JPH0971363A - Sheet after-treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid unnecessary suspension of a sheet treatment means by stopping the sheet treatment means in the case when abnormality of the sheet treatment means is detected, selecting another sheet treatment means to simultaneously stop treatment by a slection means in accordance with a position and stopping the selected sheet treatment means. SOLUTION: In the case where there is a residual sheet on a Pb part or a Pc part downstream when jamming occurs by sheet carrying treatment at a Pa part upstream from a sheet aftertreatment device, carrying motors M15, M16 are not simultaneously stopped, they are stopped after the sheet is discharged, and removal work of the residual sheet is avoided. Additionally, when jamming occurs by sheet carrying treatment of the Pb part or the Pc part downstream, a carrying motor M14 of the Pa downstream is stopped, and only necessary sheet carrying treatment is suspended. Furthermore, at the time when abnormality occurs on a bundle treatment unit, sheet carrying treatment is properly suspended without leaving the sheet by stopping the carrying motors M14, M15, M16 after discharging the residual sheet at each part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a sheet post-processing apparatus, one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-138291 is known. This sheet post-processing apparatus is a sorter that sorts the sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus into a plurality of bins, a stapler that binds the sheets sorted in each bin, and a sheet stack installed between the image forming apparatus and the sorter. Unit, a paper transport path for transporting paper from the image forming apparatus to the sorter, a discharge unit for discharging the paper from the bin to the stack unit, and a drive unit for moving each bin to the discharge unit. The sorted sheets are discharged as they are or after stapled to the stack section. In such a sheet post-processing apparatus, when an abnormality occurs in some of the sheet conveying means,
The entire device was stopped.

Further, in another sheet post-processing apparatus, when a jam occurs, the paper on the upstream side of the jammed paper is discharged using another path.

[0004]

However, when the entire apparatus is stopped, the sheet due to the stop remains in the transport path, so the user has to remove the remaining sheet, and the complicated removal work is required. It was accompanied.

Further, in any of the above-described sheet post-processing devices, even a part which does not have to be stopped is stopped, so that there is a problem that the sheet processing is stopped in the middle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus which eliminates the work of removing the residual sheet due to the stoppage and can solve the problem that the sheet processing is stopped halfway.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a plurality of independently operable sheet processing means, and the plurality of sheet processing means. In a sheet post-processing apparatus that performs continuous processing along a sheet flow, when an abnormality is detected in the sheet processing unit, a stopping unit that stops the sheet processing unit in which the abnormality is detected, and the abnormality Depending on the detected position of the sheet processing means, a selection means for selecting another sheet processing means for stopping the processing simultaneously with the sheet processing means, and a simultaneous stopping means for stopping the selected sheet processing means are provided. It is characterized by being provided.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 2, in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, when the sheet processing means in which the abnormality is detected is located on the upstream side along the flow of the sheet, the selection means. Is characterized by making a selection to continue the sheet processing means on the downstream side without stopping at the same time.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 3, when the sheet processing means in which the abnormality is detected in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1 is on the downstream side along the flow of the sheet, the selection means Is characterized by making a selection to stop the upstream sheet processing means at the same time.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 4, in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, the plurality of sheet processing means perform a sheet conveying means and a bundle processing of the sheets conveyed by the sheet conveying means. If the bundle processing means is abnormal, the selecting means makes a selection to stop all the sheet conveying means at the same time as the bundle processing means.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to a fifth aspect, in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, when the sheet conveying means is abnormal, the selecting means continues without stopping the bundle processing means at the same time. It is characterized in that selection is made.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention will be described. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to this embodiment is applied to an electrophotographic copying machine.

[Overall Structure] FIG. 1 shows an electrophotographic copying machine 200.
It is sectional drawing which shows the mechanical structure of. Electrophotographic copying machine 20
Reference numeral 0 designates a copying machine main body 201, an automatic document feeder 202 provided above the copying machine main body 201, and the copying machine main body 2
The sheet post-processing device 203 is arranged on the side where the No. 01 sheet S is discharged. Sheet post-processing device 20
3 is a folding device 204 and a stapling / stacking device 2
It consists of 05.

[Document Feeder] Automatic Document Feeder 202
The originals 207 placed on the original placing table 206 are separated from the lower side in order, and the platen glass 2 of the copying machine main body 201 is separated.
Delivered via Pass 209 on 08.

The fed original 207 is copied by the copying machine main body 20.
The image is read by the first optical system 210, and after the reading is completed, the sheet is ejected from the platen glass 208 via the path 211 to the uppermost surface on the document placing table 206. 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 generally passed through the folding device 204 and conveyed to the sheet carrying-in port 215 of the stapling / stacking device 205. . The image forming process of the electrophotographic copying machine 200 is well known, and therefore its explanation is omitted.

[Sheet Post-Processing Device] FIG.
3 is a cross-sectional view showing a mechanical structure of a stack device 205. FIG.
The stapling / stacking device 205 has bin modules B1 and B2 that are vertically divided into two, and each bin module is composed of a plurality of bins B11 to B1n and B21 to B2n (n = 6 in the present embodiment). There is. The bin intervals and bin positions of the bin modules B1 and B2 can be changed independently. Further, each bin can be moved to the sheet receiving position or the sheet bundle discharging position.

At the sheet carry-in port 215 of the stapling / stacking device 205, a solenoid S is provided to switch between the upward first transport path 1 and the downward second transport path 2.
The traveling direction of the sheet is determined by the deflector 3 driven by L3 (not shown).

The first transport path 1 has a solenoid SL4.
A deflector 4 driven by (not shown) branches into a discharge path 6 to the non-sort tray 5 and a path 7 to the upper bin module B1. On the other hand, the second transport path 2 directly serves as the path to the lower bin module B2.

Therefore, regarding each roller pair 8a-8p, 8a, 8b, 8c for the non-sort tray 5, 8a, 8b, 8d-8g for the upper bin module B1, and 8a, 8h-8p for the lower bin module B2. Is conveyed by each pair of rollers.

Further, the stapling / stacking device 205
Has a bundle processing unit 9 in a space sandwiched by a path to the upper bin module B1 and a path to the lower bin module B2.
After being stapled by the stapler 11 selectively, the bundle tip is nipped by the transport gripper 12 and further transported in the right direction.

Similarly, a stack unit 13 stands by below the bundle processing unit 9 in the space sandwiched between the path to the upper bin module B1 and the path to the lower bin module B2, and the transport gripper is on standby. The bundle conveyed in 12 is stored.

Further, the right end portion of the stapler 11 and the left end portion of the stack unit 13 overlap in the left-right direction as shown in FIG. 2 (region of width 115 in FIG. 2).

Bins B11 to B1 of the upper bin module B1
6 is filled with the sheet bundle, the bundle processing unit 9 is moved to the position indicated by the wavy line in FIGS. 1 and 2, and while the sheet bundle is being taken out from the bin, the bin B of the lower bin module B2 is removed.
The sheet is conveyed to 21 to B26. Bins B11-B16
After the bundle is taken out from the lower bin module or after the transport operation to the lower bin module bins B21 to B26 is finished, the bundle processing unit 9 takes out the bundle from the lower bin module B2 at the positions shown by the solid lines in FIGS. By repeating this operation,
Copying can be continued continuously until the stack unit 13 becomes full.

The schematic structure of the stapling / stacking device 205 has been shown above, and the detailed structure of each part will be described below.

[Folding Device 204] The folding device 204 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 60-232232 and 62-5.
Since it is similar to the folding device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 9002, etc., detailed description thereof is omitted here.

[Bin Portion] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the bin module. Since the bin modules B1 and B2 have the same structure, only the bin module B1 will be described.

The bin module B1 is mainly composed of the bins B11-B11.
B1n and two reference rods 14a and 14b, matching wall 1
5, lead cams 16a to 16 for raising and lowering the bottle
c, and these drive units. The reference rods 14a and 14b are members that determine a reference position when performing post-processing such as stapling on a sheet discharged onto a bin, and are normally set with a slight retreat from the end position when discharging the sheet. Has been done. The aligning wall 15 widths the sheets discharged to the bin one by one or a plurality of sheets in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 3) and projects the opposite ends to the reference bars 14a and 14b. Match by hitting.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the bin module as viewed from above. Lead cams 16a, 16b, 16
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, 1 and 2 c are arranged on the front side and the rear side of the bottle, respectively, and each has a spiral cam formed on the outer periphery thereof. Roller parts Ba and B protruding from the bottle on the cam
b and Bc are engaged with each other, and the lead cams 16a and 16a
The bins are raised and lowered by a predetermined pitch in synchronization with each rotation of b and 16c.

As shown in FIG. 4, the reference rod 1 is attached to the bottle.
Notches Bd corresponding to 4a and 14b, holes Be corresponding to the matching wall 15 are formed, a notch Bf for a gripper described later, a notch Bg for a bin standing drive mechanism, which will be described later.
And the notch Bh necessary for operation is formed.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the bin module viewed from the front. The bottles are inclined from the horizontal plane by a predetermined angle and arranged in parallel. On the other hand, roller part B
All of a, Bb, and Bc are arranged so that all of them have the same height when the bottle is inclined. That is, the position of the roller portion Bb near the right side of the bin is near the paper loading surface of the bin, while the position of the roller portion Bc near the left side of the bin is considerably below the paper loading surface of the bin. , Between them is connected by a V-shaped fixed arm.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper bin module B1 and the lower bin module B2 have an inverse relationship between the sheet receiving position and the bundle conveying position in the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2. Therefore, when the sheet bundle is taken out, the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13 in the space between the path to the upper bin module B1 and the path to the lower bin module B2 are set to the upper bin module or the lower bin module position. Can be used in common by moving.

[Bin shift (elevation)] The bin shift drive will be described with reference to FIGS. The bin shift motor (M1) 17 transmits power to the lead cams 16a to 16c via the motor pulley 18, the belt 19 and the lead cam pulleys 20a to 20c. The bin shift motor (M1) 17 is rotated normally or reversely to rotate the lead cam 16
The bottle can be moved up and down by rotating a to 16c.
The bin shift motor (M1) 17 has an encoder 21 on the side opposite to the pulley 18, and the sensor S1 detects one rotation.

Each bin module B1, B2 is provided with a home position detecting sensor S2 (not shown) for the bin, and the respective top bins B11, B21 are located one bin below each sheet receiving position. A certain position is detected as a home position.

Each of the bin modules B1 and B2 is provided with a penetration sensor S3 for detecting the sheet on the bin (see FIG. 2), and the penetration sensor S3 detects the presence or absence of the sheet on the bin. As a result, the timing for switching the bin module and the timing for starting the copy operation of the next job are determined.

[Sheet Alignment] The drive mechanism of the aligning wall 15 for aligning the sheets of the bin will be described. A stepping motor is used as the matching wall drive motor. The driving force of the matching wall drive motor is transmitted by gears, timing belts, etc., and the position of the matching wall 15 is controlled by an appropriate number of pulses. The home position of the matching wall 15 is detected by a sensor (not shown).

[Bin Standing Part] The mechanism of the bin standing part forming the alignment reference surface in the transport direction on the bin will be described. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the mechanism of the bottle standing portion viewed from the front. When the sheet stack stacked on the bin is conveyed from the bin in the bin standing direction for post-processing and stacking, the bin standing portion is moved.

The bin B includes the sheet stacking section Bi and the aligning section B.
It is composed of each member of j. On the other hand, a pin contact member 47b is attached to the tip of the rotatably provided link 47. In a normal state, the pin abutting member 47b and the pin 45a are separated from each other, and do not hinder the up-and-down movement of the bin B.

When sheets are discharged onto the bin B and the bundle of sheets in the bin is post-processed or stacked, the bin is shifted to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 47b abuts on the pin 45a, and the link 47 is further rotated to move the alignment portion Bj to the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG.

When the solenoid SL1 is turned off, the spring 49
By the action of, the link 47 returns to the original solid line position, and correspondingly, the aligning portion Bj also returns to the position orthogonal to the loading surface.

[Bundle Processing Unit 9] The structure of the bundle processing unit 9 will be described. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the bundle processing unit 9 when viewed from the plane, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the bundle processing unit 9 when viewed from the front.

The bundle processing unit 9 includes the unit front side plate 5
0, the guide stays 52, 53 between the unit rear side plate 51
And a right stay 54, which is a frame body, and four elevating rollers 55, two in total, are crimped on the left and right sides. A member 53a for guiding the sheet bundle during conveyance is attached to the inner side of the lower guide stay 53. The four rollers are guided in two rails fixed to the main body. A rack integrally cut with the rail 56 and a pinion gear 58 provided at both ends of a shaft 57 penetrating in the lateral direction of the frame mesh with each other, and the pinion gear 58 causes the lifting motor M4 to move.
The driving force from is transmitted to the entire frame, and the entire frame can be moved up and down.

Further, a paper surface sensor S23 is attached to the lower surface of the bundle processing unit 9, and the uppermost surface of the sheet bundle stacked on the stack tray 116 is always detected as described later. The paper surface sensor S23 is a light emitting diode (L
ED) and the photodiode are provided at opposite positions.

Three moving bodies 10, 11, 12 are provided in the frame of the bundle processing unit 9, and these will be described.

The first-out gripper 10 is constructed so as to be movable in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 7, and grips the vicinity of the right end of the sheet bundle S on the bin on the front reference side to pull out the sheet bundle to the right.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing the mechanism of the first-out gripper 10. The advance motor M7 is attached to the front side of the unit front side plate 50, and the swing arm 76 is fixed to the tip of the drive shaft. An elongated hole 76a is formed at the other end of the swing arm 76, and the distal end portion of the pin member 74 interlocked with the advance gripper 10 is engaged with the elongated hole 76a. By driving the advance motor M7, the swinging calm 76 reciprocates between the solid line position and the chain double-dashed line position in FIG. By this reciprocating movement, the first-out gripper 10 grips the sheet bundle along the elongated hole 50a of the unit front side plate 50 at the inclined position, conveys the sheet bundle to the horizontal position, releases the sheet bundle at the horizontal position, and returns to the inclined position again.

The stapler 11 can be moved in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 7 and can be moved to any position at the leading end of the sheet bundle in addition to the front or rear retracted position where it does not overlap the sheet width. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing the drive mechanism of the stapler 11 viewed from the left side surface. FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing the drive mechanism of the stapler 11 when viewed from the top.

The stapler 11 is fixed on the base 94. The slider 95 above the base 94 has shafts 96, 9
Two shafts 7 pass through and suspend and support the stapler 11.

Driving force is transmitted to the belt 102 by the stapler forward / backward motor M10, and the stapler 11 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
It becomes possible to move in the direction of arrow J of 0. Stapler 11
It is possible to stop at any position between the front retracted position 11a and the rear retracted position 11b. The setting of the position is determined by the detection of the front position sensor S11 or the rear position sensor S12, or by reading the encoder 104 of the motor M10 by the sensor S13.

The transport gripper 12 is movable in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 7 and is movable in the direction of arrow G including the entire front and rear side plates 59, 60. The sheet bundle is gripped at a substantially central position of the sheet width in the direction of arrow F according to the size of the sheet bundle, conveyed in the direction of arrow G, and the sheet bundle is completely pulled out from the bin and conveyed to the stack unit described later. The movement in the arrow F direction is used for sorting on the stack unit in addition to moving according to the size. That is, when the bundle is conveyed to the stack unit, 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 are sorted or sorting between different jobs is performed. Can be done.

The drive mechanism of the transport gripper 12 will be described. FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the transport gripper 12 as seen from a plane. FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the transport gripper 12 viewed from the front. 2 for the transport gripper 12
It is supported by shafts 77, 78 of the book, one shaft 77 is a ball screw, and the other shaft 78 is a normal shaft.

Both ends of the shaft 77 are rotatably supported between front and rear side plates (the front side plate is omitted; the rear side plate 60), and both ends of the shaft 78 are fixed between the front and rear side plates.

Driving in the sheet bundle conveying direction, which is the left-right direction of FIGS. 12 and 13, will be described. The conveyance gripper horizontal movement motor M8 is attached to the unit rear side plate 51, and transmits a driving force to the penetrating shaft 83 via the belt 81. By fixing a part of the belt 86 on the rear side plate 60 with the regulation member 87, the conveyance gripper left and right movement motor M
The driving force of No. 8 is transmitted to the transport gripper 12 by the belt 86, and the lateral movement becomes possible.

Driving in the vertical direction of FIG. 12, that is, in the direction orthogonal to the sheet bundle conveyance will be described. The driving force of the transport gripper forward / backward motor M9 is transmitted to the shaft 77, which is a ball screw, so that the ball screw shaft 77 of the transport gripper 12 is transmitted.
Since a similar screw is also threaded on the portion engaged with, the transport gripper 12 can move forward and backward.

The position of the transport gripper 12 is determined by detecting the home position or by detecting the rotation amount of the motor. The position in the left-right direction is detected by the home position sensor S7 or by the sensor S8 that reads the encoder 92 of the transport gripper left-right movement motor M8, and then stopped.

The forward / backward position is stopped by detecting the amount of movement by the home position sensor S9 or the sensor S10 which reads the encoder 93 of the transport gripper forward / backward motor M9.

Next, the grip portion for holding the bundle will be described. FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing the mechanism of the grip portion. The grip part is common to the first-out gripper 10 and the transport gripper 12. The upper gripper 66 and the lower gripper 67 are driven by an unillustrated motor M5 (for sandwiching the first-out gripper) or M6 (for sandwiching the transport gripper), and swing in the directions of arrow H and arrow I (between the solid line position and the broken line position, respectively). ) Is repeated to open and close.

[Stack Unit] Stack Unit 1
The structure of No. 3 will be described. FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the stack unit 13 as seen from the top. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the stack unit 13 as viewed from the front. FIG. 17 shows the stack unit 13 viewed from the left side.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of.

In FIG. 15, the stack frame 105 which is the outer frame of the stack unit 13 is composed of four parts. The stack frame 105 is the rear side plate 105.
a, a left side plate 105b, a right side plate 105c, and a bottom plate 105d. Four elevating rollers 106, two in total, are mounted on the outer surface of the left and right side plates 105b and 105c of the outer frame, and are guided by rails 107 fixed to the main body. The rail 107 may be the same member as the rail 56 of the bundle processing unit 9 shown in FIG.

15 and 17, the left and right side plates 105
A chain 109 is fixed to b and c, and the frame can be moved up and down by transmitting the driving force of the stack frame elevating motor M11 to the penetrating shaft 112. The stop position of the frame is normally two stop positions corresponding to the two stop positions of the bundle processing unit 9 shown in FIG. 2 (the upper broken line portion and the lower solid line portion), and a stack tray pull-out position described later. It is set in multiple places, such as when changing the stack unit limit number. By reading the encoder 115 of the motor M11 with the sensor S14, it is possible to stop at various set positions.

On the left side plate 105b of the frame, a reference wall 117 for the sheet bundle on the stack tray 116 is supported so as to be able to move up and down. The reference wall 117 can be moved up and down by a lifting motor M12 (not shown) according to the number of sheets loaded on the stack tray.

Further, a proximity prevention sensor S16 is attached to the upper end of the reference wall 117, detects the distance between the stack unit 13 and the upper bundle processing unit 9, and when the distances are less than a certain distance, they are mutually separated. The interference is prevented by performing control to stop the driving in the approach direction of.

Further, a stack height detecting sensor S17 is attached to the side surface of the reference wall 117, and the stack height detecting sensor S17 detects the stack top sheet of the sheet stack stacked on the stack tray 116. , The height of the stack tray 116 and the like are controlled.

The stack tray 116 will be described.
FIG. 18 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the stack tray viewed from the front. The stack tray 116 is the stack frame 1
It can be raised and lowered inside 05. The stack tray 116 is attached to the stack tray base 129 with respect to the accurride 130.
And can be pulled out in the front direction. The U-shaped roller receiving plate 13 is provided on both end surfaces of the stack tray base 129.
1 is attached, and the roller receiving plate 131 is the rail 12
Guided by 8.

The stack tray raising / lowering motor M13 is attached to the stack tray base 129 and gives a driving force in the vertical direction. An encoder 138 is provided at the other end of the motor M13.
Is attached, and the descent amount of the stack tray 116 is controlled by reading with the sensor S15.

FIG. 19 is a plan view showing the structure of the stopper 300. FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a drive mechanism of the stopper 300. The stopper 300 has a fixed member 301 that stands upright with respect to the stacking surface of the stack tray 116, and a moving member 303 that is movable in the axial direction of the fixed member 301 while being guided by an accuride 302 provided on the fixed member 301.

A roller 8 is attached to a lower portion of the fixing member 301, and the roller 8 is movably engaged with a rail member 310 for guiding in a direction orthogonal to the side plate 105c. The rail member 310 is fixed to the bottom plate 105a. On the other hand, one end of an L-shaped arm 304 is attached to the tip of the moving member 303. The other end of the arm 304 is connected to the slider 305.

The slider 305 is supported by two shafts 306a and 306b extending in a direction parallel to the axis of the rail member 310 so as to be movable in the axial direction. Each axis 306
Both ends of a and 306b are fixed to the reference wall 117.

A belt 307 is fixed to the slider 305, and the belt 307 includes a driving pulley 312 and a driven pulley 31.
It is wrapped around 3. The driving pulley 312 receives a driving force from the stopper moving motor M30 as an output pulley 311.
Is transmitted through the drive pulley 31 by this driving force.
2 rotates. The belt 3 rotates as the drive pulley 312 rotates.
The slider 305 fixed to 07 is a shaft 306a,
Move while being guided by 306b. That is, with the movement of the slider 305, the stopper 300 is
It moves parallel to the stacking surface of the stack tray 116 along the guide direction of 10.

The position of the stopper 300 in the direction parallel to the stacking surface of the stack tray 116 is the stack tray 1
It is set according to the size of the sheet stack loaded on 16,
Positioning with respect to the set position is performed by a detection signal from a reading sensor (not shown) of an encoder (not shown) of the stopper movement motor M30 and a home position sensor (not shown) that detects a home position position. It is performed based on the detection signal.

On the other hand, the stopper moving motor M30,
The drive pulley 312 and the driven pulley 313 are the reference wall 11
Since the movable member 303 is fixed to No. 7, the moving member 303 moves in a direction perpendicular to the stacking surface of the stack tray 116 as the reference wall 117 moves up and down, and the amount of movement thereof becomes the same as the amount of vertical movement of the reference wall 117.

[Conveying Section] FIG. 21 is an explanatory view showing the driving mechanism of the conveying system. The drive system is roughly divided into three system Pa parts,
It is divided into a Pb part and a Pc part. The carry motor M14 is responsible for driving the side Pa near the main body of the copying machine, and transmits the driving force to the carry rollers after branching to the upper and lower bin modules and the non-sort path. A path sensor SPa is provided in the vicinity of the roller pair 8c and monitors the sheet conveyance.

The conveyance motor M15 takes charge of driving the sheet discharging portion of the upper bin module path, that is, the Pb portion,
Four roller pairs of 8d to 8g are driven. Roller pair 8g
A pass sensor SPb is provided in the vicinity of the sheet, and monitors the sheet conveyance.

Further, the transport motor M16 is responsible for driving the sheet discharging portion of the lower bin module path, that is, the Pc portion, and drives five roller pairs 8l to 8p. A path sensor SPc is provided near the roller pair 8p,
Monitor sheet transport.

Since the portion surrounded by the broken line in FIG. 21 is the portion that is pulled out to the front side at the time of jam processing described later,
The couplings 139 and 141 are provided to separate the drive system.

[Cover] FIG. 22 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the cover as viewed from the front. A folding cover 142 that covers the folding device 204, a fixed cover 143 that vertically covers the right side of the bin from the top of the post-processing device, a lower bin module path 2a, 2b of the post-processing device, and a part of the bundle processing unit 9 before covering. A cover 144, a stack tray 116 at a retrievable position, a stack takeout cover 145 including the sheet bundle S on the tray, and a bin cover 146 that vertically covers the left side of the bin portion are provided.

The upper path cover 14 having the non-sort tray 5 and forming the upper surface of the upper bin module path.
7 has a rotation fulcrum on the back side, and the front side opens the upper part in the arrow K direction.

[Control Unit] FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of the control unit of the copying machine. C on the copying machine main body 201 side
PU 510 and CPU 520 on the side of the sheet post-processing device 203
Are connected via the interface circuit 530, and signals are exchanged according to processing. A CPU 520 on the sheet post-processing apparatus 203 side is connected with various sensor groups 540, a motor driver 550, and various solenoids 560, which will be described later, and the CPU 520 uses these to control the entire sheet post-processing apparatus 203.

Further, the CPU 520 has a path sensor SP.
a, SPb, SPc are connected, and the motor drivers 550 are connected to the carry motors M14, M15, M16, the lifting motor M4, and the advance motor M7.

[Explanation of Operation] The operation of the copying apparatus having the above configuration will be described. First, the basic operation will be described. A manuscript is set on the manuscript table 106 of the automatic manuscript feeder 202 provided in the copying machine main body 201 (see FIG. 1), a predetermined mode condition is input by the operation unit (not shown), and the start key is pressed. . Each part of the sheet post-processing device 203 is controlled to be in a standby state in response to a start key depression signal. Each mode condition will be described separately.

(A) Non-sort mode In the non-sort mode, 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 (see FIG. 2). , 8c are controlled to rotate (see FIG. 21).

An image is formed on the copying machine main body 201, and the discharged sheet 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 advances vertically upward by the deflector 3, and is conveyed vertically upward by the right side of the deflector 4,
The sheet is discharged onto the non-sort tray 5 by the discharge roller pair 8c.

(B) In the case of sort mode The operation in the general sort mode will be described. First, as the standby operation, the deflector 3 is positioned in the solid line direction and the deflector 4 is positioned in the solid line direction. The upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2 perform a shift operation so that the uppermost bins B11 and B21 are positioned to face the discharge roller pair 8g and 8p. Matching wall 15 of bin module B1, B2
Waits at the home position according to the width of the sheet material. Stop the bin stand-up in the non-operating position.

The bundle processing unit 9 is the upper bin module B1.
Position corresponding to the sheet bundle removal (broken line position in FIG. 2)
Move to and wait. The moving body in the bundle processing unit 9 will be described later with reference to FIG. 7. The first-out gripper 10 stands by at the position shown in FIG. 7, and does not obstruct the sheets stacked in the bin when the bin is moved up and down in the bin module located on the left side of the bundle processing unit 9.

Since the stapler 11 is not operated, the stapler 11 shown in FIG.
It is moved to the front retracted position indicated by the broken line. The transport gripper 12 is at a position in the arrow F direction that grips the approximate center of the conveyed sheet bundle, and at a position in the arrow G direction where the leading end of the sheet bundle advanced by the advance feed gripper 10 can be gripped (12a in FIG. 7). Position). The gripper, together with the first-out gripper 10 and the transport gripper 12, stands by at the respective positions with the upper and lower grippers open.

The stack unit 13 moves to the position shown by the broken line in FIG. 2 and receives the sheet bundle conveyed by the bundle processing unit 9. Stack unit 13 shown in FIG.
The stack tray 116, the reference wall 117, and the pressing member 118 on the inner side of the stack tray 116 move to a position where the upper surface of the stack tray 116 can receive the sheet bundle, or to another position corresponding to the stack tray. Holding member 1
The tip of 18 is in a state of protruding toward the stack tray 116 side.

The discharged sheet material passes through the upper path of the folding device 204, enters from the carry-in port 215, and is conveyed vertically upward by the deflector 3 and leftward by the deflector 4.
The sheet is discharged onto the bin B11 by the discharging roller 8g.

After the sheet is completely discharged to the bin B11, the bin is shifted upward by one bin and the bin B12 is moved up to the sheet storage position. The above operation is repeated for each document to store the sheets in the bin of the upper bin module. The bin of the upper bin module is located at the sheet storage position of the lowermost bin (bin B16 in FIG. 2), and the sheets of the second sheet are sequentially accommodated from the lowermost bin. The above operation is repeated for all originals, and the bin accommodating operation ends.

The operation of transferring the sheet bundle to the stack unit 13 is started in a state where the sheets are completely stored. The sheet bundle S on the bin shown in FIG. 8 is moved with the first-out gripper 10 being opened from the solid line position to the broken line position, and then the sheet bundle S is pinched. The bin standing portion Bj in FIG. 6 is the solenoid S.
It is opened by L1 and the sheet bundle can be conveyed.

As for the sheet bundle, the front side is the reference rod 14 in FIG.
Both sides are regulated by a and 14b, and both sides are regulated by the alignment rod 15 and the guide member 53a of FIG. Then, it stops at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 8, where the sheet bundle is transferred between the first-out gripper 10 and the transport gripper 12.

First, the transport gripper 12 that has been waiting in the position shown by the broken line in FIG. 7 holds the substantially central portion of the sheet bundle. Next, the first-out gripper 10 releases the nip and prepares for the next sheet bundle to be conveyed. The transport gripper 12 is driven in the right direction indicated by arrow G in FIG. 7 to transport the sheet bundle in the right direction, and stops at an appropriate position according to the size.

In FIG. 23, the sheet bundle S is the stack tray 11
It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode stored in FIG. While the transport gripper 12 that holds the sheet bundle is stopped at an appropriate position according to the size, the rear end of the sheet bundle S has the stack tray 1
16 is dropped on the upper surface, the left side is regulated by a reference wall 117, and the upper surface of the sheet bundle is pressed by a pressing member 118 driven by a solenoid. From this state, the transport gripper 12 is opened and the leading end of the sheet bundle is also dropped onto the stack tray 116. At this time, the pressing member 118 has a function of preventing the deviation in the falling sheet bundle.

When the second bundle of sheets is conveyed, the procedure is the same as that of the first bundle up to the point where the conveyance gripper 12 grips the approximate center of the sheet bundle and transfers the sheet bundle between the grippers. After the delivery of the sheet bundle, the transport gripper 12 moves by a predetermined amount in the direction indicated by arrow F in FIG. By this movement, it becomes possible to distinguish from the first sheet bundle when stacking on the stack tray 116.

With respect to the sheet bundle stacked on the stack tray 116, the uppermost surface thereof is always detected by the paper surface sensor S23 attached to the lower surface of the bundle processing unit 9, and the uppermost surface of the bundle processing unit 9 and the uppermost stacking surface are detected. Control is performed to gradually lower the stack tray 116 so that the interval of is always constant.

The sheet bundle on the stack tray 116 can be freely taken out when the stack unit 13 is not in operation. When the operator presses the 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. After taking out the sheet bundle, the cover can be closed to continue the processing.

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

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 10, the stapler 11 has a retracted position 11a on the front side and a retracted position 11b on the rear side.
You can stop at any position in between.

[In case of binding at one place in front] In the non-staple mode, the stapler 11 is moved to the retracted position 11a in front.
However, if the binding mode at 1 front is selected,
It stands by at the position 11c shown in FIGS. Even when the stapler is at the position 11c as shown in FIG. 7, the transport grippers 12 can stand by at the position 12a 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 stapler 11 moves to the retracted position 11a on the front side, and then the sheet bundle is conveyed rightward 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 again moves to the binding position 11c at one place and waits for the next sheet bundle to be received.

[In case of binding at two places] In this case as well, as shown in FIG. 7, even if the stapler 11 is positioned 11d or 11e, it does not interfere with the position of the transport gripper 12a. In the standby state of binding at two places, from the retracted position 11a on the front side of the stapler to the driving position 11d on the front side of two staplers
Move to and wait.

When the sheet bundle S is conveyed by the first-out gripper 10, the stapler 11 staples one position on the front side at the position 11d while being held by the first-out gripper 10.
Next, it moves to the position 11e and staples two positions on the back side. The stapler 11 moves from position 11d to position 11e.
The transport gripper 12 immediately moves to the standby position 12
It comes into position 12a from b. Then, the sheet bundle S
And the first-out gripper 10 releases the sheet bundle S.

The stapler 11 performs the second stapling operation at the position 11e, and then moves to the retracted position 11b on the back side. When the trailing edge of the first bundle of sheets S passes through the stapler moving area, the stapler 11 moves from the retracted position 11b to the staple position 11e on the inner side and receives the second bundle of sheets.

[In case of binding in one place in the back] In this case, since the binding is performed only in the back side of the paper size center, the operation is the reverse of the case of binding in the front one place.
1 reciprocates between the retracted position 11b on the back side and the binding position.

(D) Folding Mode In the folding mode, a sheet relatively long in the transport direction is subjected to a folding operation inside the folding device 204, and then discharged onto a bin in the same manner as a normal sheet. It is selectively post-processed and loaded on the stack unit 13.

However, origami, especially so-called Z-folding having a folding portion at the central portion in the transport direction of the sheet or slightly downstream in the transport direction from the center or LGL of an overseas size is LTRR.
In C-folding, which is folded into a size, the tip of the origami paper that is ejected to the folded-back portion of the already loaded origami when it is loaded onto the bin collides with the folded-back portion, and the already-loaded paper is aligned. There is a risk that the origami will be disturbed or that the ejected origami will not be loaded correctly.

Therefore, in the folding mode, the uppermost bin is lowered from the normal sheet discharging position, and the uppermost bin alone is used for storage.

[Control Processing] The control flow of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 25 to 34. FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the overall processing procedure performed by the sheet post-processing apparatus.

In the mode processing which is the overall processing of the sheet post-processing device 203, first, the "sorter start signal" indicating that the sheet discharge is started from the copying machine main body 201 is O.
If it is N, it is determined (step S1). If it is ON, it is determined whether the "folding mode" is selected as the operation mode (step S2). When the "folding mode" is selected, the folding and conveying motor (not shown) and the entire conveying motor are turned on (step S3), and the process proceeds to the folding mode processing described later.

On the other hand, when the folding mode is not selected, the entire carry motor is turned on (step S4).

Sheet processing mode determination processing (step S
In 5), the method of stacking or storing the sheets on the non-sort tray 5 or the bin is determined, which will be described later.

According to the sheet processing mode determined in step S5, "upper sort processing", "lower sort processing",
Any one of "upper group processing", "lower group processing", and "non-sort processing" is performed (steps S6 to S1).
4).

In the case of any one of "folding mode processing", "upper sorting processing", "lower sorting processing", "upper group processing", and "lower group processing", the bundle processing mode discrimination processing is performed after the end of the processing. In step S15, it is determined whether or not the sheet bundle conveying operation to the stack unit 13 is performed. When the stack portion bundle conveying process is selected, the sheet bundle conveying process to the stack unit 13 is performed in the stack unit bundle conveying process (step S17). This stack unit bundle conveying process (step S17) also includes a "stapling operation" for the sheet bundle.

Thereafter, the processing is returned to step S1 and it is again determined whether or not there is a "sorter start signal" indicating that the sheet discharge from the copying machine main body 201 is started.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing the sheet processing mode discrimination processing procedure of step S5. First, it is determined whether the sheet processing mode is the sort mode (step S21). In the case of the sort mode, the presence / absence of sheets of the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2 is confirmed (steps S23 and S24). The sorting operation in the bin module without sheets is selected as the processing mode (steps S27 and S28).

Which bin module B1 or B2
If there is also a sheet, "non-sort mode" is selected as the processing mode (step S29).

Similarly, when there is a bin module having no sheet in the group mode, "upper group processing" and "lower group processing" are selected as the processing modes (steps S25, S26, S30, S31). If there is a sheet in either of the bin modules B1 and B2, “non-sorting process” is selected (step S2).
9).

FIG. 27 is a flow chart showing the non-sort processing procedure in step S10 of FIG. In the non-sort mode, the deflectors 3 and 4 are operated to continuously eject the sheets to the non-sort tray 5 (step S41), and the sheet transport path 6 is selected as the transport path.

Then, in order to monitor the sheet conveying operation, the signal of a path sensor (not shown) arranged near the discharge roller 8c on the sheet conveying path 6 is monitored (step S42). Further, the presence / absence of a "sorter start signal" indicating that the sheet discharging operation is being performed from the copying machine main body 201 is simultaneously checked (step S43).

Only when the path sensor is off and the "sorter start signal" is off in steps S42 and S43, the carry motor is stopped and the deflector is turned off (step S44), and the non-sorting process is terminated.

FIG. 28 is a flow chart showing the upper sort processing procedure in step S11. First, the deflectors 3 and 4 are operated to store and sort the sheets in the bins of the upper bin module B1 (step S51), and the sheet transport path 7 is selected as the transport path.

It is checked whether or not there is a "bin initial signal" for storing sheets from the uppermost bin B11 (step S52). If there is no "bin initial signal",
If so, the process proceeds to step S53.

In step S53, as the initialization of the bin, the uppermost bin B11 is lowered to the position of the discharge roller 8g. Then, in order to monitor the sheet conveying operation, a signal of a path sensor (not shown) arranged near the discharge roller 8g on the sheet conveying path 7 is monitored (step S5).
4).

If the pass sensor is not turned on in step S54, the process proceeds to step S62. When the pass sensor is turned on, the aligning rod 15 is retracted to perform the aligning operation later on the ejected sheet (step S55).

Then, after the pass sensor is detected to be off (step S56), a sheet aligning operation is performed (step S57).

Then, in step S58, it is determined whether or not there is a shift direction inversion signal. If there is no shift direction inversion signal,
The alignment rod 15 is evacuated (step S59) and 1 bin shift (step S60) is performed.

If there is a shift direction inversion signal in step S58, inversion processing (step S61) is performed. here,
The inversion process is a process of inverting the subsequent bin shift direction, and the bin shift operation is not performed.

Then, it is determined whether or not the "sorter start signal" is turned on (step S62). If it is turned on, the process returns to step S54. If the "sorter start signal" is turned off, the carry motor is turned on. Is stopped, the deflector is turned off (step S63), and the upper sorting process is ended.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing the lower sort processing procedure in step S12. First, the deflector 3 is operated to store and sort the sheets in the bins of the lower bin module B2 (step S71), and the sheet transport path 2 is selected as the transport path. The subsequent operation is the same as the operation of the above-described upper sort processing, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing the upper group processing procedure in step S13. First, the deflectors 3 and 4 are operated to store the sheets in the bins of the upper bin module B1 and sort them (step S91),
The sheet transport path 7 is selected as the transport path.

Then, it is checked whether or not there is a "bin initial signal" for storing sheets from the uppermost bin B11 (step S92). If there is no "bin initial signal", the process proceeds to step S94, and if there is, Control goes to step S93.

In step S93, as the bin initialization, the uppermost bin B11 is lowered to the position of the discharge roller 8g. Then, in order to monitor the sheet conveying operation, a signal of a path sensor (not shown) arranged near the discharge roller 8g on the sheet conveying path 7 is monitored (step S9).
4).

If the pass sensor is not turned on, step S
When the process is moved to 101 and turned on, the aligning rod 15 is retracted in order to perform the aligning operation on the discharged sheet later (step S95). After that, after the pass sensor is detected to be off (step S96), a sheet aligning operation is performed (step S97).

In step S98, the presence or absence of the "shift request signal" for requesting the bin shift operation is confirmed. If there is no shift, the process proceeds to step S101. (Step S
100).

In step S101, it is determined whether or not the "sorter start signal" is on. If it is on, the process returns to step S94. If the "sorter start signal" is off, the carry motor is stopped. , The deflector is turned off (step S102), and the sorting process ends.

FIG. 31 is a flow chart showing the lower group processing procedure in step S14. First, the deflector 3 is operated to store and sort the sheets in the bins of the lower bin module B2 (step S111), and the sheet transport path 2 is selected as the transport path. The subsequent operation is the same as the operation of the above-described upper group processing, and thus detailed description will be omitted.

FIG. 32 is a flow chart showing the bundle processing mode discrimination processing procedure in step S15. The sheet length in the bundle conveying direction is a prescribed value (in the present embodiment, 364
mm) is longer (step S131),
If it is long, it cannot be stored in the stack unit 13, so
The non-bundle conveying process is selected as the bundle processing mode (step S
133), and in other cases, the stack bundle conveying process is selected (step S132). Here, the non-bundle transport process is a process in which the bundle transport to the stack unit 13 is not performed, and the sheet bundle stored in the bin remains in the bin. Further, in the stack portion bundle conveying process, the sheet bundles contained in the bin are conveyed one by one, and the stack unit 1
This is a process of loading the data on the No. 3 stack.

33 and 34 are flowcharts showing the stack unit bundle carrying processing procedure in step S17. First, the movement of the bundle processing unit 9 and the stack unit 13 is started with respect to the bin module that carries the bundle (processing A, step S141).

The bin module is shifted to the position where the bundle is conveyed. At this time, the highest or lowest bin among the used bins is controlled to come to the bundle transport position (process B, step S142).

The processing A and the processing B may be carried out simultaneously, and the processing time can be shortened. Then, it waits for both processing A and processing B to end (step S1).
43).

After the shift operation of the process B is completed, if the upper bin of the used bin is at the bundle transport position, the future shift direction is set to the downward direction and the lower bin of the used bin is at the bundle transport position. If it is, set the future shift direction to up.

The first-out gripper (SG) 10 is inserted into the bin to hold the bundle and grip the bundle (step S1).
44). Here, (X) in the flowchart of FIG. 33,
(Y) and (Z) respectively indicate the moving direction of the moving member,
(X) is the conveying direction of the sheet bundle (left and right direction in FIGS. 1 and 2)
(Y) indicates the front / depth direction when the sheet post-processing device 203 is viewed from the front, and (Z) indicates the vertical direction.

Then, in order to convey the bundle from the bin, the bin standing portion is tilted and released (step S145).
At this time, since the bundle is gripped by the first-out gripper (SG) 10, it does not fall. It is determined whether the staple mode is set (step S146),
If it is the staple mode, the process proceeds to step S149, and if it is not the staple mode, the process proceeds to step S147.

In step S147, the transport gripper (FG) 12 that transports the bundle is set to the first-out gripper (SG) 10.
From the first-out gripper (SG) 10 to the position where the bundle is transferred from the bundle (step S14).
8), the transport gripper (FG) 12 holds the bundle (step S156), and the first-out gripper (SG) 10 releases the bundle (step S157), and delivers the bundle.

The transport gripper (FG) 12 transports the bundle to the bundle stacking position (step S158), and after stopping, releases the sandwiched bundle to stack the stack on the stack unit 13 (step S160). During this period, when the sheet bundle comes out, the bin standing portion of the bin is closed (step S1).
59).

It is confirmed whether or not the sheet bundle stacked in step S161 is the final bundle of the bin module. If it is not the final bundle, a shift operation for one bin is performed in the set shift direction (step S162), and the process is executed. Step S14
It returns to 4 and repeats processing. Also, step S16
If the final bundle is 1, the bundle conveying operation in the bin module is ended.

On the other hand, when the staple mode is set in step S146, the stapler 11 is moved to a desired staple position (step S149), and the bundle is moved from the first-out gripper (SG) 10 to the staple position (step S150). , Staple operation (step S15)
1).

When the staple mode is the two-point binding mode, the stapler is continuously moved to perform the stapling operation (steps S152 and S153). After that, the stapler is retracted (step S154), and the transport gripper (FG) 12 is moved to the first advance gripper (SG) 10.
To the position for delivering and receiving the bundle from (step S15
5). Then, the process proceeds to step S156.

Next, the folding mode processing in step S18 will be described. FIG. 35 is a flowchart showing the folding mode processing procedure. First, the value of the counter n indicating the number of discharged sheets is initialized to "0" (step S20).
1).

The value of the counter n is incremented (step S202), and bin shift down execution determination processing is performed (step S203). It is determined whether or not shift down is to be executed (step S204), and if it is to be executed, downshifting of the uppermost bins B11 and B21 is executed (step S205). The determination of B2 is performed (step S20)
6).

Whether or not to discharge to the upper bin module B1 is determined (step S207), and when discharging to the upper bin module B1, the uppermost bin B1 of the upper bin module B1.
It is discharged to 1 (step S208). When not discharging to the upper bin module B1, it is determined whether to discharge to the lower bin module B2 (step S209), and when discharging to the lower bin module B2, discharges to the uppermost bin B21 of the lower bin module B2 (step S209). S210). If not ejected to the lower bin module B2, it is ejected to the non-sort tray (step S211).

One of the upper and lower bin modules B1 and B2
When the discharge is completed in (1), it is determined whether or not the counter n is equal to or larger than the planned discharge number (step S212).
When the number of sheets to be ejected is reached, the process ends.

In the bin shift down execution determination process in step S203, it is determined not to execute the bin shift if the bin shift has already been performed.
Alternatively, when the number of sheets stacked in the uppermost bins B11 and B21 exceeds a predetermined number, or it is possible to determine to further downshift the uppermost bin according to the number of sheets. By making such a determination, an appropriate fall distance can be secured regardless of the number of stacked sheets.

Further, when the uppermost sheets stacked in the uppermost bins B11 and B21 are origami, it may be determined to shift down.

Further, for example, A discharged as origami
When 3 size sheets and A4 size sheets that are normally discharged as sheets are mixed and discharged, it may be determined that the shift down is performed only after the origami sheet is discharged.
Alternatively, it may be determined to shift down in any of the discharges.

FIG. 36 is a flow chart showing the interruption processing procedure when an abnormality is detected in the sheet post-processing device 203. This processing procedure is performed by the CPU in the sheet post-processing device 203.
520. First, it is determined whether or not a jam has occurred during the sheet post-processing operation (step S3).
51, S352).

When a jam occurs, the path sensor SP
It is determined at which position the a, SPb, and SPc occurred (steps S353 to S355). When it occurs in the Pa portion on the upstream side shown in FIG. 21, the conveying roller 8a in the Pa portion
~ 8c, 8h ~ 8k drive the conveyance motor M14 is stopped (step S356).

At this time, it is judged whether or not there is a remaining sheet in the Pb portion which is the unloading side to the upper bin module (step S357), and if there is a sheet, wait until the discharge of the sheet is completed. (Step S358), after the sheet discharge is completed, the carry motor M15 that drives the carry rollers 8d to 8g of the Pb portion is stopped (step S3).
59).

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not there is a sheet remaining in the Pc portion which is the discharge side to the lower bin module (step S360), and if there is, wait until the sheet discharge is completed (step S360). (S361), the transport rollers 8l to 8p of the Pc section are stopped after the sheet is completely discharged (step S362).

Further, it is judged whether or not there is a sheet bundle to be processed by the bundle processing unit 9 of the Pd portion (step S
363), if there is a sheet bundle, the sheet bundle is stored in the stack unit 13 (step S36).
4) When the storage is completed, the driving of the lifting motor M14, the first-out motor M7, etc. in the bundle processing unit 9 is stopped (step S365).

Thereafter, the user waits until the jam is cleared (step S366), and when the jam is cleared, the process returns to step S351.

On the other hand, if the position where the jam has occurred in step S353 is not the Pa portion, it is determined whether or not the jam has occurred in the Pb portion on the discharge side of the upper bin module (step S354). When the position where the jam occurs is the Pb portion, the conveyance motor M14 that drives the conveyance rollers 8a to 8c and 8h to 8k of the Pa portion, and the conveyance roller 8d of the Pb portion.
The carry motor M15 that drives 8 g is stopped (step S367).

It is determined whether or not there is a sheet remaining in the Pc portion on the unloading side to the lower bin module (step S368), and if there is a sheet, wait until the sheet discharge is completed (step S369). ), And after the discharge is completed, the transport rollers 8l to 8p of the Pc section are stopped (step S370). After that, the processing shifts to the above-mentioned step S363.

On the other hand, if the position where the jam has occurred is not the Pb section in step S354, it is determined whether or not it is the Pc section which is the unloading side to the lower bin module (step S355). When the position where the jam occurs is the Pc portion, the conveyance motor M14 that drives the conveyance rollers 8a to 8c and 8h to 8k of the Pa portion, and the conveyance roller 8l of the Pc portion.
The carry motor M16 that drives the drive unit 8p is stopped (step S371).

It is determined whether or not there is a sheet remaining in the Pb portion on the discharge side in the upper bin module (step S3
72), if there is a sheet, wait until the sheet discharge is completed (step S373), and then P
Conveying motor M1 for driving the conveying rollers 8d to 8g of the part b
5 is stopped (step S374). After that, the processing shifts to the above-mentioned step S363.

On the other hand, when the position where the jam has occurred is not the Pc portion in step S355, the driving of the lifting motor M4 and the first-out motor M7 of the bundle processing unit 9 in the Pd portion is stopped (step S375). It is determined whether or not there is a sheet remaining in the Pa portion on the upstream side (step S376), and if there is a sheet, wait until the discharge of the sheet is completed (step S377). The transport motor M14 that drives the transport rollers 8a to 8c and 8h to 8k of the set is stopped (step S37).
8). Further, it is determined whether or not there is a sheet remaining in the Pb portion on the discharge side in the upper bin module (step S3
79) If there is a sheet, wait until the discharge of the sheet is completed (step S380), and after the discharge of the sheet is completed, stop the carry motor M15 that drives the carry rollers 8d to 8g of the Pb section (step S381). ). It is determined whether or not there is a sheet remaining in the Pc portion that is the unloading side to the lower bin module (step S382), and if there is a sheet, wait until the discharge of the sheet is completed (step S383), and then discharge. After the above is completed, the carry motor M15 that drives the carry rollers 8l to 8p of the Pc section is stopped (step S384).

As described above, in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, when a jam occurs in the sheet conveying process in the upstream Pa portion, the downstream Pb portion or P
If there is a residual sheet in part c, the conveyance motor M1
By not stopping M5 and M16 but stopping after discharging the sheet, it is possible to avoid unnecessary interruption of the operation and to avoid the work of removing the residual sheet by immediately stopping.

When a jam occurs in the sheet conveying process at the downstream Pb portion or Pc portion, the upstream P
By stopping the conveyance motor M14 of the section a at the same time, only the necessary sheet conveyance processing can be interrupted.

Further, when an abnormality occurs in the bundle processing unit 9, the sheet conveying process is appropriately performed without leaving the sheet by stopping the conveying motors M14, M15, and M16 after the residual sheet is discharged in each part. It can be interrupted.

When an abnormality occurs in the bundle processing unit 9, it is possible to stop all the transport motors M14, M15 and M16 of each part at the same time, depending on the presence or absence of the residual sheet.
In this case, the abnormality of the bundle processing unit 9 can be dealt with quickly. FIG. 37 is a flowchart showing another processing procedure when an abnormality occurs in the bundle processing unit 9.

Compared with the processing procedure of FIG. 36, the processing of steps S375 to S384 is performed in step S3.
The processing of the other steps is the same except that the processing of 90 is replaced. That is, in step S355, the jam is P
When it is determined that the error does not occur at the position of section c, the elevating motor M14 and the advance motor M7 of the bundle processing unit 9 in the section Pd are stopped and at the same time Pa
Transport motors M14, M15, M for the P, Pb, and Pc units
Stop 16

[0170]

According to the sheet post-processing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, when the plurality of independently-activatable sheet processing means perform the processing continuously along the sheet flow, the sheet processing means is used. If an abnormality is detected in the sheet processing means, the stopping means stops the sheet processing means in which the abnormality is detected, and the selecting means performs processing simultaneously with the sheet processing means in accordance with the position of the sheet processing means in which the abnormality is detected. Since other sheet processing means to be stopped is selected and the selected sheet processing means is stopped by the simultaneous stop means, it is possible to avoid unnecessary interruption of the operation of the sheet processing means and to improve the overall sheet processing. You can

According to the sheet post-processing apparatus of the second aspect, when the sheet processing means in which the abnormality is detected is on the upstream side along the flow of the sheet, the selecting means is the sheet processing means on the downstream side. Since the selection is made to continue without stopping at the same time, the work of removing the remaining sheet can be avoided and the operability can be improved.

According to the sheet post-processing apparatus of the third aspect, when the sheet processing means in which the abnormality is detected is located on the downstream side along the sheet flow, the selecting means is the upstream side sheet processing means. Since the selection is made to stop simultaneously, it is possible to interrupt only the necessary sheet conveying processing, and it is possible to improve the overall sheet processing.

According to the sheet post-processing apparatus of the fourth aspect, the plurality of sheet processing means include sheet conveying means and bundle processing means for performing bundle processing of the sheets conveyed by the sheet conveying means. When the processing means is abnormal, the selecting means makes a selection to stop all the sheet conveying means at the same time as the bundle processing means, so that the overall sheet processing is improved by appropriately interrupting according to the processing content. Can be achieved.

According to the sheet post-processing apparatus of the fifth aspect, when the sheet conveying means is abnormal, the selecting means makes a selection to continue the bundle processing means without stopping them simultaneously. Can be avoided, and the overall sheet processing can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a mechanical configuration of an electrophotographic copying machine 200.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a mechanical structure of a staple / stack device 205.

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

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the structure of a bin module viewed from above.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the bin module viewed from the front.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the mechanism of the bottle standing portion viewed from the front.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a bundle processing unit 9 as seen from a plane.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a bundle processing unit 9 viewed from the front.

9 is an explanatory view showing the mechanism of the first-out gripper 10. FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a drive mechanism of the stapler 11 viewed from the left side surface.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a drive mechanism of the stapler 11 when seen from a plan view.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the transport gripper 12 as seen from a plan view.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the transport gripper 12 viewed from the front.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a mechanism of a grip portion.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a stack unit 13 as seen from a plan view.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the stack unit 13 as seen from the front.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the stack unit 13 as seen from the left side surface.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the stack tray viewed from the front.

FIG. 19 is a plan view showing the structure of a stopper 300.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a drive mechanism of a stopper 300.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a drive mechanism of a transport system.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a cover viewed from the front.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram showing a state where the sheet bundle S is stored in the stack tray 116.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit of the copying apparatus.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing an overall processing procedure performed by the sheet post-processing apparatus.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a sheet processing mode determination processing procedure of step S5.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a non-sort processing procedure in step S10 of FIG.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing an upper sort processing procedure in step S11.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a lower sort processing procedure in step S12.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing an upper group processing procedure in step S13.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing a lower group processing procedure in step S14.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing a bundle processing mode determination processing procedure in step S15.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing a stack unit bundle carrying processing procedure in step S17.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart showing a stack unit bundle carrying processing procedure continued from FIG. 33;

FIG. 35 is a flowchart showing a folding mode processing procedure.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart showing an interruption processing procedure when an abnormality is detected in the sheet post-processing device 203.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart showing another processing procedure when an abnormality occurs in the bundle processing unit 9.

[Explanation of symbols]

 9 Bundle processing unit 200 Copier 201 Copier main body 204 Folding device 205 Stapling / stacking device M4 Lifting motor M7 Advance motor M14, M15, M16 Conveying motors SPa, SPb, SPc, Path sensor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Hiromichi Tsujino 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Shigeru Sugita 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Incorporated (72) Inventor Masaaki Sato 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet post-processing apparatus comprising a plurality of independently operable sheet processing means, wherein the plurality of sheet processing means continuously processes along a flow of sheets, wherein an abnormality occurs in the sheet processing means. If detected, the stopping means for stopping the sheet processing means in which the abnormality is detected, and other sheet processing for stopping the processing simultaneously with the sheet processing means in accordance with the position of the sheet processing means in which the abnormality is detected A sheet post-processing apparatus comprising: a selection unit that selects a unit and a simultaneous stop unit that stops the selected sheet processing unit. 2. When the sheet processing means in which the abnormality is detected is located upstream in the flow of the sheet, the selection means makes a selection to continue the sheet processing means on the downstream side without stopping at the same time. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that. 3. When the sheet processing means in which the abnormality is detected is located on the downstream side along the sheet flow, the selecting means makes a selection to stop the upstream sheet processing means at the same time. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1. 4. The plurality of sheet processing means includes a sheet conveying means and a bundle processing means for performing a bundle processing of the sheets conveyed by the sheet conveying means, and when the bundle processing means is abnormal, the selecting means. 2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection is made to stop all the sheet conveying means at the same time as the bundle processing means. 5. When the sheet conveying means is abnormal,
5. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the selection unit makes a selection to continue the bundle processing unit without stopping at the same time.