JP2006225119A - Paper aligning device, paper processing device, and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To favorably achieve both of paper pressing performance and paper arranging performance. <P>SOLUTION: In this paper aligning device for aligning paper carried in is provided with a jogger 7 to align an end face that is parallel to a paper carrying direction, an aligning roller 8 and a reference fence 6 to align an end face perpendicular to the paper carrying direction, a paper pressing guide 10 to press an end part of paper that is aligned to the reference fence 6, a belt 11 and a belt drive motor to move the paper pressing guide 10 in a perpendicular direction to the paper carrying direction, and a drive mechanism 12 to change pressure of the paper pressing guide 10. When the paper is aligned, the load is set to press curling of the paper, but not to prohibit move of the paper when the paper is aligned. The load is set to press a bundle of paper from above to prohibit moving when the aligning action is not being made, or when the bundle is being stapled. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet aligning device that aligns a sheet that has been carried in, a sheet processing device that includes the sheet aligning device and performs predetermined processing on the sheet, and an image of a copier, printer, facsimile, or the like that includes the sheet processing device. The present invention relates to a forming apparatus.

  Some paper (recording sheets) are fixed by heating and pressurizing a visualized image depending on the image forming apparatus. In such a type, the heat and pressure are particularly applied to the sheet after image formation, so that the sheet may be curled or lifted. In a paper processing apparatus, particularly a paper post-processing apparatus that performs predetermined processing such as binding, punching, folding, etc., on paper after image formation, when curling or punching the edge of the paper, Lifting becomes a problem.

  Therefore, for example, in Patent Document 1, a sheet bundle binding device includes a sheet bundle stacking unit that stacks conveyed sheets in a bundle, and a sheet bundle binding unit that binds the sheet bundle stacked on the sheet bundle stacking unit. A sheet bundle clamping unit that clamps a downstream end portion in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle stacked on the sheet bundle stacking unit from the thickness direction of the sheet bundle, and passes through the sheet bundle binding position of the sheet bundle binding unit. By setting the area in the vicinity of the straight line parallel to the downstream end in the bundle conveying direction to the position where the sheet bundle clamping means clamps the sheet bundle, there are sheets that are floating on the sheets to be bound or curled sheets. In addition, an invention is disclosed in which the sheet bundle can be bound with the end portions of the sheets aligned.

  In Patent Document 2, a discharge roller 6 is provided in the vicinity of the staple tray, a rear end fence is provided at the rear end, and reciprocating in the sheet pressing direction is provided below the discharge roller and in the vicinity of the rear end fence. A restriction pressing member is provided, and a sheet restriction pressing surface and a sheet guide surface connected to the upper portion thereof are formed at the tip of the restriction pressing member. When the number of stacks is small, the restriction pressing member is a first restriction close to the staple tray ( When the stack number is medium, the inclined sheet guide surface and the sheet restricting pressure are set so that they are in the second restricting position, and when the stack number is large, they are in the third restricting position. After the sheet is guided to the rear end fence by the surface, the regulation pressing member is advanced to press the sheet, thereby improving the alignment accuracy of the sheet bundle on the staple tray and increasing the reliability. Stapling and to be able to perform the invention are disclosed high.

On the other hand, some sheet post-processing apparatuses are capable of performing binding processing at a plurality of positions by moving the stapler along the sheet end surface. In addition, there is a configuration in which the stapler is positioned at the corner portion of the aligned paper and the angle is further changed so that oblique binding can be performed. In this case, the stapler needs to be inclined at positions corresponding to a plurality of sizes.
JP 2001-240303 A JP-A-11-130338

  The conventional sheet presser has a configuration in which a presser is provided along the movement path of the stapler. However, when the stapler is rotated for oblique binding, the corner portion of the stapler bites in the direction of the sheet, so the sheet presser needs to have a length that does not interfere even when the stapler is inclined. As a result, in the conventional sheet pressing, it is possible to press only the position away from the sheet reference position, and it is not possible to effectively suppress the curl near the opening of the stapler.

  Further, the jogger needs to be moved to the paper size position in order to align the direction parallel to the paper transport direction. However, if the sheet presser is spread all the way in the width direction, it is necessary to shorten the jogger length in order to avoid interference between the presser and the jogger. For this reason, there was a problem that the length of the alignment surface could not be ensured and alignment accuracy deteriorated.

  Also known is a paper presser configured to press only the central part of the paper, but with such a paper presser, it is not possible to press the vicinity of the stapler, and it is possible to suppress the occurrence of deviation due to paper curl when stapling. I could not.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a state of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to satisfy both the sheet pressing and the sheet alignment.

  In order to achieve the above object, the first means includes a first aligning means for aligning end faces parallel to the paper transport direction and an end face orthogonal to the paper transport direction in a paper aligning apparatus for aligning the loaded paper. A second aligning unit that aligns; a sheet pressing unit that presses an end of the sheet aligned by the second aligning unit; and a moving unit that moves the sheet pressing unit in a direction perpendicular to the sheet transporting direction. It is characterized by.

  The second means is characterized in that, in the first means, a plurality of the paper pressing means are provided along the edge of the paper.

  The third means is characterized in that, in the first or second means, the paper pressing means is pivotally supported on the base end side and presses the paper on the free end side.

  The fourth means is characterized in that, in the third means, the shaft that pivotally supports the base end side is provided with means for rotating about an axis.

  The fifth means is characterized in that, in the fourth means, the turning means controls a load for pressing the sheet by turning about an axis.

  The sixth means includes means for performing a predetermined process on the aligned paper in any of the first to fifth means, and the sheet pressing means interferes with the means for performing the predetermined process. It is characterized in that a notch for avoiding the above is formed.

  A seventh means is any one of the second to sixth means, wherein the means for moving moves the plurality of paper pressing means symmetrically with respect to the center of the paper alignment position.

  The eighth means is characterized in that, in the sixth means, the sheet pressing means moves in conjunction with movement of the means for performing the predetermined processing.

  The ninth means is characterized in that, in the first means, the sheet pressing means moves in conjunction with the movement of the first alignment means.

  A tenth means is characterized in that the paper processing apparatus includes a paper aligning device according to any one of the first to ninth means.

  The eleventh means is characterized in that the image forming apparatus includes the sheet aligning apparatus according to any one of the first to ninth means.

  A twelfth means is characterized in that the image forming apparatus includes the paper processing apparatus according to the tenth means.

  In the embodiment described later, the first aligning means is the jogger 7, the second aligning means is the reference fence 6, the moving means is the belt 11, the paper pressing means is the paper pressing guide 10, and the paper pressing means is pivoted. The supporting shaft corresponds to the shaft 10a, the means for rotating the shaft around the axis center corresponds to the drive mechanism 12, the means for performing a predetermined process corresponds to the stapler 9, and the notch corresponds to the oblique shape 10b. Moves to the means for performing a predetermined process by the engaging member in conjunction with the movement.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to move and press the end portion of the paper whose end face orthogonal to the end face parallel to the paper transport direction of the paper is aligned in the direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction. Can be satisfied together.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the system configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus 2 and an image forming apparatus 1 as a sheet processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, the sheet post-processing apparatus 2 is fed with an image-formed sheet from the image forming apparatus 1 through the carry-in port 21 (in this specification, the sheet is a generic term for all printable sheet-like recording media). Use it). The paper post-processing apparatus 2 includes a first transport path R1 that discharges paper to the proof tray PT, a second transport path R2 that discharges paper to a shift tray (not shown), and transports the paper to the alignment tray 5 that aligns paper for binding. The fourth conveyance path R3, which is branched from the third conveyance path R3 and the third conveyance path R3, which discharges paper to the shift tray side, and is conveyed to the shift tray side as it is without being conveyed to the alignment tray 5, is provided. There is a conveyance path, and the sheet fed from the image forming apparatus 1 is fed by a conveyance roller 3 provided in the conveyance path of each of the conveyance paths R1, R2, R3, R4. Branching of the transport paths R1, R2, R3, and R4 is performed by driving the branching claws L1, L2, L3, and L4 in accordance with the transport path for feeding the paper and switching the output path of the transported paper.

  The sheet transported to the third transport path R3 is sent to the alignment tray paper discharge roller 4 by the transport roller 3. On the downstream side of the alignment tray discharge roller 4 and below the alignment tray discharge roller 4, the alignment tray 5 for stuttering a plurality of sheets for aligning the sheets is provided.

  A reference fence 6 for abutting and aligning the rear end of the fed paper as shown in FIG. 2 is provided at the rear end of the alignment tray 5 (the upstream end of the alignment tray 5 in the transport direction). Yes. In the present embodiment, the reference fence 6 is positioned below the alignment tray paper discharge roller 4. On both sides parallel to the transport direction of the alignment tray 5, joggers 7 are provided to push the paper discharged to the alignment tray 5 from the direction orthogonal to the transport direction and align the direction parallel to the transport direction of the paper. An alignment roller 8 is provided on the downstream side of the alignment tray discharge roller 4 and on the upper side (upper surface side) of the alignment tray 5 to convey and align the discharged paper to the reference fence 6 side.

  The alignment roller 8 is configured to be movable between two positions: a retracted position where the sheet is discharged from the conveyance path when the sheet is discharged, and a position where the sheet is discharged to the alignment tray 5 and aligns the sheet. Therefore, when the sheet is moved to the reference fence 6 side, the sheet is moved to the moving position side to perform the moving operation. The aligning roller 8 is also called a hitting roller.

  In the vicinity of the reference fence 6, a stapler 9 for binding the aligned sheets is provided. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the stapler 9 can be moved along the reference fence 6, and can be moved to positions corresponding to various sizes or positions such as two-point binding. Further, the stapler 9 has a mechanism that allows the angle to be changed at the end face position of the sheet, so that oblique binding can be performed at the corner of the sheet.

  A sheet pressing guide 10 is provided below the alignment tray discharge roller 4 and between the alignment tray discharge roller 4 and the reference fence 6 and above the alignment tray 5. The sheet pressing guide 10 has a rotation fulcrum (a shaft 10a described later) on the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction, and can swing around the fulcrum. As a result, it is possible to guide the sheet brought together for alignment to the opening of the stapler 9. Further, the front and rear sides of the apparatus are divided into two parts, and can be moved forward and backward according to the paper size. As can be clearly understood from the enlarged view of FIG. 4, each sheet pressing guide 10 is connected by a belt 11, a wire, a rack and pinion or the like, and when one of the sheet pressing guides 10 is moved, the other sheet pressing guide 10 is moved. The sheet pressing guide 10 is also moved substantially symmetrically about the sheet alignment center. Further, at least one of the sheet pressers that presses the vicinity of the end of the sheet is cut out in accordance with the shape of the stapler 9 so as not to interfere even if the stapler 9 rotates when the stapler 9 is bound obliquely, thereby forming an oblique shape 10b. ing. 2, 3 and 5 show a state in which stapling is performed without interference between the stapler 9 and the sheet pressing guide 10. FIG. 2 and 3 show, for example, a state in which diagonal binding is performed at a corner of a sheet with respect to an A4 size sheet bundle, and FIG. 5 illustrates an oblique binding at a corner of the sheet with respect to an A5 size sheet bundle. Indicates the state. Comparing FIG. 2 and FIG. 5, it can be seen that the sheet pressing member performs sheet pressing by moving symmetrically with the center of the sheet bundle as the axis of symmetry. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state of parallel binding with respect to the diagonal binding of FIG.

  A load is applied to the sheet so that the sheet pressing guide 10 curls the sheets aligned on the alignment tray 5. The load of the sheet pressing guide 10 is applied by the drive mechanism 12 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Can be changed. That is, the drive mechanism 12 rotates the shaft 10a that supports the paper pressing guide 10 to align the paper, and performs the alignment operation with a load that suppresses the curl of the paper but does not prevent the movement of the paper during paper alignment. When not or when stapling, hold the stack of paper from above and apply a load that does not move. In this embodiment, the drive mechanism 12 is constituted by a solenoid and a lever.

  The moving portion 13 of the stapler 9 and the sheet pressing guide 10 are engaged by an engaging member 14, and the sheet pressing guide 10 moves in conjunction with the movement of the stapler 9. Since the position of the sheet pressing guide 10 moves according to the size as described above, the jogger 7 and the sheet pressing guide 10 can operate without interference.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a discharge belt 15 having discharge claws 15 a is stretched over the alignment tray 5 in the conveying direction, and the stapled paper is hooked by the discharge claws 15 a to be discharged from the alignment tray 5. The paper is discharged to the shift tray side.

  The operation control of each component is executed by the control device 100 shown in FIG. The control device 100 includes a microcomputer having a CPU 110, an I / O interface 120, and the like. Each switch of the control panel of the image forming apparatus 1 main body, an inlet sensor, a registration sensor, a paper discharge sensor S, a home position sensor, etc. (not shown). The signals from these sensors are input to the CPU 110 via the I / O interface 120.

  The CPU 110 controls driving parts such as a motor, a stepping motor, and a solenoid that drive each part of the conveying roller 3, the branching claws L1, L2, L3, and L4, the driving mechanism 12, and the stapler 9 based on the input signal. To do. The sheet post-processing device 2 is controlled by the CPU 110 executing a program written in a ROM (not shown) while using a RAM (not shown) as a work area. The program data is downloaded from a server via a network or from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or SD card to a storage medium such as a hard disk device (not shown) via a recording medium driving device instead of or in addition to the ROM. It can also be used after being upgraded.

  In the sheet post-processing apparatus 2 configured as described above, the image forming apparatus 1 sends a mode signal for instructing the stable mode, a signal regarding the stable position / angle / binding position, and a signal regarding the size of the sheet being conveyed. Come. Based on this signal, the transport paths R1, R2, R3, and R4 are switched so that the paper is transported to the alignment tray 5. The alignment roller 8 is also positioned at the retracted position so that the sheet can be received. In the alignment tray 5, the jogger 7 is moved to a standby position corresponding to the size. The stapler 9 is also moved and rotated to a position corresponding to the paper size, angle and binding location, and prepares for receiving paper. At this time, the sheet pressing guide 10 engaged with the stapler 9 also moves in conjunction with it, and moves to a position that substantially presses the side portion of the sheet. Further, the vicinity of the stapler 9 can be pressed regardless of the size.

  For example, when an A4 laterally fed corner parallel one-point binding signal is received, the jogger 7 moves to a standby position for accepting A4 laterally fed paper, and the stapler 9 moves to the corner of the paper and prepares. Also, when a signal is received at one corner of the B5 vertical feeding corner, the jogger 7 is moved to a position for receiving the B5 vertical feeding paper, and the stapler 9 is moved to the corner of the paper and rotated obliquely to prepare. Do. Subsequently, a sheet is sent out from the image forming apparatus 1. The sheet aligning apparatus receives the sheet and sends it to the alignment tray discharge roller 4 by the transport roller 3. Thereafter, the sheet is discharged from the alignment tray discharge roller 4 to the alignment tray 5.

  When the sheet is discharged to the alignment tray 5, the alignment roller 8 moves from the retracted position to the sheet alignment position, and performs an operation of bringing the sheet to the reference fence 6. At this time, the load of the sheet pressing guide 10 is a load that presses the curl of one sheet but does not prevent the alignment of the sheet, and smoothly guides the sheet to the opening of the stapler 9. At this time, the jogger 7 also moves from the paper receiving standby position to the paper alignment position, and performs alignment in a direction parallel to the paper conveyance direction, so-called width direction.

  When the alignment of one sheet is completed, the alignment roller 8 returns to the retracted position, and the jogger 7 also returns to the standby position. At this time, the load of the sheet pressing guide 10 is a load that presses the sheet bundle from above, and prevents the sheet bundle from floating in the staple opening and holds the aligned sheets firmly. The same operation is repeated for a predetermined number of sheets to create a matched sheet bundle. When a series of alignment is completed, the stapler 9 operates to bind the sheet bundle. At this time, the load of the sheet pressing guide 10 is a load for pressing the sheet bundle from above, and the sheet bundle in the staple opening is prevented from being lifted.

  The stapled sheet bundle is hooked by the claw 15 a of the discharge belt 15 and discharged from the alignment tray 5 as the discharge belt 15 rotates. With the above operation, the sheet bundle stable operation is completed. Thereafter, the above operation is repeated for the designated number of copies, and the predetermined number of copies is completed.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the sheet pressing guide 10 is divided into a plurality of parts and can be moved in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction. The curling near the stapler 9 can be sufficiently suppressed, and the alignment accuracy when stable can be improved.

  Further, the sheet pressing guide 10 is rotatable about the drive shaft 10a. Since the drive shaft 10a is used as a movement guide, both functions of the rotation center of the sheet pressing and the slide guide are realized with an inexpensive and small configuration. Can be given.

  Further, the stapler 9 can be rotated obliquely with respect to the sheet, and at least one corner of the sheet pressing guide 10 near the sheet end is obliquely cut so as to allow the stapler 9 to rotate. Since it is formed in the shape 10b, it is possible to avoid interference with the stapler 9 during oblique binding. This makes it possible to press the position of the reference fence 6 close to the end of the sheet, sufficiently suppress the curl of the sheet, and improve the alignment accuracy when stable.

  Further, since the plurality of sheet pressing guides 10 move symmetrically with respect to the center line of the sheet alignment position, it is possible to avoid interference between the pressing guide 10 and the jogger 7 in the width direction, and the vicinity of the jogger length reference. The sheet pressing guide 10 can be extended up to. Thereby, the alignment accuracy can be improved.

  Further, since the load for pressing the sheet of the pressing guide 10 can be changed, it is possible to change the load during the alignment operation and other times, and when the next sheet is discharged to the alignment tray 5, Since the aligned sheets are firmly held, it is possible to prevent the alignment of the aligned sheets from being disturbed by friction between the sheets when the next sheet is received.

<Second Embodiment>
FIGS. 8 and 9 are enlarged views showing the sheet alignment mechanism and the binding mechanism of the alignment tray 5 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
In the present embodiment, the end portion of the sheet pressing guide 10 on the outer edge side of the sheet pressing guide 10 is integrally attached to the jogger 7 with respect to the first embodiment, and the sheet pressing guide 10 is in the sheet transport direction of the jogger 7. It is configured to move in conjunction with the movement in the orthogonal direction. Therefore, a mechanism for moving the paper in the width direction, such as the belt 11, the wire, or the rack and pinion, in the first embodiment is omitted. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, since the paper pressing guide 10 can move in conjunction with the jogger 7, the curl of the paper near the end surface of the paper is always curled. I can hold it down. Further, since the sheet pressing guide 10 is formed in the slanted shape 10b, it is possible to carry out oblique binding, and it is possible to guide to the very vicinity of the stapler 9 even with parallel binding, thereby preventing problems due to paper curl. it can.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a sheet processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a sheet aligning device when binding a wide sheet. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a rear end portion and a stapler of the alignment tray of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing a state of a rear end portion of the alignment tray of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a sheet aligning device when binding narrow sheets obliquely. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a sheet aligning device when a narrow sheet is bound in parallel. It is a block diagram which shows a control circuit. 1 is a plan view of a main part showing a schematic configuration of a sheet processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Paper processing apparatus (paper post-processing apparatus)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Conveying roller 4 Alignment tray paper discharge roller 5 Alignment tray 6 Reference fence 7 Jogger 8 Alignment roller 9 Stapler 10 Paper pressing guide 10a Shaft 10b Oblique shape 11 Belt 12 Drive mechanism 13 Moving part 14 Engaging member 15 Release belt 15a Release claw

Claims (12)

In the paper alignment device that aligns the paper that has been brought in,
First alignment means for aligning end faces parallel to the paper transport direction;
A second aligning means for aligning end faces perpendicular to the paper transport direction;
A sheet pressing means for pressing an end of the sheet aligned by the second alignment means;
Moving means for moving the paper pressing means in a direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction;
A sheet aligning apparatus comprising:   The sheet aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the sheet pressing units are provided along the end of the sheet.   3. The sheet aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet pressing unit is pivotally supported at the base end side and presses the sheet at the free end side.   4. The sheet aligning apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a rotating means for rotating an axis on which the base end side is pivoted about the axis.   5. The sheet aligning apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the rotating means controls a load for pressing the sheet by rotating about an axis. A processing unit for performing predetermined processing on the aligned paper;
6. The sheet aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet pressing unit has a notch for avoiding interference with the processing unit.   7. The sheet aligning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the moving unit moves the plurality of sheet pressing units symmetrically with respect to a center of a sheet alignment position.   7. The sheet aligning apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the sheet pressing unit moves in conjunction with the movement of the processing unit.   2. The sheet aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet pressing unit moves in conjunction with the movement of the first aligning unit.   A sheet processing apparatus comprising the sheet aligning apparatus according to claim 1.   An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet aligning device according to claim 1.   An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 10.

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