JPH11180621A - Finisher of image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform an adjusting treatment securely even against a sheet bundle in which recording sheets with different sizes are intermixed, and to improve an appearance after performing a stapling treatment to the sheet bundle. SOLUTION: The subject finisher is equipped with a sheet arranging tray 21 by which a prescribed sheet bundle 2 is formed, a disc member 22 by which a recording sheet 1 is received from a picture forming device and then conveyed to the sheet arranging tray 21, a tamper 27 by which the recording sheet 1 under conveyance is properly pressed in the rectangular direction against the direction of conveyance and then the recording sheet 1 is discharged to a prescribed adjusting position on the sheet arranging tray 21, a stapler 36 by which a stapling treatment is performed, and a stacker tray 23 on which the sheet bundle 2 is loaded. Hereby, every time the recording sheet 1 is received by the disc member 22, the size of the recording sheet 1 is grasped and the pressure added to the recording sheet 1 by the tamper 27 is adjusted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer, and is used to align recording sheets sequentially discharged from the image forming apparatus to form a predetermined sheet bundle. The present invention also relates to a finisher of an image forming apparatus that performs a stapling process on such a sheet bundle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a finisher of this type,
JP-A-1-259375, JP-A-6-32442
The one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H10-163, etc. is known. The finishers described in these publications are attached to the image forming apparatus so as to cover the recording sheet discharge port of the image forming apparatus, and temporarily store the recording sheets sequentially discharged from the image forming apparatus in a sheet alignment tray, These recording sheets are arranged in page order to form a sheet bundle, and the sheet bundle for which page alignment has been completed is discharged from the sheet alignment tray to a stacker tray and stacked. In addition, a stapler is provided in the sheet alignment tray, so that a stapling process can be performed on a sheet bundle on which pages have been aligned as necessary.

[0003]

In order to improve the appearance of a stapled sheet bundle in these finishers, after the recording sheets are discharged to the above-mentioned sheet aligning tray, the sheet aligning operation is performed. It is common to have alignment means such as a tamper for aligning the sheets stacked on the tray at a predetermined alignment position.

However, when the recording sheets are aligned on the sheet alignment tray in this manner, the alignment operation can be performed without any problem if the discharged recording sheets are all the same size. In the case of a so-called mixed-size recording sheet in which is mixed, the aligning operation must be performed in accordance with the maximum-size recording sheet among the recording sheets already discharged to the sheet alignment tray. All of the recording sheets discharged on the alignment tray could not be reliably aligned.

[0005] For this reason, if the stapling process is performed on a sheet bundle of such a mixed size, there is a problem that the appearance of the sheet bundle is deteriorated, and the staple disclosed in JP-A-2-233468 and the like is problematic. In a sorter with a processing function, a measure is taken to automatically cancel the staple mode when it is determined that recording sheets of different sizes are mixed in the sheet alignment tray.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to surely perform alignment processing on a sheet bundle in which recording sheets of different sizes are mixed. An object of the present invention is to provide a finisher of an image forming apparatus having a good appearance when a stave processing is performed on such a sheet bundle.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a finisher of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a sheet aligner for receiving recording sheets sequentially discharged from the image forming apparatus and forming a predetermined sheet bundle. A tray, a sheet holding means provided between the sheet aligning tray and the image forming apparatus, for receiving a recording sheet from the image forming apparatus, and then transferring the recording sheet to the sheet aligning tray; An alignment member for appropriately pressing the recording sheet in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction thereof and discharging the recording sheet to a predetermined alignment position on the sheet alignment tray; and a sheet bundle stacked at the alignment position. A stapler for performing a stapling process; a stacker tray for stacking a sheet bundle discharged from the sheet alignment tray; Lifting means to grasp the size of the recording sheet for each receive recording sheets and is characterized in that a matching amount control means for adjusting the pressing amount of the recording sheet by the aligning member.

According to such a technical means, the recording sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus is conveyed to the sheet aligning tray by the sheet holding means. At this time, the alignment member moves the recording sheet in the conveying direction. Press in the direction perpendicular to the direction. At this time, the alignment amount control means grasps the size of the recording sheet received by the sheet holding means, and adjusts the amount of pressing of the recording sheet by the alignment member based on the size.

Thus, the recording sheet is displaced in the direction perpendicular to the direction of conveyance during conveyance by the sheet holding means, and the amount of the displacement varies depending on the size of the recording sheet. Therefore, before the recording sheets are discharged to the sheet alignment tray, the recording sheets can be aligned one by one at a predetermined alignment position, and the recording sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus may have different sizes. The recording sheet can be discharged at a predetermined alignment position on the sheet alignment tray even when the recording sheet is being printed.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a finisher of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG.
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a finisher to which the present invention is applied. In FIG.
A document feeder (document feeder) 10 is attached to the copying machine 11. The copying machine 11 includes an image input unit 12 that reads image information of a document to create an electrical image signal, and an image output unit 13 that actually forms an image on the recording sheet 1 based on the image signal. , And is configured to also function as a page printer when connected to a computer (not shown).

The image output section 13 has a sheet discharge port 14 for discharging the recording sheet 1 on which the copying of the document image has been completed. The recording sheet 1 on which the document image has been copied based on the image signal has its image receiving surface. With the sheet outlet 1
It is discharged from 4. A discharge roller 15 for discharging the recording sheet 1 toward the finisher and a sheet detection sensor 16 for checking whether or not the recording sheet 1 is discharged are provided inside the sheet discharge port 14. Every time is discharged from the sheet discharge port 14, a discharge signal of the recording sheet 1 is transmitted from the copying machine to the finisher 20.

Here, the ADF 10 is provided so as to cover a platen (not shown) provided above the image input unit 12, and a so-called document is fed from the first page to the platen. It is configured as 1 → n type. Therefore, when performing a copying operation using the ADF 10, the image output unit 13 firstly outputs the first page of the recording sheet 1
Is discharged from the sheet discharge port 14, and finally the n-th recording sheet 1 is discharged. When a plurality of copies of the original are required, the image information of pages 1 to n of the original is stored in the internal memory of the copying machine 11, and the number of copies of 1 → n pages is required. Only to be repeated.

On the other hand, the finisher 20 is provided in the copying machine 1.
Receiving the recording sheet 1 discharged from the copier 11 and the recording sheet 1 discharged from the copying machine 11, the recording sheet 1 is sequentially inverted, and the recording sheet 1 is discharged to the recording sheet tray 21. Disc member 22
And a stacker tray 23 on which the sheet bundle 2 formed on the sheet alignment tray 21 is finally stacked. The stack of recording sheets 1 corresponding to the number n of originals is stored on the sheet alignment tray 21. , And is configured to be discharged to the stacker tray 23 for each sheet bundle 2.

Here, the recording sheet 1 is turned over using the disk member 22 because the recording sheet 1 is discharged from the image output section 13 in a so-called face-up state with the image receiving surface facing up, and This is because pages are sequentially discharged from one page. That is, if the sheet is accommodated in the sheet alignment tray 21 without turning over, the page alignment order on the tray 21 will be reversed. Therefore, the recording sheet 1 is turned over by the disk member 22 and stored in the sheet alignment tray 21 in a so-called face-down state with the image receiving surface facing downward.

FIG. 2 shows a peripheral mechanism of the sheet aligning tray 21. The disk member 22 has an arc-shaped slit 24 so as to cut inward from the circumference of the disk.
Are formed at predetermined intervals in the axial direction of the drive shaft 25 (perpendicular to the paper surface). The leading end of the recording sheet 1 discharged from the image output unit 13 is inserted into the slit 24,
When the drive shaft 25 and the disk member 22 are rotated in such a state, the recording sheet 1 whose leading end is restrained by the slit 24 is turned around so as to be wound around the disk member 22, and is spread on the sheet alignment tray 21. It has become. At the end of the sheet aligning tray 21, a stopper member 26 is provided upright adjacent to each disk member 22, and the leading end of the recording sheet 1 inserted into the slit 24 is locked by the stopper member 26. , The slit 2
4 to the sheet alignment tray 21.

On the other hand, a tamper 27 which presses the side edge of the recording sheet 1 inserted into the slit 24 of the disk member 22 in the axial direction of the drive shaft 25 is provided on the front side of the drawing of FIG. By operating 27,
The recording sheet 1 is displaced toward the back side of the paper of FIG. 2 while being inserted into the slit 24.

FIG. 3 shows a specific configuration of the drive mechanism of the tamper 27. The tamper 27 is driven by the drive shaft 25.
Is fixed to the tip of a shaft member 28 that is movable in the axial direction of the recording sheet 1 (the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the recording sheet 1). Is pressed. That is, the moving member 3 is attached to the shaft member 28.
One end of the L-shaped arm 32 is engaged via the first arm 1, and the other end of the L-shaped arm 32 is in contact with the peripheral surface of the eccentric cam 29 via the roller follower 33. The shaft member 28 is urged by a spring 34 in a direction away from the side edge portion of the recording sheet 1, so that the roller follower 33 always contacts the peripheral surface of the eccentric cam 29. Thereby, the stepping motor 30
Is rotated, the tamper 27 advances toward the side edge of the recording sheet 1 by an amount corresponding to the rotation angle of the eccentric cam 29, and the recording sheet 1 is pressed in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction and The pressing amount is adjusted (hereinafter, such an operation is referred to as a tamping process).

As shown in FIG. 4, a positioning wall 35 is provided upright on the opposite side of the recording sheet 1 from the tamper 27 to serve as a reference for the alignment position of the recording sheet 1. The processed recording sheet 1 abuts against the positioning wall 35 and is locked as shown by a two-dot chain line in the figure. Therefore, the recording sheet 1 subjected to the tamping process during the conveyance by the disk member 22 is discharged to the sheet alignment tray 21 corresponding to the standing position of the positioning wall 35, that is, the predetermined alignment position. The recording sheet 1 discharged without performing any alignment operation of the recording sheet 1 on the 21 is in contact with the positioning wall 35 and is aligned.

Further, since the image output unit 13 of the copying machine 11 provided with the finisher knows the size of the recording sheet 1 to be discharged from the sheet discharge port 14, the control unit of the finisher 20 composed of a microcomputer system ( (Not shown) can recognize the size of the recording sheet 1 inserted into the disk member 22 by communicating with the control unit on the image output unit 13 side. Therefore, the control unit of the finisher 20 is the image output unit 13
Every time the recording sheet 1 is discharged from the printer, the sheet size is grasped, and the stepping motor 3 that drives the tamper 27
For 0, a rotation angle corresponding to the sheet size is instructed. As a result, the tamper 27 advances by an amount corresponding to the size of the recording sheet 1 inserted into the disk member 22,
It is possible to reliably press the side edge of the recording sheet 1 against the positioning wall.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a stapler 36 is disposed on one portion of the sheet aligning tray 21, and the stapling is performed on the sheet bundle 2 formed on the sheet aligning tray 21. Processing can be performed. FIG. 5 shows a positional relationship between the recording sheet 1 stored in the sheet aligning tray 21 and the stapler 36. The recording sheet 1 indicated by a solid line corresponds to the recording sheet 1 discharged to the alignment position by the above-described tamping process. The recording sheet 1 indicated by a chain line indicates the recording sheet 1 discharged to the sheet alignment tray 21 without undergoing the tamping process. The stapler 36 is disposed at a corner at the far side of the sheet aligning tray 21, and only the recording sheet 1 discharged to the alignment position is inserted into the stapler 36. For this reason, in the finisher 20 of the present embodiment, it is possible to avoid the stapling process for a specific recording sheet 1 according to the presence or absence of the tamping process.

The sheet bundle 2 aligned on the sheet aligning tray 21 in this manner is, as shown in FIG.
By causing the stopper member 26 to advance toward the stacker tray 23, the sheet is discharged from the sheet alignment tray 21 to the stacker tray 23. As shown in FIG. 2, in the finisher 20 of this embodiment, since the sheet bundle 2 stacked on the stacker tray 23 forms a part of the sheet alignment tray 21, the sheet bundle 2 is removed from the sheet alignment tray 21. When the sheet is discharged, the stacker tray 23 descends until the uppermost surface of the stacked sheet bundle 2 substantially matches the sheet aligning tray 21, and prepares for discharging the next recording sheet 1 by the disk member 22. Also, every time the sheet bundle 2 is discharged from the sheet alignment tray 21, the stacker tray 23 moves to the back side or the front side of the paper surface, and executes a so-called offset discharge process in which the sheet bundle 2 is stacked while being shifted in a staggered manner. .

Next, the operation of the finisher of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when the copying operation by the copying machine 11 is started, the control unit of the finisher 20 checks whether or not the size information of the recording sheet 1 discharged first from the image output unit 11 has been received (ST1). In the case, the tamper 27 according to the size of the recording sheet 1 to be discharged
, That is, the rotation angle of the eccentric cam 29 required to press the recording sheet 1 inserted into the disk member 22 against the positioning wall 35 (ST2).

Next, the control section of the finisher 20 checks whether or not a sheet discharge signal has been received from the image output section 13 (ST3). If it is determined that the disk member 22 has been received, it is considered that the leading end of the recording sheet has already been inserted into the disk member 22. Therefore, the control unit sends a control signal to the drive motor of the disk member 22, and performs a tamping process on the disk member 22. Is rotated to a position where the tamper 27 can press the side edge of the recording sheet 1 and stopped (ST4). As a result, the recording sheet 1 is slightly wound around the disk member 22. Then, in this state, the tamping process of the recording sheet 1 is executed (ST5), whereby the recording sheet 1 moves to the matching position with the positioning wall 35 as a reference. The movement amount of the tamper 27 at this time is the movement amount of the tamper 27 calculated in ST2 described above. When the tamping process is completed, the disk member 22 rotates to an initial position, that is, a position for receiving the next recording sheet 1 into the slit 24 (ST6). At this time, the recording sheet 1 is turned upside down and spread on the sheet alignment tray 21, and the leading end of the recording sheet 1 is discharged from the slit 24 of the disk member 22 by the stopper member 26 and stored in the sheet alignment tray 21.

Thereafter, it is checked whether or not the recording sheet 1 accommodated in the sheet alignment tray 21 is the recording sheet 1 corresponding to the last page of the copy original (ST7), and the information transmitted from the image output unit 13 is checked. If it is determined that the last page is not the last page, the process returns to ST1 to check whether or not the size information of the next recording sheet 1 discharged from the image output unit 13 has been received. The above-described processes of ST1 to ST6 are repeated until the sheet is stored in the sheet alignment tray 21. Thus, every time the recording sheet 1 is ejected from the image output unit 13, the control unit of the finisher 20 grasps the size of the recording sheet 1, and controls the
Is calculated, the recording sheet 1 inserted into the disk member 22 undergoes tamping processing based on the calculated movement amount, and is aligned with the positioning wall 35.

On the other hand, if it is determined in ST7 that the page is the last page, it means that the sheet bundle 2 corresponding to the copy original has been formed on the sheet alignment tray 21, so that the stapling process is selected. It is checked whether or not it is present (ST8), and if it is selected, the stapler 36 is driven to execute the stapling process (ST8).
9).

At this time, the sheet bundle 2 stacked on the sheet aligning tray 21 contains recording sheets 1 of different sizes.
, Each recording sheet 1 is ST
Since the recording sheet 1 has been subjected to the tamping process according to the size at 5, all of the recording sheets 1 have been discharged to the matching position with respect to the positioning wall 35. Therefore, since the corners of all the recording sheets are always inserted into the stapler 36, it is possible to reliably bind these recording sheets 1 by executing the stapling process. Further, since the recording sheets 1 discharged to the sheet alignment tray 21 are surely aligned with reference to the positioning wall 35, even if the sheet bundle 2 is stapled, the appearance thereof is not spoiled.

When the stapling process is completed, or when the stapling process is not selected in ST8, the stopper member 26 is advanced to push out the sheet bundle 2 from the sheet alignment tray 21 to the stacker tray 23 ( ST10), and stacker tray 2
3 is performed (ST11), and a series of processes is completed.

The operation of the finisher described above is as follows.
This is a case where a copying operation for a so-called mixed-size original bundle is selected on the copying machine side. If a copy operation for a document bundle consisting of only documents of the same size has been selected, the recording sheet size is first received in ST1 only for the recording sheet 1 discharged from the image output unit 13, and then in ST2. The movement amount of the tamper 27 for the sheet size is calculated, and thereafter, the tamper 27 is discharged until the discharge of the last recording sheet in the same copying operation is completed.
The tamping process of all the recording sheets 1 is performed using the moving amount of the recording sheet 1.

[0029]

As described above, according to the finisher of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, before the recording sheets are discharged to the sheet aligning tray, the recording sheets are placed one by one at a predetermined alignment position. Therefore, even when recording sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are mixed with sheets having different sizes, the sheet bundle is surely aligned with a predetermined alignment position on the sheet alignment tray. This makes it possible to improve the appearance of the sheet bundle when the stave processing is performed on the sheet bundle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a finisher of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a peripheral mechanism of a sheet alignment tray according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a tamper driving mechanism according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing how the recording sheets are aligned by a tamping process.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a relationship between a recording sheet storage position on a sheet alignment tray and a stapler arrangement position.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the movement of a stopper member when discharging a sheet bundle to a stacker tray.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the finisher according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording sheet, 2 ... Sheet bundle, 21 ... Sheet alignment tray, 22 ... Disc member, 23 ... Stacker tray, 27
... Tampers (alignment members)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a sheet aligning tray for storing recording sheets sequentially discharged from an image forming apparatus and forming a predetermined sheet bundle; and a sheet aligning tray provided between the sheet aligning tray and the image forming apparatus. A sheet holding unit that conveys the recording sheet to the sheet aligning tray after receiving the recording sheet from the apparatus, and appropriately presses the recording sheet being conveyed by the sheet holding unit in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction, and presses the recording sheet. An alignment member for discharging the sheet bundle stacked at the alignment position to a predetermined alignment position on the sheet alignment tray, a stapler for performing a binding process on the sheet bundle stacked at the alignment position, and a stacker for stacking the sheet bundle discharged from the sheet alignment tray Each time the tray and the sheet holding unit receive the recording sheet, the size of the recording sheet is grasped, and the A finisher for an image forming apparatus, comprising: an alignment amount control unit for adjusting a pressing amount of the recording sheet. 2. The finisher for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet holding means has a slit into which a leading end of the recording sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus is inserted, and the recording sheet is wound around the slit. A finisher for an image forming apparatus, wherein the finisher is a disc member that discharges the sheet to a sheet alignment tray while rotating.