JPH11157732A - Paper post-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper post-processing device which has a paper delivery tray provided with a paper-taking recess part at its front edge end designed to be able to effectively prevent the recess part from hindering the output of paper. SOLUTION: In a paper post-processing device A which delivers paper to a paper delivery tray 4 after receiving the paper delivered from an image forming device and then post-processing it as necessary, a fence 52 approximately parallel to a paper delivery direction for the paper delivery tray 4 is provided along the rear edge of the paper delivery tray 4, the front and rear edges of the paper delivery tray 4 being approximately parallel to the paper delivery direction. A force 52 may be provided to protrude along the rear edge of the paper delivery tray.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a paper discharge tray for sorting and stacking paper discharged by use in a paper post-processing apparatus. The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus provided with a sheet discharge tray configured so as to effectively prevent occurrence of a situation in which a sheet is difficult to take out a sheet in a sheet discharge tray provided with a recess.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A paper post-processing device (finisher) provided in an image forming apparatus is used for performing a stapling or punching operation on a recorded sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus, sorting the sheets, and the like. It is a device that performs processing.
Then, the sheets are stacked on a discharge tray provided in the sheet post-processing apparatus in a state where the sheets are normally stacked, stapled, perforated, or the like, or sorted.
For example, when sorting and discharging paper on a single paper output tray, the paper output tray is moved in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the paper discharge direction to shift the paper discharge position in the horizontal direction.
The individual sheet bundles (sets) are sorted. By the way, as shown in FIG. 5, in order to facilitate the manual work of taking out the sheets stacked on the paper discharge tray, as shown in FIG.
The recesses 102, 1 are located at intermediate positions between the front edge and the rear edge of
03 is provided. In this discharge tray,
By providing the recesses 102 and 103, the discharge tray 1
A hand is inserted by utilizing the space formed between the sheet bundle P1 and the bottom surface of the sheet bundle P, so that the sheet bundle can be easily taken out from the front side or the rear side. However, when taking out the sheet bundle from this type of paper ejection tray, the sheet bundle is pushed out by mistake as shown in the figure, and it becomes difficult to grasp the sheet bundle, or the sheet bundle is ejected. A situation in which the paper tray was dropped from the trailing edge occurred.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a paper ejection tray having a paper ejection recess formed at the front edge of the paper ejection tray. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus including a sheet discharge tray configured to effectively prevent the occurrence of a situation. Specifically, when inserting a hand into the recess on the front side to grasp and remove the sheet bundle, the user mistakenly pushes the sheet inward to make it difficult to grasp the sheet bundle, or the rear end of the output tray The purpose is to prevent occurrence of situations such as dropping from the edge side.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus is received, post-processed as necessary, and then discharged to a discharge tray. In the sheet post-processing apparatus, a fence substantially parallel to the sheet discharging direction is provided along the rear edge of the front and rear edges of the sheet discharging tray substantially parallel to the sheet discharging direction to the sheet discharging tray. And According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet post-processing apparatus for receiving a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus, performing post-processing as needed, and then discharging the sheet to a discharge tray. And a fence is provided along the rear edge of the paper discharge tray.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a paper post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus provided with a sheet discharge tray according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the sheet discharge tray unit, and FIGS. It is a perspective view. This sheet post-processing apparatus A
An introduction path 1 for receiving an image-formed sheet discharged from the sheet discharge port B-1 of the image forming apparatus B, and three paths branched from the introduction path 1, that is, a first path 3 toward the proof tray 2. , The second path 5 toward the discharge tray 4
And a third path 7 toward the staple unit 6. The introduction path 1 includes an introduction roller 10, a paper ejection sensor 1
1 is disposed, and the first branch claw 12 located at the branch part at the end of the introduction path 1 is rotated to form the first path 3 and
The paper transport direction is sorted to the other paths 5 and 7. In the first path 3, an upper transport roller 15, a paper discharge sensor 16, and a paper discharge roller 17 are arranged.
Is transported onto the proof tray 2 and discharged. Immediately downstream of the first separation claw 12, the second branch claw 2
0 is arranged, and the transport direction of the sheet not transported to the first path 3 is sorted into either the second path 5 or the third path 7. In the second path 5, a transport roller 21, a paper discharge sensor 22, a paper discharge roller 23, and a shift roller 24 are arranged, and a sheet not conveyed to the third path 7 is discharged through the second path 5. Discharge to tray 4. Reference numeral 25 denotes a paper surface lever, and reference numeral 26 denotes a paper surface sensor. As shown in FIG. 2, the paper surface lever 25 is a means for causing the paper surface sensor 26 to detect the height position of the paper by rotating in contact with the upper surface of the paper on the paper discharge tray 4. As the height of the sheet increases as the number of sheets increases, a control unit (not shown) drives the sheet ejection tray 4 up and down
To lower the sheet discharge tray by a predetermined amount. For this reason, the height of the paper on the paper discharge tray is always kept at a constant height.

In the third path 7, a lower conveying roller 30, a paper discharge sensor 31, and a brush roller 32 are arranged. At the end position of the third path 7, a staple unit 6 is arranged. The staple unit 6 includes a staple device 35 that advances and retreats in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface, and a staple tray 36.
And the staple tray 3 moves back and forth in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface.
6 includes a jogger fence 37 for aligning the paper on 6, a return roller 38, a discharge belt 39, a claw 39a, a discharge belt home sensor 40, and the like. The paper conveyed via the third path 7 is discharged onto the staple tray 36 by the operation of the brush roller 32 and the like, and the width of the paper is aligned by the jogger fence 37. The return roller 38 performs a pendulum motion and strikes the upper surface of the sheet to align the vertical position of the sheet bundle. The sheet bundle thus aligned is stapled by the stapling device 35 moving in a direction perpendicular to the sheet surface and stapling the lower edge portion of the sheet bundle at an appropriate position. The stapled sheet bundle moves upward by running the belt 39 counterclockwise in a state where the lower edge is supported by the claws 39a,
The paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 4.

Next, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the configuration of a paper discharge tray according to an embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the paper discharge tray shown in FIG. Are equivalent.
A characteristic configuration of this paper discharge tray is a configuration in which a fence 52 is protruded at an appropriate position on the rear end edge of the paper discharge tray 4. In addition,
Concave portions 50 and 51 are provided on the upper surface on the front end side and the upper surface on the rear end side of the paper discharge tray 4, respectively, to facilitate the removal of the sheet bundle on the tray. By providing the fence 52 along the rear edge of the paper discharge tray 4, even if the bundle of sheets on the tray is accidentally pushed backward,
As a result, the sheet bundle does not move backward beyond the fence 52 and does not fall off the tray. In addition, when the height of the sheets stacked on the sheet discharge tray 4 becomes high such as 30 cm or 50 cm and the weight becomes heavy, the rear recess 51 holds and discharges the sheet bundle with both hands. It is provided so that it can be taken out from the paper tray. The rear recess 51 does not have to be provided, and the fence 52 is provided also for the sheet discharge tray 4 having no front recess 50, so that the sheet bundle shifts backward or falls. Therefore, the fence of the present invention can be applied to all types of output trays. In the illustrated embodiment, the fence 52 is provided only above the rear recess 51, but the fence may be provided only below the recess 51 or at both positions. Further, the recess 51 may be omitted, and the fence may extend over the entire rear edge or a part thereof.

In FIG. 3 and the like, a paper discharge tray formed of a thick material is formed by digging a recess in the upper surface near the edge, but this is an example. As shown in FIG. 4, concave portions 50 and 51 formed by bending and bending a thin plate may be formed at the same position of a discharge tray made of a thin plate. FIG. 4 shows an example in which the two concave portions 50 and 51 are continuous, but it is not necessary to connect them as in FIG. In addition, since the paper discharge tray does not store only paper that has been subjected to post-processing such as stapling, the recess or fence effectively contributes to the removal of paper discharged without being subjected to post-processing. Things. Therefore, for example, in a paper discharge mechanism having a configuration in which paper discharged by moving the paper discharge tray in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the paper discharge direction is sorted by copy, the paper is discharged onto one paper discharge tray in an overlapping manner. Even when a plurality of bundles of sheets are taken out, the fence of the sheet discharge tray of the present invention effectively functions as a fall prevention and pushing prevention means. Further, the post-processing apparatus of the present invention includes apparatuses having various post-processing functions such as punching and the like, in addition to apparatuses having a stapling function. Further, the discharge tray of the above embodiment can be applied not only to the discharge tray of the post-processing apparatus but also to the discharge tray of an image forming apparatus (copier, printer, facsimile, printing apparatus, etc.).

[0009]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a paper discharge tray provided with a paper take-out recess at the front edge side of the paper discharge tray, occurrence of a situation where the recess becomes a hindrance in taking out paper occurs. Can be provided with a sheet post-processing apparatus provided with a sheet discharge tray configured to effectively prevent the occurrence of a sheet. Specifically, when inserting a hand into the recess on the front side to grasp and remove the sheet bundle, the user mistakenly pushes the sheet inward to make it difficult to grasp the sheet bundle, or the rear end of the output tray It is possible to prevent a situation such as dropping from the edge side. That is, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet post-processing apparatus for receiving a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus, performing post-processing as needed, and then discharging the sheet to a discharge tray. Of the front and rear edges of the paper discharge tray substantially parallel to the direction, a fence substantially parallel to the paper discharge direction is provided along the rear edge, so that there is no recess,
Regardless of the shape and location of the output tray, when removing the paper from the output tray from the front side of the device, it is effective to remove the paper from the output tray by pushing it backward or dropping it. Can be prevented. Further, the structure of such a tray is not limited to the post-processing apparatus, and may be applied to a discharge tray of a normal image forming apparatus. Claim 2
The present invention is a paper post-processing apparatus for receiving paper discharged from an image forming apparatus, performing post-processing as needed, and then discharging the paper to a paper discharge tray. The fence protrudes along the rear edge of the paper discharge tray in a recess formed for taking out the paper sheet, so that this fence utilizes a space between the recess and the lower surface of the paper. This prevents the paper from being pushed or dropped, which is most likely to occur when trying to take out the paper.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a main part (a paper discharge unit) of the post-processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a paper discharge tray according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a paper discharge tray according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a conventional paper discharge tray.

[Explanation of symbols]

A paper post-processing apparatus, B image forming apparatus, 1 introduction path, 2 proof tray, 3 first path, 4 discharge tray, 5 second path, 6 staple unit, 7
Third path, 10 introduction roller, 11 paper ejection sensor, 1
2 First branch claw, 15 Upper transport roller, 16 Discharge sensor, 17 Discharge roller, 20 Second branch claw, 21 Transport roller, 22 Discharge sensor, 23 Discharge roller, 24
Shift roller, 25 paper lever, 26 paper sensor,
27 drive means, 30 lower transport roller, 31 paper ejection sensor, 32 brush roller, 35 stapling device, 36
Staple tray, 37 jogger fence, 38
Return roller, 39 release belt, 50, 51 recess,
52 Fence.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yukitaka Nakazato 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Junichi Iida 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Share Inside Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Akito Ando 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A paper post-processing apparatus for receiving paper discharged from an image forming apparatus, performing post-processing as needed, and then discharging the paper to a paper discharge tray. A sheet post-processing apparatus characterized in that a fence substantially parallel to a sheet discharge direction is provided along a rear end edge of front and rear end edges of a simple discharge tray. 2. A sheet post-processing device for receiving a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus, performing post-processing as needed, and discharging the sheet to a sheet discharge tray, wherein the sheet is stacked at least on a front edge side of the sheet discharge tray. 2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said fence is provided along a rear edge of said sheet discharge tray in a recess formed for taking out the formed sheet.