stay 272, and the support shaft 274 are display panels.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Satoru Matsuki, 430 Kobayashi, Masuho-machi, Minamikoma-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture, Nisca Corporation (72) Inventor Takehiko Saito, 430, Kobayashi, Masuho-cho, Minamikoma-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture, Nisuka Corporation (72) Inventor Toshihiko Fujita 430 Kobayashi, Masuho-machi, Minamikoma-gun, Yamanashi 1 Niska Corporation

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of sort trays in which image-recorded sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus are sequentially distributed and accumulated, and a plurality of sort trays are arranged in the stacking direction and are movably supported in the stacking direction. A tray driving means for sequentially moving the plurality of sort trays to a sheet take-in position where the sheets are taken in; and a bundle of sheets accumulated on the sort tray moved to the sheet take-out position by the tray drive means. Gripper means arranged so as to reciprocate between a gripping position for gripping the sheet bundle on the sort tray at the take-out position and a pull-out position at which the sheet bundle is pulled out from the sort tray. A biasing means for constantly biasing the gripper means from the gripping position toward the pull-out position; and the gripper means, Against the biasing force of the biasing means,
And a gripper drive unit that is driven to move from the pull-out position to the grip position and is driven by the biasing force of the biasing unit to move from the grip position to the pull-out position. Aftertreatment device. 2. A plurality of sort trays in which image-recorded sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus are sequentially distributed and accumulated, and a plurality of sort trays are arranged in the stacking direction and are movably supported in the stacking direction. A tray driving means for sequentially moving the plurality of sort trays to a sheet take-in position where the sheets are taken in; and a bundle of sheets accumulated on the sort tray moved to the sheet take-out position by the tray drive means. Gripper means arranged so as to reciprocate between a gripping position for gripping the sheet bundle on the sort tray at the take-out position and a pull-out position at which the sheet bundle is pulled out from the sort tray. And driving the gripper means to move from the pulling position to the gripping position and pulling it from the gripping position to the pulling position. A gripper drive means for moving and driving the gripper means, and a biasing means for charging the biasing force with the movement of the gripper means from the pulling position to the gripping position, and biasing the movement from the gripping position to the pulling position A sheet post-processing apparatus comprising: 3. The pulling-out direction of the sheet bundle on the sort tray at the take-out position by the gripper means is a direction intersecting the take-in direction of the sheet at the sort tray at the take-in position. Item 1
Or the sheet post-processing apparatus according to item 2. 4. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the take-in direction is set in parallel with the sheet discharge direction in the image forming apparatus. 5. The gripper driving means is positioned immediately below the gripper means pulled up to a predetermined pulling up position, the tip is inclined upward along the pulling direction, and the gripper is pulled up at the pulling up position. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a storage tray that sequentially stacks the sheet bundles released from the gripped state by the means. 6. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the storage tray is disposed on the downstream side with respect to the pull-out direction of the sort tray. 7. The pull-out position is offset from the sort tray at the take-out position by a first predetermined distance along the pull-out direction of the sheet bundle on the sort tray by the gripper means, and along the upward direction. 3. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is set as a pull-up position that is biased by a second predetermined distance. 8. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the pull-out direction is a direction that intersects with the sheet take-in direction into the sort tray at the take-in position. 9. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the take-in direction is set parallel to the sheet discharge direction in the image forming apparatus. 10. The gripper drive means includes a drive motor, a motor pulley attached to an output shaft of the drive motor, a drive pulley arranged near the pulling position, and a drive pulley arranged near the take-out position. Driven pulley, an endless first driving force transmission belt that is stretched between the driving pulley and the driven pulley, a fixing means that fixes the gripper means to the first driving force transmission belt, and an intermediate A pulley, the motor pulley, a drive pulley, an intermediate pulley, and an endless second driving force transmission belt that is loaded around the pulley are provided, and the biasing unit includes a spring that biases the intermediate pulley to rotate in a predetermined direction. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that. 11. The spring connects the intermediate pulley,
11. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the gripper means is constantly urged so as to be lifted to the pulling position. 12. The intermediate pulley is rotatably supported by an intermediate shaft, and the spring is wound around the intermediate shaft and has one end locked to the intermediate shaft and the other end. The sheet post-processing device according to claim 11, wherein the sheet post-processing device is locked to the intermediate pulley. 13. Image-recorded sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus are sequentially distributed and accumulated, and a plurality of sort trays arranged in a stacking direction and sheets accumulated on a predetermined sort tray. Gripper arranged so as to reciprocate between a gripping position for gripping a sheet bundle on the sort tray and a pull-out position at which the sheet bundle is pulled out from the sort tray. Means, a biasing means for constantly biasing the gripper means from the gripping position toward the pull-out position, and the gripper means against the biasing force of the biasing means,
And a gripper drive unit that is driven to move from the pull-out position to the grip position and is driven by the biasing force of the biasing unit to move from the grip position to the pull-out position. Aftertreatment device. 14. Image-recorded sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus are sequentially distributed and accumulated, and a plurality of sort trays arranged in a stacking direction and sheets accumulated on a predetermined sort tray. Gripper arranged so as to reciprocate between a gripping position for gripping a sheet bundle on the sort tray and a pull-out position at which the sheet bundle is pulled out from the sort tray. Means for moving the gripper means from the pulling position to the gripping position and for driving the gripper means to move from the gripping position to the pulling position, and the gripper means from the pulling position to the gripping position. And a biasing means for biasing the movement from the grip position to the pull-out position, the biasing force being charged with the movement of the A sheet post-processing device characterized by the following.