US20170305704A1 - Sheet post-processing device and image forming system provided with the same - Google Patents
Sheet post-processing device and image forming system provided with the same Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20170305704A1 US20170305704A1 US15/521,541 US201515521541A US2017305704A1 US 20170305704 A1 US20170305704 A1 US 20170305704A1 US 201515521541 A US201515521541 A US 201515521541A US 2017305704 A1 US2017305704 A1 US 2017305704A1
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- United States
- Prior art keywords
- discharge
- paper sheet
- sheet
- tray
- discharge roller
- Prior art date
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H31/00—Pile receivers
- B65H31/34—Apparatus for squaring-up piled articles
- B65H31/36—Auxiliary devices for contacting each article with a front stop as it is piled
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
- B65H29/12—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by means of the nip between two, or between two sets of, moving tapes or bands or rollers
- B65H29/125—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by means of the nip between two, or between two sets of, moving tapes or bands or rollers between two sets of rollers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H31/00—Pile receivers
- B65H31/02—Pile receivers with stationary end support against which pile accumulates
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H31/00—Pile receivers
- B65H31/30—Arrangements for removing completed piles
- B65H31/3027—Arrangements for removing completed piles by the nip between moving belts or rollers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H33/00—Forming counted batches in delivery pile or stream of articles
- B65H33/06—Forming counted batches in delivery pile or stream of articles by displacing articles to define batches
- B65H33/08—Displacing whole batches, e.g. forming stepped piles
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H37/00—Article or web delivery apparatus incorporating devices for performing specified auxiliary operations
- B65H37/04—Article or web delivery apparatus incorporating devices for performing specified auxiliary operations for securing together articles or webs, e.g. by adhesive, stitching or stapling
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2301/00—Handling processes for sheets or webs
- B65H2301/40—Type of handling process
- B65H2301/42—Piling, depiling, handling piles
- B65H2301/421—Forming a pile
- B65H2301/4212—Forming a pile of articles substantially horizontal
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2402/00—Constructional details of the handling apparatus
- B65H2402/10—Modular constructions, e.g. using preformed elements or profiles
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2403/00—Power transmission; Driving means
- B65H2403/90—Machine drive
- B65H2403/94—Other features of machine drive
- B65H2403/942—Bidirectional powered handling device
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2403/00—Power transmission; Driving means
- B65H2403/90—Machine drive
- B65H2403/94—Other features of machine drive
- B65H2403/945—Self-weight powered
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2405/00—Parts for holding the handled material
- B65H2405/10—Cassettes, holders, bins, decks, trays, supports or magazines for sheets stacked substantially horizontally
- B65H2405/11—Parts and details thereof
- B65H2405/111—Bottom
- B65H2405/1115—Bottom with surface inclined, e.g. in width-wise direction
- B65H2405/11151—Bottom with surface inclined, e.g. in width-wise direction with surface inclined upwardly in transport direction
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2405/00—Parts for holding the handled material
- B65H2405/10—Cassettes, holders, bins, decks, trays, supports or magazines for sheets stacked substantially horizontally
- B65H2405/11—Parts and details thereof
- B65H2405/113—Front, i.e. portion adjacent to the feeding / delivering side
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2405/00—Parts for holding the handled material
- B65H2405/10—Cassettes, holders, bins, decks, trays, supports or magazines for sheets stacked substantially horizontally
- B65H2405/11—Parts and details thereof
- B65H2405/113—Front, i.e. portion adjacent to the feeding / delivering side
- B65H2405/1134—Front, i.e. portion adjacent to the feeding / delivering side movable, e.g. pivotable
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2513/00—Dynamic entities; Timing aspects
- B65H2513/40—Movement
- B65H2513/41—Direction of movement
- B65H2513/412—Direction of rotation of motor powering the handling device
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2515/00—Physical entities not provided for in groups B65H2511/00 or B65H2513/00
- B65H2515/30—Forces; Stresses
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2801/00—Application field
- B65H2801/24—Post -processing devices
- B65H2801/27—Devices located downstream of office-type machines
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a sheet post-processing device that performs post-processing such as a punch hole forming process and a binding process with respect to a sheet such as a paper sheet on which an image has been formed by an image forming apparatus such as a copy machine, a facsimile, or a printer, and an image forming system provided with the same.
- a paper sheet post-processing device that is capable of executing a binding process of loading a plurality of paper sheets on each of which an image has been formed by an image forming apparatus such as a copy machine or a printer and binding together a bundle of the thus loaded paper sheets with a staple(s), a punch hole forming process of forming punch holes (perforations) therethrough by using a punch hole forming device, and so on.
- Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a paper sheet post-processing device provided with a carry-in roller pair that carries in a paper sheet on a processing tray and a discharge roller pair that discharges a paper sheet from the processing tray onto a discharge tray.
- the discharge roller pair is composed of a discharge roll and a discharge roller that comes in pressure contact with or is separated from the discharge roll, and in a state where the discharge roller and the discharge roll are separated from each other, a paper sheet is carried in on the processing tray by the carry-in roller pair. Then, after a rear end of the paper sheet has passed through the carry-in roller pair, the discharge roller and the discharge roll are brought in pressure contact with each other and made to rotate reversely. Thus, the paper sheet is drawn in to an upstream side in a conveyance direction and comes in contact with a rear end restriction surface of the processing tray. In this manner, a paper sheet bundle on the processing tray is aligned.
- Patent Document 1 JP-A-H09-156820
- Patent Document 2 JP-A-2013-224221
- the present invention provides a sheet post-processing device that is provided with a processing tray, a discharge tray, and a discharge roller pair.
- the processing tray accepts and loads thereon a prescribed number of sheets.
- the discharge tray is disposed on a downstream side of the processing tray in a sheet conveyance direction, and onto which sheets loaded on the processing tray are discharged.
- the discharge roller pair is composed of a discharge roller that comes in contact with an uppermost surface of sheets loaded on the processing tray and a discharge roll that comes in contact with a lowermost surface of the sheets loaded on the processing tray.
- the sheet post-processing device discharges a sheet from the processing tray onto the discharge tray by forwardly rotating the discharge roller pair, and draws in a sheet on the processing tray by reversely rotating the discharge roller in a state where the discharge roll is stopped from rotating.
- a sheet is drawn in on the processing tray by reversely rotating only the discharge roller in a state where the discharge roll is stopped from rotating, and thus a drawing-in force is exerted only on a sheet being newly carried in and not on a sheet bundle that has already been aligned on the processing tray. Accordingly, there is no fear that a sheet bundle that has already been aligned is drawn in together with a sheet being newly carried in and thus is bent, so that an alignment property of a sheet bundle on the processing tray can be effectively prevented from being decreased.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 and a paper sheet post-processing device 20 of the present invention.
- FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of a periphery of a processing tray 30 in the paper sheet post-processing device 20 shown in FIG. 1 , which shows a state where a discharge roller 29 a is disposed at a separated position.
- FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the periphery of the processing tray 30 in the paper sheet post-processing device 20 shown in FIG. 1 , which shows a state where the discharge roller 29 a is disposed at a contact position.
- FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing, in a paper sheet post-processing device of the present invention, how a succeeding paper sheet P 2 is drawn in a state where a paper sheet bundle P 1 is loaded on a processing tray 30 .
- FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing, in a conventional paper sheet post-processing device, how a succeeding paper sheet P 2 is drawn in a state where a paper sheet bundle P 1 is loaded on a processing tray 30 .
- FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 and the paper sheet post-processing device 20 according to the present invention. While this embodiment illustratively describes a multi-functional peripheral as one example of the image forming apparatus 100 , the paper sheet post-processing device 20 of the present invention can be joined similarly also to other types of apparatuses than a digital multi-functional peripheral, such as, for example, a laser printer, an ink-jet printer, and a facsimile apparatus.
- a digital multi-functional peripheral such as, for example, a laser printer, an ink-jet printer, and a facsimile apparatus.
- the image forming apparatus 100 is a digital multi-functional peripheral of a so-called intra-body paper discharge type and is composed roughly of a main body housing 2 a and an upper housing 2 b arranged above the main body housing 2 a.
- the upper housing 2 b there are provided after-mentioned various types of mechanisms for reading an image of an original document as an electric signal, and an auto document feeder 3 is additionally provided above the upper housing 2 b.
- the main body housing 2 a there are provided after-mentioned various types of mechanisms for, based on the electric signal of the original document image thus read, transferring an image on a paper sheet, and the paper sheet post-processing device 20 is additionally provided in a left side portion of the main body housing 2 a.
- the main body housing 2 a is composed of a lower housing 2 aa and a joint housing 2 ab that is positioned above the lower housing 2 aa along a right side portion and joined to the upper housing 2 b.
- a paper feed portion 4 that feeds a paper sheet P
- an image forming portion 6 that forms a toner image on the paper sheet P
- a fixing device 7 for fixing the toner image on the paper sheet
- a paper sheet discharge portion (discharge portion) 18 for conveying the paper sheet P after being subjected to fixing and discharging it from the main body housing 2 a.
- an intra-body paper discharge space 16 is formed that is widely open toward a left side surface and a front.
- a relay unit 19 that accepts and loads thereon the paper sheet P discharged from a left side surface of the joint housing 2 ab and, in a case of subjecting the paper sheet P to a prescribed type of post-processing, enables conveyance of the paper sheet P to the paper sheet post-processing device 20 .
- the paper feed portion 4 that is arranged in a lower portion, a paper sheet conveyance path 5 that is arranged laterally to and above the paper feed portion 4 , the image forming portion 6 that is arranged above the paper feed portion 4 , and a fixing portion 7 that is arranged on a downstream side of the image forming portion 6 in a paper sheet conveyance direction (a right side in FIG. 1 ).
- the paper feed portion 4 there are provided a plurality of paper feed cassettes 4 a that each have a separate-feed unit such as a paper feed roller provided on a downstream side in the paper sheet conveyance direction.
- a separate-feed unit such as a paper feed roller provided on a downstream side in the paper sheet conveyance direction.
- a rotation operation of the paper feed roller By a rotation operation of the paper feed roller, a bundle of the paper sheets P placed in any one of the paper feed cassettes 4 a are fed one by one from an uppermost one of the paper sheets P to the paper sheet conveyance path 5 .
- conveyance roller pairs 5 a the paper sheet conveyance path 5 conveys the paper sheet P fed from the paper feed portion 4 to the image forming portion 6 .
- the image forming portion 6 and the fixing portion 7 are arranged so as to be elongated in a width direction (a front-back direction, a direction orthogonal to a paper plane of FIG. 1 ) orthogonal to the paper sheet conveyance direction.
- a width direction a front-back direction, a direction orthogonal to a paper plane of FIG. 1
- the image forming portion 6 and the fixing portion 7 are provided in this order side by side along the conveyance direction of the paper sheet P (a left-to-right direction).
- the image forming portion 6 forms a prescribed toner image on the paper sheet P by the electrophotographic process.
- the image forming portion 6 is provided with a photosensitive drum 9 that is an image carrier supported rotatably about an axis, and around the photosensitive drum 9 , there are arranged along a rotation direction thereof, a charging device 11 , an exposure device 12 , a developing device 13 , a transfer device 14 , a cleaning device 15 , and an unshown static elimination device.
- the paper sheet P on which a toner image has been transferred at the image forming portion 6 is sandwiched between a fixing roller pair 7 a that is composed of a heating roller and a pressing roller and thus is heated and pressed so that the unfixed toner image is fixed on the paper sheet P.
- an image reading portion 8 is provided in the upper housing 2 b.
- the image reading portion 8 reads image information of an original document.
- an auto document feeder 3 is opened, and an original document is placed on a contact glass 8 a that is provided on an upper surface of the upper housing 2 b.
- the original document bundle is placed on a paper feed tray 3 a of the auto document feeder 3 in a closed state.
- an original document bundle is placed on the paper feed tray 3 a
- an original document is automatically and sequentially fed one by one from said original document bundle onto the contact glass 8 a.
- an original document positioned on the contact glass 8 a is irradiated with light from an unshown exposure lamp, and light reflected therefrom is guided as image light to a photoelectric conversion portion (a CCD) via an optical system such as a reflection mirror and an imaging lens (none of them is shown).
- a CCD photoelectric conversion portion
- the following describes a basic operation of the image forming apparatus 100 configured as above.
- a surface of the photosensitive drum 9 that rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 1 is uniformly charged by the charging device 11 .
- a circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 9 is irradiated with a laser beam from the exposure device 12 (a laser device or the like), so that an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 .
- the electrostatic latent image is supplied with toner as a developer from the developing device 13 , and thus a toner image is formed.
- the paper sheet P from the paper feed portion 4 passes through the paper sheet conveyance path 5 and is conveyed at prescribed timing toward the photosensitive drum 9 on which the toner image has been formed. Further, by the transfer device 14 formed of a transfer roller or the like, the toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 is transferred on the paper sheet P. Then, the paper sheet P on which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 9 and conveyed toward the fixing portion 7 . The paper sheet P is heated and pressed while passing through the fixing roller pair 7 a, and thus the toner image is fixed.
- the photosensitive drum 9 After completion of a transfer process of transferring the toner image on the paper sheet P, the photosensitive drum 9 is subjected to removal of residual toner remaining on an outer circumferential surface thereof by the cleaning device 15 and then to a static elimination process of eliminating residual charge by the static elimination device (not shown). After that, the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 9 is subjected again to a charging process by the charging device 11 , and thereafter, subsequent image formation is performed in a similar manner.
- the paper sheet P that has passed through the fixing device 7 is conveyed, as it is, perpendicularly upward along the paper sheet conveyance path 5 into the joint housing 2 ab .
- an upper portion of the paper sheet conveyance path 5 is branched leftward into two upper and lower conveyance paths, and the conveyance direction of the paper sheet P is switched by a switch claw 17 that is disposed at a branching portion.
- the paper sheet discharge portion 18 is provided inside the joint housing 2 ab .
- the paper sheet discharge portion 18 has an upper discharge roller pair 18 a and a lower discharge roller pair 18 b that is disposed immediately below the upper discharge roller pair 18 a, and the paper sheet P conveyed along the paper sheet conveyance path 5 is guided to the upper conveyance path or the lower conveyance path by the switch claw 17 .
- the paper sheet P When guided to the upper conveyance path by the switch claw 17 , the paper sheet P is discharged leftward from the upper discharge roller pair 18 a. When guided to the lower conveyance path by the switch claw 17 , the paper sheet P is discharged leftward by the lower discharge roller pair 18 b. A guiding direction of the switch claw 17 is switched by an unshown control portion.
- the relay unit 19 is demountably mounted to a bottom surface 16 a of the intra-body paper discharge space 16 .
- a detection sensor (not shown) that detects mounting of the relay unit 19 is provided.
- the detection sensor is formed of a PI sensor or the like and transmits a detection result to the control portion.
- the bottom surface 16 a has an inclined surface formed thereon, which is inclined upward toward a downstream side in a paper sheet discharge direction (a left side in FIG. 1 ).
- the detection sensor detects that the relay unit 19 has not been mounted, and upon this detection result being transmitted to the control portion, the switch claw 17 guides the paper sheet P to the upper discharge roller pair 18 a. Then, the paper sheet P, after being discharged from the upper discharge roller pair 18 a, is discharged on the bottom surface 16 a.
- the switch claw 17 guides the paper sheet P to the lower discharge roller pair 18 b. Then, after being discharged from the lower discharge roller pair 18 b, the paper sheet P is carried into the relay unit 19 .
- the paper sheet P that has been carried into the relay unit 19 passes through the relay unit 19 and is carried into the paper sheet post-processing device 20 .
- an upper surface portion of the relay unit 19 also has a function as a paper sheet discharge tray on which the paper sheet P discharged from the upper discharge roller pair 18 a is placed.
- a punch hole forming device 21 that performs punch hole formation with respect to the paper sheet P that has been carried in, a processing tray 30 that loads (stacks) thereon a plurality of the paper sheets P that have been carried in, and a stapler 40 that binds a paper sheet bundle loaded on the processing tray 30 with a staple(s).
- a discharge tray 50 is provided that is vertically movable to a position appropriate for discharging the paper sheet P.
- the punch hole forming device 21 is disposed at an upper portion in the paper sheet post-processing device 20 and forms a plurality of punch holes through the paper sheet P along either of its side end edges (a front side or a rear side of the apparatus) parallel to the conveyance direction of the paper sheet P.
- a carry-in detection sensor (not shown) is disposed that detects a tip end of the paper sheet P carried into the paper sheet post-processing device 20 by a paper sheet carry-in roller pair provided in the relay unit 19 .
- the control portion controls driving of the paper sheet carry-in roller pair in the relay unit 19 and thereby adjusts punch hole forming positions on the paper sheet P in the conveyance direction thereof, which is conveyed to the punch hole forming device 21 .
- a conveyance direction pulse adjustment value is set that is used to perform addition/subtraction to/from a reference conveyance pulse value for a period from a time when the tip end or a rear end of the paper sheet P is detected by the carry-in detection sensor to a time when the paper sheet carry-in roller pair is stopped.
- FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are each a partial sectional view of a periphery of the processing tray 30 in the paper sheet post-processing device 20 .
- a first discharge roller pair 27 is arranged on a downstream side of the punch hole forming device 21 (see FIG. 1 ).
- an actuator-type paper sheet detection sensor 28 that detects passing of the paper sheet P is disposed on an upstream side of the first discharge roller pair 27 .
- the processing tray 30 that loads thereon, in an aligned manner, a prescribed number of the paper sheets P conveyed by the first discharge roller pair 27 and the stapler 40 (see FIG. 1 ) that performs a binding process with respect to a bundle of the paper sheets P (paper sheet bundle) loaded on the processing tray 30 .
- a second discharge roller pair 29 is arranged that discharges a paper sheet bundle from the processing tray 30 onto the discharge tray 50 .
- the second discharge roller pair 29 is composed of a discharge roller 29 a that is made of rubber and is rotatable forwardly and reversely by a drive motor (not shown) and a discharge roll 29 b that is made of resin and rotates following rotation of the discharge roller 29 a.
- the discharge roller 29 a is supported by a roller holder 31 that is swingable up and down about a pivot shaft 31 a as a fulcrum.
- a tapping member 33 for tapping, in a processing tray 30 direction, the paper sheet P carried in by the first discharge roller pair 27 so that the paper sheet P is aligned in line with a tray surface.
- the processing tray 30 is provided so as to be inclined downward toward a rear end side of the paper sheet P loaded thereon (a downstream side with respect to a direction in which the paper sheet is drawn in on the processing tray 30 , namely, the right side in FIG. 2 ).
- the second discharge roller pair 29 rotates reversely, and thus the paper sheet P is drawn in from the rear end side on the processing tray 30 , and the rear end of the paper sheet P comes in contact with the butting portion 30 a.
- a bundle of paper sheets is loaded in a state where rear ends of the paper sheets are aligned.
- a pair of side end alignment cursors 60 that aligns a paper sheet bundle loaded on the processing tray 30 in a width direction (a direction perpendicular to a paper plane of FIG. 2 ).
- the stapler 40 is movable in the paper sheet width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction by a movement mechanism (not shown) and, depending on how a binding process is to be performed, moves to a prescribed position along a lower end portion of the processing tray 30 .
- the paper sheet post-processing device 20 When the paper sheet P (shown by a broken line in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 ) that has been subjected to an image forming process at the image forming apparatus 100 is carried in, in a case where an instruction has been given to perform punch hole formation, by the punch hole forming device 21 , punch holes are formed at prescribed positions on the paper sheet P conveyed (for example, two positions along its side end edge on the front side of the apparatus). In a case where no instruction has been given to perform punch hole formation, the paper sheet P passes, as it is, through the punch hole forming device 21 .
- the paper sheet P is conveyed further to a downstream side by the first discharge roller pair 27 .
- the roller holder 31 has swung upward, so that the discharge roller 29 a is disposed at a position (retracted position) away from the discharge roll 29 b.
- the paper sheet P conveyed by the first discharge roller pair 27 passes through a gap between the discharge roller 29 a and the discharge roll 29 b to protrude to the discharge tray 50 .
- the roller holder 31 is made to swing downward so that the discharge roller 29 a is disposed at a position (contact position) where the discharge roller 29 a comes in contact with the discharge roll 29 b.
- the tapping member 33 is driven to align the paper sheet P in line with the processing tray 30 .
- the discharge roller 29 a is made to rotate reversely (a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 3 ), and thus the paper sheet P is drawn in along the processing tray 30 , and the rear ends of the paper sheets P thus drawn in are aligned by the butting portion 30 a.
- the butting portion 30 a is not formed continuously over an entire region in the paper sheet width direction but formed to be partially cut out.
- an upper portion of the paper sheet P is in a state of being nipped by the second discharge roller pair 29 , with a tip end thereof protruding from the second discharge roller pair 29 to above the discharge tray 50 .
- the paper sheet P is nipped in a state where the discharge roller 29 a is brought to pressure contact with the discharge roll 29 b by using only a self-weight of the roller holder 31 .
- the stapler 40 is made to move to cut-out positions of the butting portion 30 a, and rear ends of the paper sheet bundle are inserted into a staple portion 40 a where a binding process with respect to the paper sheet bundle is performed.
- the second discharge roller pair 29 is made to rotate forwardly (an arrow direction in FIG. 3 ), and thus the paper sheet bundle is conveyed upward along the processing tray 30 to be discharged onto the discharge tray 50 .
- the discharge roller 29 a In discharging a paper sheet bundle onto the discharge tray 50 , the discharge roller 29 a is brought to pressure contact with the discharge roll 29 b by, besides using the self-weight of the roller holder 31 , biasing the roller holder 31 downward using a biasing member such as a spring.
- a paper sheet bundle is nipped by a force greater than that in a case of drawing in the paper sheet P, so that the paper sheet bundle can be reliably discharged onto the discharge tray 50 .
- the roller holder 31 is made to move to the retracted position. After that, the side end alignment cursors 60 are disposed at a position (reference position) at which the paper sheet P has been accepted or a position (shifted position) that is shifted from the reference position by a prescribed amount in a direction (paper sheet width direction) orthogonal to the discharge direction. Then, the roller holder 31 is made to move to the contact position so that the paper sheet is discharged.
- a paper sheet bundle is discharged alternately to a reference discharge position on the discharge tray 50 and to a shifted discharge position that is shifted from the reference discharge position by a prescribed amount in the direction (paper sheet width direction) orthogonal to the discharge direction, so that when discharged onto the discharge tray 50 (see FIG. 2 ), paper sheet bundles are sorted by being loaded so as to be staggered in the paper sheet width direction.
- the discharge roll 29 b that is a component of the second discharge roller pair 29 is configured to be rotatable only in a forward direction (the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 ) in which the paper sheet P is discharged onto the discharge tray 50 .
- a one-way mechanism that is rotatable only in one direction such as a one-way gear or a one-way clutch, is built into a rotary shaft of the discharge roll 29 b.
- the roller holder 31 supporting the discharge roller 29 a is configured to be swingable, and thus the discharge roller 29 a can be easily switched in its position between the position (retracted position) away from the discharge roll 29 b and the position (contact position) where the discharge roller 29 a comes in contact with the discharge roll 29 b.
- the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications thereto are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
- the present invention is applicable also to a configuration in which an insertion device that inserts interleaving paper is installed between the image forming apparatus 100 and the paper sheet post-processing device 20 .
- the present invention is usable in a sheet post-processing device that loads sheets in an aligned manner on a processing tray by using a discharge roller pair.
- the use of the present invention can provide a sheet post-processing device that, in drawing in a sheet on a processing tray by using a discharge roller pair and aligning a sheet bundle, can prevent an alignment failure of the sheet bundle, and an image forming system provided with the same.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Textile Engineering (AREA)
- Pile Receivers (AREA)
- Delivering By Means Of Belts And Rollers (AREA)
- Folding Of Thin Sheet-Like Materials, Special Discharging Devices, And Others (AREA)
- Paper Feeding For Electrophotography (AREA)
Abstract
A sheet post-processing device comprises: a processing tray; a discharge tray; and a discharge rollers pair. The discharge rollers pair is constituted by a discharge roller which contacts the uppermost surface of sheets stacked in the processing tray and a discharge roller which contacts the lowermost surface of the sheets stacked in the processing tray). The sheet post-processing device discharges a sheet from the processing tray to the discharge tray by rotating the discharge rollers pair in the forward direction, and causes the sheet to be drawn into the processing tray by rotating the discharge roller in the reverse direction in a state in which the rotation of the discharge roller is stopped.
Description
- The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing device that performs post-processing such as a punch hole forming process and a binding process with respect to a sheet such as a paper sheet on which an image has been formed by an image forming apparatus such as a copy machine, a facsimile, or a printer, and an image forming system provided with the same.
- Conventionally, there is used a paper sheet post-processing device that is capable of executing a binding process of loading a plurality of paper sheets on each of which an image has been formed by an image forming apparatus such as a copy machine or a printer and binding together a bundle of the thus loaded paper sheets with a staple(s), a punch hole forming process of forming punch holes (perforations) therethrough by using a punch hole forming device, and so on.
- In the paper sheet post-processing device described above, in performing a binding process, it is necessary that a paper sheet bundle be loaded in an aligned manner. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a paper sheet post-processing device provided with a carry-in roller pair that carries in a paper sheet on a processing tray and a discharge roller pair that discharges a paper sheet from the processing tray onto a discharge tray.
- The discharge roller pair is composed of a discharge roll and a discharge roller that comes in pressure contact with or is separated from the discharge roll, and in a state where the discharge roller and the discharge roll are separated from each other, a paper sheet is carried in on the processing tray by the carry-in roller pair. Then, after a rear end of the paper sheet has passed through the carry-in roller pair, the discharge roller and the discharge roll are brought in pressure contact with each other and made to rotate reversely. Thus, the paper sheet is drawn in to an upstream side in a conveyance direction and comes in contact with a rear end restriction surface of the processing tray. In this manner, a paper sheet bundle on the processing tray is aligned.
- Patent Document 1: JP-A-H09-156820
- Patent Document 2: JP-A-2013-224221
- In the method described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, however, when, in a state where paper sheets are already loaded on the processing tray, a succeeding paper sheet is drawn in, the loaded paper sheets are also drawn in together with the succeeding paper sheet, which has led to a problem that an alignment property of a paper sheet bundle is decreased.
- Specifically, as shown in
FIG. 5 , in a case where adischarge roller pair 29 is made to rotate reversely to draw in a paper sheet P2 on aprocessing tray 30, when both of adischarge roller 29 a and adischarge roll 29 b that constitute thedischarge roller pair 29 are made to rotate reversely, a paper sheet bundle P1 that has been butted against abutting portion 30 a of theprocessing tray 30 and thus is already aligned might also be drawn in at the same time as the paper sheet P2. As a result, as shown by a broken line inFIG. 5 , the paper sheet bundle P1 is bent, which has led to a fear that an alignment property of a paper sheet bundle is decreased. - In view of the above-described problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet post-processing device that, when drawing in a sheet on a processing tray by using a discharge roller pair and aligning a sheet bundle, can prevent an alignment failure of the sheet bundle, and an image forming system provided with the same.
- In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention provides a sheet post-processing device that is provided with a processing tray, a discharge tray, and a discharge roller pair. The processing tray accepts and loads thereon a prescribed number of sheets. The discharge tray is disposed on a downstream side of the processing tray in a sheet conveyance direction, and onto which sheets loaded on the processing tray are discharged. The discharge roller pair is composed of a discharge roller that comes in contact with an uppermost surface of sheets loaded on the processing tray and a discharge roll that comes in contact with a lowermost surface of the sheets loaded on the processing tray. The sheet post-processing device discharges a sheet from the processing tray onto the discharge tray by forwardly rotating the discharge roller pair, and draws in a sheet on the processing tray by reversely rotating the discharge roller in a state where the discharge roll is stopped from rotating.
- According to a first configuration of the present invention, a sheet is drawn in on the processing tray by reversely rotating only the discharge roller in a state where the discharge roll is stopped from rotating, and thus a drawing-in force is exerted only on a sheet being newly carried in and not on a sheet bundle that has already been aligned on the processing tray. Accordingly, there is no fear that a sheet bundle that has already been aligned is drawn in together with a sheet being newly carried in and thus is bent, so that an alignment property of a sheet bundle on the processing tray can be effectively prevented from being decreased.
- [
FIG. 1 ] is a schematic view showing an internal configuration of animage forming apparatus 100 and a papersheet post-processing device 20 of the present invention. - [
FIG. 2 ] is a partially enlarged view of a periphery of aprocessing tray 30 in the papersheet post-processing device 20 shown inFIG. 1 , which shows a state where adischarge roller 29 a is disposed at a separated position. - [
FIG. 3 ] is a partially enlarged view of the periphery of theprocessing tray 30 in the papersheet post-processing device 20 shown inFIG. 1 , which shows a state where thedischarge roller 29 a is disposed at a contact position. - [
FIG. 4 ] is a side sectional view showing, in a paper sheet post-processing device of the present invention, how a succeeding paper sheet P2 is drawn in a state where a paper sheet bundle P1 is loaded on aprocessing tray 30. - [
FIG. 5 ] is a side sectional view showing, in a conventional paper sheet post-processing device, how a succeeding paper sheet P2 is drawn in a state where a paper sheet bundle P1 is loaded on aprocessing tray 30. - With reference to the appended drawings, the following describes an embodiment of the present invention. First, with reference to
FIG. 1 , a description is given of an image forming system composed of animage forming apparatus 100 and a papersheet post-processing device 20 of the present invention.FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an internal configuration of theimage forming apparatus 100 and the papersheet post-processing device 20 according to the present invention. While this embodiment illustratively describes a multi-functional peripheral as one example of theimage forming apparatus 100, the papersheet post-processing device 20 of the present invention can be joined similarly also to other types of apparatuses than a digital multi-functional peripheral, such as, for example, a laser printer, an ink-jet printer, and a facsimile apparatus. - As shown in
FIG. 1 , theimage forming apparatus 100 is a digital multi-functional peripheral of a so-called intra-body paper discharge type and is composed roughly of amain body housing 2 a and anupper housing 2 b arranged above themain body housing 2 a. In theupper housing 2 b, there are provided after-mentioned various types of mechanisms for reading an image of an original document as an electric signal, and anauto document feeder 3 is additionally provided above theupper housing 2 b. On the other hand, in the main body housing 2 a, there are provided after-mentioned various types of mechanisms for, based on the electric signal of the original document image thus read, transferring an image on a paper sheet, and the papersheet post-processing device 20 is additionally provided in a left side portion of themain body housing 2 a. - In this embodiment, the
main body housing 2 a is composed of a lower housing 2 aa and a joint housing 2 ab that is positioned above the lower housing 2 aa along a right side portion and joined to theupper housing 2 b. In the lower housing 2 aa, there are provided apaper feed portion 4 that feeds a paper sheet P, an image forming portion 6 that forms a toner image on the paper sheet P, afixing device 7 for fixing the toner image on the paper sheet, and so on. In the joint housing 2 ab, there is provided a paper sheet discharge portion (discharge portion) 18 for conveying the paper sheet P after being subjected to fixing and discharging it from themain body housing 2 a. - Furthermore, on a left side of the joint housing 2 ab immediately below the
upper housing 2 b, an intra-bodypaper discharge space 16 is formed that is widely open toward a left side surface and a front. In the intra-bodypaper discharge space 16, there is provided arelay unit 19 that accepts and loads thereon the paper sheet P discharged from a left side surface of the joint housing 2 ab and, in a case of subjecting the paper sheet P to a prescribed type of post-processing, enables conveyance of the paper sheet P to the papersheet post-processing device 20. - In the
main body housing 2 a, there are provided thepaper feed portion 4 that is arranged in a lower portion, a papersheet conveyance path 5 that is arranged laterally to and above thepaper feed portion 4, the image forming portion 6 that is arranged above thepaper feed portion 4, and afixing portion 7 that is arranged on a downstream side of the image forming portion 6 in a paper sheet conveyance direction (a right side inFIG. 1 ). - In the
paper feed portion 4, there are provided a plurality ofpaper feed cassettes 4 a that each have a separate-feed unit such as a paper feed roller provided on a downstream side in the paper sheet conveyance direction. By a rotation operation of the paper feed roller, a bundle of the paper sheets P placed in any one of thepaper feed cassettes 4 a are fed one by one from an uppermost one of the paper sheets P to the papersheet conveyance path 5. By usingconveyance roller pairs 5 a, the papersheet conveyance path 5 conveys the paper sheet P fed from thepaper feed portion 4 to the image forming portion 6. - Inside an apparatus
main body 100, the image forming portion 6 and thefixing portion 7 are arranged so as to be elongated in a width direction (a front-back direction, a direction orthogonal to a paper plane ofFIG. 1 ) orthogonal to the paper sheet conveyance direction. In an upper portion in the lower housing 2 aa, from a left side inFIG. 1 , the image forming portion 6 and thefixing portion 7 are provided in this order side by side along the conveyance direction of the paper sheet P (a left-to-right direction). - The image forming portion 6 forms a prescribed toner image on the paper sheet P by the electrophotographic process. The image forming portion 6 is provided with a
photosensitive drum 9 that is an image carrier supported rotatably about an axis, and around thephotosensitive drum 9, there are arranged along a rotation direction thereof, acharging device 11, anexposure device 12, a developingdevice 13, atransfer device 14, acleaning device 15, and an unshown static elimination device. In thefixing portion 7, the paper sheet P on which a toner image has been transferred at the image forming portion 6 is sandwiched between afixing roller pair 7 a that is composed of a heating roller and a pressing roller and thus is heated and pressed so that the unfixed toner image is fixed on the paper sheet P. - In the
upper housing 2 b, animage reading portion 8 is provided. Theimage reading portion 8 reads image information of an original document. In a case where an original document is manually placed one by one so as to be read by theimage reading portion 8, anauto document feeder 3 is opened, and an original document is placed on acontact glass 8 a that is provided on an upper surface of theupper housing 2 b. In a case where an original document is automatically supplied one by one from an original document bundle so as to be read by theimage reading portion 8, the original document bundle is placed on apaper feed tray 3 a of theauto document feeder 3 in a closed state. In this configuration, when an original document bundle is placed on thepaper feed tray 3 a, an original document is automatically and sequentially fed one by one from said original document bundle onto thecontact glass 8 a. In either case, an original document positioned on thecontact glass 8 a is irradiated with light from an unshown exposure lamp, and light reflected therefrom is guided as image light to a photoelectric conversion portion (a CCD) via an optical system such as a reflection mirror and an imaging lens (none of them is shown). - The following describes a basic operation of the
image forming apparatus 100 configured as above. First, a surface of thephotosensitive drum 9 that rotates counterclockwise inFIG. 1 is uniformly charged by thecharging device 11. Subsequently, based on image information read at theimage reading portion 8, a circumferential surface of thephotosensitive drum 9 is irradiated with a laser beam from the exposure device 12 (a laser device or the like), so that an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of thephotosensitive drum 9. The electrostatic latent image is supplied with toner as a developer from the developingdevice 13, and thus a toner image is formed. - Next, the paper sheet P from the
paper feed portion 4 passes through the papersheet conveyance path 5 and is conveyed at prescribed timing toward thephotosensitive drum 9 on which the toner image has been formed. Further, by thetransfer device 14 formed of a transfer roller or the like, the toner image on the surface of thephotosensitive drum 9 is transferred on the paper sheet P. Then, the paper sheet P on which the toner image has been transferred is separated from thephotosensitive drum 9 and conveyed toward the fixingportion 7. The paper sheet P is heated and pressed while passing through the fixingroller pair 7 a, and thus the toner image is fixed. - After completion of a transfer process of transferring the toner image on the paper sheet P, the
photosensitive drum 9 is subjected to removal of residual toner remaining on an outer circumferential surface thereof by thecleaning device 15 and then to a static elimination process of eliminating residual charge by the static elimination device (not shown). After that, the outer circumferential surface of thephotosensitive drum 9 is subjected again to a charging process by the chargingdevice 11, and thereafter, subsequent image formation is performed in a similar manner. - The paper sheet P that has passed through the fixing
device 7 is conveyed, as it is, perpendicularly upward along the papersheet conveyance path 5 into the joint housing 2 ab. Inside the joint housing 2 ab, an upper portion of the papersheet conveyance path 5 is branched leftward into two upper and lower conveyance paths, and the conveyance direction of the paper sheet P is switched by aswitch claw 17 that is disposed at a branching portion. - Inside the joint housing 2 ab, the paper
sheet discharge portion 18 is provided. - The paper
sheet discharge portion 18 has an upperdischarge roller pair 18 a and a lowerdischarge roller pair 18 b that is disposed immediately below the upperdischarge roller pair 18 a, and the paper sheet P conveyed along the papersheet conveyance path 5 is guided to the upper conveyance path or the lower conveyance path by theswitch claw 17. - When guided to the upper conveyance path by the
switch claw 17, the paper sheet P is discharged leftward from the upperdischarge roller pair 18 a. When guided to the lower conveyance path by theswitch claw 17, the paper sheet P is discharged leftward by the lowerdischarge roller pair 18 b. A guiding direction of theswitch claw 17 is switched by an unshown control portion. - The
relay unit 19 is demountably mounted to abottom surface 16 a of the intra-bodypaper discharge space 16. In the intra-bodypaper discharge space 16, a detection sensor (not shown) that detects mounting of therelay unit 19 is provided. The detection sensor is formed of a PI sensor or the like and transmits a detection result to the control portion. - Furthermore, the
bottom surface 16 a has an inclined surface formed thereon, which is inclined upward toward a downstream side in a paper sheet discharge direction (a left side inFIG. 1 ). When therelay unit 19 has been demounted from the intra-bodypaper discharge space 16, thebottom surface 16 a is used as a paper sheet discharge tray. In this case, the detection sensor detects that therelay unit 19 has not been mounted, and upon this detection result being transmitted to the control portion, theswitch claw 17 guides the paper sheet P to the upperdischarge roller pair 18 a. Then, the paper sheet P, after being discharged from the upperdischarge roller pair 18 a, is discharged on thebottom surface 16 a. - On the other hand, in a case where the detection sensor detects that the
relay unit 19 has been mounted in the intra-bodypaper discharge space 16, and this detection result is transmitted to the control portion, theswitch claw 17 guides the paper sheet P to the lowerdischarge roller pair 18 b. Then, after being discharged from the lowerdischarge roller pair 18 b, the paper sheet P is carried into therelay unit 19. The paper sheet P that has been carried into therelay unit 19 passes through therelay unit 19 and is carried into the papersheet post-processing device 20. - It is also possible to display a detection result on an operation portion (not shown) so as to allow a user to switch, on an operation panel, the guiding direction in which the paper sheet P is guided. Furthermore, an upper surface portion of the
relay unit 19 also has a function as a paper sheet discharge tray on which the paper sheet P discharged from the upperdischarge roller pair 18 a is placed. - Inside the paper
sheet post-processing device 20, there are provided a punchhole forming device 21 that performs punch hole formation with respect to the paper sheet P that has been carried in, aprocessing tray 30 that loads (stacks) thereon a plurality of the paper sheets P that have been carried in, and astapler 40 that binds a paper sheet bundle loaded on theprocessing tray 30 with a staple(s). On a side surface of the papersheet post-processing device 20, adischarge tray 50 is provided that is vertically movable to a position appropriate for discharging the paper sheet P. - The punch
hole forming device 21 is disposed at an upper portion in the papersheet post-processing device 20 and forms a plurality of punch holes through the paper sheet P along either of its side end edges (a front side or a rear side of the apparatus) parallel to the conveyance direction of the paper sheet P. On an upstream side of the punchhole forming device 21 and at a substantially middle portion in a direction orthogonal to the paper sheet conveyance direction (a direction perpendicular to the paper plane ofFIG. 1 ), a carry-in detection sensor (not shown) is disposed that detects a tip end of the paper sheet P carried into the papersheet post-processing device 20 by a paper sheet carry-in roller pair provided in therelay unit 19. - Based on detection timing at which the tip end of the paper sheet P is detected by the carry-in detection sensor, the control portion (not shown) controls driving of the paper sheet carry-in roller pair in the
relay unit 19 and thereby adjusts punch hole forming positions on the paper sheet P in the conveyance direction thereof, which is conveyed to the punchhole forming device 21. Specifically, a conveyance direction pulse adjustment value is set that is used to perform addition/subtraction to/from a reference conveyance pulse value for a period from a time when the tip end or a rear end of the paper sheet P is detected by the carry-in detection sensor to a time when the paper sheet carry-in roller pair is stopped. -
FIG. 2 andFIG. 3 are each a partial sectional view of a periphery of theprocessing tray 30 in the papersheet post-processing device 20. With respect to the paper sheet conveyance direction, on a downstream side of the punch hole forming device 21 (seeFIG. 1 ), a firstdischarge roller pair 27 is arranged. On an upstream side of the firstdischarge roller pair 27, an actuator-type papersheet detection sensor 28 that detects passing of the paper sheet P is disposed. - Moreover, below the first
discharge roller pair 27, there are provided theprocessing tray 30 that loads thereon, in an aligned manner, a prescribed number of the paper sheets P conveyed by the firstdischarge roller pair 27 and the stapler 40 (seeFIG. 1 ) that performs a binding process with respect to a bundle of the paper sheets P (paper sheet bundle) loaded on theprocessing tray 30. - With respect to the paper sheet conveyance direction, on a downstream side of the
processing tray 30, a seconddischarge roller pair 29 is arranged that discharges a paper sheet bundle from theprocessing tray 30 onto thedischarge tray 50. The seconddischarge roller pair 29 is composed of adischarge roller 29 a that is made of rubber and is rotatable forwardly and reversely by a drive motor (not shown) and adischarge roll 29 b that is made of resin and rotates following rotation of thedischarge roller 29 a. Thedischarge roller 29 a is supported by aroller holder 31 that is swingable up and down about apivot shaft 31 a as a fulcrum. - Above the
processing tray 30 and on a downstream side of the first discharge roller pair 27 (a left side inFIG. 2 ), there is arranged a tappingmember 33 for tapping, in aprocessing tray 30 direction, the paper sheet P carried in by the firstdischarge roller pair 27 so that the paper sheet P is aligned in line with a tray surface. Theprocessing tray 30 is provided so as to be inclined downward toward a rear end side of the paper sheet P loaded thereon (a downstream side with respect to a direction in which the paper sheet is drawn in on theprocessing tray 30, namely, the right side inFIG. 2 ). The seconddischarge roller pair 29 rotates reversely, and thus the paper sheet P is drawn in from the rear end side on theprocessing tray 30, and the rear end of the paper sheet P comes in contact with the buttingportion 30 a. Thus, on theprocessing tray 30, a bundle of paper sheets is loaded in a state where rear ends of the paper sheets are aligned. Furthermore, on theprocessing tray 30, there is provided a pair of sideend alignment cursors 60 that aligns a paper sheet bundle loaded on theprocessing tray 30 in a width direction (a direction perpendicular to a paper plane ofFIG. 2 ). - The
stapler 40 is movable in the paper sheet width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction by a movement mechanism (not shown) and, depending on how a binding process is to be performed, moves to a prescribed position along a lower end portion of theprocessing tray 30. - Next, a description is given of an operation of the paper
sheet post-processing device 20. When the paper sheet P (shown by a broken line inFIG. 2 andFIG. 3 ) that has been subjected to an image forming process at theimage forming apparatus 100 is carried in, in a case where an instruction has been given to perform punch hole formation, by the punchhole forming device 21, punch holes are formed at prescribed positions on the paper sheet P conveyed (for example, two positions along its side end edge on the front side of the apparatus). In a case where no instruction has been given to perform punch hole formation, the paper sheet P passes, as it is, through the punchhole forming device 21. - Then, the paper sheet P is conveyed further to a downstream side by the first
discharge roller pair 27. At this time, as shown inFIG. 2 , theroller holder 31 has swung upward, so that thedischarge roller 29 a is disposed at a position (retracted position) away from thedischarge roll 29 b. Thus, the paper sheet P conveyed by the firstdischarge roller pair 27 passes through a gap between thedischarge roller 29 a and thedischarge roll 29 b to protrude to thedischarge tray 50. - At timing at which the rear end of the paper sheet P has passed through the first
discharge roller pair 27, theroller holder 31 is made to swing downward so that thedischarge roller 29 a is disposed at a position (contact position) where thedischarge roller 29 a comes in contact with thedischarge roll 29 b. After that, the tappingmember 33 is driven to align the paper sheet P in line with theprocessing tray 30. In this state, thedischarge roller 29 a is made to rotate reversely (a counterclockwise direction inFIG. 3 ), and thus the paper sheet P is drawn in along theprocessing tray 30, and the rear ends of the paper sheets P thus drawn in are aligned by the buttingportion 30 a. The buttingportion 30 a is not formed continuously over an entire region in the paper sheet width direction but formed to be partially cut out. At this time, an upper portion of the paper sheet P is in a state of being nipped by the seconddischarge roller pair 29, with a tip end thereof protruding from the seconddischarge roller pair 29 to above thedischarge tray 50. In drawing in the paper sheet P along theprocessing tray 30, in order to prevent the paper sheet P from being drawn in to an extent more than necessary, the paper sheet P is nipped in a state where thedischarge roller 29 a is brought to pressure contact with thedischarge roll 29 b by using only a self-weight of theroller holder 31. - Then, when acceptance of a bundle of the paper sheets P is completed, the
stapler 40 is made to move to cut-out positions of the buttingportion 30 a, and rear ends of the paper sheet bundle are inserted into a staple portion 40 a where a binding process with respect to the paper sheet bundle is performed. After the binding process with respect to the paper sheet bundle has been performed at the staple portion 40 a, the seconddischarge roller pair 29 is made to rotate forwardly (an arrow direction inFIG. 3 ), and thus the paper sheet bundle is conveyed upward along theprocessing tray 30 to be discharged onto thedischarge tray 50. In discharging a paper sheet bundle onto thedischarge tray 50, thedischarge roller 29 a is brought to pressure contact with thedischarge roll 29 b by, besides using the self-weight of theroller holder 31, biasing theroller holder 31 downward using a biasing member such as a spring. Thus, a paper sheet bundle is nipped by a force greater than that in a case of drawing in the paper sheet P, so that the paper sheet bundle can be reliably discharged onto thedischarge tray 50. - Furthermore, in a case where an instruction has been given to perform shift-discharge, in discharging a paper sheet bundle onto the
discharge tray 50 by driving the seconddischarge roller pair 29, first, theroller holder 31 is made to move to the retracted position. After that, the sideend alignment cursors 60 are disposed at a position (reference position) at which the paper sheet P has been accepted or a position (shifted position) that is shifted from the reference position by a prescribed amount in a direction (paper sheet width direction) orthogonal to the discharge direction. Then, theroller holder 31 is made to move to the contact position so that the paper sheet is discharged. Thus, a paper sheet bundle is discharged alternately to a reference discharge position on thedischarge tray 50 and to a shifted discharge position that is shifted from the reference discharge position by a prescribed amount in the direction (paper sheet width direction) orthogonal to the discharge direction, so that when discharged onto the discharge tray 50 (seeFIG. 2 ), paper sheet bundles are sorted by being loaded so as to be staggered in the paper sheet width direction. - In the paper
sheet post-processing device 20 of this embodiment, thedischarge roll 29 b that is a component of the seconddischarge roller pair 29 is configured to be rotatable only in a forward direction (the counterclockwise direction inFIG. 2 andFIG. 3 ) in which the paper sheet P is discharged onto thedischarge tray 50. - By this configuration, as shown in
FIG. 4 , in drawing in a paper sheet P2 on theprocessing tray 30 by using the seconddischarge roller pair 29, in a state where thedischarge roll 29 b is stopped from rotating, only thedischarge roller 29 a is made to rotate reversely. As a result, a drawing-in force is exerted only on the paper sheet P2 being newly carried in and not on a paper sheet bundle P1 that has been butted against the buttingportion 30 a of theprocessing tray 30 and thus is already aligned. Accordingly, there is no fear that the paper sheet bundle P1 is drawn in together with the paper sheet P2 and thus is bent, so that an alignment property of a paper sheet bundle on theprocessing tray 30 can be effectively prevented from being decreased. - As a method for configuring the
discharge roll 29 b to be rotatable only in a forward direction, for example, a one-way mechanism that is rotatable only in one direction, such as a one-way gear or a one-way clutch, is built into a rotary shaft of thedischarge roll 29 b. - Furthermore, the
roller holder 31 supporting thedischarge roller 29 a is configured to be swingable, and thus thedischarge roller 29 a can be easily switched in its position between the position (retracted position) away from thedischarge roll 29 b and the position (contact position) where thedischarge roller 29 a comes in contact with thedischarge roll 29 b. - Other than the above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications thereto are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, while the above-described embodiment has been described by using, as an example, a configuration in which the
image forming apparatus 100 and the papersheet post-processing device 20 are directly connected to each other, the present invention is applicable also to a configuration in which an insertion device that inserts interleaving paper is installed between theimage forming apparatus 100 and the papersheet post-processing device 20. - The present invention is usable in a sheet post-processing device that loads sheets in an aligned manner on a processing tray by using a discharge roller pair. The use of the present invention can provide a sheet post-processing device that, in drawing in a sheet on a processing tray by using a discharge roller pair and aligning a sheet bundle, can prevent an alignment failure of the sheet bundle, and an image forming system provided with the same.
Claims (6)
1. A sheet post-processing device, comprising:
a processing tray that accepts and loads thereon a prescribed number of sheets;
a discharge tray that is disposed on a downstream side of the processing tray in a sheet conveyance direction, and onto which sheets loaded on the processing tray are discharged; and
a discharge roller pair that is composed of a discharge roller that comes in contact with an uppermost surface of sheets loaded on the processing tray and a discharge roll that comes in contact with a lowermost surface of the sheets loaded on the processing tray,
wherein
a sheet is discharged from the processing tray onto the discharge tray by forwardly rotating the discharge roller pair, and a sheet is drawn in on the processing tray by reversely rotating the discharge roller in a state where the discharge roll is stopped from rotating.
2. The sheet post-processing device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a roller holder that is swingable and rotatably supports the discharge roller,
wherein the roller holder swings so that the discharge roller is selectively disposed at a retracted position away from the discharge roll and a contact position where the discharge roller comes in contact with the discharge roll.
3. The sheet post-processing device according to claim 2 , further comprising:
a biasing member that biases the roller holder downward,
wherein in drawing in a sheet on the processing tray, the discharge roller is disposed at the contact position by using only a self-weight of the roller holder, and
in discharging a sheet onto the discharge tray, the discharge roller is disposed at the contact position by, besides using the self-weight of the roller holder, biasing the roller holder downward using the biasing member.
4. The sheet post-processing device according to claim 1 , wherein
the discharge roll rotates forwardly following rotation of the discharge roller, and
a one-way mechanism is provided that restricts reverse rotation of the discharge roll.
5. The sheet post-processing device according to claim 1 , wherein
the processing tray is provided so as to be inclined downward toward a downstream side with respect to a direction in which a sheet is drawn in on the processing tray.
6. An image forming system, comprising:
the sheet post-processing device according to claim 1 ; and
an image forming apparatus that is joined to the sheet post-processing device, forms an image on a sheet, and conveys the sheet on which the image has been formed to the sheet post-processing device.
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JP2011037591A (en) * | 2009-08-11 | 2011-02-24 | Nisca Corp | Image forming device |
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JP3673575B2 (en) * | 1995-12-08 | 2005-07-20 | キヤノンファインテック株式会社 | Sheet stacking apparatus and image forming apparatus having the same |
JP2000086076A (en) * | 1998-09-17 | 2000-03-28 | Konica Corp | Image forming device |
JP3886134B2 (en) * | 2003-03-06 | 2007-02-28 | キヤノン株式会社 | Sheet processing device |
US6962331B2 (en) * | 2003-03-06 | 2005-11-08 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet stacking apparatus |
JP5402592B2 (en) * | 2009-12-09 | 2014-01-29 | 株式会社リコー | Sheet processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, and sheet processing method |
JP5409528B2 (en) * | 2010-03-31 | 2014-02-05 | 京セラドキュメントソリューションズ株式会社 | Paper post-processing device |
US9150378B2 (en) * | 2012-08-31 | 2015-10-06 | Riso Kagaku Corporation | Sheet stack tray having sheet pressurizing member |
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2015
- 2015-11-02 US US15/521,541 patent/US20170305704A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2015-11-02 JP JP2017509152A patent/JP6341332B2/en active Active
- 2015-11-02 CN CN201580058016.0A patent/CN107148391B/en active Active
- 2015-11-02 EP EP15887734.0A patent/EP3219653B1/en active Active
- 2015-11-02 WO PCT/JP2015/080888 patent/WO2016157592A1/en active Application Filing
Patent Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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JPS591A (en) * | 1982-06-23 | 1984-01-05 | アキレス株式会社 | Running shoes |
JP2011037591A (en) * | 2009-08-11 | 2011-02-24 | Nisca Corp | Image forming device |
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EP3219653A4 (en) | 2018-07-04 |
WO2016157592A1 (en) | 2016-10-06 |
CN107148391B (en) | 2019-06-28 |
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JP6341332B2 (en) | 2018-06-13 |
JPWO2016157592A1 (en) | 2017-09-14 |
EP3219653B1 (en) | 2019-08-21 |
EP3219653A1 (en) | 2017-09-20 |
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