JPH11263520A - Paper sheet postprocessor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the queuing time between one arbitrary pair of paper sheets and a next pair with a simple and small-sized structure. SOLUTION: During its processing to a pair of paper sheets already supplied to an intermediate tray 6, this paper sheet postprocessor stops the first paper sheet P1 out of a next pair within a feed path 50 and delivers the second paper sheet P2 out of the next pair into a bypass path 51, which next-paired first and second paper sheets P1 and P2 are superposed one on the other and supplied to the intermediate tray 6 in synchronism with the completion of the prescribed postprocessing to the former pair.

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 apparatus, and more particularly, to a sheet post-processing apparatus for performing predetermined post-processing such as stapling on sheets sequentially supplied at regular intervals from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine. The present invention relates to a processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, binding processing (stapling processing) and punching processing (punch processing) are performed on a relatively large amount of paper on which an image has been transferred by an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.
May be required. In this case, it is convenient to use a paper post-processing apparatus that automatically performs predetermined post-processing such as the staple processing and the punch processing, so-called finisher. FIG. 4 shows an example of a simplified configuration of the finisher. The finisher 100 is, for example, detachably attached to the paper discharge side of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, and includes an intermediate tray 101 capable of storing a plurality of sheets P as shown in FIG. When staple processing or the like is performed on a set of sheets sequentially discharged from the image forming apparatus at regular intervals, each sheet P is temporarily stored in the intermediate tray 101. The intermediate tray 101 has a sheet receiver 10 movable along the intermediate tray 101.
3 are provided. The paper tray 103 is waiting below the intermediate tray 101 when the paper is loaded, and one end of the paper P sequentially loaded along the intermediate tray 101 from above the finisher 100 is supported by the paper tray 103. In the vicinity of the standby position of the paper receiver 103,
For example, a stapler 104 that performs a stapling process is provided. The stapler 104 is used for the paper receiver 10.
The stapling process is performed on a set of sheets whose end portions in the conveyance direction are aligned by 3. The set of sheets on which the staple process has been completed is bundled and conveyed to the upper portion of the finisher 100 by the sheet receiver 103, and discharged to a discharge tray 106 via discharge rollers 105.

By the way, a staple process is performed on a set of sheets already stored in the intermediate tray 100, and
The time required for the next set of sheets to be conveyed to the intermediate tray 100 is longer than the time interval at which the sheets P in the set are successively conveyed. This means that when the paper P is sequentially conveyed from the image forming apparatus at regular intervals, it takes some time until the stapling process is completed and the next set of paper can be conveyed to the intermediate tray 100. Means that the first sheet has to wait in the transport path 107. In the conventional apparatus, for example, a conveying path longer than the normal conveying path 107 is separately provided, the first sheet of the next set of sheets is conveyed to the long conveying path side, and the second sheet of the next set of sheets is the normal sheet. The above waiting time has been eliminated by conveying the sheet to the side of the conveying path 107. Further, when two intermediate trays 101 are prepared and predetermined post-processing is performed on the sheets stored in one intermediate tray 101, the next set of sheets is conveyed to the other intermediate tray. There are also conventional devices that eliminate the waiting time.

[0004]

However, if a separate transport path is provided which is longer than the normal transport path, the transport path becomes long and complicated, so that paper jams are likely to occur, and maintenance such as paper jam clearance processing is performed. There was a problem that it became difficult. In addition, when two intermediate trays are provided, there is a problem that the configuration of the apparatus becomes complicated by that much and the apparatus becomes large. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the problems in the prior art, the present invention has improved a sheet post-processing apparatus, and has reduced the waiting time between an arbitrary set of sheets and the next set of sheets by a simple and compact configuration. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper post-processing apparatus which aims at shortening.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an intermediate tray capable of storing a plurality of sheets of paper, and one of the intermediate trays sequentially conveyed to the intermediate tray at regular intervals. In a sheet post-processing apparatus for performing a predetermined post-processing on a set of sheets, a transfer path for supplying sheets to the intermediate tray is provided with a bypass path that bypasses a part of the transfer path. While the predetermined post-processing is being performed on the supplied set of paper, the first sheet of the next set of paper is temporarily stopped in the transport path or the bypass path, and the second sheet of the next set of paper is stopped. Into the bypass path or the transport path, and upon completion of the predetermined post-processing of the set of sheets, the first and second sheets of the next set of sheets are stacked and supplied to the intermediate tray. Characterized by And it is configured as a paper post-processing apparatus. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the predetermined post-processing is stapling. In the sheet post-processing device according to the first or second aspect, while processing is performed on a set of sheets already supplied to the intermediate tray, the next set of sheets is processed in the transport path or the bypass path. The first sheet is temporarily stopped, the second sheet of the next set of sheets is carried into the bypass path or the transport path, and at the end of the predetermined post-processing of the set of sheets, the next set of sheets is Since the first and second sheets are superimposed and supplied to the intermediate tray, the waiting time for sheets between sets can be reduced with a simple and compact configuration.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention.
The present embodiment is a specific example in which the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a finisher of a copying machine. This specific example does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. Here, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the entire finisher according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a main part of the finisher. As shown in FIG. 1, the finisher A1 according to the present embodiment includes an intermediate tray 6 capable of storing a plurality of sheets, similarly to the related art. When performing the binding process (stapling process) on the paper P sequentially conveyed from the copier (not shown) at regular intervals, the paper P is temporarily stored in the intermediate tray 6. The finisher A1 is detachably connected to the paper discharge side of the copying machine, and the paper P sequentially transported from the direction of arrow Y1 is supplied to the intermediate tray 6 via a transport path 50 (corresponding to a transport path). Is done. As shown in FIG. 2, the finisher A1 is particularly different from the conventional technology in that the finisher A1 includes a bypass path 51 (corresponding to a bypass path) that bypasses a part of the transport path 50, and
While the staple process is being performed on the set of sheets P already supplied to the printer, the first sheet P1 of the next set of sheets is temporarily stopped in the transport path 50, and two sheets of the next set of sheets are stopped. The first sheet P2 is conveyed into the bypass path 51, and the first sheet P1 and the second sheet P2 of the next sheet are aligned with the leading end in the conveyance direction in accordance with the end of the stapling process for the one set of sheets P. Is supplied to the intermediate tray 6.

Next, details of the finisher A1 will be described. In the finisher A1, the image-transferred paper P sequentially discharged from the copying machine at a predetermined interval is carried into the finisher A1 from the paper feed port 1. Immediately downstream of the paper feed port 1, a carry-in switch SW1 for detecting a carried-in paper P is provided. The carry-in switch SW1 is, for example, a reflection type optical switch. The carry-in switch SW1 is changed according to the carried-in paper P.
Is reflected, a paper detection signal indicating that the paper P is detected is output from the carry-in switch SW1. If it is determined that the state has been changed from the state where the sheet detection signal is present to the state where the sheet detection signal is not present, it is possible to detect the trailing edge of the sheet. A transport path 52 for transporting the paper P to the non-sort tray 53 and a transport path 50 for transporting the intermediate tray 6 to the transport path 52 connected to the paper feed port 1 are connected. The sheet P carried in from the copying machine is conveyed to one of the conveying paths 50 and 54 by a swingable pawl 55. The sheet P guided to the transport path 54 by the branching claws 55 is discharged to the non-sorting tray 53 with the same surface as that discharged from the copying machine. On the other hand, the transfer path 5 is
The sheet guided to 0 is transported to the intermediate tray 6 provided in the vertical direction slightly inclined from the vertical direction. A branch claw 56 is provided at an upstream portion of the transport path 50 so as to be swingable between a solid line position and a dashed line position. The branch claws 56
Is in the solid line position, the paper P is transported in the transport path 50 in the direction of the arrow Y2. When the branching pawl 56 is at the position indicated by the dashed line, the sheet P
Are transported in the direction of the arrow Y2 'in the bypass path 51 provided in parallel with. Downstream from the branching pawl 56, four sets of branching rollers 4 (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) and three branching pawls 5 are arranged in order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction.
(5a, 5b, 5c) are arranged. Each branch claw 5
Are swingable between a solid line position and a dashed line position, respectively, and the sheet P is indicated by arrows Y3a, Y3b, Y3c, and Y3d.
Is carried into the intermediate tray 6 from any one of the above directions.
The swing position of each branch claw 5 is set in accordance with the length of the sheet P in the transport direction at the time of mode standby immediately after the start of the operation. It is carried into the intermediate tray 6 from the Y3a direction. The intermediate tray 6 has a pair of cursors 57 that can reciprocate in a direction perpendicular to the sheet transport direction (paper width direction).
Is provided. The paper P carried into the intermediate tray 6 is aligned by the cursor 57 in the paper width direction. Further, the intermediate tray 6 is separated in a direction perpendicular to the drawing, and an endless belt 58 is stretched along the separation portion (vertical direction). The endless belt 58 is
The sheet receiver 7, which is stretched between the belt rollers 59 and moves in the arrow X direction, moves the sheet receiver 7 fixed to the surface of the endless belt 58. The paper tray 7 is waiting at the lower part of the intermediate tray 6 when the paper is carried in.
To support the end of the sheet P conveyed in the conveyance direction. Also,
In the vicinity of the standby position of the sheet receiver 7, for example, a stapler 8 is provided. The stapler 8 performs a stapling process on a set of sheets whose ends in the conveying direction are aligned by the sheet receiver 7 and whose sheet width direction is aligned by the cursor 57. The sheet whose end in the conveying direction is bound by the staple process is conveyed in the direction of the arrow X while being supported by the sheet receiver 7 by traveling of the endless belt 58. Endless belt 5
Above 8, a guide member 60 for guiding the sheet P to the discharge tray 10 and a discharge roller 9 are provided. The discharge tray 10 is inclined upward in the discharge direction so as to easily receive the sheet bundle bound at the end. The discharge tray 10 is fixed to an endless belt 61 stretched up and down, and while being guided by a guide mechanism (not shown), is moved vertically by the endless belt 61 in accordance with the amount of paper to be discharged. You.

Next, without using the bypass path 51, the A4
When the paper P of the size is carried into the intermediate tray 6,
A paper carrying-in operation when carrying A4-size paper P into the intermediate tray 6 using the bypass path 51 will be described. (Case where the bypass path 51 is not used) This corresponds to a case where the sheet P is not stored in the intermediate tray 6 or a case where a series of sheets in a set is conveyed to the intermediate tray 6. The branching pawl 56 is set at the solid line position, and a series of sheets P sequentially supplied from the copier at regular intervals passes through the transport path 50 in the direction of the arrow Y3d and is continuously carried into the intermediate tray 6. You. (In the case where the bypass path 51 is used) This is because a set of sheets already stored in the intermediate tray 6 has been stapled, and the first sheet of the next set supplied at a constant interval from the copying machine. Corresponds to the case where the sheet P1 cannot be conveyed to the intermediate tray 6 at the fixed interval. Even when the first sheet P1 of the next set is carried in, the branch claw 56 is initially set at the position indicated by the solid line. A predetermined time after the trailing edge of the first sheet P1 of the next set passes through the carry-in switch SW1 and the trailing edge of the first sheet P1 of the next set is detected (the trailing edge of the sheet P Place), transport path 5
The clutch of the branch roller 4a that has conveyed the paper P1 in the position 0 is turned off, and the paper P1 is stopped in the conveyance path 50 in a state as shown in FIG. Next, the branch pawl 56 is driven by the solenoid to swing to the position indicated by the dashed line, and the second sheet P2 of the next set is transported into the bypass path 51 by the transport roller 2. And
When the rear end of the second sheet P2 of the next set is detected after the second sheet P2 of the next set passes through the carry-in switch SW1, the clutch of the branch roller 4a is turned on, and the first sheet P2 is turned on. In the state where the first sheet P1 and the second sheet P2 are overlapped, the arrow Y is moved by the branch rollers 4c and 4d.
It is conveyed in the 3d direction and is carried into the intermediate tray 6.
As described above, in the finisher A1 according to the present embodiment, while the staple process is being performed on the set of sheets already supplied to the intermediate tray 6, the first sheet of the next set of sheets in the transport path 50 is performed. P1 is temporarily stopped, the second sheet P2 of the next set of sheets is carried into the bypass path 51, and the first sheet P1 and the second sheet of the next set of sheets are set in accordance with the end of the stapling process for the set of sheets. By supplying the intermediate tray 6 with the eyes P2 overlapping, the waiting time for sheets between sets can be reduced with a simple and compact configuration.

[0009]

In the above embodiment, a specific example in which the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to the finisher A1 of a copying machine has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It can also be applied to a sheet post-processing device of another image forming apparatus. Such a sheet post-processing apparatus is also an example of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention.
In the above embodiment, the stapler 8 is provided below the intermediate tray 6, but a unit for performing other processing such as a punch unit may be provided instead. Further, the sheets stored in the intermediate tray 6 do not necessarily have to be subjected to the stepping process or the punching process, and may be discharged only by adjusting the width of the sheets. Such a sheet post-processing apparatus is also an example of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention. Further, the finisher A according to the above-described embodiment is used.
Instead of 1, for example, the paper post-processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to another finisher A2 as shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, the finisher A2 will be described with reference to FIG. The finisher A2 is connected to an unillustrated image forming apparatus on the right side surface in the drawing. Therefore, on the right side of the finisher A2, there is provided a paper feed port 11 for receiving the image-formed sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus. The transport path 12 connected to the paper feed port 11 has a transport path 13 and a bypass path 14.
Are connected. A branch claw 15 for switching the paper transport direction is provided at the branch of the transport path 12, the transport path 13, and the bypass path 14 so as to be swingable. The transport path 13 and the bypass path 4 join again at the junction 16 and again at the branching section 17.
And a transport path 19. The branching portion 17 is provided with a branching claw 20 for switching between the conveyance paths 17 and 18 so as to be swingable. Here, R1, R2, R3, and R4 are:
It is a transport roller provided in each transport path. Downstream of the lower transport path 19, a punch 24 (a plurality of punches are provided in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface) for reciprocating up and down by a cam 23, and a paper loading table 25 (corresponding to an intermediate tray) )
A stapler 35 (35) that performs a binding process on the placed paper
a, 35b) are provided, and after the carried-in paper is subjected to post-processing, the paper is discharged to the discharge tray 33. The transport roller R3 is provided with a clutch. The transport roller R3 can be transported after being temporarily stopped in the bypass path 14 by turning on and off the transport roller R3. Therefore, the finisher A described above
Also in the second sheet, the first sheet of the next set of sheets is temporarily stopped in the bypass path 14 while the staple processing is being performed on the set of sheets already supplied to the sheet Is transported into the transport path 13 and the first and second sheets of the next set of sheets are overlapped with each other in accordance with the end of the stapling process for the set of sheets.
And a simple and compact configuration can reduce the waiting time for sheets between sets. In the finisher A2, unlike the finisher A1, the first sheet of the next set is made to wait in the bypass path 14. That is, the conveyance path for waiting for the first sheet of the next set of sheets may be set so that the order of storing sheets in the intermediate tray does not change.

[0011]

In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, a transfer path for supplying sheets to the intermediate tray is provided with a bypass path bypassing a part of the transfer path. While the processing of the set of sheets already supplied to the intermediate tray is being performed, the first sheet of the next set of sheets is temporarily stopped in the transport path or the bypass path, and the second sheet of the next set of sheets is temporarily stopped. The first sheet is carried into the bypass path or the conveyance path, and the first sheet and the second sheet of the next set of sheets are stacked on the intermediate tray at the completion of the predetermined post-processing for the set of sheets. Since the paper is supplied, the waiting time for sheets between sets can be reduced by a simple and compact configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an entire finisher A1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the vicinity of an intermediate tray of the finisher A1 in detail.

FIG. 3 is a finisher A2 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
The figure which shows the schematic structure of.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a simplified configuration of a conventional sheet post-processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6: Intermediate tray 50: Conveyance path (conveyance path) 51: Bypass path (bypass path) P1: First sheet of next set of sheets P2: Second sheet of next set of sheets

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kazutoshi Kondo 1-2-28 Tamazo, Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Inside Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Sadahiro Matsuura 1-chome, Tamazuku, Osaka City 2-28 Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toru Nibu 1-2-28 Tamada Kogyo Co., Ltd., Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture 1-28-28 Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sheet post-processing apparatus comprising an intermediate tray capable of storing a plurality of sheets and performing a predetermined post-processing on a set of sheets sequentially conveyed to the intermediate tray at regular intervals. A bypass path that bypasses a part of the transport path is provided in the transport path for supplying to the tray, and the bypass is performed while the predetermined post-processing is performed on the set of sheets already supplied to the intermediate tray. Temporarily stopping the first sheet of the next set of sheets in the transport path or the bypass path, carrying in the second sheet of the next set of sheets into the bypass path or the transfer path, and setting a predetermined value for the set of sheets. Wherein the first and second sheets of the next set of sheets are stacked and supplied to the intermediate tray in accordance with the end of post-processing. 2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined post-processing is stapling.