JPH092728A - Sheet post-processing device, and image forming device provided with same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a sheet post-processing device in which a number of sheet bundles can be stacked without deteriorating operation efficiency of an output device, and in which degree of freedom of an action position of a post-processing means is increased. CONSTITUTION: Sheets discharged from an output device are stacked on bins B1 , B2 . A gripper 10 to hold and carry sheet bundles on the bins B1 , B2 holds other side edges than a side edge facing a stapler 11 for post-processing the sheet bundles, and the sheet bundles after postprocessing are carried by a carrier gripper 12 to a stack unit 13. The bins B1 , B2 are thus returned to be empty, so sheets can be stacked and contained again, thereby a number of sheet bundles can be stacked without deteriorating productivity and operation efficiency of the output device, with degree of freedom of an action position of the staper 11 to the sheet bundles can be increased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention, for example, stacks sheets, which are sequentially discharged one by one from an image forming apparatus, after being distributed to a plurality of stacking means and then subjected to post-processing such as binding processing selectively. It relates to an aftertreatment device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an apparatus for carrying out post-processing by transferring a bundle of sheets on a plurality of stacking means by a nipping means and exposing the sheet bundle to post-processing means such as binding. In the case of this apparatus, after the post-processing, the sandwiching means is moved backward so that the sheet bundle is returned to the stacking means [Prior art example 1; JP-A-2-89772].

On the other hand, as another conventional example, the sheets are stored on a stacking means having a post-processing means, the sheets are aligned with a center reference, and post-processing such as binding is performed, and the sheet is substantially sandwiched by the sandwiching means. There is known a device having a structure in which the middle part is sandwiched and transferred to the stacking means [Conventional example 2].

[0004]

However, in the apparatus described in [Conventional Example 1] described above, the sheet bundle on the stacking means remains stored even after the completion of the post-processing. Until the user removes the sheet, the next sheet cannot be stacked on the stacking means, which has a drawback that the productivity of the sheet output device and the operating efficiency of the entire system are reduced.

Further, in [Conventional example 2], since the post-processing is performed while the sheet bundle is stored on the stacking means, the post-processing means can enter the portion supporting the edge facing the post-processing means of the sheet bundle. It needs to be cut like this.

Further, in order to improve the appearance after the post-processing, the edge facing the post-processing means is usually the alignment reference edge on the stacking means, and the stacking means for supporting the alignment reference edge of the sheet bundle is usually used. If the alignment section is cut out, when considering various sizes, the leading edge of the paper may get caught in the cutout at the time of alignment. Conversely, if the alignment is emphasized to reduce the cutout, the post-processing means may enter. The place is limited,
Optimal post-processing position for paper size (for example, binding position)
There was a drawback that could not be selected.

The first aspect of the present invention makes it possible to stack a large number of sheet bundles without lowering the productivity of the sheet output device for outputting sheets and the operating efficiency of the entire system, and the post-processing device operates. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus with increased positional freedom.

A second aspect of the present invention aims to stabilize the transportability of the sheet bundle from the stacking means.

A third object of the present invention is to ensure the stacking alignment of sheet bundles of various sizes on the stacking means and to enhance the reliability of the post-processing operation.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the sheet bundle on the stacking means is
The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate or minimize the sheet misalignment in the stack when the bundle is conveyed by the bundle pinching / conveying means, the relative positional misalignment between the post-processing means and the sheet stack, and the misalignment of the sheet stack when the stacker is accommodated. To do.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in order to achieve the first object,
Stacking means for storing the sheets discharged from the sheet output device, and post-processing means for performing post-processing on the sheet bundle,
In a sheet post-processing apparatus having stacking means capable of accommodating post-processed sheet bundles in an overlapping manner, the first bundle for transferring the sheet bundle from the stacking means to the post-processing means operating position.
And a second bundle nipping means that moves the bundle of sheets in the post-processing means operating position to the stacking means by a bundle movement. The first bundle nipping means is a sheet bundle. Conveys the side edge portion other than the side edge facing the post-processing means by sandwiching and conveying.

In order to achieve the second object, the second bundle pinching means has a portion along the side edge on the downstream side in the sheet bundle conveying direction from the post-processing means operating position of the sheet bundle to the stacking means. It is characterized by being pinched and conveyed.

In order to achieve the third object, the side edge of the sheet bundle facing the post-processing means is one of the alignment reference edges of the sheet bundle on the stacking means, and the alignment reference. It is characterized in that the alignment portion of the loading means for supporting the edge is continuously formed.

In order to achieve the fourth object, the first bundle holding means is a portion along a side edge of the sheet bundle other than the side edge facing the post-processing means, and the post-processing is performed. The second bundle sandwiching means is a portion along the side edge on the downstream side in the sheet bundle transport direction from the post-processing means of the sheet bundle to the stacking means, and the sheet bundle is conveyed close to the sheet bundle. It is characterized in that the substantially central portion of the side edge is pinched and conveyed according to the size of.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the sheets discharged from the sheet output device are stacked on the stacking means, and the stacked sheet bundle is operated by the first bundle sandwiching means as the post-processing means. The sheet bundle conveyed to the position and subjected to the post-processing by the post-processing means is conveyed to the stacking means by the second bundle holding means and stacked. By returning the stacking means to the empty state by stacking the sheet bundle, the conveyance and stacking of the sheet bundle on the stacking means is continued again. The first bundle nipping means nips and conveys the side edge portion of the sheet bundle other than the side edge facing the post-processing means, so that the post-processing means can position the sheet bundle at any position on the opposite side edges of the sheet bundle. Can be post-treated.

In the second invention, the second bundle nipping means nips and conveys the portion along the side edge on the downstream side in the conveying direction of the sheet bundle from the post-processing means operating position to the stack position. This allows the post-processed sheet bundle to buckle,
It can be conveyed to the stacking means without skewing.

In the third invention, of the alignment reference edges for aligning the sheet bundle on the stacking means, the side edge of the sheet bundle facing the post-processing means is the alignment reference edge for aligning the sheet bundle on the stacking means. It is one. As a result, the alignment reference edge of the sheet bundle is subjected to post-processing by the post-processing means, and the reliability of post-processing such as binding and gluing of the sheet bundle is increased. The supporting portion of the stacking device that supports the alignment reference edge of the sheet bundle facing the post-processing device can be configured by, for example, a continuous wall surface by not requiring a post-processing cutout. As a result, no alignment disorder occurs when aligning sheet bundles of various sheet sizes.

In the fourth invention, the first bundle pinching means for pulling out the sheet bundle on the stacking means is a side edge other than the alignment reference edge for post-processing the sheet bundle and is close to the post-processing means. The sheet bundle is pinched at the position and conveyed to the post-processing means side. As a result, it is possible to prevent the sheet from being disturbed in the sheet bundle during the post-processing by the post-processing means, and to stabilize the post-processing means operating position of the post-processing means at a constant position at all times.

Further, the second bundle holding means holds the substantially central portion of the sheet bundle post-processed by the post-processing means and conveys it to the stacking means. Thus, the posture of the sheet bundle can be stably maintained when the second bundle holding means conveys the sheet bundle, and the sheet disturbance can be minimized when the sheet bundle is stored in the stacker.

[0020]

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

FIG. 1 shows an electrophotographic copying machine (image forming apparatus) 200 as a sheet output device.

The electrophotographic copying machine 200 includes a copying machine main body 20.
1 and an automatic document feeder 2 arranged at the top of the copying machine main body
02, and a sheet post-processing device 203 arranged on the side of the copying machine main body 201 where the sheet S is discharged. In addition, the sheet post-processing device 203 includes a folding device 204.
And a stapling / stacking device 205.

The document table 20 of the automatic document feeder 202
6 are separated in order from the bottom,
Pass 20 on the platen glass 208 of the copying machine body 201
After being read by the optical system 210 of the main body 201 of the copying machine, the sheet is discharged from the platen glass 207 through the path 211 to the uppermost surface on the document table 205. The sheet S is fed from the deck 212, an image is formed by the image forming unit 213, is fixed by the fixing unit 214, and is discharged (output) from the copying machine main body 201 by the discharge roller 271. The output sheet S is generally passed through the folding device 204 and conveyed to the sheet carry-in port 215 of the stapling / stacking device 205.

The image forming process of the copying machine 200, which is the main body of the present invention, is well known and will not be described here. The stapling / stacking device 205 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, it has bin modules B ₁ and B ₂ which are vertically divided into _two , and each bin module has a plurality of bins (sheet trays) B _{11 to} B _1n and B _{21 to} B _2n (in the figure, n =
6). Each bin module can independently change the bin interval and the bin position to move each bin to the sheet receiving position or the sheet bundle discharging position.

At the sheet carry-in port 215, the first upward
It is driven by a solenoid SL3 (not shown) that switches between the transport path 1 and the second transport path 2 in the downward direction. The deflector 3 determines the traveling direction of the sheet S. Further, the first transport path 1 is branched into a carry-out path 6 to the non-sort tray 5 and an upper module B ₁ path 7 by a deflector 4 driven by a solenoid SL4 (not shown).

On the other hand, the second transport path 2 is a path to the lower module B as it is. Therefore, each roller pair 8a
For ~ 8p, 8a, b, C,
The rollers are conveyed to the upper module by 8a, 8b, and 8d to 8g, and to the lower module by 8a and 8h to 8p.

Further, the stapling / stacking device 205
Has a grip / staple unit 9 in a space between the path to the upper module and the path to the lower module,
The bundle on each bin is first-out gripper (first feeding means) 10
1 and 2 in the right direction by means of a stapler (post-processing means) 11 to selectively staple the bundle, and then the conveying gripper (second bundle holding means) 12 holds the bundle to the right. Transport. Similarly, in the space sandwiched between the path to the upper module and the path to the lower module, a stack unit (stack means) 13 stands by below the grip / staple unit 9 and stores the bundle transported by the transport gripper 12. To do.

As shown in FIG. 2, the right end of the stapler 11 and the left end of the stack unit 13 are substantially overlapped in the left-right direction (region of width l _{15 in} FIG. 2).

[0029] After the sea Bokutaba are satisfied bin B ₁₁ .about.B ₁₆ above module, Figure 1, to the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 2, to move the gripping / stapling unit 9, the sheet bundle from the bin while to demold, to convey the sheet to the bin B ₂₁ .about.B ₂₆ under the module, after the completion of extraction bundle from the bin B ₁₁ .about.B _16, also after the end conveyance to the lower modules bin B ₂₁ .about.B ₂₆ Then, the bundle is taken out from the lower module at the position indicated by the solid line in FIGS. 1 and 2. By repeating this operation, copying can be continued continuously until the stack unit becomes full.

The schematic structure has been shown above, but the detailed structure of the main part will be described below.

The folding device 204 is similar to the folding devices disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 61-232372 and 62-59002, and therefore the description thereof will not be given.

First, the bin modules B ₁ and B ₂ will be described.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bin module.
Hereinafter will be described bin module B _1, but the same configuration applies to B _2.

The bin module B ₁ is mainly composed of bins B _{11 to} B
_1n and two reference rods 14a and 14b, an alignment wall 15, lead cams 16a to 16c for elevating and lowering the bin, and a drive unit for these. The reference rods 14a and 14b are
It is a member that determines a reference line for post-processing such as stapling for a sheet discharged onto a bin, and is normally set to be slightly retracted from the position of the end portion when the sheet is discharged. The aligning wall 15 moves the sheets discharged onto the bin one by one in the direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction (the direction of arrow A in the figure), and the opposite ends of the aligning wall 15 are aligned with the reference bar 14.
Align with a and b.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the bin module, and the lead cams 16a, 16b and 16c are shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, one bottle is arranged on the front side of the bottle and two bottles are arranged on the rear side thereof, and a spiral lead cam is provided on the outer circumference. Rollers Ba, Bb, Bc protruding from the bin are engaged with the lead cam, and the bin is raised and lowered by a predetermined pitch each time each lead cam makes one rotation in synchronization.

As shown in FIG. 4, the bin is provided with a notch Bd corresponding to the reference rod and a hole Be corresponding to the matching wall, a notch Bf for a gripper, which will be described later, and a bin standing. Notch Bg for drive mechanism and notch B required for operation
h is formed.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the bin module.
As shown in FIG. 5, the bins are arranged parallel to each other at a certain angle with respect to the horizontal. On the other hand, Binkoro part B
All of a, Bb, and Bc are configured to have the same height when the bottle is inclined. That is, the position of the bin roller Bb near the right side of the bin is near the reference surface of the bin, while the position of the bin roller Bc near the left side of the bin is
Well below the reference plane of the bin, the bin roller Bc is connected to the bin by a V-shaped fixed arm.

As a result, even when adjacent bins such as B ₁₅ and B ₁₆ shown in FIG. 5 approach each other, the interference of the arm portions can be avoided. Further, since the bin roller portions Ba, Bb, Bc are all at the same height, the positions of the lead cams 16a to 16c in the height direction can be set at the same height, and the overall size can be reduced. That is, compared to the case where rollers Ba, Bb, and Bc are provided near the thick portion of each bottle as shown in FIG. 5 (b),
The size l ₁₆ minutes shown in Fig. 5 (b) can be configured to reduce the overall size of the device.

Next, the bin interval will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows the upper bin module B _{1. In} the figure, the second bin B ₁₂ from the top is located at a position corresponding to the pair of ejection rollers 8 g and receives the sheet to be ejected. On the other hand, the fourth bin B ₁₄ from the top is at the bundle discharge position, and when the sheet discharge to the bin is completed, the bins are sequentially shifted to this position and the bundle discharge is performed from each bin. In Figure 5, the bin B ₁₁ ~
Until B ₁₅ is as large as bin spacing l _17, but smaller and l ₁₈ only during the B _15, B _16, between bins varies depending on the situation. FIG.
Is in a state where the bin B ₁₆ is at the sheet receiving position and the bin is shifted to the uppermost position. At this time, the bin intervals are B _{11 to} B ₁₅
It is small with l ₁₈ up to and is large with l ₁₇ only between B ₁₅ and B ₁₆ .

Further, in FIG. 7, the bin B ₁₁ is at the bundle discharging position, and the bin is shifted to the lowest position. At this time, the bin interval is large at l ₁₇ only between B ₁₁ and B ₁₂ , and l _{18 at} other positions. And small. That is, the interval between the bottles in the sheet receiving position and the bottle thereon is greater about l _17, also above and below the bin and the bin in the bundle discharging position should have as large as l ₁₇ intervals. In FIG. 5, B ₁₁ and B ₁₂ , B ₁₃ and B
₁₄ , B ₁₄ and B ₁₅ . In FIG. 5, the distance between B ₁₂ and B ₁₃ is also large, but this may be functionally as small as about ₁₈ , and the size of the distance is determined by the relationship between the upper half space of the stapler 11 and the bin distance. It

On the other hand, in the case of the lower bin module, as can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheet receiving position and the bundle discharging position are upside down as compared with the upper module. Therefore, in the same way, in FIG. 2, the distance between the bin B _{24 at the} sheet receiving position and the upper bin B ₂₃ is as large as about l ₁₇ , and the bin B _{22 at the} bundle discharging position and the upper and lower bins B ₂₂ are located.
_21, the interval between the B ₂₃ must also large as l ₁₇ but, B
The distance between ₂₄ and B ₂₅ need not be as large as l ₁₇ .

However, by increasing the distance between B ₂₄ and B ₂₅ to about l ₁₇ , the sheet receiving position and the bundle discharging position are reversed, and the upper and lower module bins have the same interval configuration. That is, the pitch of the lead cams that determine the bin interval may be the same, and there is an advantage that the upper and lower lead cams are commonly used. In addition, the fact that the sheet receiving position and the bundle discharging position are reversed in the upper and lower modules has another merit that the grid / stapler unit 9 and the stack unit 13 can be shared when taking out the sheet.

Next, driving of the bin shift will be described (FIGS. 4 and 5).

The bin shift motor M1 is a motor pulley 1
8 and the belt 19 and the lead cam pulleys 20a to 20c synchronously transmit the drive to the lead cams 16a to 16c, rotate the motor forward and backward, and rotate the lead cam once, thereby raising and lowering the bin by the cam pitch. Each of the lead cams 16a to 16c has a shaft rotatably supported by a bearing, and the drive is transmitted from a pulley 20 attached to one side thereof. Bin shift motor M ₁
Has an encoder 21 on the side opposite to the pulley 18, and the sensor S1 detects one rotation.

Further, the bin modules B ₁ and B ₂ include
There is a home position detection sensor S2 (not shown) for the bins, which detects that the respective top bins B ₁₁ and B ₂₁ are in their respective sheet receiving positions. Each of the bin modules B ₁ and B ₂ has a penetration sensor S3 (FIG. 2) for detecting the sheet on the bin, and detects the presence or absence of the sheet on the bin to determine the timing for switching the modules. ing.

Next, the alignment wall 1 for aligning the sheets on the bin
The drive configuration of No. 5 will be described (FIGS. 8 and 9). FIG.
[FIG. 9] is a top view of the matching wall drive unit, and FIG. 9 is a front view.

A shaft 22 is caulked to the matching wall 15, and the caulking shaft 22 is stopped by penetrating a U-shaped support plate 23. On the other hand, the U-shaped support plate 23
A compression spring 24 is installed in the inside of the plate while being slightly biased in the compression direction. One side of the compression spring 24 is abutted against the inner wall of the plate 23 and the other side is abutted against a stopper 25 provided on the caulking shaft. The caulking shaft 22 and the matching wall 15 are urged downward in FIG. 8 by the force of the compression spring.

The lower side of the U-shaped support plate 23 is fixed to the moving side of the accuride 27 via a slide plate 26, and the fixed side of the accuride 27 is an acryl rail plate 28 extending in the sliding direction of the alignment wall. It is fixed to. On the accurride rail plate 28, caulking shafts 29 and 30 stand on the front side and the back side, and the pulley gear 3 is attached to each of them.
1. A pulley 32 is rotatably attached. A timing belt 33 is passed between the pulleys 31 and 32,
The slide plate 26 is fixed to the belt 33. on the other hand,
The motor gear 34 of the matching wall drive motor M2 is the pulley gear 3
The driving force is transmitted by engaging with the first gear portion.

The home position of the matching wall 15 is
It is detected by the sensor S4. U-shaped support plate 23
A slide member 35 is attached to the upper part of the above and is guided by engaging with a concave portion of a fixed rail 36. In FIG. 9, the drive is entered from below the alignment wall 15 and the upper part is guided by the rail, but it may be configured upside down.
Also, the configuration of the matching wall in the upper module and the lower module,
The driving method may be reversed.

Next, the drive configuration of the bin standing portion forming the alignment surface in the transport direction on the bin will be described (FIGS. 10 and 11).

This is to move the bin stand when it is conveyed from the bin in the bin stand-up direction in order to post-process and stack the sheet bundle stacked on the bin. FIG.
0 is a top view and FIG. 11 is a front view.

The bin B includes a sheet stacking section Bi and a matching section B.
The rotating shaft on the aligning portion Bj side is fitted into the rotating hole on the stacking portion Bi side to form the aligning portion B.
j is rotatable. The rotation angle of the matching portion Bj is
As shown in FIG. 11, the aligning surface, which stands at a right angle with respect to the fixed loading surface, can be rotated at approximately 90 ° until it becomes substantially flush with the loading surface. Normally, a spring or the like is urged so that the alignment surface is perpendicular to the loading surface (solid line in FIG. 11). This spring has a strength such that the aligning portion Bj does not fall down even with the weight of the sheet bundle on the bin. A drive arm 45 is attached to the back side of the matching portion Bj. A pin 45 is attached to the tip of the drive arm.
a is set up.

The bin stand-up drive solenoid SL1 has a base 4
6 is supported on. A link 47 is rotatably supported on the base 46, and one end of an arm 48 is engaged with a pin 47a on the link. The other end of the arm 48 is attached to the solenoid SL1 and the solenoid 47 operates to move the link 47 from the solid line portion to the two-dot chain line portion. A pin contact member 47b is attached to the tip of the link 47, but in a normal state, the pin 47b and the pin 45a are separated from each other, and do not interfere with the lifting operation of the bin B. When sheets are discharged onto the bin and the sheet bundle in the bin is post-processed and stacked, the corresponding bin is
Shifting to the 1 position, the solenoid SLl is operated. The pin abutting member 47b abuts the pin 45a, and the link 47 is further rotated to move the aligning portion Bj to the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. Solenoid SLl is O
When FF is performed, the link 47 returns to the original solid line position by the action of the spring 49, and correspondingly, the aligning portion Bj also returns to the position orthogonal to the loading surface. Since the sheet bundle stacked on the bin is not post-processed on the bin, the alignment portion Bj does not need a post-processing cutout. Therefore, the matching portion B
The surface where j comes into contact with the sheet bundle is continuously formed on the same surface without a notch.

As a result, the aligning section Bj ensures the integrity of the sheet bundles of various sizes, and the reliability of the post-processing operation of the stapler 11 as the post-processing means is enhanced.

Next, the grip / staple unit 9 will be described (FIGS. 12 and 13).

FIG. 12 is a top view of the grip / staple unit 9, and FIG. 13 is a front view.

The overall structure is a frame body in which guide stays 52 and 53 and a right stay 54 are provided between the unit front side plate 50 and the unit rear side plate 51, and two lifting rollers 55 are provided on each of the left and right sides. Is crimped. On the inner side of the lower guide stay 53, a member 53 that guides when the sheet bundle is conveyed.
a is attached.

The four rollers are guided in two rails fixed to the main body side, and a rack integrally cut by the rail 56 and a pinion gear provided at both ends of a shaft 57 penetrating in the lateral direction of the frame body. 58 meshes with the lifting gear M
The drive from 4 is transmitted, and the entire frame can be moved up and down.

Three moving bodies are arranged in the frame body. The first-out gripper 10 is configured to be movable in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 12, is a portion along the edge S ₁ on the front reference side of the sheet bundle S on the bin, and
Grip at a position that is as close as possible to, and pull out the sheet bundle to the right.

That is, the distance l ₄ from the right end of the first-out gripper 10 to the front end of the sheet bundle S is the distance l ₅ from the left end of the stapler 11 at the completion of pulling out to the front end of the sheet bundle S.
Is set slightly longer than.

The first-out gripper 10 nips and conveys a position as close to the stapler 11 as possible to prevent the stapler 11 from disturbing the sheet bundle during the post-processing operation and stabilize the position of the stapler 11 at a constant position. be able to.

Since the first-out gripper 10 grips only the portion along the side edge (S _{1 in} this case) other than the side edge (alignment reference edge) S ₂ where the sheet bundle S faces the stapler 11, the stapler 11 is shown in FIG. The sheet bundle can be freely moved in the direction of the arrow E, and can be post-processed by moving to a front or rear retract position where it does not overlap with the sheet width or an arbitrary position of the leading end of the sheet bundle.

The transport gripper 12 is movable in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 12, and is also movable in the direction of arrow G in the figure including the entire front and rear side plates 59, 60. In the transport gripper 12, the sheet bundle S is stapled by the stapler 11.
The side edge S ₂ facing the sheet, that is, the side edge that has been abutted against the alignment section Bj of the bin standing, and in the direction of arrow F, grip the approximate center position of the sheet width according to the size of the sheet bundle, The sheet bundle is conveyed in the direction of arrow G, and the sheet bundle is completely pulled out from the bin and conveyed to the stacker described later.

As a result, the conveying gripper 12 nips and conveys the sheet bundle by pulling the side edge of the sheet bundle to the stapler 11 on the downstream side in the conveying direction, so that the sheet bundle buckles or skews during nipping and conveyance. It is possible to convey the sheet bundle to the stack unit 13 without causing any trouble.

The conveying gripper 12 nips and conveys the sheet bundles of various sizes at substantially central positions, whereby the posture of the sheet bundles during sheet bundle conveyance can be stably maintained, and the sheet bundles are accommodated in the stack unit 13. Sometimes, even if the transport gripper 12 is opened, the sheet disturbance can be minimized.

The movement of the transport gripper 12 in the direction of arrow F is
In addition to moving according to size as described above, it is also used for sorting on the stacker.

That is, when the bundle is conveyed to the stacker, the conveyance amount in the arrow G direction depends on the sheet bundle size, but by changing the conveyance amount in the F direction, sheet bundles of the same size can be sorted, and different jobs can be sorted. Can be sorted.

The depth dimension l ₆ of the transport gripper 12 is set so that the leading edge of the sheet bundle S can be held even when the stapler 11 is operating with respect to the sheet bundle S. Hereinafter, the moving bodies 10, 11, 12 in the grip / staple unit 9 will be described in detail.

First, the grip portion for holding the bundle will be described. This is a configuration common to the first-out gripper 10 and the transport gripper 12 (FIG. 14).

The side plates 62, 62 include three shafts 63, 6
4,65 are supported. The upper gripper 6 is attached to the shaft 65.
6 and a lower gripper 67 are provided, and by rotating the lower gripper cam 68 fixed to the shaft 63 and the upper gripper cam 69 fixed to the shaft 64 in the arrow directions, the arrow H and the arrow I are respectively moved. Swing is repeated (solid line and broken line).

The spring member 70 urges the cam portion 67a of the lower gripper 67 to the lower gripper cam 68, and the spring member 71 urges the cam portion 66a of the upper gripper 66 to the upper gripper cam 69 so that The contact pressure of the lower gripper is controlled to be substantially constant. The cams of the upper / lower grippers are driven by motors M5 (holding the first-out gripper) and M6 (holding the transport gripper) (not shown).

The first-out gripper 10 and the transport gripper 12 have the same basic structure as described above.
The conditions such as the clamping pressure, the width of the gripper, the maximum opening amount, etc. may be optimally set according to the respective usage conditions. For example, in the case of the present embodiment, the first-out gripper holds down the upper width of the space to a small extent, but since it clamps only on the reference side, the clamping pressure should be set high to prevent misalignment and the opening amount should be set between bottles. On the other hand, the conveyance gripper can hold the sheet bundle center while holding it down, so that the pressure can be set low.

Next, the drive configuration of the first-out gripper 10 will be described (FIGS. 15 and 16).

FIG. 15 is a top view of the first-out gripper 10,
FIG. 16 is a front view. A roller 72 having a groove is caulked on the front side surface of the first-out gripper 10 and is engaged with an elongated hole 50a provided in a unit front side plate 50 of the grip / staple unit. The elongated hole 50a is formed substantially horizontally on the right side of the stapler in FIG. 16, but is formed on the left side of the FIG. 16 near the bin at an angle according to the inclination of the bin. The tip of the shaft of the two rollers is
It is connected by a connecting metal plate 73, and a pin member 74 is attached to the metal plate.
Is attached.

On the other hand, on the front side of the unit front side plate 50,
A first-out motor M7 is attached, and a swing arm 76 is fixed to the tip of the drive shaft. A long hole 76a is formed at the other end of the swing arm, and the tip of the pin member 74 is engaged with the long hole. By driving the advance motor M7, the swing arm 76 reciprocates between the solid line position and the two-dot chain line position in FIGS. As a result, the first-out gripper 10 grabs the sheet bundle along the elongated hole of the unit front side plate 50 at the inclined position, conveys the sheet bundle to the horizontal position, separates the sheet bundle at the horizontal position, and performs a movement to change to the inclined position again. .

Next, the drive configuration of the transport gripper 12 will be described (FIGS. 17 and 18). 17 is a top view of the transport gripper 12, and FIG. 18 is a front sectional view.

First, driving in the left and right directions of FIGS. 17 and 18 and in the sheet bundle conveying direction will be described.

The transport gripper 12 has two
It is supported by the shafts 77 and 78 of the book. One of the axes 77,
It is composed of a ball screw, and the other 78 is composed of a normal shaft. Both ends of the shaft 77 are rotatably supported between the front and rear side plates (the front side plate is omitted; the rear side plate 60), and the shaft 78 is supported.
Both ends of are completely fixed. A guide roller 79 is caulked on each side plate, and the roller 79 can move in the left-right direction along an elongated hole 51 a formed in the unit side plate 51.

The transport gripper left and right moving motor M8 is attached to the unit side plate 51, and the motor pulley 80,
The drive is transmitted to the through shaft 83 via the belt 81 and the pulley 82. On the through shaft 83, a drive pulley 84 is
Driven pulleys 8 that are attached one by one in the back and face each other
A belt 86 is stretched between the belt 5 and the belt 5. By fixing a part of the belt on the rear side plate 60 by the regulation member 87, the drive of the motor M8 is transmitted to the transport gripper 12 and the lateral movement is enabled.

Next, driving in the vertical direction of FIG. 17, that is, in the direction orthogonal to the sheet bundle conveyance will be described.

On the rear side plate 60, a transport gripper forward / backward movement motor M9 is attached via a base 88. The motor M9 via the motor pulley 89, the belt 90, and the pulley 91.
Is transmitted to the ball screw shaft 77. A similar screw is also threaded on the portion of the transport gripper 12 that engages with the ball screw shaft 77, so that the transport gripper can be moved forward and backward by rotating the ball screw shaft.

The position of the transport gripper 12 is determined by detecting the home position and the rotation amount of the motor. In the lateral direction of the transport gripper 12, the home position sensor S7 detects the protrusion 87a above the regulating member 87, and the sensor S8 that reads the encoder 92 of the motor M8.
Detects the amount of movement and stops at a predetermined position. on the other hand,
The forward / backward movement of the transport gripper 12 is stopped at a predetermined position by detecting a part of the transport gripper by the home position sensor S9, detecting the amount of movement by the sensor S10 that reads the encoder 93 of the motor M9.

Next, the forward / backward drive of the stapler 11 will be described (FIGS. 19 and 20). FIG. 19 is a left view of the stapler driving unit, and FIG. 20 is a top view.

In FIG. 19, the stapler 11 is a base 9
It is fixed on 4. A slider 95 is attached above the base 94. 2 for slider 95
Bearings for passing the shafts of the book are provided at four places. By fixing the two shafts of the shafts 96 and 97 between the front and rear side plates 50 and 51 of the unit, the stapler 11 is suspended and supported by the two shafts. Has been done. A motor base 98 is attached to the unit rear side plate 51 side, and a stapler forward / backward movement motor M10 is fixed to the motor base 98.

Motor gear 99, motor pulley 100, driven pulley 101, and belt 102 passed between both pulleys.
The drive of the motor M10 is transmitted to the unit of the stapler 11 via the slider 95 to which the belt 102 is fixed by the regulating member 103. This allows the staple unit to move in the direction of arrow J in FIG. The stapler 11 can be stopped at any position between the retracted position 1la on the front side and the retracted position 1lb on the back side. The position of the stapler 11 is set by the front position sensor Sll or the back position sensor Sl2.
It is determined by reading the encoder 104 of the motor M10 with the sensor S13 from the detection by.

Next, the structure of the stack unit 13 will be described (FIGS. 21, 23 and 24). 21 is a top view of the stack unit 13, FIG. 23 is a front view of the stack frame portion, and FIG. 24 is a left view.

First, in FIG. 21, the stack frame 105, which is the outer frame of the stack unit 13, is composed of four parts, namely a rear side plate 105a, then a left side plate 105b, a right side plate 105c, and a bottom plate 105d. Two elevating rollers 106 are attached to each of the outer surfaces of the left and right side plates 105b and 105c of the outer frame 105, a total of four, which are guided by rails 107 fixed to the main body. The rail 107 may be the same member as the rail 56 of the grip / staple unit 9 shown in FIG.

21 and 24, the left and right side plates 105
A chain 109 is fixed to a bent portion on the inner side of b and 105c by a fixing plate, and the left and right chains 109 are passed between upper and lower sprockets 110 and 111, respectively. The lower sprocket is connected by a penetrating shaft 112, and the drive of a stack frame lifting motor Mll fixed to the main body is transmitted to the penetrating shaft 112 by gears 113 and 114 to lift and lower the stack frame 105.

The stop position of the frame 105 is normally set to 2 in the grip / staple unit 9 shown in FIG.
In addition to two stop positions corresponding to one stop position (upper dashed line part and lower solid line part), a plurality of positions are set, such as a stacker tray pull-out position and a stacker limit number of sheets change described later. Normally, the home position of the stack frame 105 is a position corresponding to the upper module. Returning to FIG. 21, by reading the encoder 115 of the motor Mll with the sensor S14, it is possible to stop at the various set positions described above.

On the left side plate 105b of the stacker frame,
A stacker reference wall 117, which serves as a reference wall for the sheet bundle on the stack tray 116, is supported so as to be able to move up and down, and a pressing member 118 that presses the sheet bundle on the stack tray 116 from above is also supported.

The stacker reference wall 117 is normally located at the lower side, and moves upward to correspond to the change of the stacker limit number which will be described later.

The structure for raising and lowering the stack frame 105 is as follows.
As shown in FIG. 21, a total of four rollers 119 are provided on the reference wall side, two on the rear side and two on the front side.
It is vertically movable by being guided by rails 120 and 121 fixed to 5b.
Driven by Further, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 23, a guide roller 117a is rotatably supported on the reference wall 117, and the rear end of the sheet bundle has an upper inclined surface 1 of the reference wall 117.
It does not remain on 17b.

Further, a proximity prevention sensor Sl6 is attached to the upper end portion of the reference wall, detects the distance between the stack unit 13 and the upper gripper / stapling unit 9, and when the distance falls below a certain distance. , To prevent interference by controlling the driving in the direction of approaching each other. A stack height detection sensor Sl7 is attached to the side surface of the reference wall, and the stack top sheet is detected by Sl7,
The height of the stack tray 116 is controlled.

Next, the stack tray 116 will be described (FIGS. 21 and 22). FIG. 22 is a front view of the stack tray portion.

The stack tray 116 is gradually lowered inside the above-mentioned stack frame 105 so that the upper surface of the stack is always maintained.

In FIGS. 21 and 22, 128 is a rail fixed to both side plates of the stack frame 105.
The stack tray 116 is configured so that it can be pulled out from the stack tray base 129 by means of the accurride 130. U-shaped roller receiving plates 131 are attached to both end surfaces of the stack tray base 129, and two rollers 132 are respectively crimped and guided by rails 128. A rack is formed at one end of the rail 128 in the vertical direction, and a shaft 1 that penetrates the base 129 in the lateral direction is formed.
It is meshed with pinion gears 134 attached to both ends of 33. The stack tray lifting motor M13 is attached to the stack tray base 129 by the motor base 135, and the drive is input to the penetrating shaft 133 by the gears 136 and 137. An encoder 138 is attached to the other end of the motor M13 and is read by the sensor S15 to control the descending amount of the stack tray.

Based on the above configuration, the operation of each component will be described below. First, the basic operation of the device will be described.

First, an original is set on the original placing table 105 of the automatic original feeder 202 arranged in the copying machine main body 201 (FIG. 1), and a predetermined mode condition is input by an operation unit (not shown) to start. The key is pressed. Each unit of the sheet post-processing device 203 is controlled to be in a standby state in response to the start key pressing signal. Hereinafter, description will be given separately for each mode condition.

(A) Non-sort mode In FIG. 2, the deflector 3 is positioned in the direction of the solid line and the deflector 4 is positioned in the direction of the broken line, and the roller pair 8a existing from the first transport path 1 to the transport path 6 is present. 8b, 8c
A motor (not shown) is controlled so that the motor rotates. Of course, the upper roller pair in the folding device 204 is also rotated by a folding motor (not shown) to be in a sheet receivable state.

However, the standby operation may be performed after the copying operation described below and before the sheet is discharged from the copying machine main body 201. When the sheet post-processing apparatus is in the standby state, the original 206 shown in FIG.
7, the copying machine main body 201 enters the copying operation.

The first sheet that has undergone image formation processing in the copying machine main body 201 and is discharged passes through the upper path of the folding device 204 and enters the stapling / stacking device 205 from the carry-in port 215. The sheet is deflected vertically upward by the deflector 3, is conveyed vertically upward on the right side of the deflector 4, and is ejected onto the non-sort tray 5 by the ejection roller pair 8c.

(B) In case of sort mode Although special control may be performed depending on the sheet condition and the mode setting condition, the operation in the general sort mode will be described.

First, as a standby operation, the deflector 3 is positioned in the direction of the solid line and the deflector 4 is positioned in the direction of the solid line, and the rollers and 8 of the upper path of the folding device 204 are arranged.
The roller pairs a, 8b, and 8d to 8g rotate. The upper and lower bin modules B ₁ and B ₂ are shifted so that the uppermost bins B ₁₁ and B ₂₁ are located at positions facing the discharge roller pairs 8g and 8p. The alignment wall 15 of the bin module stands by at the home position corresponding to the width of the sheet.

Since the guide member for origami does not operate, it is checked that it is in the retracted position where it does not project to the bin side. Further, regarding the drive of the bin standing portion, the control device 270 checks that it is in the inoperative position.

The grip / staple unit 9 is located at a position corresponding to the sheet bundle removal of the upper bin module (see FIG. 2).
Move to the position (broken line) and wait.

The movable body in the grip / staple unit 9 will be described with reference to FIG. The first-out gripper 10 stands by at the position shown in FIG. 12 so as not to obstruct the sheet on the bin when the bin is moved up and down in the bin module located on the left side of the grip / staple unit 9.

Since the stapler 11 is not operated, the stapler 11 shown in FIG.
In 2, the robot moves to the front retracted position 11a indicated by the broken line. As shown by the broken line in FIG. 12, the transport gripper 12 grips the approximate center of the conveyed sheet bundle in the arrow F direction, and in the arrow G direction, the sheet advanced by the advance gripper 10 is advanced. The tip of the bundle stands by at a grippable position 12a.

The first gripper 10 and the transport gripper 12 stand by at the respective positions with the upper and lower grippers open.

Next, the stack unit 13 moves to the position shown by the broken line in FIG. 2 so that the stack of sheets conveyed by the grip / staple unit 9 can be received. In FIG. 23, the stack tray 116 inside the stack unit 13, the reference wall 117, and the pressing member 118 are positioned so that the upper surface of the stack tray 116 can receive the sheet bundle, and other positions corresponding to the stack tray 116. Move to. As shown in FIG. 23, the tip of the pressing member 118 is in a state of protruding toward the stack tray 116 side.

As described above, the sheet post-processing apparatus is placed in the standby state, the original is fed, the image is formed, and the sheet is fed, as in the non-sort mode. FIG.
Then, the first sheet passes through the upper path of the folding device, enters from the carry-in port 215, is conveyed to the upper part of the vertical 1 by the deflector 3, is further conveyed to the left side by the deflector 4, and is discharged onto the bin Bll by the discharging roller 8g. .

[0111] detects that the sheet of the first sheet to the bin Bll in discharge sensor Sl8 is discharged, the bottle is shifted to one bin upwards, the bin B ₁₂ rises in sea Bok stowed position.
When the sheets having the same image are discharged to all the bins of the upper module by repeating the above operation, the original is replaced, and 2
An image is formed on the first original. As for the bin of the upper module, the lowermost bin (B _{16 in} FIG. 2) is at the sheet accommodation position, and the second sheet is accommodated in order from the lowermost bin. The above operation is repeated for all originals, and the operation for accommodating the sheets in the bin is completed. In this end state, if the number of originals is odd, the lowermost bin B ₁₆ is at the sheet storage position, and if the number of originals is even, the uppermost bin B ₁₁ is at the sheet storage position.

Next, the operation for taking out the sheet bundle from the bin is started. In the present embodiment, in the upper module,
The position where the sheet bundle is taken out, that is, the gripper / stapling unit 9 is on standby is a position that is two bins below the sheet storage position. Therefore, although the control of the stack take-out order changes depending on whether the number of originals is odd or even, details will not be described here.

The sheets stacked on the bin are aligned with the reference rods 14a, 14b on the front side shown in FIG. 4 by operating the alignment wall 15 in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance. When sorting and alignment are completed, the sheet bundle S on the bin
The first-out gripper 10 that holds the sheet gripper moves the first-out gripper 10 from the solid line position to the broken line position in FIG. 13, and then holds the sheet bundle S. The bin standing portion Bj shown in FIG. 11 is opened by the solenoid SLl and the sheet bundle can be conveyed.

The sheet bundle has the reference rod 14 shown in FIG. 4 on the front side.
1 a and 14 b, and the alignment rod 15 on the back side,
Both sides are regulated by the two guide members 53a, and the lower side is guided by the bin surface and the tilted bin standing surface, the guide stay 53, and the upper direction by the guide stay 52, and is conveyed rightward in the drawing. . Then, it stops at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 13, where the advance gripper 10 and the transport gripper 1
The bundle between the two is delivered.

First, the transport gripper 12, which has been waiting in the open position at the broken line in FIG. 12, holds the substantially central portion of the sheet bundle. Next, the first-out gripper 10 releases the clamp and prepares for the next conveyance. The transport gripper 12 is driven in the right direction of the arrow G in FIG. 12 to transport the sheet bundle in the right direction, and stops at an appropriate position according to the size. From this state, the transport gripper 12 is opened and the leading end of the sheet bundle is also dropped onto the stack tray.

Next, when the second bundle of sheets is being conveyed, the conveyance gripper 12 holds the substantially central portion of the sheet bundle,
The operation up to the point where the bundle is transferred between the grippers is the same as that of the first bundle, so only the subsequent operation will be described.

After delivering the bundle, the transport gripper 12 moves by a predetermined amount in the direction of arrow F in FIG. At this time, the reference rod, the alignment wall, and the guide member 53a may escape so that the trailing edge of the sheet bundle is not regulated. Further, after the trailing edge of the sheet bundle is completely removed from these width regulating members, The transport gripper 12 may be moved in the arrow F direction. By this movement, when stacking the sheet bundle on the stack tray 116, it is possible to identify the sheet bundle from the first sheet bundle.

With respect to the sheet bundle stacked on the stack tray 116, the uppermost surface thereof is always detected by the sensor,
The stack tray 1116 is gradually lowered and controlled so that the distance between the upper grip / stapling unit 9 and the uppermost stacking surface is always constant.

Regarding the sheet bundle on the stack tray 116, the sheet bundle can be arbitrarily taken out when the stack unit 13 is not in operation. When the operator presses a take-out button (not shown), the stack unit 13 moves to the take-out position, and only the stack take-out cover can be opened and closed.

Further, after taking out the sheet bundle, the processing can be continued by closing the cover.

(C) Staple sort mode Since the conveyance of the sheet and the sheet bundle is the same as the case of the sort mode described above, the description thereof will be omitted. Here, the movement control of the stapler will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 19, the stapler 11 can be stopped at any position between the front retracted position 1la and the rear retracted position 1lb.

(C)-(i) Single front binding mode In the non-stapling mode, the stapler 11 was at the front retracted position 1la, but if the front single binding mode was selected, 11 is shown in FIG. 12 and FIG.
It waits at the position of 1 lc shown in 9. As shown in FIG. 12, even when the stapler is at the position of 1 lc, the transport grippers 12 can stand by at the position of 12 a without interfering with each other. After the stapler 11 performs the stapling operation on the sheet bundle conveyed by the first-out gripper 10,
The sheet bundle is moved to the retracted position 1la on the front side, and then the sheet bundle is conveyed to the right by the conveyance gripper 12. When the trailing edge of the sheet bundle comes out of the moving area of the staple 11, the stapler 11 moves again to the single binding position 1lc,
Wait for the next stack of sheets.

(C)-(ii) In the case of binding at two places The binding positions at two positions are various depending on the size in the width direction of the sheet bundle, but there are two positions of stapler positions 1ld and 1le shown in FIGS. 12 and 19. It is assumed that there is a size in which is the binding position. Also in this case, as shown in FIG. 12, even if the stapler is located at either 1ld or 1le, it does not interfere with the position of the transport gripper 12a. At the time of standby for binding at two places, the stapler moves from the retracted position 1la on the front side to the driving position 1ld on the front side of the two places and waits.
At this time, the transport gripper 12 stands by at the position of the solid line 12b.

When the sheet bundle is conveyed by the first-out gripper 10, the first-out gripper 10 staples the front sheet at the position 1ld while holding the sheet bundle. Next, the stapler 11 moves to the position of 1 le and staples the two positions on the back side. When the stapler 11 moves from the position 1ld to the position 1le, the transport gripper 12 immediately enters the holding position 12a from the standby position 12b. Then, the transport gripper 12 holds the sheet bundle, while the first-out gripper 10
Releases the sheet bundle. The stapler performs the second stapling operation at the position of 1le and then moves to the retracted position 1lb on the back side.

When the trailing edge of the first bundle of sheets passes through the stapler moving area, the stapler 11 moves from the retracted position 1lb to the staple position 1le on the far side and receives the second bundle of sheets. This time, after hitting the back side of the two places first, it moves to the position ld in front. The transport gripper 12
Like the first bundle, hit the first place and staple the second place.
It waits at the position 12b until 1 is moved, then moves to 12a, waits for the retracting operation of the stapler 111 to the near side, and the bundle of sheets is conveyed. As mentioned above, 2
At the time of stapling, the processing time is shortened by alternating the retracted position of the stapler between the front side and the back side.

(C)-(iii) In the case of binding at one place in the back In this case, binding is performed only on the back side of the paper size center. Therefore, the stapler is set at the back side in the reverse order of (C)-(i). The retreat position 11b on the side and the binding position are reciprocated. In a first embodiment of the <second embodiment> The above, first-out clipper 10 has been gripping the aligning reference edge S ₁ on the front side of the sheet bundle, the rear side and the side edge S ₃ of shown in FIG. 12, The side edge S ₄ on the upstream side in the bundle conveying direction indicated by a virtual line may be gripped.

In addition, a plurality of transport grippers 12 may be provided,
The transport gripper 12 may be configured to freely move the edge of the sheet, and the grip position may be selectively determined depending on the paper size and the post-processing mode. <Third Embodiment> In the first embodiment described above, the edge S where the advance clipper 10 and the transport gripper 12 intersect at right angles to each other.
_{Although 1} and S ₂ were gripped and conveyed, the gripping position need not be limited to these edges and combinations, and even if they are conveyed at different orthogonal edges, parallel edges or the same edge. Good. For example, when the stack unit 13 is arranged not on the right side of the stapler 11 but on the front side thereof, the conveyance gripper 12 performs the nipping conveyance on the downstream side in the conveyance direction, that is, along the alignment reference edge S ₁ shown in FIG. You may do it. In this case, the transport gripper 12 holds the same edge as the first-out clipper 10. <Fourth Embodiment> In the first embodiment, the sheets S on the bin are aligned by the front side reference, and the front side reference edge is nipped and conveyed by the first-out gripper 10, and the conveyance gripper 12 moves in the width direction of each size. The sheet near the center position is nipped and conveyed, but the sheets on the bin may be aligned with reference to the center. In this case, the transport gripper 12 needs to be configured to be movable in the front-back direction, but on the contrary, the transport gripper 12 may be fixed to the center of the sheet alignment position and moved only in the transport direction.

[0129]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It has the following effects.

(1) The sheet bundle on the stacking means on which the sheets output from the output device are stacked is conveyed to the post-processing means by the first bundle sandwiching means, and the sheet bundle after the post-processing is sandwiched by the second bundle. The sheet bundle is conveyed to the stacker means by the means, and the portion other than the side edge portion where the sheet bundle faces the post-processing means is nipped and conveyed by the first bundle nipping means. Therefore, the stacking means is returned to the empty state and the sheets are conveyed. It is possible to stack and store again, it is possible to stack a large number of sheet bundles without lowering the productivity and operating efficiency of the output device, and it is possible to increase the degree of freedom in the position of action of the post-processing means on the sheet bundle. it can.

(2) The second bundle nipping means for nipping and conveying the post-processed sheet bundle to the stacker means nips and conveys the side edge portion of the sheet bundle on the downstream side in the conveying direction. Can be stably nipped and conveyed to the stacker means without buckling or skewing.

(3) Of the alignment reference edges for aligning the sheet bundle on the stacking means, the side edge of the sheet bundle facing the post-processing means is
Since it is one of the alignment reference edges for aligning the sheet bundle on the stacking means, the alignment reference edge of the sheet bundle is subjected to post-processing by the post-processing means, so that the sheet bundle is not bound or fixed. The reliability of post-processing such as gluing increases. The supporting portion of the stacking unit that supports the alignment reference edge of the sheet bundle facing the post-processing unit can be configured by, for example, a continuous wall surface by not requiring a post-processing cutout, It is possible to prevent the alignment disorder when aligning the sheet bundle of the sheet size of.

(4) The first bundle pinching means for pulling out the sheet bundle on the stacking means is a side edge other than the alignment reference edge for post-processing the sheet bundle, and is close to the post-processing means. Since the sheet is sandwiched and conveyed to the side of the post-processing means, it is possible to prevent sheet disorder in the sheet bundle during post-processing by the post-processing means,
Moreover, the operating position of the post-processing means of the post-processing means can always be stabilized at a fixed position.

Further, since the second bundle pinching means nips the substantially central portion of the sheet bundle post-processed by the post-processing means and conveys it to the stacking means, when the sheet bundle is conveyed by the second bundle nipping means. The posture of the sheet bundle can be kept stable, and the disturbance of the sheets can be minimized when the sheet bundle is stored in the stacker.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional front view of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention and an image forming apparatus main body to which the sheet post-processing apparatus is connected.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional front view of the sheet post-processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bin module.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the bin module.

5 (a) is a front view of a bin module, FIG.
(B) The figure is a front view of a bin module (comparative view).

FIG. 6 is an operation diagram of the same bottle.

FIG. 7 is an operation diagram of the same bottle.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the matching wall driving unit.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the matching wall driving unit.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the bin standing portion drive unit.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the bin standing portion drive unit.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the grip / staple unit.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the grip / staple unit.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the gripper portion.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of the first-out gripper driving unit.

FIG. 16 is a side view of the first-out gripper driving unit.

FIG. 17 is a plan view of the transport gripper driving unit.

FIG. 18 is a side view of the transport gripper driving unit.

FIG. 19 is a left side view of the staple unit driving portion in FIG.

FIG. 20 is a plan view of the staple unit driving portion.

FIG. 21 is a plan view of the stack unit.

FIG. 22 is a front view of a stack tray of the same.

FIG. 23 is a front view of the stack unit.

FIG. 24 is a left side view of the drive unit of the stack unit in FIG. 21.

[Explanation of symbols]

S sheet (sheet bundle) S ₁ Alignment reference edge on the front side of the sheet bundle S ₂ Side edge (alignment reference edge) where the sheet bundle S faces the stapler 11 B ₁ (B _{11 to} B _1n ) First bin module B ₂ (B ₂₁ .about.B _2n) second bin module _{B 11 ~B 16, B 21 ~B} 26 bins (stacking means) Bj bottle matching section 9 grip / stapling unit 10 first-out gripper (first feeding means) 11 Stapler (post-processing means) 12 Conveyor gripper (second bundle holding means) 13 Stack unit (stacking means) 201 Copier main body (image forming apparatus main body) 203 as an output device 203 Sheet post-processing device 204 Folding device 205 Staple / stack Device 271 Ejection roller of copy machine body

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A sheet having stacking means for storing sheets discharged from the sheet output device, post-processing means for performing post-processing on the sheet bundle, and stacking means capable of accommodating the post-processed sheet bundle in an overlapping manner. In the post-processing apparatus, a first bundle pinching means for transferring the sheet bundle from the stacking means to the post-processing means operating position, and a bundle moving for transferring the sheet bundle in the post-processing means operating position to the stacking means. 2. A sheet post-processing apparatus, comprising: two bundle-holding means, wherein the first bundle-holding means sandwiches and conveys a side edge portion of the sheet bundle other than a side edge facing the post-processing means. 2. The second bundle nipping means nips and conveys a portion along the side edge on the downstream side in the sheet bundle conveyance direction from the post-processing means operating position of the sheet bundle to the stacking means. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to Item 1. 3. The side edge of the sheet bundle facing the post-processing means is one of the alignment reference edges of the sheet bundle on the stacking means, and the aligning portion of the stacking means supporting the alignment reference edge. 2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is configured continuously. 4. The first bundle nipping means nips and conveys a portion of the sheet bundle along a side edge other than the side edge facing the post-processing means and in a position close to the post-processing means. The second bundle sandwiching means is a portion along the side edge on the downstream side in the sheet bundle conveying direction from the sheet bundle post-processing means to the stacking means, and the side edge is substantially formed depending on the size of the sheet bundle. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet is nipped and conveyed at the center. 5. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the post-processing unit is a binding stopper or a hole puncher for the side edge of the sheet bundle. 6. An image forming apparatus including an image forming apparatus main body as a sheet output apparatus having an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet, and the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1. .