US20210155440A1 - Recording-material processing apparatus - Google Patents
Recording-material processing apparatus Download PDFInfo
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- US20210155440A1 US20210155440A1 US16/927,999 US202016927999A US2021155440A1 US 20210155440 A1 US20210155440 A1 US 20210155440A1 US 202016927999 A US202016927999 A US 202016927999A US 2021155440 A1 US2021155440 A1 US 2021155440A1
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- United States
- Prior art keywords
- sheet
- advancing
- contact
- recording
- contact member
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- Abandoned
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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
- B65H31/04—Pile receivers with movable end support arranged to recede as pile accumulates
- B65H31/08—Pile receivers with movable end support arranged to recede as pile accumulates the articles being piled one above another
- B65H31/10—Pile receivers with movable end support arranged to recede as pile accumulates the articles being piled one above another and applied at the top of the pile
-
- 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
-
- 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
- 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
- B65H31/04—Pile receivers with movable end support arranged to recede as pile accumulates
- B65H31/12—Devices relieving the weight of the pile or permitting or effecting movement of the pile end support during piling
- B65H31/14—Springs
-
- 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
- B65H31/04—Pile receivers with movable end support arranged to recede as pile accumulates
- B65H31/12—Devices relieving the weight of the pile or permitting or effecting movement of the pile end support during piling
- B65H31/18—Positively-acting mechanical devices
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H43/00—Use of control, checking, or safety devices, e.g. automatic devices comprising an element for sensing a variable
-
- 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
- B65H2402/50—Machine elements
- B65H2402/54—Springs, e.g. helical or leaf springs
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2404/00—Parts for transporting or guiding the handled material
- B65H2404/70—Other elements in edge contact with handled material, e.g. registering, orientating, guiding devices
- B65H2404/73—Means for sliding the handled material on a surface, e.g. pushers
- B65H2404/732—Means for sliding the handled material on a surface, e.g. pushers in a direction perpendicular to a feeding / delivery 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
- B65H2404/00—Parts for transporting or guiding the handled material
- B65H2404/70—Other elements in edge contact with handled material, e.g. registering, orientating, guiding devices
- B65H2404/73—Means for sliding the handled material on a surface, e.g. pushers
- B65H2404/733—Means for sliding the handled material on a surface, e.g. pushers reciprocating
-
- 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
- B65H2405/114—Side, i.e. portion parallel to the feeding / delivering direction
- B65H2405/1142—Projections or the like in surface contact with handled material
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2701/00—Handled material; Storage means
- B65H2701/10—Handled articles or webs
- B65H2701/11—Dimensional aspect of article or web
- B65H2701/113—Size
- B65H2701/1131—Size of sheets
-
- 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 disclosure relates to recording-material processing apparatuses.
- Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-240295 discloses a process involving completely loading a sheet-like medium discharged from a discharging unit onto a tray and subsequently moving an aligning member into and out of contact with an end surface of the sheet-like medium extending parallel to the discharging direction of the sheet-like medium, so as to positionally align the end surface.
- a recording-material aligning process involves, for example, pressing against an edge of a recording material from a lateral side of the recording material to move the recording material to a predetermined position.
- Non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate to reducing a load applied to a recording material during a recording-material aligning process, as compared with a case where a contact member that comes into contact with the recording material during the recording-material aligning process does not move relative to a member having a function for supporting the contact member.
- aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure address the above advantages and/or other advantages not described above. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not required to address the advantages described above, and aspects of the non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure may not address advantages described above.
- a recording-material processing apparatus including a supporter, an advancing unit, and a contact member.
- the supporter supports at least one recording material from below.
- the advancing unit advances toward the recording material from a lateral side of the recording material supported by the supporter.
- the contact member is attached to the advancing unit and comes into contact with an edge of the recording material as the advancing unit advances toward the recording material.
- the contact member is movable in a direction opposite to an advancing direction of the advancing unit.
- FIG. 1 illustrates the overall configuration of an image forming system
- FIG. 2 illustrates the configuration of a first post-processing device
- FIG. 3 illustrates a first load section, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow III in FIG. 2 ;
- FIG. 4 illustrates a first advancing member and so on, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow IV in FIG. 3 ;
- FIG. 5 illustrates the first advancing member and a corresponding one of contact members, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow V in FIG. 4 ;
- FIG. 6 illustrates a supporter, the first advancing member, and the contact member, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow VI in FIG. 3 ;
- FIG. 7 illustrates another arrangement example of the supporter, at least one sheet, the first advancing member, and the contact member
- FIG. 8 illustrates the supporter, the sheet, the first advancing member, a second advancing member, and the contact members, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow VIII in FIG. 7 ;
- FIG. 9 illustrates a processing example when sheets are loaded in an alternating fashion
- FIG. 10 illustrates the supporter, the sheets, the second advancing member, and the corresponding contact member, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow X in FIG. 9 ;
- FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a moving mechanism
- FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of a controller
- FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate another configuration example of each contact member and so on
- FIG. 14 illustrates the configuration of the contact member and so on
- FIG. 15 illustrates the state of the supporter
- FIG. 16 illustrates another positional relationship between the sheet and each contact member.
- FIG. 1 illustrates the overall configuration of an image forming system 1 .
- the image forming system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an image forming apparatus 2 that forms an image onto a sheet P as an example of a recording material, and also includes a sheet processing apparatus 3 that performs a predetermined process on the sheet P having the image formed thereon by the image forming apparatus 2 .
- the image forming apparatus 2 forms the image onto the sheet P by an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method.
- the sheet processing apparatus 3 as an example of a recording-material processing apparatus is provided with a transport device 10 that transports the sheet P output from the image forming apparatus 2 downstream, and is also provided with a slip-sheet feeding device 20 that feeds a slip sheet, such as a cardboard or window sheet P, to the sheet P transported by the transport device 10 .
- a transport device 10 that transports the sheet P output from the image forming apparatus 2 downstream
- a slip-sheet feeding device 20 that feeds a slip sheet, such as a cardboard or window sheet P, to the sheet P transported by the transport device 10 .
- the sheet processing apparatus 3 is also provided with a folding device 30 that performs a folding process, such as a C-folding process or a Z-folding process, on the sheet P transported from the transport device 10 .
- a folding device 30 that performs a folding process, such as a C-folding process or a Z-folding process, on the sheet P transported from the transport device 10 .
- the sheet processing apparatus 3 is provided with a first post-processing device 40 that is provided downstream of the folding device 30 and that performs, for example, a hole punching process, an edge binding process, and/or a saddle stitching process on the sheet P.
- a first post-processing device 40 that is provided downstream of the folding device 30 and that performs, for example, a hole punching process, an edge binding process, and/or a saddle stitching process on the sheet P.
- the first post-processing device 40 provided downstream of the folding device 30 performs a process on a sheet bundle (an example of a recording-material bundle) constituted of multiple sheets P having images formed thereon by the image forming apparatus 2 , as well as a process on a sheet P by sheet P basis.
- a sheet bundle an example of a recording-material bundle
- the first post-processing device 40 performs a process on a sheet bundle (an example of a recording-material bundle) constituted of multiple sheets P having images formed thereon by the image forming apparatus 2 , as well as a process on a sheet P by sheet P basis.
- the sheet processing apparatus 3 is also provided with a second post-processing device 500 that is provided downstream of the first post-processing device 40 and that further performs a process on a middle-folded or saddle-stitched sheet bundle.
- the sheet processing apparatus 3 is provided with a controller 100 that controls each functional unit of the sheet processing apparatus 3 .
- FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of the controller 100 .
- the controller 100 has a central processing unit (CPU) 111 as an example of a processor, a read only memory (ROM) 112 having basic software and a basic input output system (BIOS) stored therein, and a random access memory (RAM) 113 used as a work area.
- CPU central processing unit
- ROM read only memory
- BIOS basic input output system
- RAM random access memory
- the CPU 111 executes a program stored in, for example, the ROM 112 , so as to execute various types of predetermined processes.
- the program executed by the CPU 111 may be provided to the sheet processing apparatus 3 in a state where the program is stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as a magnetic storage medium (such as a magnetic tape or a magnetic disk), an optical storage medium (such as an optical disk), a magneto-optical storage medium, or a semiconductor memory.
- a computer-readable storage medium such as a magnetic storage medium (such as a magnetic tape or a magnetic disk), an optical storage medium (such as an optical disk), a magneto-optical storage medium, or a semiconductor memory.
- the program executed by the CPU 111 may be provided to the sheet processing apparatus 3 by using a communication unit, such as the Internet.
- processor refers to hardware in a broad sense.
- the term “processor” refers to hardware in a broad sense.
- the processor include general processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit) and dedicated processors (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, and programmable logic device).
- processor is broad enough to encompass one processor or plural processors in collaboration which are located physically apart from each other but may work cooperatively.
- the order of operations of the processor is not limited to one described in this exemplary embodiment, and may be changed.
- the first post-processing device 40 is provided with a hole punching unit 41 that performs a hole punching process on a sheet P, and is also provided with an edge-binding stapler unit 42 that performs an edge binding process on a sheet bundle.
- the first post-processing device 40 is also provided with a first load section 43 onto which a sheet P from the edge-binding stapler unit 42 is loaded, and is also provided with a second load section 45 onto which a sheet P that has not undergone a process in the first post-processing device 40 or a sheet P that has undergone only a hole punching process is loaded.
- the first load section 43 and the second load section 45 are exposed outside the device so that a sheet P loaded on the first load section 43 or the second load section 45 is removable manually by an operator.
- the first post-processing device 40 is provided with a saddle stitching unit 44 that creates a double-page booklet by middle-folding and/or saddle-stitching a sheet bundle.
- FIG. 2 illustrates the configuration of the first post-processing device 40 .
- the first post-processing device 40 is provided with an inlet 49 that receives a sheet P transported from the folding device 30 .
- the hole punching unit 41 is provided immediately behind the inlet 49 .
- the hole punching unit 41 performs, for example, a two-hole or four-hole punching process on the sheet P transported to the first post-processing device 40 .
- a first sheet transport path R 1 extends from the inlet 49 to the edge-binding stapler unit 42 and is used for transporting the sheet P received by the inlet 49 to the edge-binding stapler unit 42 .
- a second sheet transport path R 2 branches off from the first sheet transport path R 1 at a first branch point B 1 and is used for transporting the sheet P toward the second load section 45 .
- a third sheet transport path R 3 branches off from the first sheet transport path R 1 at a second branch point B 2 and is used for transporting the sheet P toward the saddle stitching unit 44 .
- a switch gate 70 is provided for switching (setting) the transport destination for the sheet P to any one of the first sheet transport path R 1 to the third sheet transport path R 3 .
- the edge-binding stapler unit 42 is provided with a sheet accumulating section 60 that creates a sheet bundle by accumulating a required number of sheets P.
- the sheet accumulating section 60 is provided with a support plate 67 that is tilted relative to the horizontal direction and that supports one or more transported sheets P from below. In this exemplary embodiment, a sheet bundle is created on this support plate 67 .
- the edge-binding stapler unit 42 is provided with a binding device 50 that performs a binding process (i.e., an edge binding process) on an edge of the sheet bundle created at the sheet accumulating section 60 .
- a binding process i.e., an edge binding process
- the edge-binding stapler unit 42 is provided with a discharge roller 61 that is rotationally driven so as to discharge the sheet bundle created at the sheet accumulating section 60 onto the first load section 43 provided outside the device.
- a movable roller 62 is provided in a movable manner between a position where the movable roller 62 is retracted from the discharge roller 61 and a position where the movable roller 62 is in pressure contact with the discharge roller 61 .
- the inlet 49 first receives a transported sheet P.
- the sheet P is transported along the first sheet transport path R 1 and reaches the edge-binding stapler unit 42 .
- the sheet P After being transported onto the support plate 67 , the sheet P falls onto the support plate 67 .
- This sheet P is supported by the support plate 67 from below and is slid on the support plate 67 by a tilting-and-rotating member 63 attached to the support plate 67 .
- the sheet P abuts on an end guide 64 attached to an end of the support plate 67 . More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, the end guide 64 extends upward in FIG. 2 relative to the end of the support plate 67 . The sheet P moving on the support plate 67 abuts on this end guide 64 .
- the sheet P stops moving. Subsequently, this operation is performed every time a sheet P is transported from upstream, whereby a sheet bundle with aligned sheets P is created on the support plate 67 .
- a sheet-width-position aligning member 65 for positionally aligning the sheet bundle in the width direction thereof is further provided.
- the binding device 50 When a predetermined number of sheets P are loaded on the support plate 67 , the binding device 50 performs a binding process on an edge of the sheet bundle.
- the movable roller 62 advances toward the discharge roller 61 , so that the sheet bundle is nipped by the movable roller 62 and the discharge roller 61 . Then, the discharge roller 61 is rotationally driven, so that the sheet bundle is transported to the first load section 43 .
- the binding device 50 is movable away from and toward the viewer viewing FIG. 2 and is capable of performing the binding process on the sheets P at multiple locations in this exemplary embodiment.
- the binding process by the binding device 50 is sometimes not performed.
- the sheets P not having undergone the binding process are transported from the sheet accumulating section 60 to the first load section 43 .
- FIG. 3 illustrates the first load section 43 , as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow III in FIG. 2 .
- the first load section 43 is provided with a supporter 300 that supports at least one sheet P from below.
- the supporter 300 is tilted relative to the horizontal direction.
- the sheet P does not necessarily have to be supported by the supporter 300 alone.
- the supporter 300 may support the sheet P together with another part having an angle relative to the supporter 300 , such as a side surface of a housing of the first post-processing device 40 in FIG. 2 .
- the first load section 43 is provided with advancing members 600 that advance toward the sheet P from the lateral sides of the sheet P supported by the supporter 300 .
- the advancing members 600 correspond to an advancing unit according to this exemplary embodiment.
- the advancing members 600 include a first advancing member 610 and a second advancing member 620 .
- the first advancing member 610 advances toward the sheet P from one lateral side of the sheet P
- the second advancing member 620 advances toward the sheet P from the other lateral side of the sheet P.
- the first advancing member 610 includes a rotation shaft 612 , an arm section 613 that rotates about the rotation shaft 612 , and an advancing section 614 that advances toward the sheet P from a lateral side of the sheet P when the arm section 613 rotates to a lower position.
- the side of the advancing section 614 closer toward the rotation shaft 612 is defined as a rotation-shaft- 610 A side
- the distal-end side of the advancing section 614 is defined as a distal-end- 610 B side.
- first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 move in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet P (i.e., the width direction of the sheet P) so as to advance toward the sheet P from the lateral sides of the sheet P.
- the sheet P When the sheet P is to be loaded onto the first load section 43 , the sheet P is transported in a direction indicated by an arrow 3 A in FIG. 3 .
- the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 move in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction.
- the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 move in a direction intersecting the vertical direction so as to advance toward the sheet P from the lateral sides of the sheet P.
- a contact member 700 that comes into contact with the sheet P is attached to each of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 .
- the rotation shaft 612 shown in FIG. 5 is disposed to extend in the advancing direction of each of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 .
- each of the first advancing member 610 , the second advancing member 620 , and the contact members 700 is provided in a rotatable manner about the corresponding rotation shaft 612 extending in the advancing direction.
- first advancing member 610 the second advancing member 620 , and the contact members 700 are provided in a rotatable manner about the corresponding rotation shafts 612 in a direction indicated by arrows 4 A in FIG. 4 .
- the contact members 700 are attached to an area located at the sheet P side of the first advancing member 610 and to an area located at the sheet P side of the second advancing member 620 , and come into contact with edges PB of the sheet P as the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 advance toward the sheet P.
- the contact members 700 are provided closer toward the sheet P than the advancing members 600 , and come into contact with the edges PB of the sheet P as the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 advance toward the sheet P.
- the contact members 700 are movable in a direction opposite to the advancing direction of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 . Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the contact members 700 advance toward the sheet P in a direction orthogonal to the vertical direction and come into contact with the sheet P. Then, the contact members 700 move toward the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 disposed at the lateral sides of the sheet P. The surfaces of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 located at identical positions in the direction orthogonal to the vertical direction of the sheet P receive the impact of the contact members 700 via coil springs KB (see FIG. 5 ).
- FIG. 4 illustrates the first advancing member 610 and so on, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow IV in FIG. 3 .
- the supporter 300 is not shown.
- the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 protrude from a device body 40 A of the first post-processing device 40 .
- a moving mechanism 730 that moves the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 is provided.
- the moving mechanism 730 is capable of rotating the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 in the direction indicated by the arrows 4 A in FIG. 4 about a rotation axis indicated by reference sign 3 X in FIG. 3 .
- the moving mechanism 730 is capable of rotating each of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 about the rotation shaft 612 shown in FIG. 5 .
- the first advancing member 610 (see FIG. 4 ) and the second advancing member 620 are movable in the up-down direction.
- the first load section 43 is exposed to the outside.
- the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are located at an upper position and are retracted from the sheet P to be removed.
- the moving mechanism 730 is capable of moving the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 in a direction indicated by an arrow 4 X in FIG. 4 .
- first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are movable relative to the edges PB of the sheet P (not shown in FIG. 4 ).
- the contact members 700 are positioned closer toward the sheet P (not shown in FIG. 4 ) than the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 .
- FIG. 5 illustrates the first advancing member 610 and the corresponding one of the contact members 700 , as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow V in FIG. 4 .
- the second advancing member 620 has a configuration identical to that of the first advancing member 610 .
- the contact member 700 is provided with two protrusions 740 protruding toward the first advancing member 610 .
- the contact member 700 tilts about locations where the protrusions 740 are provided (which will be described later).
- the two protrusions 740 function as shafts.
- the contact member 700 tilts about each of these shafts.
- the protrusions 740 include a distal-end-side protrusion 741 located at the distal-end- 610 B side of the first advancing member 610 and a base-side protrusion 742 located at the base- 610 A side (i.e., the rotation-shaft- 610 A side) of the first advancing member 610 .
- the two protrusions 740 are disposed at different positions in the longitudinal direction of the contact member 700 .
- the first advancing member 610 is provided with two holes 750 to which the protrusions 740 provided on the contact member 700 are fitted.
- the contact member 700 has a base-side end 700 A located at the base- 610 A side of the first advancing member 610 and an opposite-side end 700 B located at the opposite side from the base-side end 700 A (i.e., at the distal-end- 610 B side of the first advancing member 610 ).
- a distance L 1 between the base-side protrusion 742 serving as one of the protrusions 740 and the base-side end 700 A is smaller than a distance L 2 between the distal-end-side protrusion 741 serving as the other protrusion 740 and the opposite-side end 700 B.
- a distal-end-side hole 751 serving as the hole 750 located at the distal-end- 610 B side of the first advancing member 610 is a long hole. This long hole is disposed to extend in the longitudinal direction of the contact member 700 .
- a base-side hole 752 serving as the hole 750 located at the base- 610 A side of the first advancing member 610 is a circular hole.
- the distal-end-side hole 751 serving as one of the two holes 750 has a cross-sectional area (i.e., a cross-sectional area taken along a plane orthogonal to the axial direction of the hole 750 ) is larger than the cross-sectional area of the base-side hole 752 serving as the other one of the holes 750 .
- a predetermined contact section (to be described later) of the contact member 700 comes into contact with the sheet P.
- the distal-end-side hole 751 located closer toward this contact section and serving as one of the two holes 750 has a cross-sectional area larger than the cross-sectional area of the base-side hole 752 .
- the coil springs KB as an example of elastic members are provided between the contact member 700 and the first advancing member 610 .
- coil springs KB are described as an example in this description, other examples of the elastic members include plate springs and rubber members, as alternatives to the coil springs KB.
- the coil springs KB provided are multiple coil springs.
- two coil springs KB are provided, namely, a distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 provided at the distal-end- 610 B side of the first advancing member 610 and a base-side coil spring KB 2 provided at the base- 610 A side of the first advancing member 610 .
- the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 is provided around the distal-end-side protrusion 741
- the base-side coil spring KB 2 is provided around the base-side protrusion 742 .
- regulation screws 220 for regulating the movement of the contact member 700 in a direction extending away from the first advancing member 610 are provided.
- the regulation screws 220 regulate the movement of the contact member 700 in the direction extending away from the first advancing member 610 so as to prevent the contact member 700 from becoming detached.
- the regulation screws 220 are attached to the distal end of the distal-end-side protrusion 741 and to the distal end of the base-side protrusion 742 .
- a thickness W 5 of the contact member 700 is smaller than a thickness W 6 of the advancing section 614 .
- the thickness W 6 in the advancing direction of a part of the first advancing member 610 that faces the contact member 700 is compared with the thickness W 5 of the contact member 700 in the advancing direction, the thickness W 5 of the contact member 700 is smaller than the thickness W 6 of the first advancing member 610 .
- the thickness W 5 of the contact member 700 and the thickness W 6 of the advancing section 614 are different from each other.
- the thickness W 5 of the contact member 700 is smaller than the thickness W 6 of the advancing section 614 .
- the contact member 700 and the advancing section 614 are disposed in the extending direction of the edges PB (see FIG. 3 ) of the sheet P loaded on the supporter 300 .
- the thickness W 5 of the contact member 700 is smaller than the thickness W 6 of the advancing section 614 .
- the term “thickness” refers to the thickness of the plate-like section, but does not refer to the thickness of a section that is partially thick due to a protrusion or the thickness of a section that is partially thin due to a recess.
- the advancing section 614 is provided with protrusions 614 A, but the thickness W 6 of the advancing section 614 refers to the thickness of a section excluding these protrusions 614 A.
- the contact member 700 is also provided with the protrusions 740 , but the thickness W 5 of the contact member 700 refers to the thickness of a section excluding these protrusions 740 .
- FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate another configuration example of the contact member 700 and so on.
- the advancing section 614 is provided with a protrusion 614 B in this configuration example.
- the thickness W 6 of the advancing section 614 refers to the thickness of a section excluding this protrusion 614 B.
- the protrusions 614 A shown in FIG. 5 are not provided, such that the heads 221 of the regulation screws 220 abut on a side surface 614 X of the advancing section 614 having a tabular shape.
- the contact member 700 is provided with a protrusion 789 not shown in FIG. 5 .
- the thickness W 5 of the contact member 700 refers to the thickness of a section excluding this protrusion 789 .
- FIG. 13B illustrates the advancing section 614 , as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow XIIIB in FIG. 13A .
- this advancing section 614 multiple recesses 700 Y are provided in a surface facing the contact member 700 (see FIG. 13A ).
- the thickness W 6 of the advancing section 614 refers to the thickness of a section where these recesses 700 Y are not provided. In other words, the thickness W 6 of the advancing section 614 refers to the thickness of the advancing section 614 assuming that these recesses 700 Y are not provided.
- FIG. 6 illustrates the supporter 300 , the first advancing member 610 , and the contact member 700 , as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow VI in FIG. 3 .
- the first advancing member 610 advances toward this sheet P so that the contact member 700 is pressed against the corresponding edge PB of the sheet P.
- the second advancing member 620 (not shown in FIG. 6 ) also advances toward the sheet P so that the contact member 700 provided at the second advancing member 620 is pressed against the corresponding edge PB of the sheet P.
- the distal-end-side hole 751 (see FIG. 5 ) is located close to this contact section 780 .
- the cross-sectional area of the distal-end-side hole 751 is larger than the cross-sectional area of the base-side hole 752 .
- the contact section 780 (see FIG. 6 ) of the contact member 700 is more easily movable than in a case where the cross-sectional area of the distal-end-side hole 751 is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the base-side hole 752 .
- the side of the contact member 700 where the contact section 780 is located is easily retractable toward the first advancing member 610 .
- a region of the contact section 780 serves as a part of the contact member
- a larger region of the contact member may come into contact with the sheet P.
- the contact section 780 becomes wider than in FIG. 6 . If the contact section 780 extends over both holes, as viewed from the direction in FIG. 6 , the hole located closer toward the center of the contact section is closer to the contact section.
- FIG. 6 illustrates the first advancing member 610 and the contact member 700 , as viewed from upstream in the advancing direction of the first advancing member 610 .
- the contact member 700 is larger than the first advancing member 610 in this exemplary embodiment.
- an end 701 of the contact member 700 in the protruding direction of the first advancing member 610 is located further downstream in the protruding direction of the first advancing member 610 than an end 611 of the first advancing member 610 .
- the width of the contact member 700 is also larger than the width of the first advancing member 610 .
- a width W 2 of the contact member 700 is larger than a width W 1 of the first advancing member 610 .
- a lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 is located lower than a lower edge 610 E of the first advancing member 610 .
- the multiple coil springs KB are disposed at different positions in the extending direction of the edges PB, as shown in FIG. 6 .
- the base-side coil spring KB 2 is located upstream in the transport direction of the sheet P, and the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 is located downstream in the transport direction of the sheet P.
- an upper surface 300 A of the supporter 300 is provided with a recess 300 B for avoiding interference among the first advancing member 610 , the contact member 700 , and the supporter 300 .
- the sheet P is positionally displaceable relative to the first advancing member 610 .
- the sheet P is movable relative to the first advancing member 610 in the up-down direction.
- the sheet P is movable relative to the first advancing member 610 by, for example, moving the supporter 300 in the up-down direction.
- the sheet P is moved in the up-down direction by moving the supporter 300 in the up-down direction to shift the load position of the sheet P upward or downward.
- the elastic members are provided between the contact member 700 and the first advancing member 610 .
- a spring may further be disposed at the rotation shaft 612 (see FIG. 5 ) so that an impact may be absorbed in a dual fashion.
- a spring may be provided at the rotation shaft 612 alone such that an integral contact movable unit (not shown) having a combination of the contact member 700 and the first advancing member 610 is formed.
- the contact section is advanceable toward the sheet P, but the integral contact movable unit requires sufficient rigidity since an impact received at the lateral sides of the sheet is absorbed not by the lateral sides of the sheet but by the rotation shaft 612 serving as a rotation fulcrum. This is not desirable since the load on the rotation shaft 612 increases.
- the supporter 300 , the first advancing member 610 , and the contact member 700 will be further described with reference to FIG. 14 (illustrating the configuration of the contact member 700 and so on).
- the state shown in FIG. 14 is identical to the state shown in FIG. 6 .
- the advancing section 614 provided in the first advancing member 610 has an end 614 E extending in one direction and located at the downstream side in the one direction.
- the advancing section 614 has the end 614 E extending downstream in the transport direction of the sheet P and located at the downstream side in the transport direction.
- a section of the first advancing member 610 that faces the contact member 700 has the end 614 E extending in the one direction and located at the downstream side in the transport direction.
- the contact member 700 also extends downstream in the one direction. Moreover, the contact member 700 extends further downstream in the one direction than the end 614 E of the first advancing member 610 .
- the contact member 700 has a downstream section 785 located further downstream in the one direction than the end 614 E of the first advancing member 610 and an upstream section 786 located further upstream than the end 614 E.
- downstream section 785 is provided with a wide portion 785 A.
- the wide portion 785 A has a width H 1 in the vertical direction that is larger than a width H 2 of the upstream section 786 in the vertical direction.
- the sheet P when a sheet P is to be removed from the first load section 43 , the sheet P may possibly come into contact with the distal end of the contact member 700 . In other words, the sheet P may sometimes come into contact with the downstream section 785 of the contact member 700 .
- the sheet P when the sheet P is to be removed, the sheet P may sometimes be removed in a direction indicated by an arrow 4 B in FIG. 4 . In this case, the sheet P may sometimes come into contact with the downstream section 785 of the contact member 700 .
- the contact member 700 is less likely to break, as compared with a case where the wide portion 785 A is not provided.
- the contact member 700 receives stress over a wider range, so that the contact member 700 is less likely to break.
- FIG. 14 the configuration of the first advancing member 610 located at one lateral side of the sheet P is illustrated.
- the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 have identical configurations. This implies that the second advancing member 620 is also provided with a wide portion 785 A.
- the contact member 700 may possibly move obliquely at an extreme angle such that the downstream section 785 alone moves toward the advancing section 614 of the first advancing member 610 . Even if the contact member 700 moves obliquely at an extreme angle, since the downstream section 785 extends further downstream than the first advancing member 610 , the end of the contact member 700 does not abut on the first advancing member 610 . The contact member 700 may become difficult to move if it abuts on the first advancing member 610 , or the contact member 700 may possibly break if the contact member 700 has lower rigidity than the first advancing member 610 .
- the two protrusions 740 are provided for preventing the contact member 700 from moving obliquely at an extreme angle relative to the advancing section 614 of the first advancing member 610 , and the shape of the spring is set to the shape of the coil spring KB 1 , so that the contact member 700 is less likely to move obliquely during normal use.
- FIG. 7 illustrates another arrangement example of the supporter 300 , the sheet P, the first advancing member 610 , and the contact member 700 .
- the supporter 300 has descended to a position lower than that in the state shown in FIG. 6 , so that a section of the contact member 700 close to the lower edge 709 is in contact with the sheet P.
- a section of the contact member 700 located lower than the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 is in contact with the sheet P.
- a section of the contact member 700 located lower than a central axis C of the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 is in contact with the sheet P.
- FIG. 8 illustrates the supporter 300 , the sheet P, the first advancing member 610 , the second advancing member 620 , and the contact members 700 , as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow VIII in FIG. 7 .
- each contact member 700 located lower than the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 is contact with the sheet P.
- the contact members 700 are tilted such that the contact members 700 overhang the edges PB of the sheet P.
- each contact member 700 located lower than the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 comes into contact with the sheet P, the surface of the contact member 700 that presses against the sheet P faces downward at an angle. In this case, the contact members 700 overhang the edges PB of the sheet P.
- a load is applied to the sheet P from above the edges PB. More specifically, in this case, the load is applied not only from above the sheet P but also from the lateral sides of the sheet P, so that a pressing load is applied onto the sheet P from above the sheet P.
- the sheets P are loaded in a state where the loading positions of the sheets P in the width direction are offset, so that the sheets P are loadable in an alternating fashion.
- a sheet P to be loaded at a first position and a sheet P to be loaded at a second position different from the first position in the width direction of the sheets P are loadable in an alternating fashion.
- a new sheet P is loadable onto an already-loaded sheet PX as a sheet P already loaded on the supporter 300 . Moreover, the new sheet P is loadable in a state where the position thereof is offset from the already-loaded sheet PX.
- the first advancing member 610 advances toward the sheets P
- the second advancing member 620 serving as the other advancing member receives a sheet P moved thereto by being pressed by the first advancing member 610 .
- the position of the second advancing member 620 is fixed.
- the sheet P moves toward the positionally-fixed second advancing member 620 , and the second advancing member 620 stops the sheet P from moving.
- the contact member 700 provided at the second advancing member 620 side is disposed in contact with the upper surface of the already-loaded sheet PX.
- the second advancing member 620 functions as a receiver. In this exemplary embodiment, the second advancing member 620 receives the sheet P that moves as the first advancing member 610 advances thereto.
- the contact member 700 attached to the second advancing member 620 receives this sheet P.
- the corresponding edge PB of the moving sheet P comes into contact with this contact member 700 so that the movement of the sheet P is regulated, whereby the sheet P stops at a predetermined position.
- this contact member 700 is supported by the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 and the base-side coil spring KB 2 disposed between this contact member 700 and the second advancing member 620 .
- the first advancing member 610 advances toward the sheet P and the second advancing member 620 receives the sheet P.
- the second advancing member 620 advances toward the sheet P and the first advancing member 610 receives the sheet P.
- the loading position of the sheet P is changed by moving the supporter 300 in the width direction of the sheet P.
- the loading position of the sheet P may be changed by using another method, such as moving an outlet, through which sheets P are discharged toward the first load section 43 , in the width direction of the sheet P.
- the first advancing member 610 that presses against the sheet P is disposed lower than the second advancing member 620 that receives the sheet P.
- the first advancing member 610 that presses against the sheet P is disposed in the state shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 .
- the contact section 780 (see FIGS. 6 and 7 ) of the contact member 700 is in contact with the sheet P.
- the contact member 700 is disposed above the already-loaded sheet PX, as shown in FIG. 9 .
- the contact member 700 provided at the second advancing member 620 side is placed on the already-loaded sheet PX. More specifically, the contact member 700 provided at the second advancing member 620 side is disposed in contact with the already-loaded sheet PX.
- the second advancing member 620 is disposed above the already-loaded sheet PX in a state where the second advancing member 620 is not in contact with the already-loaded sheet PX.
- the first advancing member 610 advances toward this new sheet P from the opposite side of the second advancing member 620 with the new sheet P interposed therebetween, as indicated by an arrow 9 A.
- the lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 has a thickness D 1 smaller than a thickness D 2 of an upper edge 710 of the contact member 700 in this exemplary embodiment.
- each contact member 700 is tabular and is disposed to extend in the transport direction of the sheet P.
- the thickness D 1 of the lower edge 709 is smaller than the thickness D 2 of the upper edge 710 .
- the thickness of the lower edge 709 is smaller than the thickness of the upper edge 710 .
- a lower section 700 F located at the lower side of the contact member 700 decreases in thickness toward the lower edge 709 .
- the surface of the contact member 700 facing the second advancing member 620 is tapered such that the lower section 700 F of the contact member 700 gradually decreases in thickness toward the lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 .
- the section located at the lower side of the contact member 700 is gradually inclined away from the second advancing member 620 as the section extends downward. Accordingly, in the lower section 700 F described above, the thickness of the contact member 700 decreases toward the lower edge 709 .
- the section located at the lower side of the contact member 700 is provided with a tapered surface TM such that, in the lower section 700 F, the thickness of the contact member 700 decreases toward the lower edge 709 .
- the tapered surface TM is provided in a section of the contact member 700 that does not come into contact with the base-side coil spring KB 2 and the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 .
- deformation of the contact member 700 may be suppressed, while a tapered shape is given to the contact member 700 .
- the contact member 700 tends to deform easily due to the contact member 700 having a small thickness in the section having the tapered surface TM.
- the section of the contact member 700 that does not come into contact with the base-side coil spring KB 2 and the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 is provided with the aforementioned tapered surface TM, so that deformation of the contact member 700 may be suppressed.
- FIG. 10 illustrates the supporter 300 , the sheets P, the second advancing member 620 , and the contact member 700 , as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow X in FIG. 9 .
- the second advancing member 620 that receives a sheet P is disposed above the already-loaded sheet PX, as mentioned above.
- the contact member 700 is placed on the already-loaded sheet PX, and the lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 is in contact with the already-loaded sheet PX.
- the lower edge 709 is disposed along the surface of the already-loaded sheet PX, and the lower edge 709 and the already-loaded sheet PX are in line contact with each other.
- the parallelism between the lower edge 709 and the already-loaded sheet PX is higher than the parallelism between the lower edge 610 E of the second advancing member 620 and the already-loaded sheet PX.
- the first advancing member 610 that presses against a sheet P is disposed in the state shown in FIG. 6 .
- the second advancing member 620 that receives the sheet P is disposed in the state shown in FIG. 10 .
- the second advancing member 620 is disposed to extend parallel to the already-loaded sheet PX more than the first advancing member 610 .
- a line L 11 connecting central axes C 2 of the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 and the base-side coil spring KB 2 provided at the first advancing member 610 side and the corresponding edge PB of the sheets P form an angle ⁇ , as shown in FIG. 6 .
- a line L 21 connecting central axes C 21 of the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 and the base-side coil spring KB 2 provided at the second advancing member 620 side and the corresponding edge PB of the sheet P form an angle ⁇ , as shown in FIG. 10 .
- the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are disposed such that the angle ⁇ is larger than the angle ⁇ .
- a load applied toward the second advancing member 620 from a newly-fed sheet P (not shown in FIG. 10 ) is received by the coil springs KB.
- the two coil springs KB namely, the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 and the base-side coil spring KB 2 , receive this load.
- the load is received by the two coil springs KB, as mentioned above, so that the load applied to each coil spring KB is reduced.
- the contact member 700 provided at the second advancing member 620 side is less likely to move, so that the sheet P may be positioned more stably by this contact member 700 .
- the already-loaded sheet PX located below the contact member 700 and in contact with the contact member 700 is less likely to move.
- the contact member 700 when a sheet P is pressed against this contact member 700 functioning as a receiver that receives the sheet P, the contact member 700 may rotate easily in a direction indicated by an arrow 9 F about the lower edge 709 (see FIG. 9 ).
- the lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 comes into contact with the already-loaded sheet PX and receives a drag from the sheet P, so that the lower edge 709 is less likely to move.
- a section of the contact member 700 located above the lower edge 709 is pressed by the new sheet P and may tilt easily in the direction indicated by the arrow 9 F.
- the already-loaded sheet PX located below the contact member 700 is less likely to move.
- the already-loaded sheet PX is less likely to be positionally displaced as a result of movement of the lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 .
- each contact member 700 is provided with the tapered surface TM, as mentioned above, so that the contact member 700 is tiltable more easily.
- the surface of the contact member 700 located at the tilting side of the contact member 700 is provided with the tapered surface TM, so that the contact member 700 is tiltable more easily.
- the amount of contraction of the distal-end-side coil spring KB 1 is large, causing the contact member 700 to move by a large amount. In this case, the load applied to the sheet P from the first advancing member 610 is reduced.
- the sheet P may cockle or may flap upward and be misaligned when the load applied to the sheet P is released. Moreover, if the load applied to the sheet P is large, the edges PB of the sheet P may possibly crease.
- the load applied to the sheet P is reduced, so that problems occurring when a large load is applied to the sheet P may be reduced.
- the sheets P used may often vary in size, and may include sheets P larger than preset values.
- a sheet P larger than a preset value is excessively pressed by the first advancing member 610 or the second advancing member 620 , possibly resulting in deformation of the sheet P or distortion of the sheet P.
- the contact members 700 are retracted from the sheet P if the sheet P is larger than a preset value.
- the contact members 700 move in directions opposite to the advancing direction of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 .
- the amount of movement (i.e., the amount of retraction from the sheet P) of the contact member 700 provided at the advancing side is larger than the amount of movement of the contact member 700 provided at the receiving side.
- the sheet P may be positioned more accurately at the receiving side, and the load applied to the sheet P may be released at the advancing side.
- the amount of movement (i.e., the amount of retraction from the sheet P) of the contact members 700 similarly increases, so that the load applied to the sheet P may be reduced.
- the distal-end-side coil springs KB 1 mostly receive the load occurring as a result of a reaction from the sheet P.
- the contact members 700 move by a large amount, so that the load applied to the sheet P from the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 may be reduced.
- an accumulating unit is provided for accumulating sheets P transported from upstream while a process for aligning sheets P is being performed by using the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 .
- a new sheet P may sometimes be transported toward the supporter 300 from upstream.
- the new sheet P is temporarily accumulated in the accumulating unit in this exemplary embodiment.
- the sheet accumulating section 60 functions as the accumulating unit, such that multiple new sheets P are accumulated in the sheet accumulating section 60 during the period from when at least one of the advancing members 600 starts to advance toward the sheets P to when the advancing member 600 returns to its original position.
- the multiple new sheets P that have reached the sheet accumulating section 60 are accumulated in this sheet accumulating section 60 during the period from when at least one of the advancing members 600 starts to advance toward the sheets P to when the advancing member 600 returns to its original position.
- multiple sheets P are accumulated in the sheet accumulating section 60 so that the effect on the image forming apparatus 2 may be reduced, as compared with the case where multiple sheets P are not accumulated in the sheet accumulating section 60 , thereby enhancing the overall processing efficiency of the image forming system 1 .
- the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are both given a function for pressing against a sheet P and a function for receiving the sheet P.
- one of the advancing members 600 may be given only the function for pressing against a sheet P, whereas the other advancing member 600 may be given only the function for receiving the sheet P.
- the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are both given the function for advancing toward and retracting from a sheet P.
- the advancing members 600 may be given the function for advancing toward and retracting from a sheet P, whereas the other advancing member 600 may be not given the function for advancing toward and retracting from the sheet P.
- the other advancing member 600 may be provided in a fixed state.
- the advancing member 600 since the advancing member 600 provided in the fixed state does not have the advancing function, the advancing member 600 may be regarded not as an advancing member but as a disposed member disposed downstream of a sheet P moving in the width direction.
- the advancing member 600 provided in the fixed state may be regarded as a disposed member disposed downstream, in a sheet moving direction, of a sheet P moved by being pressed by the other advancing member 600 .
- the advancing member 600 that presses against the sheet P may be regarded as a moving unit that moves the sheet P supported by the supporter 300 in the width direction of the sheet P.
- the advancing member 600 provided in the fixed state may be regarded as a disposed member disposed downstream, in the sheet moving direction, of the sheet P moved by the moving unit.
- the contact member 700 provided at the disposed member side is used to receive the sheet P moved by the moving unit.
- this contact member 700 is disposed between the sheet P moved by the moving unit and the disposed member.
- a wall extending in the vertical direction may be provided in place of a member, such as the contact member 700 , and the sheet P may be caused to abut on this wall.
- the CPU 111 changes the position of at least a part of each contact member 700 in the up-down direction based on information about at least one sheet P supported by the supporter 300 .
- the CPU 111 sets the rotational angle of the contact member 700 about the rotation shaft 612 (see FIG. 5 ) based on the information about the sheet P loaded on the supporter 300 . Then, the CPU 111 causes the contact member 700 to rotate so that the contact member 700 is disposed at the set rotational angle.
- the information about the sheet P loaded on the supporter 300 is input by a user via, for example, an operation panel (not shown).
- the CPU 111 obtains this information input by the user, so as to acquire the information about the sheet P.
- the CPU 111 causes the supporter 300 to descend, as indicated by reference sign 15 A in FIG. 15 (illustrating the state of the supporter 300 ), unlike a case where the sheet P is not a specific sheet P.
- the CPU 111 increases the descending amount of the supporter 300 , as compared with a case where the sheet P is not a specific sheet P.
- the CPU 111 when a sensor S shown in FIG. 15 detects an uppermost sheet of sheets P loaded on the supporter 300 , the CPU 111 causes the supporter 300 to descend.
- the descending amount of the supporter 300 is increased.
- the sensor S for detecting the uppermost sheet P of the sheets P loaded on the supporter 300 is provided, as shown in FIG. 15 .
- the uppermost sheet P of the sheets P reaches a detection position of the sensor S. Accordingly, the uppermost sheet P of the sheets P loaded on the supporter 300 is detected by the sensor S.
- the supporter 300 descends, as described above. In this exemplary embodiment, if the sheets P loaded on the supporter 300 are specific sheets P, the descending amount of the supporter 300 is increased.
- the CPU 111 increases the descending amount of the supporter 300 per descent.
- the frequency at which the supporter 300 descends increases, possibly causing the number of sheets P processable per unit time to decrease.
- the sheets P loaded on the supporter 300 are specific sheets P, such as thin paper, the sheets P tend to curl easily. In this case, the loading height of the sheets P tends to increase in the supporter 300 , as compared with sheets P that are less likely to curl.
- the loading height of specific sheets P tends to increase, as compared with a case where sheets P other than the specific sheets P are loaded.
- the detection of the sheets P is performed frequently by the sensor S, resulting in an increase in the frequency at which the supporter 300 descends.
- the descending process of the supporter 300 takes time. Furthermore, while the supporter 300 is descending, a process in the image forming apparatus 2 and a process in the sheet processing apparatus 3 have to be temporarily stopped.
- the descending amount of the supporter 300 per descent is increased, so that the frequency at which the supporter 300 descends may be reduced, thereby suppressing a decrease in the processing efficiency caused as a result of the descending process of the supporter 300 .
- the contact member 700 and the sheets P are disposed such that, for example, the positional relationship therebetween is as shown in FIG. 15 .
- the contact member 700 is less likely to come into contact with the sheets P, or the contact member 700 does not come into contact with the sheets P.
- the contact member 700 and the sheets P are disposed such that the positional relationship therebetween is as shown in FIG. 16 (illustrating another positional relationship between the sheets P and the contact member 700 ).
- the contact member 700 and the sheets P are disposed in the state shown in FIG. 16 .
- the rotational angle of the contact member 700 from a predetermined reference angle (not shown) is set based on the information about the sheets P, for example, the contact member 700 and the sheets P are disposed in the state shown in FIG. 16 .
- the rotational angle of the contact member 700 is set such that a distal end 700 X of the contact member 700 is disposed at a lower position.
- the contact member 700 is disposed in the state shown in FIG. 16 . In more detail, the contact member 700 is disposed beside the specific sheets P.
- the position of each contact member 700 in the up-down direction is changed based on the information about the sheets P.
- the rotational angle of the contact member 700 is set based on the information about the sheets P.
- the position of the contact member 700 in the up-down direction may be changed based on information about the position of the supporter 300 in the up-down direction.
- the rotational angle of the contact member 700 may be set based on the information about the position of the supporter 300 in the up-down direction.
- the CPU 111 acquires information indicating that the supporter 300 is located lower than a normal position (i.e., a predetermined position)
- the CPU 111 changes the position of the contact member 700 in the up-down direction and sets the contact member 700 such that the distal end 700 X of the contact member 700 is disposed at a lower position.
- the CPU 111 acquires the information indicating that the supporter 300 is located lower than the normal position, the CPU 111 sets the rotational angle of the contact member 700 to a new rotational angle and sets the distal end 700 X of the contact member 700 to a lower position.
- FIG. 16 illustrates a state where the sheets P are pressed from opposite sides by using the two contact members 700 .
- the sheets P are pressed from opposite sides by using the two contact members 700 .
- the position of each contact member 700 in the up-down direction may be set similarly based on the information about the sheets P or the information about the position of the supporter 300 .
- the rotational angle of each contact member 700 may be set based on the information about the sheets P or the information about the position of the supporter 300 .
- the amount of contact may be compensated for by increasing the width, as in the wide portion 785 A, and increasing the descending amount, or the increase in the descending amount may be suppressed so that it is sufficiently within the width of the wide portion 785 A.
- the descending amount of the supporter 300 may be controlled such that the area to constantly come into contact with each contact member is large or that the sheets constantly come into contact with a section of the contact member located near a section supported by the coil springs.
- Specific examples of the sheet type that requires a large force for aligning sheets by using contact members include cardboard and high-density paper.
- control may be performed by reducing the number of times a tray is moved by setting the rotational angle in addition to moving the tray.
- control may be performed by simply moving the tray.
- FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate the moving mechanism 730 (see FIG. 4 ).
- FIG. 11A is a top view of the moving mechanism 730
- FIG. 11B illustrates a part of the moving mechanism 730 , as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow XIB in FIG. 11 A.
- the moving mechanism 730 is provided for moving the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 .
- the moving mechanism 730 is provided with a guide member 910 that extends in the advancing-retracting direction of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 and that guides the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 .
- a first moving mechanism 921 for moving the first advancing member 610 is provided.
- a second moving mechanism 922 for moving the second advancing member 620 is provided.
- the first moving mechanism 921 is provided with an annular belt member 921 A having a section extending in the advancing-retracting direction of the first advancing member 610 . Moreover, a first driving motor M 101 for moving the belt member 921 A is also provided.
- the first advancing member 610 is fixed relative to the belt member 921 A. In this exemplary embodiment, the first advancing member 610 advances and retracts in the width direction of the sheet P when the first driving motor M 101 is driven.
- the second moving mechanism 922 is also provided with an annular belt member 922 A having a section extending in the advancing-retracting direction of the second advancing member 620 and a second driving motor M 102 for driving the belt member 922 A.
- the second advancing member 620 advances and retracts in the width direction of the sheet P when the second driving motor M 102 is driven.
- a rotating mechanism 950 is provided, as shown in FIG. 11A .
- the rotating mechanism 950 rotates the first advancing member 610 about the base 610 A of the first advancing member 610 , and rotates the second advancing member 620 about a base 620 A of the second advancing member 620 .
- the rotating mechanism 950 is provided with a support member 951 that extends in the advancing-retracting direction of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 and that supports the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 from below.
- the rotating mechanism 950 is provided with a vertically moving mechanism 952 that vertically moves the support member 951 .
- the vertically moving mechanism 952 is provided with a third driving motor M 103 .
- the vertically moving mechanism 952 is provided with a rotating member 954 that is rotated by the third driving motor M 103 and whose first end 954 A moves vertically.
- the support member 951 is attached to the first end 954 A of the rotating member 954 .
- the third driving motor M 103 is driven so that the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 descend to the lateral sides of the sheet P supported by the supporter 300 .
- the first driving motor M 101 and the second driving motor M 102 are driven, so that the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are moved toward the sheet P.
- the third driving motor M 103 is similarly driven. Accordingly, the first advancing member 610 descends to a lateral side of the sheet P supported by the supporter 300 .
- the movement of the second advancing member 620 is regulated by the already-loaded sheet PX, and the second advancing member 620 is positioned above the already-loaded sheet PX.
- the first driving motor M 101 is driven so that the first advancing member 610 advances toward the sheet P.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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Abstract
Description
- This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-210646 filed Nov. 21, 2019 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-057592 filed Mar. 27, 2020.
- The present disclosure relates to recording-material processing apparatuses.
- Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-240295 discloses a process involving completely loading a sheet-like medium discharged from a discharging unit onto a tray and subsequently moving an aligning member into and out of contact with an end surface of the sheet-like medium extending parallel to the discharging direction of the sheet-like medium, so as to positionally align the end surface.
- A recording-material aligning process involves, for example, pressing against an edge of a recording material from a lateral side of the recording material to move the recording material to a predetermined position.
- During this recording-material aligning process, a load is applied to the recording material. If this load is large, there is a possibility that the recording material may cockle or may flap upward and be misaligned when the load is released. Moreover, if the load applied to the recording material is large, the edges of the recording material may possibly crease.
- Aspects of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate to reducing a load applied to a recording material during a recording-material aligning process, as compared with a case where a contact member that comes into contact with the recording material during the recording-material aligning process does not move relative to a member having a function for supporting the contact member.
- Aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure address the above advantages and/or other advantages not described above. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not required to address the advantages described above, and aspects of the non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure may not address advantages described above.
- According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a recording-material processing apparatus including a supporter, an advancing unit, and a contact member. The supporter supports at least one recording material from below. The advancing unit advances toward the recording material from a lateral side of the recording material supported by the supporter. The contact member is attached to the advancing unit and comes into contact with an edge of the recording material as the advancing unit advances toward the recording material. The contact member is movable in a direction opposite to an advancing direction of the advancing unit.
- An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein:
-
FIG. 1 illustrates the overall configuration of an image forming system; -
FIG. 2 illustrates the configuration of a first post-processing device; -
FIG. 3 illustrates a first load section, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow III inFIG. 2 ; -
FIG. 4 illustrates a first advancing member and so on, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow IV inFIG. 3 ; -
FIG. 5 illustrates the first advancing member and a corresponding one of contact members, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow V inFIG. 4 ; -
FIG. 6 illustrates a supporter, the first advancing member, and the contact member, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow VI inFIG. 3 ; -
FIG. 7 illustrates another arrangement example of the supporter, at least one sheet, the first advancing member, and the contact member; -
FIG. 8 illustrates the supporter, the sheet, the first advancing member, a second advancing member, and the contact members, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow VIII inFIG. 7 ; -
FIG. 9 illustrates a processing example when sheets are loaded in an alternating fashion; -
FIG. 10 illustrates the supporter, the sheets, the second advancing member, and the corresponding contact member, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow X inFIG. 9 ; -
FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a moving mechanism; -
FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of a controller; -
FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate another configuration example of each contact member and so on; -
FIG. 14 illustrates the configuration of the contact member and so on; -
FIG. 15 illustrates the state of the supporter; and -
FIG. 16 illustrates another positional relationship between the sheet and each contact member. - An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the appended drawings.
-
FIG. 1 illustrates the overall configuration of an image forming system 1. - The image forming system 1 shown in
FIG. 1 includes animage forming apparatus 2 that forms an image onto a sheet P as an example of a recording material, and also includes asheet processing apparatus 3 that performs a predetermined process on the sheet P having the image formed thereon by theimage forming apparatus 2. - The
image forming apparatus 2 forms the image onto the sheet P by an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method. - The
sheet processing apparatus 3 as an example of a recording-material processing apparatus is provided with atransport device 10 that transports the sheet P output from theimage forming apparatus 2 downstream, and is also provided with a slip-sheet feeding device 20 that feeds a slip sheet, such as a cardboard or window sheet P, to the sheet P transported by thetransport device 10. - The
sheet processing apparatus 3 is also provided with afolding device 30 that performs a folding process, such as a C-folding process or a Z-folding process, on the sheet P transported from thetransport device 10. - Moreover, the
sheet processing apparatus 3 is provided with a firstpost-processing device 40 that is provided downstream of thefolding device 30 and that performs, for example, a hole punching process, an edge binding process, and/or a saddle stitching process on the sheet P. - More specifically, the first
post-processing device 40 provided downstream of thefolding device 30 performs a process on a sheet bundle (an example of a recording-material bundle) constituted of multiple sheets P having images formed thereon by theimage forming apparatus 2, as well as a process on a sheet P by sheet P basis. - The
sheet processing apparatus 3 is also provided with a secondpost-processing device 500 that is provided downstream of the firstpost-processing device 40 and that further performs a process on a middle-folded or saddle-stitched sheet bundle. - Moreover, the
sheet processing apparatus 3 is provided with acontroller 100 that controls each functional unit of thesheet processing apparatus 3. -
FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of thecontroller 100. - The
controller 100 has a central processing unit (CPU) 111 as an example of a processor, a read only memory (ROM) 112 having basic software and a basic input output system (BIOS) stored therein, and a random access memory (RAM) 113 used as a work area. Thecontroller 100 is a so-called computer. - In this exemplary embodiment, the
CPU 111 executes a program stored in, for example, theROM 112, so as to execute various types of predetermined processes. - The program executed by the
CPU 111 may be provided to thesheet processing apparatus 3 in a state where the program is stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as a magnetic storage medium (such as a magnetic tape or a magnetic disk), an optical storage medium (such as an optical disk), a magneto-optical storage medium, or a semiconductor memory. - Alternatively, the program executed by the
CPU 111 may be provided to thesheet processing apparatus 3 by using a communication unit, such as the Internet. - In this exemplary embodiment, the term “processor” refers to hardware in a broad sense. Examples of the processor include general processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit) and dedicated processors (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, and programmable logic device).
- Furthermore, the term “processor” is broad enough to encompass one processor or plural processors in collaboration which are located physically apart from each other but may work cooperatively. The order of operations of the processor is not limited to one described in this exemplary embodiment, and may be changed.
- Referring to
FIG. 1 , the firstpost-processing device 40 is provided with ahole punching unit 41 that performs a hole punching process on a sheet P, and is also provided with an edge-bindingstapler unit 42 that performs an edge binding process on a sheet bundle. - The first
post-processing device 40 is also provided with afirst load section 43 onto which a sheet P from the edge-binding stapler unit 42 is loaded, and is also provided with asecond load section 45 onto which a sheet P that has not undergone a process in the firstpost-processing device 40 or a sheet P that has undergone only a hole punching process is loaded. Thefirst load section 43 and thesecond load section 45 are exposed outside the device so that a sheet P loaded on thefirst load section 43 or thesecond load section 45 is removable manually by an operator. - Moreover, the first
post-processing device 40 is provided with asaddle stitching unit 44 that creates a double-page booklet by middle-folding and/or saddle-stitching a sheet bundle. -
FIG. 2 illustrates the configuration of thefirst post-processing device 40. - The
first post-processing device 40 is provided with aninlet 49 that receives a sheet P transported from thefolding device 30. - The
hole punching unit 41 is provided immediately behind theinlet 49. Thehole punching unit 41 performs, for example, a two-hole or four-hole punching process on the sheet P transported to thefirst post-processing device 40. - A first sheet transport path R1 extends from the
inlet 49 to the edge-bindingstapler unit 42 and is used for transporting the sheet P received by theinlet 49 to the edge-bindingstapler unit 42. - Furthermore, a second sheet transport path R2 branches off from the first sheet transport path R1 at a first branch point B1 and is used for transporting the sheet P toward the
second load section 45. - Moreover, a third sheet transport path R3 branches off from the first sheet transport path R1 at a second branch point B2 and is used for transporting the sheet P toward the
saddle stitching unit 44. - A switch gate 70 is provided for switching (setting) the transport destination for the sheet P to any one of the first sheet transport path R1 to the third sheet transport path R3.
- The edge-binding
stapler unit 42 is provided with asheet accumulating section 60 that creates a sheet bundle by accumulating a required number of sheets P. - The
sheet accumulating section 60 is provided with asupport plate 67 that is tilted relative to the horizontal direction and that supports one or more transported sheets P from below. In this exemplary embodiment, a sheet bundle is created on thissupport plate 67. - Furthermore, the edge-binding
stapler unit 42 is provided with abinding device 50 that performs a binding process (i.e., an edge binding process) on an edge of the sheet bundle created at thesheet accumulating section 60. - Moreover, the edge-binding
stapler unit 42 is provided with adischarge roller 61 that is rotationally driven so as to discharge the sheet bundle created at thesheet accumulating section 60 onto thefirst load section 43 provided outside the device. - Furthermore, a
movable roller 62 is provided in a movable manner between a position where themovable roller 62 is retracted from thedischarge roller 61 and a position where themovable roller 62 is in pressure contact with thedischarge roller 61. - When a process is to be performed by the edge-binding
stapler unit 42, theinlet 49 first receives a transported sheet P. - Then, the sheet P is transported along the first sheet transport path R1 and reaches the edge-binding
stapler unit 42. - After being transported onto the
support plate 67, the sheet P falls onto thesupport plate 67. This sheet P is supported by thesupport plate 67 from below and is slid on thesupport plate 67 by a tilting-and-rotatingmember 63 attached to thesupport plate 67. - Subsequently, the sheet P abuts on an
end guide 64 attached to an end of thesupport plate 67. More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, theend guide 64 extends upward inFIG. 2 relative to the end of thesupport plate 67. The sheet P moving on thesupport plate 67 abuts on thisend guide 64. - Accordingly, in this exemplary embodiment, the sheet P stops moving. Subsequently, this operation is performed every time a sheet P is transported from upstream, whereby a sheet bundle with aligned sheets P is created on the
support plate 67. - In this exemplary embodiment, a sheet-width-
position aligning member 65 for positionally aligning the sheet bundle in the width direction thereof is further provided. - In this exemplary embodiment, every time a sheet P is fed onto the
support plate 67, the widthwise edges of the sheet P are pressed by the sheet-width-position aligning member 65, thereby positionally aligning sheets P (i.e., sheet bundle) in the width direction thereof. - When a predetermined number of sheets P are loaded on the
support plate 67, the bindingdevice 50 performs a binding process on an edge of the sheet bundle. - Subsequently, in this exemplary embodiment, the
movable roller 62 advances toward thedischarge roller 61, so that the sheet bundle is nipped by themovable roller 62 and thedischarge roller 61. Then, thedischarge roller 61 is rotationally driven, so that the sheet bundle is transported to thefirst load section 43. - The binding
device 50 is movable away from and toward the viewer viewingFIG. 2 and is capable of performing the binding process on the sheets P at multiple locations in this exemplary embodiment. - The binding process by the binding
device 50 is sometimes not performed. In this case, the sheets P not having undergone the binding process are transported from thesheet accumulating section 60 to thefirst load section 43. -
FIG. 3 illustrates thefirst load section 43, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow III inFIG. 2 . - The
first load section 43 is provided with asupporter 300 that supports at least one sheet P from below. Thesupporter 300 is tilted relative to the horizontal direction. The sheet P does not necessarily have to be supported by thesupporter 300 alone. Alternatively, for example, when thesupporter 300 is tilted by a large angle relative to the horizontal direction, thesupporter 300 may support the sheet P together with another part having an angle relative to thesupporter 300, such as a side surface of a housing of thefirst post-processing device 40 inFIG. 2 . - Furthermore, the
first load section 43 is provided with advancingmembers 600 that advance toward the sheet P from the lateral sides of the sheet P supported by thesupporter 300. The advancingmembers 600 correspond to an advancing unit according to this exemplary embodiment. - In this exemplary embodiment, the advancing
members 600 include a first advancingmember 610 and a second advancingmember 620. - The first advancing
member 610 advances toward the sheet P from one lateral side of the sheet P, and the second advancingmember 620 advances toward the sheet P from the other lateral side of the sheet P. - As shown in
FIG. 5 , the first advancingmember 610 includes arotation shaft 612, anarm section 613 that rotates about therotation shaft 612, and an advancingsection 614 that advances toward the sheet P from a lateral side of the sheet P when thearm section 613 rotates to a lower position. Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the side of the advancingsection 614 closer toward therotation shaft 612 is defined as a rotation-shaft-610A side, whereas the distal-end side of the advancingsection 614 is defined as a distal-end-610B side. - More specifically, the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 move in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet P (i.e., the width direction of the sheet P) so as to advance toward the sheet P from the lateral sides of the sheet P. - When the sheet P is to be loaded onto the
first load section 43, the sheet P is transported in a direction indicated by anarrow 3A inFIG. 3 . - In this exemplary embodiment, the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 move in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction. - More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 move in a direction intersecting the vertical direction so as to advance toward the sheet P from the lateral sides of the sheet P. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, a
contact member 700 that comes into contact with the sheet P is attached to each of the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620. - The
rotation shaft 612 shown inFIG. 5 is disposed to extend in the advancing direction of each of the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, each of the first advancing
member 610, the second advancingmember 620, and thecontact members 700 is provided in a rotatable manner about thecorresponding rotation shaft 612 extending in the advancing direction. - In more detail, the first advancing
member 610, the second advancingmember 620, and thecontact members 700 are provided in a rotatable manner about thecorresponding rotation shafts 612 in a direction indicated byarrows 4A inFIG. 4 . - The contact members 700 (see
FIG. 3 ) are attached to an area located at the sheet P side of the first advancingmember 610 and to an area located at the sheet P side of the second advancingmember 620, and come into contact with edges PB of the sheet P as the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 advance toward the sheet P. - More specifically, the
contact members 700 are provided closer toward the sheet P than the advancingmembers 600, and come into contact with the edges PB of the sheet P as the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 advance toward the sheet P. - As will be described later, in this exemplary embodiment, the
contact members 700 are movable in a direction opposite to the advancing direction of the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620. Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, thecontact members 700 advance toward the sheet P in a direction orthogonal to the vertical direction and come into contact with the sheet P. Then, thecontact members 700 move toward the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 disposed at the lateral sides of the sheet P. The surfaces of the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 located at identical positions in the direction orthogonal to the vertical direction of the sheet P receive the impact of thecontact members 700 via coil springs KB (seeFIG. 5 ). -
FIG. 4 illustrates the first advancingmember 610 and so on, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow IV inFIG. 3 . InFIG. 4 , thesupporter 300 is not shown. - The first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 protrude from adevice body 40A of thefirst post-processing device 40. - In this exemplary embodiment, a moving
mechanism 730 that moves the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 is provided. - In this exemplary embodiment, the moving
mechanism 730 is capable of rotating the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 in the direction indicated by thearrows 4A inFIG. 4 about a rotation axis indicated byreference sign 3X inFIG. 3 . In other words, in this exemplary embodiment, the movingmechanism 730 is capable of rotating each of the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 about therotation shaft 612 shown inFIG. 5 . - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the first advancing member 610 (see
FIG. 4 ) and the second advancingmember 620 are movable in the up-down direction. - The
first load section 43 is exposed to the outside. When the operator is to remove a sheet P loaded on thesupporter 300, the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 are located at an upper position and are retracted from the sheet P to be removed. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the moving
mechanism 730 is capable of moving the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 in a direction indicated by anarrow 4X inFIG. 4 . - More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 are movable relative to the edges PB of the sheet P (not shown inFIG. 4 ). - Moreover, in this exemplary embodiment, the
contact members 700 are positioned closer toward the sheet P (not shown inFIG. 4 ) than the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620. -
FIG. 5 illustrates the first advancingmember 610 and the corresponding one of thecontact members 700, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow V inFIG. 4 . In this exemplary embodiment, the second advancingmember 620 has a configuration identical to that of the first advancingmember 610. - The
contact member 700 is provided with two protrusions 740 protruding toward the first advancingmember 610. In this exemplary embodiment, thecontact member 700 tilts about locations where the protrusions 740 are provided (which will be described later). - In other words, in this exemplary embodiment, the two protrusions 740 function as shafts. In this exemplary embodiment, the
contact member 700 tilts about each of these shafts. - In this exemplary embodiment, the protrusions 740 include a distal-end-side protrusion 741 located at the distal-end-610B side of the first advancing
member 610 and a base-side protrusion 742 located at the base-610A side (i.e., the rotation-shaft-610A side) of the first advancingmember 610. - The two protrusions 740 are disposed at different positions in the longitudinal direction of the
contact member 700. - The first advancing
member 610 is provided with two holes 750 to which the protrusions 740 provided on thecontact member 700 are fitted. - Furthermore, the
contact member 700 according to this exemplary embodiment has a base-side end 700A located at the base-610A side of the first advancingmember 610 and an opposite-side end 700B located at the opposite side from the base-side end 700A (i.e., at the distal-end-610B side of the first advancing member 610). - In this exemplary embodiment, a distance L1 between the base-side protrusion 742 serving as one of the protrusions 740 and the base-
side end 700A is smaller than a distance L2 between the distal-end-side protrusion 741 serving as the other protrusion 740 and the opposite-side end 700B. - In this exemplary embodiment, a distal-end-side hole 751 serving as the hole 750 located at the distal-end-610B side of the first advancing
member 610 is a long hole. This long hole is disposed to extend in the longitudinal direction of thecontact member 700. - On the other hand, a base-side hole 752 serving as the hole 750 located at the base-610A side of the first advancing
member 610 is a circular hole. - In this exemplary embodiment, the distal-end-side hole 751 serving as one of the two holes 750 has a cross-sectional area (i.e., a cross-sectional area taken along a plane orthogonal to the axial direction of the hole 750) is larger than the cross-sectional area of the base-side hole 752 serving as the other one of the holes 750.
- In this exemplary embodiment, when the first advancing
member 610 advances toward the sheet P, a predetermined contact section (to be described later) of thecontact member 700 comes into contact with the sheet P. - In this exemplary embodiment, the distal-end-side hole 751 located closer toward this contact section and serving as one of the two holes 750 has a cross-sectional area larger than the cross-sectional area of the base-side hole 752.
- Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the coil springs KB as an example of elastic members are provided between the
contact member 700 and the first advancingmember 610. - Although the coil springs KB are described as an example in this description, other examples of the elastic members include plate springs and rubber members, as alternatives to the coil springs KB.
- In this exemplary embodiment, the coil springs KB provided are multiple coil springs.
- In detail, in this exemplary embodiment, two coil springs KB are provided, namely, a distal-end-side coil spring KB1 provided at the distal-end-610B side of the first advancing
member 610 and a base-side coil spring KB2 provided at the base-610A side of the first advancingmember 610. - In this exemplary embodiment, the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 is provided around the distal-end-side protrusion 741, and the base-side coil spring KB2 is provided around the base-side protrusion 742.
- Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, regulation screws 220 for regulating the movement of the
contact member 700 in a direction extending away from the first advancingmember 610 are provided. - More specifically, the regulation screws 220 regulate the movement of the
contact member 700 in the direction extending away from the first advancingmember 610 so as to prevent thecontact member 700 from becoming detached. - The regulation screws 220 are attached to the distal end of the distal-end-side protrusion 741 and to the distal end of the base-side protrusion 742.
- When the
contact member 700 is to move away from the first advancingmember 610, ahead 221 of eachregulation screw 220 abuts on the first advancingmember 610. Consequently, thecontact member 700 is prevented from becoming detached from the first advancingmember 610. - As shown in
FIG. 5 , in this exemplary embodiment, in a case where thicknesses in the advancing direction when thecontact member 700 advances toward the sheet P (seeFIG. 3 ) are compared, a thickness W5 of thecontact member 700 is smaller than a thickness W6 of the advancingsection 614. - In other words, when the thickness W6 in the advancing direction of a part of the first advancing
member 610 that faces thecontact member 700 is compared with the thickness W5 of thecontact member 700 in the advancing direction, the thickness W5 of thecontact member 700 is smaller than the thickness W6 of the first advancingmember 610. - In other words, in this exemplary embodiment, when thicknesses in a direction intersecting the extending direction of the edges PB (see
FIG. 3 ) of the sheet P are compared, the thickness W5 of thecontact member 700 and the thickness W6 of the advancingsection 614 are different from each other. In this exemplary embodiment, the thickness W5 of thecontact member 700 is smaller than the thickness W6 of the advancingsection 614. - The
contact member 700 and the advancingsection 614 are disposed in the extending direction of the edges PB (seeFIG. 3 ) of the sheet P loaded on thesupporter 300. When the thicknesses in the direction intersecting this extending direction are compared, the thickness W5 of thecontact member 700 is smaller than the thickness W6 of the advancingsection 614. - In this case, the term “thickness” refers to the thickness of the plate-like section, but does not refer to the thickness of a section that is partially thick due to a protrusion or the thickness of a section that is partially thin due to a recess.
- For example, as shown in
FIG. 5 , in this exemplary embodiment, the advancingsection 614 is provided withprotrusions 614A, but the thickness W6 of the advancingsection 614 refers to the thickness of a section excluding theseprotrusions 614A. - Likewise, the
contact member 700 is also provided with the protrusions 740, but the thickness W5 of thecontact member 700 refers to the thickness of a section excluding these protrusions 740. -
FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate another configuration example of thecontact member 700 and so on. As shown inFIG. 13A , the advancingsection 614 is provided with aprotrusion 614B in this configuration example. The thickness W6 of the advancingsection 614 refers to the thickness of a section excluding thisprotrusion 614B. - In this configuration example, the
protrusions 614A shown inFIG. 5 are not provided, such that theheads 221 of the regulation screws 220 abut on aside surface 614X of the advancingsection 614 having a tabular shape. - Furthermore, in the configuration example shown in
FIG. 13A , thecontact member 700 is provided with aprotrusion 789 not shown inFIG. 5 . The thickness W5 of thecontact member 700 refers to the thickness of a section excluding thisprotrusion 789. -
FIG. 13B illustrates the advancingsection 614, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow XIIIB inFIG. 13A . In this advancingsection 614,multiple recesses 700Y are provided in a surface facing the contact member 700 (seeFIG. 13A ). - The thickness W6 of the advancing
section 614 refers to the thickness of a section where theserecesses 700Y are not provided. In other words, the thickness W6 of the advancingsection 614 refers to the thickness of the advancingsection 614 assuming that theserecesses 700Y are not provided. -
FIG. 6 illustrates thesupporter 300, the first advancingmember 610, and thecontact member 700, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow VI inFIG. 3 . - In this exemplary embodiment, every time a sheet P is transported to the
supporter 300, the first advancingmember 610 advances toward this sheet P so that thecontact member 700 is pressed against the corresponding edge PB of the sheet P. - In this case, the second advancing member 620 (not shown in
FIG. 6 ) also advances toward the sheet P so that thecontact member 700 provided at the second advancingmember 620 is pressed against the corresponding edge PB of the sheet P. - When each
contact member 700 is pressed against the corresponding edge PB of the sheet P, apredetermined contact section 780 of thecontact member 700 comes into contact with the sheet P in this exemplary embodiment. - In this exemplary embodiment, the distal-end-side hole 751 (see
FIG. 5 ) is located close to thiscontact section 780. In this exemplary embodiment, the cross-sectional area of the distal-end-side hole 751 is larger than the cross-sectional area of the base-side hole 752. - Accordingly, in this exemplary embodiment, the contact section 780 (see
FIG. 6 ) of thecontact member 700 is more easily movable than in a case where the cross-sectional area of the distal-end-side hole 751 is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the base-side hole 752. - More specifically, the side of the
contact member 700 where thecontact section 780 is located is easily retractable toward the first advancingmember 610. As an alternative to this exemplary embodiment in which a region of thecontact section 780 serves as a part of the contact member, a larger region of the contact member may come into contact with the sheet P. In that case, thecontact section 780 becomes wider than inFIG. 6 . If thecontact section 780 extends over both holes, as viewed from the direction inFIG. 6 , the hole located closer toward the center of the contact section is closer to the contact section. -
FIG. 6 illustrates the first advancingmember 610 and thecontact member 700, as viewed from upstream in the advancing direction of the first advancingmember 610. - Accordingly, when the first advancing
member 610 and thecontact member 700 are viewed from upstream in the advancing direction of the first advancingmember 610, thecontact member 700 is larger than the first advancingmember 610 in this exemplary embodiment. - In more detail, in this exemplary embodiment, an
end 701 of thecontact member 700 in the protruding direction of the first advancingmember 610 is located further downstream in the protruding direction of the first advancingmember 610 than anend 611 of the first advancingmember 610. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the width of the
contact member 700 is also larger than the width of the first advancingmember 610. - In more detail, in this exemplary embodiment, when widths in a direction orthogonal to the protruding direction of the first advancing
member 610 are compared, a width W2 of thecontact member 700 is larger than a width W1 of the first advancingmember 610. - Moreover, in this exemplary embodiment, a
lower edge 709 of thecontact member 700 is located lower than alower edge 610E of the first advancingmember 610. - In this exemplary embodiment, when the first advancing
member 610 advances toward the sheet P, the multiple coil springs KB are disposed at different positions in the extending direction of the edges PB, as shown inFIG. 6 . - In more detail, in this case, the base-side coil spring KB2 is located upstream in the transport direction of the sheet P, and the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 is located downstream in the transport direction of the sheet P.
- In this exemplary embodiment, an
upper surface 300A of thesupporter 300 is provided with arecess 300B for avoiding interference among the first advancingmember 610, thecontact member 700, and thesupporter 300. - Moreover, in this exemplary embodiment, the sheet P is positionally displaceable relative to the first advancing
member 610. In more detail, in this exemplary embodiment, the sheet P is movable relative to the first advancingmember 610 in the up-down direction. - The sheet P is movable relative to the first advancing
member 610 by, for example, moving thesupporter 300 in the up-down direction. - In more detail, for example, with regard to the movement of the sheet P relative to the first advancing
member 610, the sheet P is moved in the up-down direction by moving thesupporter 300 in the up-down direction to shift the load position of the sheet P upward or downward. - In this exemplary embodiment, the elastic members are provided between the
contact member 700 and the first advancingmember 610. In addition to the elastic members provided between thecontact member 700 and the first advancingmember 610, a spring may further be disposed at the rotation shaft 612 (seeFIG. 5 ) so that an impact may be absorbed in a dual fashion. - As a comparative example, a spring may be provided at the
rotation shaft 612 alone such that an integral contact movable unit (not shown) having a combination of thecontact member 700 and the first advancingmember 610 is formed. In this case, the contact section is advanceable toward the sheet P, but the integral contact movable unit requires sufficient rigidity since an impact received at the lateral sides of the sheet is absorbed not by the lateral sides of the sheet but by therotation shaft 612 serving as a rotation fulcrum. This is not desirable since the load on therotation shaft 612 increases. - The
supporter 300, the first advancingmember 610, and thecontact member 700 will be further described with reference toFIG. 14 (illustrating the configuration of thecontact member 700 and so on). The state shown inFIG. 14 is identical to the state shown inFIG. 6 . - As shown in
FIG. 14 , the advancingsection 614 provided in the first advancingmember 610 has anend 614E extending in one direction and located at the downstream side in the one direction. In more detail, the advancingsection 614 has theend 614E extending downstream in the transport direction of the sheet P and located at the downstream side in the transport direction. - In more detail, a section of the first advancing
member 610 that faces thecontact member 700 has theend 614E extending in the one direction and located at the downstream side in the transport direction. - The
contact member 700 also extends downstream in the one direction. Moreover, thecontact member 700 extends further downstream in the one direction than theend 614E of the first advancingmember 610. - The
contact member 700 has adownstream section 785 located further downstream in the one direction than theend 614E of the first advancingmember 610 and anupstream section 786 located further upstream than theend 614E. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the
downstream section 785 is provided with awide portion 785A. - The
wide portion 785A has a width H1 in the vertical direction that is larger than a width H2 of theupstream section 786 in the vertical direction. - In this exemplary embodiment, when a sheet P is to be removed from the
first load section 43, the sheet P may possibly come into contact with the distal end of thecontact member 700. In other words, the sheet P may sometimes come into contact with thedownstream section 785 of thecontact member 700. - In more detail, for example, when the sheet P is to be removed, the sheet P may sometimes be removed in a direction indicated by an
arrow 4B inFIG. 4 . In this case, the sheet P may sometimes come into contact with thedownstream section 785 of thecontact member 700. - In this case, with the
contact member 700 being provided with thewide portion 785A, as in this exemplary embodiment, thecontact member 700 is less likely to break, as compared with a case where thewide portion 785A is not provided. - In more detail, with the
contact member 700 being provided with thewide portion 785A, thecontact member 700 receives stress over a wider range, so that thecontact member 700 is less likely to break. - In
FIG. 14 , the configuration of the first advancingmember 610 located at one lateral side of the sheet P is illustrated. As mentioned above, in this exemplary embodiment, the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 have identical configurations. This implies that the second advancingmember 620 is also provided with awide portion 785A. - In a case where an excessive force is applied, for example, the
contact member 700 may possibly move obliquely at an extreme angle such that thedownstream section 785 alone moves toward the advancingsection 614 of the first advancingmember 610. Even if thecontact member 700 moves obliquely at an extreme angle, since thedownstream section 785 extends further downstream than the first advancingmember 610, the end of thecontact member 700 does not abut on the first advancingmember 610. Thecontact member 700 may become difficult to move if it abuts on the first advancingmember 610, or thecontact member 700 may possibly break if thecontact member 700 has lower rigidity than the first advancingmember 610. In this exemplary embodiment, the two protrusions 740 are provided for preventing thecontact member 700 from moving obliquely at an extreme angle relative to the advancingsection 614 of the first advancingmember 610, and the shape of the spring is set to the shape of the coil spring KB1, so that thecontact member 700 is less likely to move obliquely during normal use. -
FIG. 7 illustrates another arrangement example of thesupporter 300, the sheet P, the first advancingmember 610, and thecontact member 700. - In this arrangement example, the
supporter 300 has descended to a position lower than that in the state shown inFIG. 6 , so that a section of thecontact member 700 close to thelower edge 709 is in contact with the sheet P. - In more detail, in this arrangement example, a section of the
contact member 700 located lower than the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 is in contact with the sheet P. - More specifically, in this arrangement example, a section of the
contact member 700 located lower than a central axis C of the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 is in contact with the sheet P. -
FIG. 8 illustrates thesupporter 300, the sheet P, the first advancingmember 610, the second advancingmember 620, and thecontact members 700, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow VIII inFIG. 7 . - In the arrangement example shown in
FIGS. 7 and 8 , a section of eachcontact member 700 located lower than the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 is contact with the sheet P. - In this case, as shown in
FIG. 8 , thecontact members 700 are tilted such that thecontact members 700 overhang the edges PB of the sheet P. - When the section of each
contact member 700 located lower than the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 comes into contact with the sheet P, the surface of thecontact member 700 that presses against the sheet P faces downward at an angle. In this case, thecontact members 700 overhang the edges PB of the sheet P. - In this case, a load is applied to the sheet P from above the edges PB. More specifically, in this case, the load is applied not only from above the sheet P but also from the lateral sides of the sheet P, so that a pressing load is applied onto the sheet P from above the sheet P.
- Next, a processing example when sheets P are loaded in an alternating fashion will be described. In other words, the following processing example corresponds to when sheets P are loaded in an offset fashion.
- As shown in
FIG. 9 (illustrating the processing example when sheets P are loaded in an alternating fashion), in this exemplary embodiment, every time a predetermined number of sheets P are loaded, the sheets P are loaded in a state where the loading positions of the sheets P in the width direction are offset, so that the sheets P are loadable in an alternating fashion. - In more detail, a sheet P to be loaded at a first position and a sheet P to be loaded at a second position different from the first position in the width direction of the sheets P are loadable in an alternating fashion.
- More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, a new sheet P is loadable onto an already-loaded sheet PX as a sheet P already loaded on the
supporter 300. Moreover, the new sheet P is loadable in a state where the position thereof is offset from the already-loaded sheet PX. - Accordingly, as shown in
FIG. 9 , when sheets P are to be loaded in an alternating fashion, for example, the first advancingmember 610 advances toward the sheets P, whereas the second advancingmember 620 serving as the other advancing member receives a sheet P moved thereto by being pressed by the first advancingmember 610. - At the first advancing
member 610 that presses against the sheet P, thecontact member 700 thereof presses against the corresponding edge PB of the sheet P. - At the second advancing
member 620 that receives the sheet P, the position of the second advancingmember 620 is fixed. Thus, the sheet P moves toward the positionally-fixed second advancingmember 620, and the second advancingmember 620 stops the sheet P from moving. - At the second advancing
member 620, thecontact member 700 provided at the second advancingmember 620 side is disposed in contact with the upper surface of the already-loaded sheet PX. - In this exemplary embodiment, the second advancing
member 620 functions as a receiver. In this exemplary embodiment, the second advancingmember 620 receives the sheet P that moves as the first advancingmember 610 advances thereto. - In more detail, the
contact member 700 attached to the second advancingmember 620 receives this sheet P. - In more detail, in this exemplary embodiment, the corresponding edge PB of the moving sheet P comes into contact with this
contact member 700 so that the movement of the sheet P is regulated, whereby the sheet P stops at a predetermined position. - In this case, in this exemplary embodiment, this
contact member 700 is supported by the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 and the base-side coil spring KB2 disposed between thiscontact member 700 and the second advancingmember 620. - In
FIG. 9 , the first advancingmember 610 advances toward the sheet P and the second advancingmember 620 receives the sheet P. Alternatively, if the sheet P is to be loaded in a state where the loading position of the sheet P has been changed to the other loading position, the second advancingmember 620 advances toward the sheet P and the first advancingmember 610 receives the sheet P. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the loading position of the sheet P is changed by moving the
supporter 300 in the width direction of the sheet P. - Alternatively, the loading position of the sheet P may be changed by using another method, such as moving an outlet, through which sheets P are discharged toward the
first load section 43, in the width direction of the sheet P. - As shown in
FIG. 9 , in this exemplary embodiment, the first advancingmember 610 that presses against the sheet P is disposed lower than the second advancingmember 620 that receives the sheet P. - Furthermore, the first advancing
member 610 that presses against the sheet P is disposed in the state shown inFIGS. 6 and 7 . - In this case, as mentioned above, at the first advancing
member 610, the contact section 780 (seeFIGS. 6 and 7 ) of thecontact member 700 is in contact with the sheet P. - On the other hand, at the second advancing
member 620 that receives the sheet P, thecontact member 700 is disposed above the already-loaded sheet PX, as shown inFIG. 9 . - In more detail, in this exemplary embodiment, the
contact member 700 provided at the second advancingmember 620 side is placed on the already-loaded sheet PX. More specifically, thecontact member 700 provided at the second advancingmember 620 side is disposed in contact with the already-loaded sheet PX. - On the other hand, in this exemplary embodiment, the second advancing
member 620 is disposed above the already-loaded sheet PX in a state where the second advancingmember 620 is not in contact with the already-loaded sheet PX. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, when the new sheet P is loaded on the already-loaded sheet PX, the first advancing
member 610 advances toward this new sheet P from the opposite side of the second advancingmember 620 with the new sheet P interposed therebetween, as indicated by anarrow 9A. - Moreover, in this exemplary embodiment, when the
contact member 700 provided at the second advancingmember 620 side comes into contact with the already-loaded sheet PX, thelower edge 709 of thecontact member 700 comes into contact with the already-loaded sheet PX. - Although not described above, the
lower edge 709 of thecontact member 700 has a thickness D1 smaller than a thickness D2 of anupper edge 710 of thecontact member 700 in this exemplary embodiment. - In more detail, each
contact member 700 according to this exemplary embodiment is tabular and is disposed to extend in the transport direction of the sheet P. In thetabular contact member 700, the thickness D1 of thelower edge 709 is smaller than the thickness D2 of theupper edge 710. - More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, when thicknesses in the moving direction of the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 are compared, the thickness of thelower edge 709 is smaller than the thickness of theupper edge 710. - Furthermore, as shown in
FIG. 9 , in this exemplary embodiment, alower section 700F located at the lower side of thecontact member 700 decreases in thickness toward thelower edge 709. - More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, the surface of the
contact member 700 facing the second advancingmember 620 is tapered such that thelower section 700F of thecontact member 700 gradually decreases in thickness toward thelower edge 709 of thecontact member 700. - In more detail, in this exemplary embodiment, in the surface of the
contact member 700 facing the second advancingmember 620, the section located at the lower side of thecontact member 700 is gradually inclined away from the second advancingmember 620 as the section extends downward. Accordingly, in thelower section 700F described above, the thickness of thecontact member 700 decreases toward thelower edge 709. - In more detail, in the surface of the
contact member 700 facing the second advancingmember 620, the section located at the lower side of thecontact member 700 is provided with a tapered surface TM such that, in thelower section 700F, the thickness of thecontact member 700 decreases toward thelower edge 709. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the tapered surface TM is provided in a section of the
contact member 700 that does not come into contact with the base-side coil spring KB2 and the distal-end-side coil spring KB1. - More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, when the tapered surface TM, the base-side coil spring KB2, and the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 are projected in a direction indicated by an
arrow 9X inFIG. 9 , there is no overlap between the tapered surface TM and the base-side coil spring KB2 or between the tapered surface TM and the distal-end-side coil spring KB1. - More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, when the tapered surface TM, the base-side coil spring KB2, and the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 are projected in the thickness direction of the
contact member 700 as well as toward aplane 9Z parallel to thecontact member 700, there is no overlap between the tapered surface TM and the base-side coil spring KB2 or between the tapered surface TM and the distal-end-side coil spring KB1. - Accordingly, in this exemplary embodiment, deformation of the
contact member 700 may be suppressed, while a tapered shape is given to thecontact member 700. - If the aforementioned tapered surface TM is provided in a section of the
contact member 700 that comes into the base-side coil spring KB2 and the distal-end-side coil spring KB1, thecontact member 700 tends to deform easily due to thecontact member 700 having a small thickness in the section having the tapered surface TM. - In contrast, as described above, the section of the
contact member 700 that does not come into contact with the base-side coil spring KB2 and the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 is provided with the aforementioned tapered surface TM, so that deformation of thecontact member 700 may be suppressed. -
FIG. 10 illustrates thesupporter 300, the sheets P, the second advancingmember 620, and thecontact member 700, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow X inFIG. 9 . - In this exemplary embodiment, the second advancing
member 620 that receives a sheet P is disposed above the already-loaded sheet PX, as mentioned above. - Furthermore, as mentioned above, in this exemplary embodiment, the
contact member 700 is placed on the already-loaded sheet PX, and thelower edge 709 of thecontact member 700 is in contact with the already-loaded sheet PX. - In this exemplary embodiment, the
lower edge 709 is disposed along the surface of the already-loaded sheet PX, and thelower edge 709 and the already-loaded sheet PX are in line contact with each other. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, when the
lower edge 709 is in contact with the already-loaded sheet PX, the parallelism between thelower edge 709 and the already-loaded sheet PX is higher than the parallelism between thelower edge 610E of the second advancingmember 620 and the already-loaded sheet PX. - In this exemplary embodiment, for example, the first advancing
member 610 that presses against a sheet P is disposed in the state shown inFIG. 6 . - The second advancing
member 620 that receives the sheet P is disposed in the state shown inFIG. 10 . The second advancingmember 620 is disposed to extend parallel to the already-loaded sheet PX more than the first advancingmember 610. - More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, a line L11 connecting central axes C2 of the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 and the base-side coil spring KB2 provided at the first advancing
member 610 side and the corresponding edge PB of the sheets P form an angle α, as shown inFIG. 6 . - In contrast, a line L21 connecting central axes C21 of the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 and the base-side coil spring KB2 provided at the second advancing
member 620 side and the corresponding edge PB of the sheet P form an angle β, as shown inFIG. 10 . - In this exemplary embodiment, the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 are disposed such that the angle α is larger than the angle β. - In this exemplary embodiment, at the second advancing
member 620 side (seeFIG. 10 ), a load applied toward the second advancingmember 620 from a newly-fed sheet P (not shown inFIG. 10 ) is received by the coil springs KB. In this case, in this exemplary embodiment, the two coil springs KB, namely, the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 and the base-side coil spring KB2, receive this load. - In contrast, at the first advancing
member 610 side (seeFIG. 6 ), a load occurring as a result of a reaction from the sheet P is received by the coil springs KB, but this load is mostly received by the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 in this exemplary embodiment. - At the second advancing
member 620 side (seeFIG. 10 ) serving as the receiving side, the load is received by the two coil springs KB, as mentioned above, so that the load applied to each coil spring KB is reduced. In this case, thecontact member 700 provided at the second advancingmember 620 side is less likely to move, so that the sheet P may be positioned more stably by thiscontact member 700. - With this configuration where the
contact member 700 is less likely to move, the already-loaded sheet PX located below thecontact member 700 and in contact with thecontact member 700 is less likely to move. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, when a sheet P is pressed against this
contact member 700 functioning as a receiver that receives the sheet P, thecontact member 700 may rotate easily in a direction indicated by an arrow 9F about the lower edge 709 (seeFIG. 9 ). - More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, the
lower edge 709 of thecontact member 700 comes into contact with the already-loaded sheet PX and receives a drag from the sheet P, so that thelower edge 709 is less likely to move. On the other hand, a section of thecontact member 700 located above thelower edge 709 is pressed by the new sheet P and may tilt easily in the direction indicated by the arrow 9F. - In this case, the already-loaded sheet PX located below the
contact member 700 is less likely to move. In this case, the already-loaded sheet PX is less likely to be positionally displaced as a result of movement of thelower edge 709 of thecontact member 700. - In this exemplary embodiment, each
contact member 700 is provided with the tapered surface TM, as mentioned above, so that thecontact member 700 is tiltable more easily. - More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, the surface of the
contact member 700 located at the tilting side of thecontact member 700 is provided with the tapered surface TM, so that thecontact member 700 is tiltable more easily. - On the other hand, at the first advancing
member 610 side (seeFIG. 6 ), a load occurring as a result of a reaction from the sheet P is mostly received by the distal-end-side coil spring KB1. - In this case, the amount of contraction of the distal-end-side coil spring KB1 is large, causing the
contact member 700 to move by a large amount. In this case, the load applied to the sheet P from the first advancingmember 610 is reduced. - If the load applied to the sheet P is large, the sheet P may cockle or may flap upward and be misaligned when the load applied to the sheet P is released. Moreover, if the load applied to the sheet P is large, the edges PB of the sheet P may possibly crease.
- In contrast, in this exemplary embodiment, the load applied to the sheet P is reduced, so that problems occurring when a large load is applied to the sheet P may be reduced.
- The sheets P used may often vary in size, and may include sheets P larger than preset values.
- In this case, a sheet P larger than a preset value is excessively pressed by the first advancing
member 610 or the second advancingmember 620, possibly resulting in deformation of the sheet P or distortion of the sheet P. - In contrast, in this exemplary embodiment, the
contact members 700 are retracted from the sheet P if the sheet P is larger than a preset value. - More specifically, if there is a sheet P larger than a preset value, the
contact members 700 move in directions opposite to the advancing direction of the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620. - Accordingly, a situation where an excessive load is applied to the sheet P is suppressed, thereby suppressing deformation of the sheet P as well as distortion of the sheet P.
- In this exemplary embodiment, the amount of movement (i.e., the amount of retraction from the sheet P) of the
contact member 700 provided at the advancing side is larger than the amount of movement of thecontact member 700 provided at the receiving side. - In this case, the sheet P may be positioned more accurately at the receiving side, and the load applied to the sheet P may be released at the advancing side.
- As shown in
FIG. 8 , in this exemplary embodiment, if both the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 are to advance toward the sheet P, the amount of movement (i.e., the amount of retraction from the sheet P) of thecontact members 700 similarly increases, so that the load applied to the sheet P may be reduced. - If both the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 are to advance toward the sheet P, the distal-end-side coil springs KB1 mostly receive the load occurring as a result of a reaction from the sheet P. - In this case, the
contact members 700 move by a large amount, so that the load applied to the sheet P from the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 may be reduced. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, an accumulating unit is provided for accumulating sheets P transported from upstream while a process for aligning sheets P is being performed by using the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620. - In more detail, in this exemplary embodiment, during a period from when at least one of the advancing
members 600, which may be one of or both of the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620, starts to advance toward the sheets P to when the advancingmember 600 returns to its original position, a new sheet P may sometimes be transported toward thesupporter 300 from upstream. In this case, the new sheet P is temporarily accumulated in the accumulating unit in this exemplary embodiment. - In detail, in this exemplary embodiment, the sheet accumulating section 60 (see
FIG. 2 ) functions as the accumulating unit, such that multiple new sheets P are accumulated in thesheet accumulating section 60 during the period from when at least one of the advancingmembers 600 starts to advance toward the sheets P to when the advancingmember 600 returns to its original position. - More specifically, in this exemplary embodiment, the multiple new sheets P that have reached the
sheet accumulating section 60 are accumulated in thissheet accumulating section 60 during the period from when at least one of the advancingmembers 600 starts to advance toward the sheets P to when the advancingmember 600 returns to its original position. - Then, in this exemplary embodiment, when the advancing
member 600 returns to its original position, the multiple sheets P accumulated in thesheet accumulating section 60 are transported toward thefirst load section 43. - For example, in a configuration where multiple sheets P are not accumulated in the
sheet accumulating section 60, for example, it may be necessary to temporarily stop an image forming process in the image forming apparatus 2 (seeFIG. 1 ). - In more detail, during the process for aligning sheets P in the
first load section 43, the transporting of sheets P toward thefirst load section 43 is stopped. This affects theimage forming apparatus 2 and makes it necessary to temporarily stop the image forming process. - In contrast, in this exemplary embodiment, multiple sheets P are accumulated in the
sheet accumulating section 60 so that the effect on theimage forming apparatus 2 may be reduced, as compared with the case where multiple sheets P are not accumulated in thesheet accumulating section 60, thereby enhancing the overall processing efficiency of the image forming system 1. - In the above description, the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 are both given a function for pressing against a sheet P and a function for receiving the sheet P. Alternatively, one of the advancingmembers 600 may be given only the function for pressing against a sheet P, whereas the other advancingmember 600 may be given only the function for receiving the sheet P. - More specifically, in the above description, the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 are both given the function for advancing toward and retracting from a sheet P. Alternatively, only one of the advancingmembers 600, that is, the first advancingmember 610 or the second advancingmember 620, may be given the function for advancing toward and retracting from a sheet P, whereas the other advancingmember 600 may be not given the function for advancing toward and retracting from the sheet P. In this case, the other advancingmember 600 may be provided in a fixed state. - In this case, since the advancing
member 600 provided in the fixed state does not have the advancing function, the advancingmember 600 may be regarded not as an advancing member but as a disposed member disposed downstream of a sheet P moving in the width direction. - More specifically, the advancing
member 600 provided in the fixed state may be regarded as a disposed member disposed downstream, in a sheet moving direction, of a sheet P moved by being pressed by the other advancingmember 600. - More specifically, in this case, the advancing
member 600 that presses against the sheet P may be regarded as a moving unit that moves the sheet P supported by thesupporter 300 in the width direction of the sheet P. - The advancing
member 600 provided in the fixed state may be regarded as a disposed member disposed downstream, in the sheet moving direction, of the sheet P moved by the moving unit. - Furthermore, in this case, at the disposed member side, the
contact member 700 provided at the disposed member side is used to receive the sheet P moved by the moving unit. - In this case, this
contact member 700 is disposed between the sheet P moved by the moving unit and the disposed member. - At the sheet receiving side, a wall extending in the vertical direction may be provided in place of a member, such as the
contact member 700, and the sheet P may be caused to abut on this wall. - The process for loading sheets P will be further described below.
- In this exemplary embodiment, the CPU 111 (see
FIG. 12 ) as an example of a processor changes the position of at least a part of eachcontact member 700 in the up-down direction based on information about at least one sheet P supported by thesupporter 300. - In other words, the
CPU 111 sets the rotational angle of thecontact member 700 about the rotation shaft 612 (seeFIG. 5 ) based on the information about the sheet P loaded on thesupporter 300. Then, theCPU 111 causes thecontact member 700 to rotate so that thecontact member 700 is disposed at the set rotational angle. - The information about the sheet P loaded on the
supporter 300 is input by a user via, for example, an operation panel (not shown). TheCPU 111 obtains this information input by the user, so as to acquire the information about the sheet P. - In this exemplary embodiment, if the sheet P loaded on the
supporter 300 is a specific sheet P, such as thin paper, theCPU 111 causes thesupporter 300 to descend, as indicated by reference sign 15A inFIG. 15 (illustrating the state of the supporter 300), unlike a case where the sheet P is not a specific sheet P. - In other words, if the sheet P loaded on the
supporter 300 is a specific sheet P, such as thin paper, theCPU 111 increases the descending amount of thesupporter 300, as compared with a case where the sheet P is not a specific sheet P. - In more detail, in this exemplary embodiment, when a sensor S shown in
FIG. 15 detects an uppermost sheet of sheets P loaded on thesupporter 300, theCPU 111 causes thesupporter 300 to descend. - In this exemplary embodiment, if the sheets P loaded on the
supporter 300 are specific sheets P, the descending amount of thesupporter 300 is increased. - Although not described above, in this exemplary embodiment, the sensor S for detecting the uppermost sheet P of the sheets P loaded on the
supporter 300 is provided, as shown inFIG. 15 . - As sheets P are sequentially loaded onto the
supporter 300 in this exemplary embodiment, the uppermost sheet P of the sheets P reaches a detection position of the sensor S. Accordingly, the uppermost sheet P of the sheets P loaded on thesupporter 300 is detected by the sensor S. - Then, in this exemplary embodiment, when the sensor S detects this uppermost sheet P, the
supporter 300 descends, as described above. In this exemplary embodiment, if the sheets P loaded on thesupporter 300 are specific sheets P, the descending amount of thesupporter 300 is increased. - In other words, if the sheets P loaded on the
supporter 300 are specific sheets P, theCPU 111 increases the descending amount of thesupporter 300 per descent. - In this case, a decrease in the number of sheets P processable per unit time may be suppressed.
- In this exemplary embodiment, if the sheets P loaded on the
supporter 300 are specific sheets P, such as thin paper, the frequency at which thesupporter 300 descends increases, possibly causing the number of sheets P processable per unit time to decrease. - In more detail, if the sheets P loaded on the
supporter 300 are specific sheets P, such as thin paper, the sheets P tend to curl easily. In this case, the loading height of the sheets P tends to increase in thesupporter 300, as compared with sheets P that are less likely to curl. - In other words, in a case where the same number of sheets P are loaded on the
supporter 300, the loading height of specific sheets P, such as thin paper, tends to increase, as compared with a case where sheets P other than the specific sheets P are loaded. - In this case, the detection of the sheets P is performed frequently by the sensor S, resulting in an increase in the frequency at which the
supporter 300 descends. - The descending process of the
supporter 300 takes time. Furthermore, while thesupporter 300 is descending, a process in theimage forming apparatus 2 and a process in thesheet processing apparatus 3 have to be temporarily stopped. - In this case, the number of sheets P processable per unit time decreases, resulting in lower processing efficiency.
- In contrast, in this exemplary embodiment, the descending amount of the
supporter 300 per descent is increased, so that the frequency at which thesupporter 300 descends may be reduced, thereby suppressing a decrease in the processing efficiency caused as a result of the descending process of thesupporter 300. - On the other hand, when the descending amount of the
supporter 300 increases, the position of the sheets P loaded on thesupporter 300 is lowered, so that eachcontact member 700 is less likely to come into contact with the sheets P, or thecontact member 700 does not come into contact with the sheets P. - In more detail, when the descending amount of the
supporter 300 increases, thecontact member 700 and the sheets P are disposed such that, for example, the positional relationship therebetween is as shown inFIG. 15 . In this case, thecontact member 700 is less likely to come into contact with the sheets P, or thecontact member 700 does not come into contact with the sheets P. - In contrast, as mentioned above, when the position of at least a part of the
contact member 700 in the up-down direction is changed based on the information about the sheets P, thecontact member 700 and the sheets P are disposed such that the positional relationship therebetween is as shown inFIG. 16 (illustrating another positional relationship between the sheets P and the contact member 700). - In other words, as mentioned above, when the rotational angle of the
contact member 700 is set based on the information about the sheets P, thecontact member 700 and the sheets P are disposed in the state shown inFIG. 16 . - More specifically, when the rotational angle of the
contact member 700 from a predetermined reference angle (not shown) is set based on the information about the sheets P, for example, thecontact member 700 and the sheets P are disposed in the state shown inFIG. 16 . - In more detail, in this exemplary embodiment, if the information about the sheets P supported by the
supporter 300 indicates that the sheets P are specific sheets P, the rotational angle of thecontact member 700 is set such that adistal end 700X of thecontact member 700 is disposed at a lower position. - In this case, the
contact member 700 is disposed in the state shown inFIG. 16 . In more detail, thecontact member 700 is disposed beside the specific sheets P. - In this case, the contact between the
contact member 700 and the specific sheets P is ensured. - As described above, in this exemplary embodiment, the position of each
contact member 700 in the up-down direction is changed based on the information about the sheets P. In other words, the rotational angle of thecontact member 700 is set based on the information about the sheets P. - Alternatively, the position of the
contact member 700 in the up-down direction may be changed based on information about the position of thesupporter 300 in the up-down direction. In other words, the rotational angle of thecontact member 700 may be set based on the information about the position of thesupporter 300 in the up-down direction. - In this case, if the
CPU 111 acquires information indicating that thesupporter 300 is located lower than a normal position (i.e., a predetermined position), theCPU 111 changes the position of thecontact member 700 in the up-down direction and sets thecontact member 700 such that thedistal end 700X of thecontact member 700 is disposed at a lower position. - In other words, if the
CPU 111 acquires the information indicating that thesupporter 300 is located lower than the normal position, theCPU 111 sets the rotational angle of thecontact member 700 to a new rotational angle and sets thedistal end 700X of thecontact member 700 to a lower position. - The example shown in
FIG. 16 illustrates a state where the sheets P are pressed from opposite sides by using the twocontact members 700. In other words, as described above with reference toFIG. 8 , the sheets P are pressed from opposite sides by using the twocontact members 700. - Alternatively, in the offset loading mode shown in
FIG. 9 , the position of eachcontact member 700 in the up-down direction may be set similarly based on the information about the sheets P or the information about the position of thesupporter 300. - In other words, in the offset loading mode shown in
FIG. 9 , the rotational angle of eachcontact member 700 may be set based on the information about the sheets P or the information about the position of thesupporter 300. - According to the above description, when the descending amount of the
supporter 300 increases, the position of the sheets P loaded on thesupporter 300 is lowered, so that thecontact member 700 is less likely to come into contact with the sheets P or thecontact member 700 does not come into contact with the sheets P. This is suppressed by setting the rotational angle of thecontact member 700. Alternatively, the amount of contact may be compensated for by increasing the width, as in thewide portion 785A, and increasing the descending amount, or the increase in the descending amount may be suppressed so that it is sufficiently within the width of thewide portion 785A. - Furthermore, with regard to a sheet type that requires a large force for aligning sheets by using contact members, the descending amount of the
supporter 300 may be controlled such that the area to constantly come into contact with each contact member is large or that the sheets constantly come into contact with a section of the contact member located near a section supported by the coil springs. Specific examples of the sheet type that requires a large force for aligning sheets by using contact members include cardboard and high-density paper. - With regard to a sheet type A that requires a relatively small force for aligning sheets, control may be performed by reducing the number of times a tray is moved by setting the rotational angle in addition to moving the tray. With regard to a sheet type B that requires a relatively smaller force for aligning sheets than the sheet type A, control may be performed by simply moving the tray.
-
FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate the moving mechanism 730 (seeFIG. 4 ). -
FIG. 11A is a top view of the movingmechanism 730, andFIG. 11B illustrates a part of the movingmechanism 730, as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow XIB in FIG. 11A. - As mentioned above, in this exemplary embodiment, the moving
mechanism 730 is provided for moving the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620. - As shown in
FIG. 11A , the movingmechanism 730 is provided with aguide member 910 that extends in the advancing-retracting direction of the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 and that guides the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, a first moving
mechanism 921 for moving the first advancingmember 610 is provided. Moreover, asecond moving mechanism 922 for moving the second advancingmember 620 is provided. - The
first moving mechanism 921 is provided with anannular belt member 921A having a section extending in the advancing-retracting direction of the first advancingmember 610. Moreover, a first driving motor M101 for moving thebelt member 921A is also provided. - In this exemplary embodiment, the first advancing
member 610 is fixed relative to thebelt member 921A. In this exemplary embodiment, the first advancingmember 610 advances and retracts in the width direction of the sheet P when the first driving motor M101 is driven. - Likewise, the
second moving mechanism 922 is also provided with anannular belt member 922A having a section extending in the advancing-retracting direction of the second advancingmember 620 and a second driving motor M102 for driving thebelt member 922A. The second advancingmember 620 advances and retracts in the width direction of the sheet P when the second driving motor M102 is driven. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, a
rotating mechanism 950 is provided, as shown inFIG. 11A . - The
rotating mechanism 950 rotates the first advancingmember 610 about thebase 610A of the first advancingmember 610, and rotates the second advancingmember 620 about abase 620A of the second advancingmember 620. - The
rotating mechanism 950 is provided with asupport member 951 that extends in the advancing-retracting direction of the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 and that supports the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 from below. - Furthermore, the
rotating mechanism 950 is provided with a vertically movingmechanism 952 that vertically moves thesupport member 951. - The vertically moving
mechanism 952 is provided with a third driving motor M103. The vertically movingmechanism 952 is provided with a rotatingmember 954 that is rotated by the third driving motor M103 and whosefirst end 954A moves vertically. In this exemplary embodiment, thesupport member 951 is attached to thefirst end 954A of the rotatingmember 954. - In this exemplary embodiment, when the third driving motor M103 is driven to rotate the rotating
member 954, as shown inFIG. 11B , thesupport member 951 moves vertically, thereby causing the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 to move vertically. - As shown in
FIG. 8 , in this exemplary embodiment, when the sheet P is to be pressed from the opposite sides of the sheet P by using the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620, the third driving motor M103 is driven so that the first advancingmember 610 and the second advancingmember 620 descend to the lateral sides of the sheet P supported by thesupporter 300. - Subsequently, in this exemplary embodiment, the first driving motor M101 and the second driving motor M102 are driven, so that the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 are moved toward the sheet P. - In order to set the first advancing
member 610 and the second advancingmember 620 as shown inFIG. 9 , the third driving motor M103 is similarly driven. Accordingly, the first advancingmember 610 descends to a lateral side of the sheet P supported by thesupporter 300. - Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, while the first advancing
member 610 is descending, the movement of the second advancingmember 620 is regulated by the already-loaded sheet PX, and the second advancingmember 620 is positioned above the already-loaded sheet PX. - Then, the first driving motor M101 is driven so that the first advancing
member 610 advances toward the sheet P. - The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. The exemplary embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the disclosure for various embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the disclosure be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.
Claims (20)
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP2019-210646 | 2019-11-21 | ||
JP2019210646 | 2019-11-21 | ||
JP2020057592A JP2021088460A (en) | 2019-11-21 | 2020-03-27 | Recording material processing device and image formation system |
JP2020-057592 | 2020-03-27 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20210155440A1 true US20210155440A1 (en) | 2021-05-27 |
Family
ID=75907535
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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US16/927,999 Abandoned US20210155440A1 (en) | 2019-11-21 | 2020-07-14 | Recording-material processing apparatus |
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US (1) | US20210155440A1 (en) |
CN (1) | CN112824290A (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20210395027A1 (en) * | 2018-11-13 | 2021-12-23 | Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. | Sheet storage device, image processing apparatus including sheet storage device, and sheet positioning member |
-
2020
- 2020-07-14 US US16/927,999 patent/US20210155440A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2020-09-01 CN CN202010903095.3A patent/CN112824290A/en active Pending
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20210395027A1 (en) * | 2018-11-13 | 2021-12-23 | Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. | Sheet storage device, image processing apparatus including sheet storage device, and sheet positioning member |
US11713203B2 (en) * | 2018-11-13 | 2023-08-01 | Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. | Sheet storage device, image processing apparatus including sheet storage device, and sheet positioning member |
Also Published As
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CN112824290A (en) | 2021-05-21 |
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