JP2000219418A - Sheet posterior processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet posterior processing device capable of applying to an inexpensive system, stabling discharge performance and stack performance of a sheet bundle discharged after staple processing, and corresponding to various size of a sheet. SOLUTION: When a sheet posterior processing device receives a start-up signal from an image forming device to start action, both of a jogger fence 70 and a staple fence 72 move to a position parting from a sheet end surface discharged with a central standard by a specific distance (10 mm) to stand by. (a) Then, the jogger fence 70 moves toward the staple fence 72 by only 20 mm and conducts a shifting action of the sheet to justify the sheet. (b) In such a way, since only the jogger fence 70 of one side is operated to conduct a justifying action of the sheet, an operating load is less than usual, so that a driving system of the jogger fence 70 can be made at low prices.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a plurality of sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer on the basis of a center and performs a binding operation. The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus that stacks sheets on a staple tray, aligns sheets, performs a binding operation, and discharges the bound sheets to a discharge tray.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, copiers, facsimile machines,
2. Description of the Related Art There is known a sheet post-processing apparatus that accepts an image-formed recording sheet (sheet) discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a printer and performs a stapling process of aligning and binding a plurality of sheets according to a user instruction as post-processing. I have. Examples of this type of paper post-processing apparatus include, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-27669.
An "image forming post-processing apparatus" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 1 (1994) -112 is known, and sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer are stacked on a staple tray on a central reference, and both sides of the sheet are stacked. In this case, the paper is aligned on the basis of the center by moving the alignment fence provided at the center in the width direction.

[0003]

However, such a paper post-processing apparatus requires a configuration in which the two alignment fences are advanced and retreated in the width direction. However, there is a problem that it is not suitable for application to a system with a small and inexpensive configuration. Therefore, in order to make this paper post-processing apparatus a system that can be configured at low cost, if only one of the two alignment fences is operated to align the paper, the position of the paper bundle after stapling is changed. It deviates from the center reference, and causes a new problem that the stacking property at the time of discharging to a paper discharge tray or the like becomes unstable, and the paper size that can be stapled is limited. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
Provided is a sheet post-processing apparatus which can be applied to a relatively inexpensive system, stabilizes the stackability of a sheet bundle discharged after stapling, and can cope with stapling of many sheet sizes. It is intended to be.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a sheet conveyed from an image forming apparatus is discharged to a staple tray on a center basis and stacked, and a plurality of stacked sheet end faces are aligned. Means, a sheet binding means for binding the aligned sheets, and a discharge means for discharging the bound sheet bundle to a discharge tray, wherein the sheet alignment means includes a plurality of sheets stacked on the staple tray. Align reference fences that can advance and retreat in the width direction on both sides of the paper in order to align the paper edge, stop the reference fence at a predetermined position, and operate the other reference fence in the width direction to align the paper. The discharging means is arranged closer to a reference fence stopped at the predetermined position than a center reference position of the staple tray.
According to this, reference fences for aligning the width direction of the paper discharged to the staple tray are arranged on both sides of the paper,
One reference fence is stopped at a predetermined position, the other reference fence is operated to align the sheets, and the discharge unit that discharges the sheet bundle bound by the sheet binding unit to the discharge tray is located at a predetermined position from the central reference position. Placed near reference fence where it stopped. For this reason, compared with the conventional example in which the two fences are operated equally to align the sheets, the operation load of the drive mechanism of the reference fence is reduced, and the motor can be configured with an inexpensive motor. In addition, when the paper discharged to the staple tray is aligned by operating the reference fence on one side, the center of the discharged paper is shifted toward the other reference fence, but the discharging means is also shifted accordingly. Because of the arrangement, the center of the discharged sheet and the position of the discharge unit can be made to coincide with each other, and stable discharge properties and stackability can be maintained.

[0005] Further, the invention according to claim 2 is based on claim 1.
In the paper post-processing apparatus according to the above, of the two reference fences of the paper alignment means, a stapler that performs stapling is attached, a movable reference fence stopped at a predetermined position to align the paper as a staple fence, The other reference fence that performs the sheet alignment operation is a jogger fence, and the distance from one end face in the width direction of the sheet discharged to the staple tray on the basis of the center to the staple fence is always constant regardless of the sheet size. Move the staple fence to a position, and operate the jogger fence so as to align the paper end face with the staple fence;
It is arranged at a position shifted by the predetermined distance from the center reference toward the staple fence. According to this, the staple fence is moved to a position where the distance from one end surface in the width direction of the paper discharged to the staple tray with respect to the center to the staple fence is always constant regardless of the paper size, and the jogger fence is operated. When aligning the paper end face with the staple fence, the discharge means is attached to the staple fence at a position shifted by a certain distance from the center reference. The position with the discharge belt can always be matched, and stable release and stackability can be maintained.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating a schematic configuration inside a sheet post-processing apparatus 10 of the present invention.
An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer (not shown) is disposed on the right side of the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 in FIG. 1, from which an image-formed sheet is sequentially conveyed from the direction of arrow A. I do. Paper post-processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG.
Are guide plates 12 and 14 for guiding the sheet sent from the image forming apparatus and carrying the sheet into the sheet post-processing apparatus 10.
Transport rollers 16 and 18 and transport rollers 26 and 28 which are disposed opposite to the transport path 22 downstream of the guide plates 12 and 14 for transporting the paper, an entrance sensor 20 for detecting the transported paper, and a staple A switching claw 30 for switching the paper transport direction according to whether or not to process the paper (position 30a for discharging the paper as it is, a position 30b for stapling the paper: 30b), and rotating the switching claw 30 A rotating shaft 31 and a conveying path 3 for discharging the sheet as it is outside the machine.
2, conveying rollers 34 and 36 and conveying rollers 38 and 40 which are arranged opposite to each other in the conveying path 32 to convey the sheet, a sheet discharging roller 52 and a sheet discharging driven roller 50 for discharging the sheet, and An end fence 54 and a discharge tray 56 for stacking the discharged sheets are provided. The outlet opening / closing guide 42 provided in the vicinity of the outlet is rotatable about a rotation shaft 45, and discharges a sheet bundle in which a plurality of sheets are stapled (the position indicated by 42a). The opening / closing degree of the discharge port is changed according to the case where the sheets are directly stacked (the position indicated by 42b). The discharge port opening / closing guide 42 is opened / closed by driving the transmission section opening / closing guide drive transmission sections 44 and 46 by an opening / closing guide drive motor 48.

The driven guide 24 which forms a part of the housing is
By expanding to the upper right with the transport paths 22 and 32 as a boundary,
This is for removing jammed paper and the like in the transport path.
Further, the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 includes a staple tray 60 for discharging the sheet when performing the stapling process, and a tapping roller 62 for hitting the sheet discharged to the staple tray 60.
And a driving roller 64 for driving the hitting roller 62 and a driving transmission belt 66 for transmitting the driving force of the driving roller 64 to the hitting roller 62, so that the sheet to be stapled is securely stacked on the rear end fence 68. be able to. The hitting roller 64 uses a sponge as a material so that the sheet is not damaged, and is driven from the driving roller 64 via a driving transmission belt 66 to perform an operation synchronized with each transport roller. Can be. further,
The staple tray 60 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 has both ends (width direction) of the sheets stacked on the rear end fence 68.
A jogger fence 70 and a staple fence 72 as reference fences are arranged in the depth direction of FIG. 1 to constitute a paper aligning unit. The sheets thus aligned are stapled by a stapler 74 as sheet binding means. The sheet bundle bound by the stapling process is lifted upward by rotating a discharge belt 78 to which a discharge claw 76 as discharge means is fixed, and is discharged to the discharge tray 56. This discharge operation is performed by the discharge belt drive motor 80 rotating the discharge belt drive transmission belt 82 to rotationally drive the discharge belt 78.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the switching claw 30 of FIG. 1 and shows a state in which sheets are stacked on the staple tray 60. That is, when stapling a sheet conveyed in the conveyance path 22, the sheet is guided into the staple tray 60 by setting the switching claw 30 rotatable in the direction of arrow B to the position of the switching claw 30 b indicated by a two-dot chain line. Then, the trailing edge of the sheet is guided by the sheet trailing edge guide mylar 84, and the arrow C
Flows in the direction, the rear end fence 68 of the staple tray 60
Will be stacked. FIG. 3 shows the staple tray 6 of FIG.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view near 0, showing a state in which sheets to be stapled are stacked on a staple tray 60; The paper discharge driven roller 50 in the figure is a discharge port opening / closing guide 4.
2, the discharge opening / closing guide 42 moves up and down as the discharge opening / closing guide 42 rotates in the direction of arrow D, and discharges the paper without stapling. Although it is at the position, when the stapling process is performed, it is retracted to the position of the discharge driven roller 50b. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the staple tray 60 of FIG. 3 as viewed from the direction of the outline arrow E. The stapler connecting member 86 in the figure connects the staple fence 72 and the stapler 74 to each other in the width direction of the paper. It is possible to move. Staple fence 72
And the jogger fence 70, the paper sheets are aligned, and the sheet bundle stapled by the stapler 74 is
Discharge claw 7 fixed to discharge belt 78 as discharge means
The sheet 6 is lifted with the rotation of the discharge belt 78, so that the sheet 6 is discharged to a discharge tray (not shown).

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the staple tray 60 of FIG. 3 as viewed from the direction of the outline arrow F. The staple fence 72 in the figure and a part of the drive transmission belt 90a are connected via a coupling portion 88a. When the staple fence drive motor 94a rotates the drive transmission belt 90a via the timing pulley 92a, the staple fence 72 can be moved in the width direction of the paper (the direction of arrow G), and the staple fence can be moved to the paper size to be stapled. In addition, the stapler 74 is moved to a predetermined position in advance. The driving mechanism of the jogger fence 70 is substantially the same as the driving mechanism, and a part of the jogger fence 70 and a part of the drive transmission belt 90b are connected via a coupling portion 88b, and the jogger fence driving motor 94b is connected via a timing pulley 92b. By rotating the drive transmission belt 90b, the jogger fence 70 can be moved in the width direction of the paper (the direction of the arrow G), and by hitting the bundle of papers to the staple fence 72,
Both sides of the paper can be aligned. Since the staple fence 72 and the jogger fence 70 are configured to move along the common fence guide shaft 96, both fence surfaces can always be kept parallel, and both side edges of the paper can be properly adjusted. Can be aligned.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing signals exchanged between the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present embodiment and the image forming apparatus main body, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a size received from the image forming apparatus main body. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of control performed by a sheet post-processing apparatus based on a signal. As shown in FIG. 6, the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention is connected to an image forming apparatus main body by an interface cable, and transmits and receives necessary information while performing bidirectional communication. The data transmitted from the image forming apparatus main body to the sheet post-processing apparatus include a “size signal”, a “device start / stop signal”, a “discharge signal” indicating the discharge timing, and a “staple signal” indicating the staple timing. The predetermined control is performed in the sheet post-processing device based on these signals. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the size signals (A4, A4)
3, B4, etc.) and information indicating the paper passing direction (vertical and horizontal), so that it is known in advance which size of paper is to be conveyed in which paper passing direction. Based on the information, the jogger fence and the staple fence are moved a predetermined distance (for example, 10 m) from the respective end faces of the discharged paper.
m), it can be controlled in advance to wait at a position separated by m).

Next, the operation will be described. First, when an image forming process is performed on a sheet by an image forming apparatus (not shown),
Various signals are transmitted from the image forming apparatus main body to the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 via an interface cable. FIG.
The sheet post-processing device 10 shown in FIG. 1 carries the sheet sent from the image forming apparatus into the sheet post-processing device 10 while guiding the sheet with the entrance guide plates 12 and 14, and conveys the rollers 16 and 18.
, 26 and 28 to convey the conveying path 22. When the stapling process is not performed, the switching claw 30 (the position of 30a)
The paper is guided toward the transport path 32 by the transport rollers 34 and 3
The sheet is conveyed by the rollers 6, 38, and 40, and is stacked on the sheet discharge tray 56 by the sheet discharge rollers 52. Further, when performing the stapling process, the sheet carried into the sheet post-processing device 10 is discharged to the staple tray 60 by the switching claw 30 (the position of 30b). The sheet discharged to the staple tray 60 is beaten down by the hitting roller 62 and is reliably stacked on the rear end fence 68.

FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIGS. 9 (a) and 9 (b).
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a sheet aligning operation performed in a staple fence. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a discharge belt that staples the aligned sheet bundle and discharges the sheet bundle to a discharge tray and a sheet position. It is. First, in FIG. 8, after the control of the sheet post-processing apparatus is started, it is determined whether or not to start the operation based on the presence or absence of a start signal from the image forming apparatus main body (step S1). When the sheet post-processing apparatus receives an activation signal from the image forming apparatus and starts operating,
Both the jogger fence and the staple fence follow the received size signal by 1
It moves to the position of 0 mm and waits (step S2). FIG. 9A illustrates a positional relationship among the jogger fence, the staple fence, and the discharge sheet at that time. As the movement amounts of the jogger fence and the staple fence, data obtained by using the data table inside the sheet post-processing apparatus based on the movement amount of each fence from the home position based on the size signal of FIG. 7 is used. As described above, the staple fence and the jogger fence are made to stand by at a fixed distance (10 mm) with respect to the side end face of the discharged paper, but the fixed distance is the same regardless of the paper size. Therefore, the standby positions of the staple fence and the jogger fence differ depending on the paper size.

Next, when it is detected that the paper is conveyed from the main body of the image forming apparatus through the conveyance path 22, and the conveyance path is switched by the switching claw 30b and the paper is discharged to the staple tray 60 (step S3), the jogger fence is detected. 70 moves by 20 mm in the staple fence 72 direction,
The sheet is moved (step S4). FIG. 9B illustrates a positional relationship among the jogger fence, the staple fence, and the paper sheet at that time. The jogger fence 70 that has performed the sheet shifting operation returns to the original standby position again indicated by the broken line in FIG. 9B (step S5),
Prepare for the next operation. If the staple signal has been received from the image forming apparatus main body (see FIG. 6), the process proceeds to the stapling process. If the staple signal has not been received, the process returns to step S3 to perform the above-described sheet shifting operation. It is repeated (step S6). When performing the stapling process, the jogger fence 70 moves again in the direction of the staple fence 72 by 20 mm to perform the shifting operation (step S7: refer to FIG. 9B)), and then the stapling operation causes the bundle of discharged sheets to be stapled. Binding is performed (step S8). When the stapling operation is completed, the jogger fence 70 is retracted by about 3 mm to discharge the stapled sheet bundle to the discharge tray (step S9), and the discharge belt 78 is driven to rotate and discharged as shown in FIGS. The discharge claw 76 is hooked on the rear end of the paper sheet and discharged to the paper discharge tray 56 (step S10). Thereafter, the jogger fence 70 returns to the standby position (step S11) and prepares for the next operation.

As described above, in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the staple fence 72 is connected to the connecting member 86.
The stapler 74 is fixed to the stapler 74 via the drive motor 94a (see arrow G).
(See FIG. 5). The discharged paper is discharged on the basis of the center (see FIG. 9A), and at the start of the operation, the staple fence 72 is moved to a position according to each paper size (for example, a position 10 mm from the paper end surface) and waits. Let it. For this reason, the staple fence 72
It is only necessary to move to the standby position before the first sheet is conveyed, and it can be operated relatively slowly, so that it is possible to use a small and inexpensive motor or operation circuit. . The jogger fence 70 that performs the sheet alignment operation is driven by the drive motor 94b (see FIG. 5), and the staple fence 72 is started when the operation starts.
Similarly, the jogger fence 70 is moved to a position according to each sheet size (for example, a position 10 mm from the end face of the sheet) and put on standby. In the case of the jogger fence 70, the sheet is moved in the direction of the staple fence 72 each time one sheet is ejected to perform the aligning operation. Compared with a mechanism in which the jogger fences move in the center direction to align the sheets, the operation load is smaller, so that it is possible to use an inexpensive motor here as well.

Further, conventionally, the discharge belt is arranged on the basis of the center of the discharged paper. However, as in the present embodiment, an inexpensive system having only one side of the jogger fence for performing the operation of aligning the sheets is provided by the aligning operation. If the center of the discharged sheet is shifted from the center of the discharged sheet, the position of the discharge belt is shifted from the center of the discharged sheet, which may cause disturbance in the discharging property and the stacking property. For this reason, the position of the discharge belt of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present embodiment is not at the center of the sheet discharged on the basis of the center as shown in FIG. 10m
By arranging the sheet at a position offset by m, the center of the sheet after the aligning operation is aligned with the position of the ejection belt, regardless of the size of the sheet that can be passed, thereby ensuring stable ejection stackability. Becomes possible. In the above-described embodiment, the standby position of the staple fence is set to be 10 mm from the end face of the sheet. However, the present invention is not limited to this. When the fixed distance is set to a value other than 10 mm, the position of the discharge belt needs to be also offset from the central reference by the same distance.

[0016]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation load on the drive mechanism of the reference fence is reduced, and the reference fence can be constituted by an inexpensive motor, and after the stapling process. The stack of sheets can be stably discharged and stacked. According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to always match the position of the discharge belt with the center of the discharged paper, regardless of the size of the paper, thereby achieving stable discharge performance and stackability. Can be kept.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating a schematic configuration inside a sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view near a switching claw of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of a staple tray in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the staple tray of FIG. 3 as viewed from the direction of a white arrow E;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the staple tray of FIG. 3 as viewed from the direction of a white arrow F;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing signals exchanged between the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the embodiment and the image forming apparatus main body.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of control performed in a sheet post-processing apparatus based on a size signal received from an image forming apparatus main body.

FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a sheet alignment operation performed in the staple fence.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a discharge belt and a sheet position for stapling the aligned sheet bundle and discharging the sheet bundle to a discharge tray.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Paper post-processing apparatus, 22 entrance conveyance path, 26 staple part driven roller, 28 staple part conveyance roller, 30
Switching claw, 56 paper ejection tray, 74 stapler, 60
Staple tray, 70 Jogger fence, 68
Rear end fence, 76 emission claw, 78 emission belt, 80
Emission belt drive motor, 82 Emission belt drive transmission belt, 72 staple fence, 86 stapler connection member, 88b coupling portion, 94a staple fence drive motor, 90a, 90b drive transmission belt, 92
a, 92b Timing pulley, 94b Jogger fence drive motor, 96 fence guide shaft.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sheet aligning means for ejecting sheets conveyed from an image forming apparatus to a staple tray on the basis of a center and stacking the sheets, and aligning a plurality of stacked sheet end faces; a sheet binding means for binding the aligned sheets; In a sheet post-processing apparatus having a discharge unit that discharges a bound sheet bundle to a discharge tray, the sheet alignment unit includes a reference that can advance and retreat in the width direction in order to align a plurality of paper end surfaces stacked on the staple tray. Fences are arranged on both sides of the sheet, respectively, while the reference fence is stopped at a predetermined position, the other reference fence is operated in the width direction to align the sheets, and the discharging unit is arranged at the center reference position of the staple tray. A sheet post-processing apparatus, which is arranged closer to a reference fence stopped at the predetermined position than the sheet. 2. A staple fence, wherein a stapler for performing a stapling process is mounted and a movable reference fence stopped at a predetermined position for aligning sheets is a staple fence. The other reference fence is a jogger fence, and the staple is located at a position where the distance from one end surface in the width direction of the paper discharged to the staple tray on the basis of the center to the staple fence is always constant regardless of the paper size. A fence is moved, and the jogger fence is operated so as to align a paper end face with the staple fence. The discharge unit is arranged at a position shifted by the predetermined distance from the center reference toward the staple fence. 2. The paper post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein Place.