JPS63247265A - Sheet after-treating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable excellent loading of sheets irrespective of the presence of the fold of a sheet, by a method wherein an amount of sheets loaded on a sheet loading means is controlled by a mode which is differed with the presence of the fold of the sheet. CONSTITUTION:During a no-fold mode, an assorting tray 515 is gradually lowered as sheets are loaded on an assorting tray 515 by means of discharge belts 529. The sheets are loaded until a sheet limit sensor 527 is turned ON after a lowering limit sensor 537 is turned ON, and an overloading alarm is outputted as the upper limit number of sheets. Meanwhile, during a fold mode, a loading upper limit is limited by the number of sheets, and when, for example, during a half-fold mode or a Z-fold mod, the tray 515 is brought into a falling state, an overloading alarm is outputted when 100 sheets are loaded, and when, during a Z-fold mode, the tray is erected, the overloading alarm is outputted when 30 sheets are loaded. This constitution enables ensurance of excellent loading of the sheets irrespective of the presence of a fold.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an apparatus that performs post-processing on discharged sheets.

[Background of the invention]

Conventionally, this type of device has been used to store sheets by lowering 1 to rays in sequence every time a predetermined number of sheets ejected from a recording device such as a copying machine or a printer are loaded, and the number of sheets that can be loaded is set at the upper limit. It is known that the recording operation is stopped when the maximum value is reached.

In recent years, a sheet folding device has been added to the above-mentioned recording device and is sometimes used, and the loading of folded sheets from such a folding device is the same as the loading of sheets that are not folded. The number of sheets stacked on the tray varies in height, and it is difficult to detect whether the stacked amount of sheets has reached the upper limit, making it difficult to ensure good sheet stacking.

[Objective] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its object is to provide a sheet post-processing device that enables good stacking of sheets regardless of whether the sheets are folded or not. be.

Figure 1 shows the internal structure of an embodiment of an image recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In this figure, 100 is a main body having an image reading function and an image recording function, 300 is a circulating document feeder (hereinafter referred to as RDF) that automatically feeds documents;
Reference numeral 400 denotes a paper folding device that folds sheets at a predetermined position, and a finisher (post-processing device) that has a sorting function and a stapling function, and each of these devices 300 to 500 can be used in combination with the main body 100 as desired. can.

A0 main body (100) In the main body 100, 101 is a document table glass on which a document is placed, and 103 is an illumination lamp (exposure lamp) that illuminates the document.
105. 107. Reference numeral 109 denotes a scanning reflection mirror (scanning mirror) 11 that changes the optical path of the reflected light of the original.
Reference numeral 1 indicates a lens having focusing and variable magnification functions, and reference numeral 113 indicates a fourth reflection mirror (scanning mirror) that changes the optical path. 1
15 is an optical system motor that drives the optical system, 117°119
．． 121 are sensors, respectively.

131 is a photosensitive drum, 133 is a main motor that drives the photosensitive drum 131, 135 is a high voltage unit, 137 is a blank exposure unit, 139 is a developing device, 141 is a transfer charger, 143 is a separation charger, and 145 is a cleaning device. be.

151 is the upper cassette, 153 is the lower cassette, 155
157 is a paper feed roller, and 159 is a registration roller. Further, 161 is a conveyor belt that conveys the recording paper on which an image has been recorded to the fixing side, 163 is a fixing device that fixes the conveyed recording paper by thermocompression bonding, and 167 is a sensor used for double-sided recording.

The surface of the photosensitive drum 131 described above is made of a seamless photoconductor using a photoconductor and an electric conductor. The motor 133 starts rotating in the direction of the arrow in the figure. Next, when the predetermined rotational control and potential control processing (preprocessing) of the drum 131 are completed, the original placed on the original platen glass 101 is illuminated by the illumination lamp 103 that is integrated with the first scanning mirror 105. The reflected light from the original is transmitted to the first scanning mirror 105 and the second scanning mirror 105.
Scanning mirror 107. Third scanning mirror 109. Lens 11
1 and a fourth scanning mirror 113 to form an image on the drum 131.

The drum 131 is corona charged by a high pressure unit 135. Thereafter, the image illuminated by the illumination lamp 103 (
The original image) is exposed to slit light, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the drum 131.

Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 131 is transferred to a developing device 139.
The toner image is developed by a developing roller 140 and visualized as a toner image, and the toner image is transferred onto a transfer paper by a transfer charger 141 as described later.

That is, the upper cassette 151 or the lower cassette 1
The transfer paper in 53 is fed into the main unit by paper feed rollers 155 or 157, and is sent toward the photosensitive drum 131 with accurate timing by registration rollers 159, so that the leading edge of the latent image and the leading edge of the transfer paper are aligned. Ru. Thereafter, the transfer paper passes between the transfer charger 141 and the drum 131, so that the toner image on the drum 131 is transferred onto the transfer paper. After this transfer is completed, the transfer paper is transferred to the drum 13.
1 by the separation charger 143, and the conveyor belt 1
61 to the fixing device 163, where it is fixed by applying pressure and heating, and then being transferred to the main body 10 by a discharge roller 165.
Ejected out of 0.

After the transfer, the drum 131 continues to rotate, and its surface is cleaned by a cleaning device 145 composed of a cleaning roller and an elastic blade.

C, RDF (circulating document feeder) (300) RDF
In 300, 301 is a stacking tray on which originals are set. Document size detection sensors 302 and 303 are provided at a predetermined interval in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of the document. The size of the document in the width direction depends on whether both sensors 302 and 303 are detecting the document, or only one sensor 303 (assuming that sensor 303 is located at the back of the paper) is detecting the document. This can be determined by checking whether there are any. Note that an accurate size can be determined by increasing the number of sensors of this type. Further, the lengthwise size can be determined based on the time period during which the sensor 303 (or 302) detects the document.

In addition, in this RDF 300, the document sent from the stacking tray 301 to the exposure surface through the sheet path 304 is sent through the sheet path 305, and then returned to the stacking tray 300.
It can be loaded onto. Further, 307 is a sensor that detects one circulation of the document.

The detailed operation of the RDF 300 is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 59-206619 filed by the present applicant, but since it is not directly related to the present invention, it will be omitted here.

98 Paper Folding Device (400) The paper folding device 400 performs half-folding in which recorded transfer paper is folded approximately at its center position, and Z-folding in which it is folded into three with a roughly Z-shaped cross section at two predetermined positions. In this paper folding device 400, 401 is a flapper that guides the transfer paper downward during paper folding, 403 and 405 are paths (conveyance paths), and 407 and 409 are folding rollers.

In the paper folding device 400, when two-folding is specified using the Z-fold key described later, the flapper 401 is turned on and guides the recorded paper to the lower path 403, so that the leading edge of the paper is folded at the end of the path 403. Once stopped, the roller 407 is then passed through the 1
The paper portion folded into quarters hits the end of path 405, and the paper is further folded into half and is led to finisher 500 through rollers 407 and 409 again. Furthermore, when half-folding is specified using the half-fold key described later, the recorded paper is folded in half at pass 403, and then is ejected from roller 409 to finisher 500 without going to pass 405. Ru. On the other hand, when the fold key is not specified and there is no paper folding, the flapper 401 is turned off and the recorded paper is directly sent to the finisher 500.
is discharged to.

E. Finisher (500) In the finisher 500 that sorts or staples recorded paper, 501 is a paper ejection flapper for switching passes to selectively switch between the sorting pass 503 and the stapling pass 505; 507; is a staple tray that temporarily stores recorded paper before being stapled.
509 is a width regulating plate provided on the stable tray 507, 511 is a stapler (document binding machine) that staples a plurality of recorded papers whose widths are regulated by the width plate 509, and 513 is a stapled record. This is a stacker tray for storing finished sheets, and the width baffle plate 509 is driven and controlled by a stepping motor (not shown). Reference numeral 515 denotes a sorting tray for sorting recording sheets that are not stapled.

The recorded paper ejected from the main body 100 or the petite star 200 is folded in half or Z-folded by the paper folding device 400 according to the specification of the key, and then the oscillating type sorting by the finisher 500 is ejected to the tray 515. ,or,
The recorded sheets discharged to the stable tray 507 are regulated in width by a width baffle plate 509 for each part of the specified number of sheets, stapled by a stapler 511, and dropped into a stacker tray 513. .

That is, in the finisher 500, when the stapling mode is selected using the staple key described later, the paper ejection flapper 501 is turned on and the recorded paper is ejected to the stable tray 507 via the path 505, and when the specified number of sheets is reached. The width baffle plate 509 and the stapler 511 are turned on according to instructions from the main body 100, and the recorded sheets are stapled. Thereafter, the stabilized paper is dropped onto the stacker tray 513.

By repeating this operation, a plurality of recorded documents that are collated and stably bound are completed. A sensor 517 detects the presence or absence of staples, and for example, a reflective sensor is used.

Further, when stable processing is not selected, the paper ejection flapper 501 is turned off, the sorting is switched to the side, and the recorded paper passes through the path 503 and is ejected to the sorting tray 515. At this time, according to an instruction from the main body 100, recorded sheets can be stacked in well-separated sheets, shifted by 30 mm to the left and right. FIG. 3 shows an example of the arrangement and configuration of the operation panel provided on the main body ioo described above. The operation panel has a key group 600 and a display group 700 as described below.

602 is an all reset key, which is pressed to return to the standard mode.

604 is a copy start key (copy start key);
Press to start copying.

605 is a clear/stop key, which functions as a clear key during standby and as a stop key during copy recording. This clear key is pressed to cancel the set number of copies. Also, press the stop key to interrupt continuous copying. The copying operation stops after the copying at the time when the button is pressed is completed.

Numeric keys 606 are pressed to set the number of copies.

Reference numeral 625 is a stable key, which is pressed to staple the sheets after recording. 626 is the Z-fold key, A
Press when folding 3 or B4 size recorded paper into a Z-shaped cross section.

Copy density keys 608 and 609 are pressed when manually adjusting the copy density. 610 is the AE key,
Press this button to automatically adjust the copy density according to the density of the original, or to cancel AE (automatic density adjustment) and switch the density adjustment to manual. Reference numeral 611 is a cassette selection key, which is pressed when selecting the upper cassette 1511 and the interrupted cassette 153. Also, when a document is placed on the RDF300, this key 611 is used to access the AP
S (automatic paper cassette selection) can be selected. When APS is selected, a cassette of the same size as the original is automatically selected.

Reference numeral 612 is a same size key, which is pressed to make a same size (original size) copy. Reference numeral 613 denotes an auto-magnification key, which is pressed to automatically reduce or enlarge the original image according to the specified transfer paper size. Zoom keys 614 and 615 are pressed to specify any magnification between 64 and 142%. 616 and 617 are fixed magnification keys,
627 is the half-fold key to reduce or enlarge the standard size.
Press to fold A3 or B4 size recorded paper in half.

628 is a soft key, and sorting is done by tray (sorter) 5.
If 15 is connected, it is lit in standard mode.

At this time, press this key 628 to cancel the sort mode or to enter the sort mode.

Reference numeral 629 is a group key, which copies a plurality of copies from one document, and if the tray 515 is connected, the sorting is stored in the tray 515 for each bin.

G. Display Group (700) In FIG. 2, numeral 701 is an LCD (liquid crystal) type message display, which can display a 40-character message, for example, with 5×7 dots forming one character.

A copy number display 705 displays the number of copies or a self-diagnosis code. Reference numeral 706 is a used cassette display, which displays which one of the upper cassette 151 and the suspended cassette 153 is selected.

708 is an AE display device, and the AE main key 10
Lights up when (automatic density adjustment) is selected.

710 is a ready/wait indicator, which is a two-color LED of green and orange; green lights up when ready (when copying is possible) and when waiting (when copying is not possible).
lights up orange.

H9 Control Device (SOO) FIG. 3 shows an example of the circuit configuration of the control device 800 of the embodiment shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, 801 is a central processing unit (CPU) that performs arithmetic control for carrying out the present invention, and uses, for example, a microcomputer μm COM 87 AD manufactured by NEC (NEC Corporation).

Reference numeral 803 indicates a control hand 1 as shown in FIG. 6 and subsequent figures according to the present invention.
This is a read-only memory (ROM) that stores 1@ (control program) in advance, and the CPU 801 uses this ROM.
Each component device connected via the path is controlled according to the control procedure stored in M. Reference numeral 805 denotes a random access memory (RAM) which is a main storage device used for storing input data and as a working storage area.

807 is an interface (Ilo) that outputs the CPU 801 control signal to a load such as the main motor 133; 809
inputs the input signal from the image tip sensor 121, etc. to the CPU 80.
1, an interface 811 is an interface for controlling input/output between the key group 600 and the display group 700. These interfaces 807° 809,
811 is, for example, NEC's input/output circuit port μmPD8.
255 is used.

Note that the display group 700 is each display device shown in FIG. 2, and uses LEDs and LCDs. The key group 600 is each key shown in FIG. 2, and the CPU 801 can determine which key has been pressed using a well-known key matrix.

Further, the CPU 801 uses the RDF 300. Paper folding device 400
It is connected to the finisher 500 via a pass line to operate each device.

[Operation example]

FIGS. 4-1 to 4-3 show detailed views of the tray portion of the embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 4-1, by setting the sheet upward by the path switching paper ejection flapper 501, the sheet passes through the ejection belt 52a via the path 503 and is sorted into the tray 5.
It is discharged on 15th. At this time, all sheet conveyance rollers in the path 503 are rotated by the conveyance motor 521. The leading edge of the sheet that has entered the path 503 by the flapper 501 is detected by the discharge detection sensor 525. At that point, the drive from the conveyance motor 521 is transmitted to the discharge belt 529 via the clutch 523, and the conveyance speed is made equal to the conveyance roller in the other path 503, and the sheet is discharged at that speed. It passes through the belt 529. Next, when the sensor 525 detects the rear end of the sheet, the aforementioned clutch 523 is turned off and the conveyance speed becomes low, and at that low speed the rear end of the sheet is transferred to the discharge belt 529. The paper is then kicked out onto the tray 515. The paper ejection belt 529 is a mechanism that moves up and down like an arrow with one end as a fulcrum, and a sheet limit sensor 527 is added that detects the upper limit when pushed up by stacking sheets or when the tray position is initialized as described later. has been done.

Further, the sorting tray 515 has a sheet stacking detection sensor 531 that detects that stacked sheets are on the tray. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 4-3, the tray slope is 2.
The tray switching sensor 551 detects when the tray inclination is small.

In addition, the tray unit 539 for sorting is operated by the lifting motor 535.
When it moves up and down as shown by arrow A through the rack and pinion 533 and, for example, descends to the bottom as shown by the dotted line in the figure, it is detected by the lower limit sensor 537 and the descent is stopped. .

For sorting, the tray unit 539 is configured to move horizontally to two positions as shown by arrow B in FIG.
Cam 545. Tray 515 via arm 547
The shift operation is performed by moving in parallel and stopping the shift motor 541 at the point where the shift position sensor 543 is turned on by the protrusion of the cam 545.

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail using the operation table shown in FIG. 5 and the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6 to 9.

(1) Initialization If the stack mode is specified when the copy start key on the copying machine is pressed, it is necessary to initialize the position of the tray 515 for sorting according to each mode. I will explain using

In FIG. 6, when the copy start key is pressed, the following processing starts (step).

First, in step 5102, the sheet stack detection sensor 531 detects paper, that is, it is checked whether there is paper on the tray 515. If there is paper, the process proceeds to 5 step 103, which will be described later. If there is no paper, copy sheet ejection is prohibited and the process proceeds to the next 5 step 104, as described later. In step 5104, the tray 515 is raised by turning on the tray lifting motor in the tray lifting direction until the sheet limit sensor 527 is turned on, and then stopped by turning off the tray lifting motor 521. The tray 515 is now set at the uppermost position. Then, in the next step 105, the tray 515 is lowered to a different position depending on each mode, and this will be explained individually.

First, the position of the initial 515 on the tray changes depending on the folding mode, and in the half-folding mode, it changes 3 from the top.
The tray 515 is lowered to a position of 6 mm and stopped (step 106). In addition, in the 2-fold mode, the tray switching sensor 551 is turned on, and the distance to lower the tray 515 is changed depending on whether the tray 515 is folded down or not.
position, 29 mm from the top when off.

In addition, when the tray is not folded, the tray switching sensor 551 is turned on at a position of 9 mm from the top, and when turned off, the tray is placed at a position of 1.5 mm from the top. The reason why the position of the tray is changed depending on the way the paper is folded and the angle of the tray will be described later.

These tray initial operations after the copy start key is turned on are performed when the sheet stacking detection sensor 531 at step 5102 described above is off. In other words, since the tray 515 from which the stacked copy sheets were removed in the previous copy mode has been lowered one after another to stack the sheets, it is at a considerably lower position, so it takes a considerably longer time to raise it. Therefore, in this case, the tray 515 is initialized by prohibiting the ejection of copy sheets from the copying machine main body, and after completion of the initial operation, the ejection of copy sheets is permitted (step
107) This is because if a copy sheet is ejected before the tray 515 is at a predetermined position, a problem will occur in stacking the sheets on the tray. Further, when the sheet stacking detection sensor 531 is turned on at 5tep102, copy sheet ejection is permitted at 5tep103, and the initial operation from 5tep104 onwards is performed. In this case, the topmost position of the sheet will be initialized while the sheet stacked in the previous copy mode remains on the tray, and the position of the tray 515 is somewhat close to the limit sensor 529. , the time required for the initial operation is small. Therefore, since the initial operation can be completed in sufficient time before the copy sheet is ejected, there is no need to prohibit the ejection of the copy sheet as described above (this has the effect of shortening the copying operation time).

(2) At the time of discharging sheets Next, for sorting by the finisher, the sequence of discharging sheets to the tray 515 and the sequence of stacking sheets on the tray will be explained using the flowchart of FIG. 7-1.7-2.

A sheet is ejected from the copying machine, and in the case of the folding mode, it passes through the folding device 400, and in the case of the non-folding mode, it passes through the through path and is conveyed to the entrance of the finisher, passes through the guide 503, and is sorted into the tray 515. be discharged. In this case, first in step 201, it is determined whether the Z-fold mode is specified or not, and if the two-fold mode is specified, the conveyance speed is set to 600 mm/see, and if it is not the Z-fold mode, it is set to 500 mm/sec. For example, the transport motor 521 is controlled by well-known PLL control or the like so that
control. When the sheet arrives at the discharge detection sensor 525, the clutch 523 is turned on, and the discharge belt 52
By making the conveyance speed of No. 9 equal to the aforementioned speed, the sheet is smoothly discharged until it passes through the sensor 525 (step 202).

And in 5tep 203 and 204, the sheet is the sensor 52
5, turn off the clutch 523, and release the discharge belt 5.
By reducing the speed of 29 to about 1/4 and finely controlling the timing for each mode, the sheets can be kicked out and loaded in a good manner.

In particular, the ejection and stacking of the first sheet are closely related to the above-mentioned initial position and conveyance speed of the tray, and this will be explained in detail using FIG. 10.

First, in the non-folding mode, the rear edge of the sheet is connected to the sensor 52.
5, the clutch 523 is turned off at a position of 40 mm after the conveyance speed is reduced. In other words,
40 mm as shown in (a) in Figure 10-1
The position is the center position of the roller that rotates the paper ejection belt 529, and by loading the sheets onto the tray at a high speed of 500 mm/sec so far, the sheet is not affected by the waist of the sheet. This prevents curling, etc., and also prevents the rear end of the sheet from kicking out as if it were stuck to the ejection belt at a low speed as shown in (b), and not kicking out too much as shown in (C). Since the tray is located 1.5 mm below the ejection belt, the sheets can be drawn in under the belt and loaded onto the tray. This also reduces the time required to eject the sheet, making the sheet flow faster and
By slowing down the speed for a short distance during ejection, the ejection from the copying machine to the finisher is not restricted, and there is also the effect that sheets can be loaded well without reducing the copying speed of the copying machine.

Next, in the two-fold mode, as shown in FIG. 10-2, the timing at which the clutch 523 is turned off is changed depending on whether the tray is fallen or the sheet size is A3.

First, Figure 10-2 (a) shows the tray standing state and the A3
In the case of the size, the clutch 523 is turned off after the time required for conveying the sheet 58 mm after the sheet passes the discharge detection sensor 525.

The position 58 mm from the discharge detection sensor 525 is a position 10 mm downstream from the left end of the paper discharge belt 529 in the sheet conveyance direction, and up to that point, the speed is 600 mm/s.
By discharging the sheet to the tray 515 at a high speed of ec, it is possible to prevent the sheet from becoming stiff at the boundary between the overlapping half and the non-overlapping half of the Z-fold portion of the sheet, which is unique to two-folding. Then, by turning off the clutch 523 and switching to low speed, the rear end of the sheet is gently dropped at a position 10 mm away from the paper ejection belt 529.
It can be loaded well without getting caught at the rear end.

On the other hand, in the case of B4 size even when the tray is standing, No. 10-2
In Figure (b), the timing when the sheet passes through a position 48 mm from the off position of the sensor 525, that is, the timing when the sheet ejecting belt 52
The clutch 523 is turned off at the timing when the sheet passes the left end position of the sheet No.9, but this is because the length after Z-folding in the case of B4 is shorter than that of A3. If the sheets are discharged at high speed, the sheets will jump over the Z-folded sheets stacked on the tray 515, and good stacking will not be achieved. Therefore, by setting the length to 48 mm, this can be prevented, and a good result can be obtained in which the rear end does not get caught because the B4 sheet is short.

By placing both trays at a position 29 mm lower than the paper ejection belt during Z-folding mode, the distance at which the leading edge of the Z-folded sheet collides with the tray is increased, which prevents stiffness during high-speed paper ejection and also reduces the Good stacking is possible so that the leading edge of the sheets after the first sheet does not slip into the border of the Z-fold section of the first sheet.

Furthermore, when the tray 515 is switched to the collapsed state, the tray is 36 m away from the paper ejection belt 529 regardless of the size.
The timing for turning off the ms clutch 523 is determined by the sensor 525.
The sheet is conveyed at a position 35 mm from the off position, that is, 13 mm from the left end of the sheet discharge belt 529 at the timing when the sheet is conveyed. This is Figure 1O-2(c)
In this case, since the tray is fallen down, there is no need to increase the high-speed ejection time with the tray upright as described above to make the paper fly far away, but rather to slow down the rear end to ensure that the paper is loaded properly to ensure good loading. I'm letting you do that. In addition, by lowering the height of the tray to a certain extent, it is possible to avoid the above-mentioned crawling and allow for a wide range of loading.

Returning the explanation again to FIG. 7-1, in particular, in step 5204, when the tray 515 is in the standing state in the half-folding mode, the clutch 523 is not turned off and high-speed ejection is performed, and
As shown in step 105 in the figure, attach the tray to the paper ejection belt 5.
By increasing the distance from 29 mm to 36 mm, the trailing edges of the sheets are not dragged by the sheet discharge belt 529, and good stacking is achieved. (See Figure 10-3) Next, the method of lowering the toilet when paper is sequentially discharged and loaded in each mode will be explained. At step 205 in FIG. 7-1, the ejection timer is activated and the process waits for the time required for each sheet to be completely ejected and stacked on the tray. Thereafter, various movements are performed depending on each mode, as shown from step 301 onward in FIG. 7-2.

That is, it is roughly classified depending on whether it is in folding mode or not. First, we will explain the non-folding mode.

In step 301, the sheet stacking detection sensor 531 is checked, and if the sensor is off, the tray 515 is not moved.

This is assumed to be due to the user removing the ejected sheets one by one. If the sensor is on, then 5tep30
2, the tray switching sensor 551 is checked. Here, when the sensor is on and the tray is falling down, the number of ejected sheets is counted, and every 8 sheets is counted, 1.5 mm
Lower the minute tray. In this case, 1.5 mm is considered to be equal to 8 sheets, and 5 step in Figure 6
At step 105, the tray is lowered by 9 mm in advance, so the paper ejection belt 529 does not climb onto the stacked paper, and the stacking surface of the ejected paper is kept roughly constant while stacking. be able to. On the other hand, if the tray is standing, it is in the normal state at step 303, and as sheets are stacked one after another, the height of the sheets gradually rises, and finally the sheet limit is reached by pushing up the paper ejection belt 529. Turn on sensor 527.

Here, the tray is not lowered immediately after the limit sensor is turned on, but only after the limit sensor remains on continuously for three sheets to be ejected, the tray 1 is lowered by 5 mm. This is done to prevent sensor chattering. By connecting these operations, it becomes possible to load a large amount of paper in a good manner.

On the other hand, in the case of folding mode, especially in the two-fold remote (st
ep304), a tray lowering operation that is different from the above-mentioned unfolded sheet is required. This is because when Z-folded sheets are stacked one after another, the Z-folded portion becomes raised as shown in FIG. 11-1, making it difficult to write well. So, if the tray is in a standing state, 5 step 305
When the number of sheets to be ejected is up to 15, the paper size is set in 1 mm increments, and for more than 15 sheets, the sheet size is A3 and 1 mm increments, and B4 is 0.
, lower the tray by 4 mm. In other words, as explained in step 203 in Figure 7-1, the sheet stacked at the top is always at the correct position ( angle, height).

If the height of the tray is not changed as shown in FIG. 11-1, the ejected sheets will jump over the sheet, but if the tray is lowered as shown in FIG. 11-2, it will be possible to stack the sheets properly. On the other hand, if the tray is in a fallen state, 5step 306 is executed.

In this case, the tray may be lowered roughly.

In other words, as shown in FIG. 11-3, the bulge of the two-fold sheet is small. Therefore, the tray can be left as is until the 50th sheet is ejected, and once the number of sheets exceeds 50, 1 mm is set for each ejected sheet.
Good loading can be achieved by simply lowering the
figure).

On the other hand, when folding in half, the initial position of the tray is lowered as shown in FIG. 11-5, so that good stacking is possible without lowering the tray during stacking.

(3) Loading overcheck As mentioned above, we have described the control to improve the stacking of sheets on the tray, but ultimately it is necessary to stop the device before the upper limit number of sheets is exceeded, which would make loading impossible. There is. The upper limit value and operations such as cancellation of stoppage in each mode will be explained below.

In step 401, the sheet stacking detection sensor 531 confirms the stacking as described above. 5tep if there is a load
Proceeding to step 402, the process is changed depending on the mode check.

5tep 403 is a loading upper limit check in the case of non-folding mode, and as described above, the tray is lowered one by one until it is completely lowered until the lowering limit sensor 537 is turned on, and the sheet limit sensor 527 is
Only after the stack is loaded until the is turned on, the number of sheets exceeds the upper limit, and an overload alarm is output. That is, in this case, the height of the stacked sheets is detected to check for overflow. This alarm state is reset by the user pulling out the upper sheet and turning off the sheet limit sensor 527. (Step 404) On the other hand, in the fold remote mode, the upper limit of loading is limited by the number of sheets. If the tray is in half-folding mode or in Z-folding and the tray is lying down, the number of sheets to be discharged is 100, and in Z-folding and the tray is standing, an alarm is output when 30 sheets are output. (step 40
6,407) In this case, as explained in the above-mentioned discharge check program, it is difficult to specify the sheet height when stacking folded sheets, and it is necessary to determine the upper limit based on the number of sheets.

The alarm is reset by the user removing all the folded sheets and turning off the sheet stacking detection sensor 531. (Step 408) On the other hand, if the user accidentally removes the stacked sheets during a series of operations, this is checked in step 409. In other words, the tray is lowered by the height of the stacked sheets, and if a sheet is suddenly pulled out in this state, it becomes impossible to properly stack the discharged sheets. Therefore, in step 5409, a check is made to see if the tray has been lowered even once during paper ejection, and when the sheet stacking detection sensor 531 turns off after the tray has been lowered, a stacking empty alarm is output. In this case, the process from step 102 of the above-mentioned initial routine is performed to return the tray to the initial position in each mode, and then reset the alarm.

Furthermore, when each alarm is output, the copying machine temporarily stops its operation and enters a standby state until the alarm is reset. Further, the contents of the alarm may be displayed on a display section (of the copying machine).

(4) End check Next, the operation of sorting will be explained using FIG. 9.

First, in step 501, the final copy sheet is ejected from the copying machine, and then the sorting operations for each mode are performed.

At step 502, the process is changed depending on whether the mode is folding or not, and if the mode is folding, the process proceeds to step 504, which will be described later.

If it is not the folding mode, the process proceeds to step 503, and the tray is always lowered by a certain amount at the end of the operation, and in particular, the lowering amount is changed by turning on/off the tray switching sensor 551. This is because in the non-folding mode, the lower end of the paper ejection belt 529 is in contact with the sheets as shown in Figure 10-1, so if the lower end of the paper ejection belt 529 is in contact with the sheets at the end of the operation, the user will be unable to remove the stacked sheets. This was done in consideration of the fact that it may be difficult to take out the paper, and in addition, in the sorting mode described later, when the tray shifts sideways, the paper ejection belt does not shift, so the top paper that is in contact with it may slip. This is a countermeasure. Also, depending on the tray switching state, the descending amount is 10 mm when the tray switching sensor is on and 18 mm when the tray switching sensor is off.
The reason why it is changed to mm is that the position of the tray at the time of loading is different, and it is necessary to lower the tray to a position where it does not completely contact the paper ejection belt 529.

Next, to explain 5tep 504, this is a routine that shifts the tray horizontally by about 30 mm during the sorting mode. From the shift motor on, shift position sensor 543 turns off and on, shifts 30 mm, and completes by turning off the motor. I'm letting you do it.

The reason why it does not descend like 5tep503 in folding mode is
This is because the tray is already in a somewhat lowered position.

This shift of 30 mm away from the paper delivery belt results in a well-sorted bundle of copy sheets. Furthermore, when the tray lowering limit sensor 527 is turned on at step 504, no shifting is performed. This is because when the paper ejection belt is in contact with the topmost sheet in non-folding mode, etc., if the lowering limit sensor 537 is turned on when lowering the first tray, the tray cannot be lowered any further, and at that time the belt This process is performed because it is impossible to prevent the top sheet from shifting due to shifting because the gap with 529 is not guaranteed.

As explained above, reliable sheet loading is ensured by selecting whether to perform the upper limit detection mode of the sheet stacking tray based on the stacking height or the number of sheets depending on whether the sheets are folded or not. This has the effect of preventing accidents such as falling seats or crawling into them.

Although not described in this embodiment, for example, when folded sheets and non-folded sheets are mixed, it is difficult to detect the upper limit based on the height of the stacked sheets.
A conceivable configuration is to limit the number of stacked sheets. In this case, for example, a counting means is provided that counts the number of sheets loaded after the sheet loading detection sensor is turned on, and a non-folded sheet is counted as 05 sheets and a folded sheet is counted as 1 sheet and compared with the above-mentioned upper limit number. A possible configuration is possible.

In other words, by configuring the counting weights for folded sheets and non-folded sheets to be different, it is possible to achieve the effect of avoiding accidents and maximizing loading during mixed loading.

Furthermore, when the upper limit of unfolded sheet stacking is determined based on height and length, the number of stacked sheets may also be counted at the same time. This means that, for example, when a failure occurs in the sheet stacking height sensor, the count value may exceed 1,500 sheets even though the actual sheet loading capacity of the tray is approximately 1,500 sheets. Note that since the sheet height detection sensor is not turned on, the device will continue to try to stack sheets on the tray forever. Therefore, if the height sensor does not turn on even if the count value exceeds a predetermined value, it is determined that the sensor is abnormal and the operation of the device is stopped to prevent accidents. Incidentally, it is preferable that the display at this time is not an alarm state of overloaded sheets, but a serviceman call indicating a failure of the apparatus.

〔effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of sheets loaded is limited in different modes depending on whether or not the sheets are folded, so that good sheet loading can be ensured regardless of whether or not the sheets are folded. becomes possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of an image recording device in which a paper folding device and a finisher are connected to a copying machine, Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the operation display section of the copying machine, and Fig. 3 is an image shown in Fig. 1. Block diagram showing the control unit of the recording device, Figures 4-1 to 4-3
The figure is a flowchart showing the flow of the finisher.
Figures 0-1 to 10-3 and Figures 11-1 to 11-5
The figure is a diagram showing the discharge and stacking of sheets onto the sorting tray. ＋ 00---1 Copying machine body 300---RD
F400---Paper folding device 500---Finisher 507---Stable tray 515---=-Sorting tray 521---Motor 52
3---Clutch

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A sheet stacking means for stacking discharged sheets, and a control means for controlling the amount of sheets stacked on the sheet stacking means in different modes depending on whether or not the sheets are folded. Sheet post-processing equipment. (2) In claim 1, the control means includes a counting means for counting the number of sheets stacked,
A sheet post-processing device characterized in that when a sheet is folded, sheet discharge is stopped when the count value of the counting means reaches a predetermined value. (3) In claim 1, the control means has a height detection means for detecting the height of the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking means, and when the sheet is not folded, the height detection means A sheet post-processing device characterized by stopping sheet discharge according to a detection output of a means. (4) In claim 2, the control means releases the stopped state of sheet ejection when a presence/absence detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet on the sheet stacking means detects that there is no sheet. A sheet post-processing device featuring: (5) The sheet post-processing device according to claim 3, wherein the control means releases the stopped state of sheet discharge in response to the non-detection output of the height detection means.