JP2011057366A - Sheet processing device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet processing device stable with no aligning and binding failures while saving a space, and to provide an image forming device. <P>SOLUTION: The sheet processing device includes an abutting member for aligning sheets, and a binding means for performing end binding or inside binding. The sheet processing device gives predetermined processing to a bunch of sheets after using the abutting member for aligning the bunch of sheets. A folding means is arranged upstream of the abutting member near a discharge roller which discharges the sheets to a staple tray, for performing sheet folding processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a stable sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus free from alignment and binding defects.

  There is known a sheet processing apparatus including a folding unit for folding a sheet (paper) after an image is formed in an image forming unit.

  For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-302088) discloses a pair of folding rollers that folds a sheet, a thrust plate that pushes the sheet toward the pair of folding rollers, and a common drive that drives the pair of folding rollers and the thrust plate. A sheet processing apparatus including a driving source and an image forming apparatus including the sheet processing apparatus are disclosed.

  However, the above techniques have the following problems.

  The sheet processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is provided with an abutting member for both end binding and saddle stitching (stapling) and a binding means. The end binding can be bound at the alignment position, but it is aligned in the saddle stitching. Thereafter, the contact member is retracted and conveyed to the binding position by the bundle conveying means. At this time, since the unbound paper bundle is moved, there is a concern that the aligned paper is displaced. Further, since the folding means is downstream of the binding means, a space for the folding means is required, and the sheet processing apparatus is increased in size.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to provide a stable sheet processing apparatus which is space-saving and free from alignment and binding defects.

  A sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a contact member for aligning sheets and a binding unit that performs edge binding or saddle stitching, and after aligning the sheet bundle by the contact member, A sheet processing apparatus that performs predetermined processing, wherein a folding unit that performs sheet folding processing is disposed in the vicinity of a discharge roller that discharges a sheet to a staple tray, upstream of the contact member. And

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes the sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a stable sheet processing apparatus that is space-saving and free from alignment and binding defects.

It is a schematic sectional drawing of the sheet processing apparatus A which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing for demonstrating the end binding and saddle stitching which concern on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. It is a schematic sectional drawing for demonstrating the drive part of the reference fences 24 and 25 which concern on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the control part of the sheet processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are preferred embodiments of the present invention, and thus various technically preferable limitations are given. However, the scope of the present invention is particularly limited in the following description. As long as there is no description of the effect, it is not restricted to these aspects.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a sheet processing apparatus A according to an embodiment of the present invention. The sheet processing apparatus A includes an introduction path 1 that receives an image-formed sheet P that has been carried in from the image forming apparatus, and a conveyance path 2 that performs an end binding, saddle stitching, and folding process by intermediately stacking the sheets P.

  An inlet roller 10 and an inlet sensor 13 are arranged in the introduction path 1 to detect that the sheet P has been carried into the sheet processing apparatus A.

  A sheet punching UNI (B) is disposed downstream of the entrance roller 10. A transport roller 11 and a paper discharge roller 12 are disposed downstream thereof. The sheet P is conveyed to the conveyance path 2 through the paper discharge roller 12. A discharge roller 26 is disposed on the conveyance path 2, and in the sort mode, the sheet discharge roller 12 having a shift mechanism is moved by a certain amount in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction during conveyance by a driving unit (not shown), thereby causing the sheet P to move. Are shifted by a certain amount, and are discharged to the discharge tray 5 by the discharge roller 26 and sequentially stacked.

  The discharge port to the discharge tray 5 has a pair structure in which a discharge roller 26 and a driven roller 27 sandwich and discharge a sheet or sheet bundle. This is a contact / separation operation of the discharge guide member including the driven roller 27 with respect to the discharge roller 26 so that a closed state in which the sheet or sheet bundle can be held and discharged and an open state in which the sheet is not held can be selectively taken. Thus, after the sheet shift operation is completed, the sheet is nipped and discharged.

  Further, a filler 40 is provided in the vicinity of the upper portion of the paper discharge port. The filler 40 is rotatably arranged near the center of the sheet P when stacked, and the tip of the filler 40 is in contact with the upper surface of the sheet P. In the vicinity of the base of the filler 40, there is an upper surface detection sensor (not shown) that detects the height position of the tip of the filler 40, and the paper surface height of the stack sheet P is detected by these sensors.

  When the upper surface detection sensor is turned on as the sheet height rises due to an increase in the number of sheets deposited on the paper discharge tray 5, a control unit (not shown) controls drive means (not shown) that moves the paper discharge tray 5 up and down. The paper discharge tray 5 is lowered. When the tray is lowered and the upper surface detection sensor is turned off, the lowering of the tray 5 is stopped. This operation is repeated, and when the tray 5 reaches a specified tray full height, a stop signal is issued from the sheet processing apparatus to the image forming apparatus to stop the image forming operation.

  The conveyance path 2 includes a driver that advances and retreats in a direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction, a stapler 50 divided by a clincher, and a jogger fence 22 that advances and retreats in the same direction as the stapler 50 to align sheets on the staple tray 21. 23. Reference fences 24 and 25 that are movable in the paper transport direction are provided.

  The sheet conveyed to the conveyance path 2 is switched back in the direction of the stapler 50 when the tapping roller 15 that performs the pendulum motion comes into contact with the upper surface of the sheet, and further, the reference fence 24 waiting at a predetermined position by the return roller 41. Align the vertical position of the sheet bundle by abutting the trailing edge of the sheet to 25, and align the position in the width direction of the sheet by the jogger fences 22 and 23.

  The sheet bundles aligned in this manner are bound by the stapler 50 waiting at a predetermined position in the end binding mode, and are discharged onto the discharge tray 5 by being sandwiched between the discharge roller 26 and the driven roller 27. Is done.

  In the saddle stitching mode, after the alignment of the sheet bundle is completed, the sheets are bound by the stapler 50 waiting at a predetermined position, and further conveyed to the folding position by the reference fences 24 and 25. Alternatively, the discharge roller 26 and the driven roller 27 are nipped to convey the sheet bundle to the folding position. Thereafter, the sheet is folded by a folding blade 71 and a sheet folding roller 72 and discharged by a saddle stitch discharge roller 73 onto a saddle stitch tray 6 installed in the apparatus.

  Next, the operations of edge binding and saddle stitching will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining end binding and saddle stitching according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the case of edge binding, as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 3A, the reference fences 24 and 25 are kept waiting at predetermined positions, and the sheet P is abutted against the reference fences 24 and 25 to change the sheet conveyance direction. Align. Furthermore, the jogger fences 22 and 23 align the direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction. When the alignment is completed, the stapler 50 waiting at a predetermined position performs a binding operation and is discharged onto the discharge tray 5 as described above.

  On the other hand, in the case of saddle stitching, first, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 3B, the reference fences 24 and 25 are positioned at a distance of 1/2 of the sheet P length in the downstream direction from the binding position. In the same manner as in the edge binding. In this case, the return roller 41 is abutted against the reference fences 24 and 25 by increasing the feeding amount of the return roller 41 from the end binding.

  When the alignment is completed, the stapler 50 waiting at a predetermined position performs the binding operation, and the sheets P bound by the reference fences 24 and 25 as shown in FIGS. And stop when the center of the sheet is conveyed to the folding position. Alternatively, the discharge roller 26 and the driven roller 27 sandwich the sheet bundle and convey it to the folding position.

  Thereafter, when the jogger fences 22 and 23 are opened, the opening 72c provided in the staple tray 21 appears, the folding blade 71 moves toward the folding roller 72, and the sheet P is held by the folding rollers 72a and 72b. The folding process is performed. Thereafter, the sheet is discharged to the saddle stitching tray 6 as described above.

  Further, in the case of only the middle folding, the sheets P are aligned at the positions of FIGS. 2C and 3C, and the folding process is performed at this position.

  Next, the drive part of the reference fences 24 and 25 will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a drive unit of the reference fences 24 and 25 according to the present embodiment.

  The reference fences 24 and 25 are fixed to the moving belt 250, and the motor pulley 241 rotates when the drive motor 240 is activated, and is transmitted to the deceleration pulley 243 via the timing belt 242. Accordingly, the reference belts 24 and 25 are moved on the staple tray 21 by the rotation of the moving belt 250 wound around the stapler 50 by the pulley 244.

  The positions of the reference fences 24 and 25 are controlled by the number of pulses from the home sensor 245, and the positions of the reference fences 24 and 25 are finely adjusted in the service mode of the image forming apparatus, so that the binding can be performed according to the user's request. The position can be adjusted.

  A guide member 28 is disposed on the opposite side of the staple tray 21, and the reference fences 24 and 25 move along grooves (not shown) provided in the guide member 28. As a result, the leading ends of the reference fences 24 and 25 have entered the guide member 28, so that the sheet P does not come out of the reference fences 24 and 25 and can be reliably abutted.

  Further, the position of the reference fences 24 and 25 does not interfere with the front end of the stapler 50 (the gap between the driver and the clincher), so that the stapler 50 can be moved.

  As described above, it has an edge binding and saddle stitching contact member and binding means for paper alignment, and after the paper bundle is aligned by the contact member, the binding means performs the binding process or the folding process. In the sheet processing apparatus that performs the above, a folding unit is disposed in the vicinity of the discharge roller that is upstream of the contact member and discharges the sheet to the staple tray. Become.

  Further, since the binding means is disposed between the contact member and the paper discharge roller, it is possible to provide an inexpensive and space-saving sheet processing apparatus.

  In addition, since the contact member moves in the sheet conveyance direction, the binding position in the conveyance direction can be adjusted.

  Further, the movement sequence of the abutting member to the sheet alignment position, the sheet alignment, and the binding processing operation sequence allow the sheet bundle alignment and binding processing to be performed reliably.

  Further, by arranging the sheet returning means in the vicinity of the stapler, it is possible to reliably abut against the abutting member even in a small size and align the sheet bundle.

  Further, since the saddle stitching paper discharge tray is arranged in the sheet processing apparatus, a dead space in the apparatus can be used, and the sheet processing apparatus can be made more space-saving.

  In addition, since the position of the contact member varies depending on the sheet processing mode, the sheet alignment to the binding process can be performed without moving the sheet, so that the sheet processing apparatus without alignment and binding defects can be obtained.

  Further, since the position of the contact member varies depending on the sheet size during saddle stitching, the sheet alignment to the binding process can be performed without moving the sheet, so that it is possible to provide a sheet processing apparatus that does not have alignment and binding defects. .

  Further, since the contact member becomes means for conveying the sheet bundle to the folding position after saddle stitching, it is possible to provide a sheet processing apparatus that is inexpensive and saves space.

  Further, since the sheet bundle discharging means at the time of edge binding becomes a means for conveying the sheet bundle to the folding position after saddle stitching, it is possible to provide a sheet processing apparatus that is less expensive and saves space.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a control unit of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. A control unit 300 including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 302, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 303 controls the entire sheet processing apparatus. Specifically, the CPU 301 controls the entire sheet processing apparatus in association with the ROM 302 and the RAM 303. The ROM 302 stores in advance a control program for the sheet processing apparatus. The CPU 301 controls each functional block based on a control program stored in the ROM 302.

  Although the present invention has been specifically described above based on the preferred embodiments, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described ones and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

A Sheet processing device B Paper punching UNI
P sheet 1 introduction path 2 transport path 5 discharge tray 6 saddle stitching tray 10 entrance roller 11 transport roller 12 discharge roller 13 entrance sensor 15 tapping roller 21 staple trays 22, 23 jogger fences 24, 25 reference fence 26 discharge roller 27 driven Roller 28 Guide member 40 Filler 41 Return roller 50 Stapler 71 Folding blade 72 Paper folding roller 73 Saddle stitching discharge roller 240 Drive motor 241 Motor pulley 242 Timing belt 243 Deceleration pulley 244 Pulley 245 Home sensor 250 Moving belt 300 Control unit 301 CPU
302 ROM
303 RAM

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-302088

Claims (11)

A sheet processing apparatus that includes a contact member for aligning sheets and a binding unit that performs edge binding or saddle stitching, aligns a sheet bundle by the contact member, and performs predetermined processing on the sheet bundle. There,
A sheet processing apparatus, comprising: a folding unit disposed upstream of the contact member and in the vicinity of a sheet discharge roller that discharges a sheet to a staple tray.   The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the binding unit is disposed between the contact member and the paper discharge roller.   The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contact member is movable in a sheet conveying direction.   The sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sheet processing is performed in an operation order of movement of the contact member to a sheet alignment position, sheet alignment, and binding processing.   5. A sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet returning means is disposed in the vicinity of the stapler.   6. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a saddle stitching discharge tray is disposed in the sheet processing apparatus.   The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the position of the abutting member is variable depending on a sheet processing mode.   The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the position of the abutting member varies depending on a sheet size during saddle stitching.   9. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the contact member serves as a unit that conveys the sheet bundle to a folding position after saddle stitching.   The sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the sheet bundle discharging means at the time of edge binding is a means for conveying the sheet bundle to a folding position after saddle stitching.   An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1.

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