JPH09315669A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove a staple needle easily from a sheet bundle bound by the staple needle. SOLUTION: In an image forming device which has an image forming means for forming an image on a sheet carried by a sheet carrying means and a delivery tray for storing the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming means and a stapler for placing a staple needle in the sheet bundle stored in the delivery tray, the device comprises a staple mode selecting means 50 for designating a placing position of the staple needle to the sheet bundle and a sewing device 12 for pertorating in curve shaped or folded line shaped on the sheet carried by the sheet carrying means so as to surround a stable needle placing position designated by the staple mode selection means 50 between sides of the sheet.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates to a copier, a printing machine,
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, and is particularly suitable for application to an image forming apparatus equipped with a stapler that drives a staple into a sheet bundle after image formation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus of this kind, a sorting function for sorting image-formed sheets by page order or for each page and a staple for a bundle of sorted sheets are provided. A device having a driving stapler is known.

In such an image forming apparatus,
The stapler is driven in a state in which the bundle of sheets distributed on each bin for sorting is aligned, and thereby the staple needle is driven into a predetermined position of the bundle of sheets. However, at the stage of collecting and recycling unnecessary paper,
It is necessary to remove the staples from the bundle of sheets for separate collection of combustibles and incombustibles. Further, even when the sheet is cut by a cutting machine for keeping confidentiality, it is necessary to remove the staple from the sheet bundle to avoid the failure of the cutting machine.

[0004]

However, since the staple needle driven by the stapler is very hard and cannot be easily removed, it is very troublesome to remove the staple needle when recycling or cutting the paper. Was becoming. In addition, perforated paper is also commercially available for the purpose of separating and folding the paper,
Since all the sheets are perforated in a straight line, there are the following inconveniences when handling such perforated sheets in the image forming apparatus.
That is, since the paper is very easy to be folded at the perforations, there is a possibility that the folded portion of the paper may be caught when the paper is conveyed, and paper jam may occur frequently. In addition, when aligning the sheets on the bin, the sheets may be misaligned due to the folding of the sheets at the perforations, and during the stapling process, the perforations of the sheets may swell and the staple head may be caught there. There was

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of easily removing staples from a bundle of sheets bound by staples. Especially.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and an image forming means for forming an image on a sheet conveyed by a sheet conveying means and an image formed by the image forming means. In an image forming apparatus including an ejection tray for accommodating formed sheets and a stapler for ejecting staples into a bundle of sheets accommodated in the ejection tray, a staple mode for designating a position where the staples are ejected to the bundle of sheets A curved or polygonal perforation is formed on the sheet conveyed by the selecting means and the sheet conveying means so as to enclose the driving position of the staple specified by the staple mode selecting means between the side of the sheet. A structure provided with perforation processing means is adopted.

In the image forming apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, when the staple mode selecting means designates the driving position of the staple needle with respect to the sheet bundle, the perforation processing means performs the above-mentioned operation on the sheet conveyed by the sheet conveying means. A curved or polygonal perforation is inserted so as to surround the staple needle driving position with the side of the sheet. Further, with respect to the sheet bundle accommodated in the discharge tray, the stapler drives the staple needle into the area surrounded by the perforation and the side of the sheet. This makes it possible to easily remove the staples from the bundle of papers by simply cutting a part of the papers at the perforations when reusing or cutting unnecessary papers. Also,
Since the perforations in the paper form a curved line or a fold line, the paper itself is very difficult to fold.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a copying machine with a sorter as an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the copying machine main body 1
A staple sorter (hereinafter, simply referred to as a sorter) 2 is connected to the paper discharge side of the paper, and the paper on which the image is formed in the image forming unit in the copying machine main body 1 is from the direction indicated by an arrow A in the drawing.
It is sent to the side. On the other hand, as the sheet conveying means on the sorter 2 side, the first sheet conveying path 5a for guiding the sheet to the top tray 4 and the sorting gate 3b driven by the gate solenoid 3a for branching the conveying path are used as branch points. It is divided into a second paper transport path 5b for guiding the paper to the sorter bins (discharge trays) 6, 6, ..., And a roll group for transporting the paper and discharging the paper at appropriate places on the respective paper transport paths 5a, 5b. Is provided. Further, as a rotational drive source for these roll groups, a first conveyor motor 7 is incorporated above the sorter 2 and a second conveyor motor 8 is incorporated below it.

Further, near the gate 3b, a paper take-in sensor 9 for detecting that the paper discharged from the copying machine main body 1 has been taken into the sorter 2 side is arranged. A first paper passage sensor 10 for detecting passage of the paper discharged to the top tray 4 is arranged at the exit portion of the first paper conveyance path 5a branched from the gate 3b.
On the other hand, a second paper passage sensor 11 for detecting the passage of the paper discharged to the sorter bins 6, 6, ... Is disposed at the exit portion of the second paper transport path 5b.

In addition, the sawing unit 1 as a perforation processing means is provided at an intermediate point of the second sheet conveying path 5b.
2 are provided. This sewing unit 12
A perforation process is applied to a sheet on which an image is formed in the image forming section of the copying machine body 1.
2a is arranged so as to face the second sheet transport path 5b. Further, above the sawing unit 12 (upstream side of the conveying path), a sawing entrance sensor 13 for detecting passage of the paper toward the sawing unit 12 is arranged.

Here, the sewing unit 12 abuts the sawing head portion 12a with a spring pressure on the outer peripheral surface of a disc cam 12b axially mounted on a rotary shaft (not shown), and regulates the rotational movement of the rotary shaft. By releasing the mechanism by driving a sawing solenoid (described later), the sewing head portion 12a can be projected toward the second sheet conveying path 5b side as the disc cam 12b rotates. Further, a saw-shaped cutting blade corresponding to a perforation processing line described later is provided at the tip of the sewing head portion 12a, and the cutting blade is pierced by the sewing operation of the sewing head portion 12a to pierce the sheet. It is designed to be eye-processed.

Incidentally, as a drive source (rotational drive source) of the sawing unit 12, a dedicated drive motor or the like may be separately incorporated, but in consideration of the simplification of the configuration of the mechanical parts and the control system, for example, It is preferable to interpose a belt transmission mechanism between the first conveying motor 7 and the sawing unit 12 and thereby use the first conveying motor 7 as a drive source for the sawing unit 12.

On the other hand, below the second sheet conveying path 5b,
A stapler 14 for binding sheets is incorporated.
The stapler 14 performs so-called stapling by driving a staple into a bundle of sheets sorted by a sheet sorting unit described later. The stapler 14 is supported so as to be capable of reciprocating between two staple processing positions detected by the position sensors 15 a and 15 b and a staple retracted position detected by the position sensor 16. Further, above the exit of the second paper transport path 5b, a guide solenoid 1 for guiding the paper when the paper is discharged from the second paper transport path 5b to an arbitrary sorter bin 6.
7 are provided.

On the other hand, the sorting means having a plurality of sorter bins 6 includes a tamper 18 for aligning sheets, a tamper motor 19 for driving the tamper 18, and a bin motor 20 for raising and lowering the plurality of sorter bins 6 arranged in multiple stages. I have it. Then, the bin motor 20 is driven to connect an arbitrary sorter bin 6 to the exit portion of the second sheet transport path 5b, and the tamper motor 19 is used to tamper the tamper 18.
It is configured such that the sheets can be sorted and discharged to an arbitrary sorter bin 6 while being driven to drive the sheets to be aligned. By the way,
As the setting mode of the sorting means, there are a collating mode in which image-formed sheets are stored in the sorter bin 6 in the order of pages of a document, and a stacking mode in which the image-formed sheets are stored in the sorter bin 6 for each page of the document. is there.

Further, a pair of bin paper sensors 21a, 2a coaxially opposed to each other are provided at the upper and lower ends of the sorter 2.
1b is provided. These bin paper sensors 21
One of a and 21b serves as a light emitting portion and the other serves as a light receiving portion. On the other hand, on the tip side (left side in the figure) of each sorter bin 6, the bin paper sensor 21
Holes or slits for paper detection are provided on the opposite axes of a and 21b. Thus, when a sheet is stored in any one of the sorter bins 6, the sensor light of the bin paper sensors 21a and 21b is blocked by the interposition of the sheet, so that the bin paper sensors 21a and 21b.
21b detects that there is a sheet in one of the sorter bins 6. Further, limit switches 22 and 23 are provided near the bin paper sensors 21a and 21b, corresponding to the upper and lower limit positions of the sorter bin 6, and when the limit switches 22 and 23 are turned on by the sorter bin 6, The drive of the bin motor 20 is forcibly turned off.

In the sorting means described above, for example, NO.1, NO.2, ...
・ When numbered as NO.19, NO.20, the highest No. 1 sorter bin 6 is connected to the exit of the second sheet transport path 5b, and the lowest NO. 20 sorter bin 6 is The state detected by the bin home sensor 24 is the reference position. The bin position confirmation sensor 25 confirms the stop position of the sorter bin 6 each time the bin position is raised by one step by driving the bin motor 23. further,
The bin arrangement at the reference position is the down position (home position), and the bin arrangement in which the NO.20 sorter bin 6 is raised to the same height as the NO.1 bin position at the reference position is the upper position.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 26 is an interlock switch for detecting that the sorter 2 is connected to the copying machine main body 1, 27 is an operation panel for the operator to select various modes of the sorter 2, and Reference numeral 28 is an interlock switch for detecting the open / closed state of the bin cover 29.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the input / output system of the sorter. The input / output system shown is centered on the CPU 30,
ROM31, RAM32, input / output side input / output port (I / O) 33, output (OUTPUT) side input / output (I / O)
It comprises a port 34 and a general-purpose asynchronous receiver-transmitter (hereinafter, UART) 35. CPU30
Uses the RAM 32 as needed according to the control program written in the ROM 31 and
3 receives a signal from a sensor group (described later) via the port 3, and outputs a control signal to the driver group via the port 34 on the output side to control the entire sorter. In addition, the received data is transferred to the copying machine main body 1 through a transmission line (RXD).
While receiving the transfer data from the UART 35 to the UART 35 via the receiver 36, the transfer data is sent from the UART 35 to the transmission line (TXD) for data transfer via the driver 37, thereby exchanging each status, instruction signal, and the like.

On the other hand, as the sensor group connected to the input side port 33, the above-mentioned paper intake sensor 9, first paper passage sensor 10, second paper passage sensor 11, sewing inlet sensor 13, Staple position sensor 15
a, 15b, non-staple position sensor 16, bin paper sensors 21a, 21b, bin home sensor 24, bin position confirmation sensor 25, tamper home sensor 38 for detecting the reference position of tamper 18, opening / closing of staple head. Staple home sensor 3 for detecting the condition
9, a sewing home sensor 40 for detecting the reference position of the sawing unit 12, a switching position sensor 41 for detecting the gate switching position, a staple paper sensor 42 for detecting the presence / absence of paper on the staple head, and an angle of the staple head. There is a staple angle sensor 43 and the like.

On the other hand, as the load group connected to the output side port 34 via the driver, the above-described first carrying motor 7, second carrying motor 8, tamper motor 19 and bin motor 20 are provided. In addition to the gate solenoid 3a and the guide solenoid 17, the staple motor 44 for driving the stapler 14 and the staple head for moving the staple head between the staple processing position and the staple retract position are provided.
Drive the staple conveying motor 45, the second staple conveying motor 46 that shifts the position of the staple head along the side of the sheet bundle, the staple angle changing motor 47 that rotates the staple head to change the staple angle, and the sawing unit 12. There are a sewing solenoid 48 that is turned on / off, a sewing movement motor 49 that moves the sewing unit 12 to a perforation processing position, and the like.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the control system of the image forming apparatus in this embodiment. In the configuration of the control system shown in the figure, the stapling mode selecting means 50 is for designating the driving position of the stapling needle with respect to the bundle of sheets on which images have been formed. It is composed of the panel 27 and the like. The stapling mode selecting means 50 selects whether or not the stapling process can be performed, the size of the sheet to be stapled, and the staple needle driving position (stapling position) by manual operation by the operator.

Here, as a general stapling mode, a corner mode in which a staple needle is obliquely driven into a corner portion of a sheet with respect to a designated size sheet bundle, or a staple needle along the side of the sheet is provided in the corner portion of the sheet. There are three modes such as a single mode for driving and a double mode for driving staples at two positions along the side of the paper. Therefore, for example, when the A4 size corner mode is selected, as shown in FIG. 4, the staple needle driving position is designated at the corner C of the sheet P, and the double mode is selected even for the same A4 size. Shows that the driving position of the staple is W, W in FIG.
Will be specified in the position.

The staple mode storage means 51 stores the staple mode selected by the staple mode selection means 50, and the staple mode stored therein is given to the staple control means 52 as control information. The staple control means 52 drives and controls the staple driving means 53 based on the control information given from the stale mode storing means 51. By driving the staple driving means 53, the stapler 14 executes the stapling process. Has become.

Further, the staple mode selected by the staple mode selecting means 50 is provided to the perforation mode selecting means 54 together with the staple mode storing means 51. The perforation mode selection means 54 automatically selects the perforation processing mode corresponding to the staple needle driving position designated by the staple mode selection means 50, and the selected perforation processing mode is control information. Is given to the perforation processing control means 55.

The perforation processing control means 55 drives and controls the sewing driving means 56 and the sewing moving means 57, which are the drive system of the sewing unit 12, based on the perforation processing mode given from the perforation mode selection means 54. It is a thing. Of these, the sewing drive means 5
Reference numeral 6 corresponds to the above-mentioned sewing solenoid 48 for turning on / off the projecting operation of the sewing head portion 12a. The sewing driving means 56 drives the sewing head portion 12a to project the perforated sheet. It is like this. On the other hand, the sewing moving means 5
Reference numeral 7 is for moving the sawing head portion 12a in a direction orthogonal to the paper transporting direction on the second paper transporting path 5b. By driving the sawing moving means 57, the perforation processing position for the paper is set. It has become.

Next, the processing operation of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, on the copying machine main body 1 side, a sheet is conveyed by a sheet conveying unit (not shown), and an original image is formed on the sheet by the image forming unit. Next, the image-formed sheet is fed from the copying machine body 1 side to the sorter 2 side in the direction of arrow A in the figure. Then, the sheet take-in sensor 9 detects that the sheet is taken into the sorter 2 side. At this time, if the staple mode selecting means 50 of the control system selects, for example, the A4 size corner mode as the staple mode, the switching operation of the gate 3b accompanying the driving of the gate solenoid 3a causes the second sheet conveying path 5b side. The paper is guided to.

Next, when the leading edge of the sheet is detected by the sawing entrance sensor 13, the sheet is driven by the first and second conveying motors 7 and 8 based on the time point, so that the sheet is conveyed to the second sheet conveying path. After being conveyed by a predetermined amount on 5b, it is stopped at a predetermined position corresponding to the paper size. At this time, the rear end side of the sheet faces the sawing head portion 12a of the sawing unit 12 in the sheet conveying direction.

On the other hand, on the sewing unit 12 side, the sewing moving means 57 is driven by the control operation of the perforation processing control means 55 based on the staple mode until the sheet is stopped at the predetermined position. As a result, the position of the sewing head portion 12a is the driving position of the staple needle, in this case C shown in FIG.
It is set according to the position of. Then, at the same time when the sheet is stopped at a predetermined position, the perforation processing control means 55 drives the sewing drive means 56, and the sewing head 12a is projected by the perforation processing means 56, which causes the sheet to move, for example, as shown in FIG. Arc-shaped perforations L are inserted in the corners.

The perforation L is the sewing head 1
5A, which follows the line shape of a saw-shaped cutting blade provided at the tip of 2a, and the processing line corresponds to the staple needle driving position C designated by the staple mode selecting means 50 as shown in FIG. As shown in a), the driving position C is set in an arc shape so as to surround it between the sides E of the sheet P.

Subsequently, the sheet is further conveyed by re-driving the second conveying motor 8, and the second sheet passage sensor 11
Then, the sheet is discharged from the exit portion of the second sheet transport path 5b. At this time, the sorter bin 6 of the designated NO. Corresponding to the collating mode or the stack mode is waiting to be connected to the exit portion of the second sheet conveying path 5b, and the perforated sheet is accommodated in this sorter bin 6. To be done. Thereafter, the subsequent perforations (image-formed) are also subjected to the same perforation processing by the sawing unit 12 during the transportation, and then sequentially stored in the sorter bin 6 of the designated NO. Corresponding to the collating mode or the stack mode. To be done.

After that, when the designated number of sheets of paper are distributed and accommodated in the sorter bin 6 of the designated NO., The staple drive means 53 is driven by the control operation of the staple control means 52 based on the staple mode. As a result, the stapler 14 moves to the staple needle driving position designated by the staple mode selecting means 50, and advances to the staple processing position detected by the pair of position sensors 15a and 15b, where the staple head is moved. By the opening / closing operation, the staple needle is driven into the bundle of sheets on the sorter bin 6. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5B, the staple needle S is driven by the stapler 14 into the area surrounded by the sides E, E and the perforations L of each sheet P, and the staple needle S is used to sort the bin 6. The bundle of upper sheets P is bound.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the staple mode selecting means 50 designates the driving position of the staples with respect to the sheet bundle, with respect to the sheet P conveyed along the second sheet conveying path 5b, By driving the sewing unit 12 serving as a perforation processing means, an arc-shaped perforation L is formed so as to surround the driving position C of the staple with the sides E of the paper P. At the time of recycling or cutting, the staple needle S can be easily removed by simply cutting off a part of the paper P at the perforation L.

Further, since the perforations L are formed on the paper P in an arc shape, the paper P itself is very difficult to fold despite the perforations L being inserted. Therefore, it is possible to avoid various problems caused by the folding of the paper, that is, the occurrence of a paper jam, the misalignment of the paper on the sorter bin 6, and the jamming of the paper stack and the staple head.

In the above embodiment, the perforation line formed by the perforation processing means is such that arc-shaped perforations L are provided at the corners of the paper P, but the same effect is obtained in addition to this. The following forms are conceivable as the obtained ones. For example, the same effect can be obtained by assuming a virtual straight line surrounding the staple needle driving position between the sides E and E of the paper P and inserting a wavy perforation along the virtual straight line. In addition to such curved perforations, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the same effect can be obtained by inserting a fold line perforation L at the corner portion of the paper P corresponding to the driving position C of the staple.

Further, when the single mode is selected as the staple mode, there is a slight deviation in the staple needle driving position from that in the corner mode described above. However, considering that there is not so much difference between the driving positions of the staples on both sides, it is simpler to configure the device by making a perforation at the same position in both modes. It is suitable for the above.

On the other hand, when the double mode is selected as the staple mode, as shown in FIG. 7, a curve is formed so as to be surrounded by the side E of the sheet P corresponding to the driving positions W and W of the staples. -Shaped (arc shape in the figure) perforation L
Should be inserted. Further, even when the double mode is selected, the perforation processing line is not limited to a curved line, and, for example, as shown in FIGS. You may make it insert a polygonal perforation L.

By the way, if a cutting edge for perforation processing having a circular or square line shape in front view is provided at the tip of the sewing head portion 12a, the staple mode can be selected from single mode, corner mode and double mode. Even if it is selected, it is possible to insert curved or polygonal perforations using the common sewing head portion 12a.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the apparatus configuration provided with the sorting means having a plurality of discharge trays (sorter bins and the like) has been described as an example, but the present invention is not particularly provided with the sorting means. However, the present invention can be applied to any image forming apparatus provided with a stapler that drives a staple into a bundle of sheets stored in the discharge tray.

[0039]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the driving position of the staple needle designated by the staple mode selecting means is set on the sheet conveyed by the sheet conveying means. By providing perforation processing means that inserts curved or polygonal perforations so as to surround it with the edges of the paper, when the unnecessary paper is recycled or cut, the perforations are used as boundaries. It is possible to easily remove the staples from the bundle of papers by cutting off only a part. In addition, since curved or polygonal perforations are inserted in the paper, even perforated paper is very difficult to fold, so problems such as paper jam occurrence and paper misalignment due to paper folding are avoided. can do. Further, when the paper is recycled, only the area where the staple is driven is cut off, so that the paper can be recycled with a very high recovery rate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a copying machine with a sorter to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an input / output system of a sorter.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a control system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a driving position of a staple.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of perforation processing.

FIG. 6 is a view (No. 1) showing a modified example of perforation processing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram (No. 2) showing a modified example of perforation processing.

FIG. 8 is a view (No. 3) showing a modified example of perforation processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Copier main body 2 Sorter 6 Sorter bin (discharge tray) 12 Sewing unit (perforation processing means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet conveyed by a sheet conveying unit, a discharge tray for storing the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming unit, and a sheet bundle stored in the discharge tray. An image forming apparatus comprising: a stapler for driving staple needles into a sheet, a staple mode selecting unit for designating a driving position of the staple needle with respect to the sheet bundle, and a staple mode for a sheet conveyed by the sheet conveying unit. An image forming apparatus comprising: a perforation processing unit that inserts a curved or polygonal perforation so as to surround the staple needle driving position designated by the mode selection unit with the side of the sheet. apparatus.