JP2013088704A - Sheet processing device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To store an initialization state of processing means before the power supply is turned off, and to dispense with initialization operation at the time of startup if it is determined that the initialization operation is not necessary, depending on the previously stored initialization state.SOLUTION: The sheet processing device comprises: an off-set mechanism part 170 for processing a sheet; a CPU for making the off-set mechanism part 170 execute initialization operation; and a nonvolatile memory for storing whether or not the off-set mechanism part 170 is initialized. When the operating power supply of the device is turned on and a state where the off-set mechanism part is not initialized is stored in the nonvolatile memory, the CPU makes the off-set mechanism part execute initialization operation, and when a state where the off-set mechanism part is initialized is stored, does not allow the off-set mechanism to execute the initialization operation.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the sheet processing apparatus.

  Conventionally, image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, facsimiles, and composite devices of these machines perform at least one of a binding process, a punching process, and the like on a sheet that has been formed and is ejected from the main body of the image forming apparatus. Some have a sheet processing apparatus.

  In such a sheet processing apparatus, there is an apparatus in which each mechanism is initialized after the power is turned on (Patent Document 1). The sheet processing apparatus includes a plurality of processing units that process sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus, and an initialization unit that initializes the plurality of processing units. The sheet processing apparatus initializes a processing unit that needs to be initialized among the processing units based on information from the image forming apparatus, and a processing unit that needs to be initialized according to the determination result. Control means for controlling the initialization means.

  In the sheet processing apparatus, the determining unit determines a processing unit that needs to be initialized from the plurality of processing units, and the control unit initializes the processing unit that needs to be initialized according to the determination result. It has become.

JP-A-9-73251

  However, since the conventional sheet processing apparatus is configured to initialize the processing means according to the determination result, the processing operation start delay, the power consumption increase, the noise caused by the initialization operation after the power is turned on There is a problem to be solved, such as an increase in the service life and a shortened service life of each processing means.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus provided with the sheet processing apparatus in which the start of the processing operation is delayed has a problem to be solved that the first copy is delayed.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet processing apparatus that can reduce the initialization operation when the power is turned on, and an image forming apparatus including the sheet processing apparatus.

  The sheet processing apparatus of the present invention stores a sheet processing unit that processes a sheet, a control unit that causes the sheet processing unit to perform an initialization operation, and a memory that stores whether or not the sheet processing unit is in an initialized state. And when the operating power is supplied to the apparatus and the storage means stores that the sheet processing means is not initialized, the control means When the initialization operation is performed and it is stored that the state is initialized, the sheet processing means is not allowed to perform the initialization operation.

  An image forming apparatus of the present invention includes: an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet; and a sheet processing device that processes a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming unit. It is a processing device.

  In the sheet processing apparatus of the present invention, when the control unit stores the fact that the operation power is turned on and the sheet processing unit is initialized in the storage unit, the sheet processing unit performs an initialization operation. Is not allowed to. For this reason, the sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention reduces the delay in starting the processing operation due to the initialization operation after the power is turned on, increases the power consumption, increases the noise, and further increases the service life of each processing unit. Shortening or the like can be prevented.

  Since the image forming apparatus of the present invention includes the sheet processing apparatus that reduces the delay in starting the processing operation, it is possible to prevent the first copy from being delayed.

1 is a partial schematic view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the main body of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1 along the sheet conveyance direction. It is the figure which looked at the sheet processing apparatus which is an embodiment of the present invention from the sheet discharge part side. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the sheet processing apparatus of FIG. 3 along the sheet conveyance direction. It is a perspective view of the principal part of the sheet processing apparatus of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the offset roller shown in FIG. 5, and the motion of a sheet | seat accompanying it. (A) is a figure of the state which has conveyed the sheet | seat discharged | emitted by the processing sheet once downstream. (B) is a diagram showing a state where the sheet is conveyed back to the upstream side following (A). (C) is a view showing a state in which the sheet is moved in the width direction following (B). It is a figure explaining the drive mechanism of the sheet clamp member of the sheet processing apparatus of FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a connection relationship between a CPU as a control unit of the sheet processing apparatus in FIG. 4, a sensor, a motor, and the like. FIG. 2A is an overall block diagram. (B) It is a figure which shows the content of the work data stored in RAM. (C) is a figure which shows the content stored in a non-volatile memory. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the sheet processing apparatus. 10 is a flowchart of a mechanism unit initialization subroutine in FIG. 9. 10 is a flowchart of a status monitoring subroutine in FIG. 9.

  Hereinafter, a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and an image forming apparatus including the sheet processing apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the upstream end of the conveyed sheet is referred to as the rear end, and the downstream end is referred to as the front end. The sheet width direction is a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction.

(Image forming device)
FIG. 1 is a partial schematic view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the main body of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1 along the sheet conveying direction.

  The image forming apparatus 300 forms an image on a sheet. Examples of the image forming apparatus include a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, and a complex machine of these. The image forming apparatus 300 includes the sheet processing apparatus 1 of the embodiment as a purchase option (so-called option) so as to be separable from the apparatus main body 300A. The sheet processing apparatus 1 may be incorporated in the apparatus main body 300A of the image forming apparatus.

  The apparatus main body 300A is provided with an automatic document feeder (ADF) 305 that automatically sends a document, and an image reading unit 306 that reads an image of the document sent by the automatic document feeder 305. Then, the image information read by the image reading unit 306 is sent to a laser oscillator by a controller (not shown) and emitted from the laser transmitter as laser light. This laser beam is reflected by the rotating polygon mirror 309 and is then folded back again by the reflecting mirror 310 to irradiate the photosensitive drum 312 having a uniformly charged surface. Form an image. The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 312 is developed with toner by the developing device 311 and then transferred as a toner image onto the sheet S conveyed from the pair of registration rollers 314. The photosensitive drum 312, the developing device 311, and the like constitute an image forming unit 300 </ b> B.

  Sheets S such as paper and OHP sheets are selectively and appropriately fed out from the sheet cassettes 351 and 352 by the pickup roller 313, separated by the separation unit 307, and fed one by one. The sheet S is conveyed to the registration roller pair 314 by the roller pair 316 and 317, and the skew is corrected by the registration roller pair 314. The sheet S is conveyed between the photosensitive drum 312 and the transfer device 318 facing the photosensitive drum 312 in synchronization with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 312. The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 312 is transferred to the sheet S in contact with the photosensitive drum 312 by the action of the transfer device 318.

  Thereafter, the sheet S is guided to the fixing roller pair 301 and heated and pressed by the fixing roller pair 301 to fix the toner image. A fixing claw 303 is in contact with the fixing roller pair 301. The fixing upper separation claw 303 separates the sheet S from the fixing roller pair 301. The separated sheet S is guided by the discharge roller pair 399 from the apparatus main body 300A to the sheet processing apparatus 1 (FIGS. 1 and 3) connected to the apparatus main body 300A.

(Sheet processing equipment)
The sheet processing operation and operation of the sheet processing apparatus 1 will be described based on the configuration diagram of FIGS. 1 to 7, the control block diagram of FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a view of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the sheet discharge unit side. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the sheet processing apparatus of FIG. 3 along the sheet conveyance direction. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part of the sheet processing apparatus of FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the offset roller shown in FIG. 5 and the accompanying sheet movement. (A) is a figure of the state which has conveyed the sheet | seat discharged | emitted by the processing sheet once to the downstream side. (B) is a diagram showing a state where the sheet is conveyed back to the upstream side following (A). (C) is a view showing a state in which the sheet is moved in the width direction following (B). FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a drive mechanism of the sheet bundle discharge member of the sheet processing apparatus of FIG.

  The sheet processing apparatus 1 (FIG. 1) is supported by a slide unit 4 provided in the apparatus main body 300A of the image forming apparatus 300 so as to be horizontally movable. The sheet processing apparatus 1 is positioned and coupled to the apparatus main body 300A by restraining the lock arm 2 pivotally supported on the upper part of the sheet processing apparatus 1 by a hold member 3 fixed to the apparatus main body 300A. ing.

  The sheet processing apparatus 1 accepts the number of sheets S corresponding to the number of documents discharged from the apparatus main body 300A, forms a bundle on the processing tray 410, processes the sheets, and discharges each sheet bundle to the stack tray 421. It is supposed to be. The processing includes various processing such as alignment, sorting, stacking, staple binding, bending, and drilling. The sheet processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment can perform alignment, sorting, stacking, and staple binding, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  The sheet processing apparatus 1 mainly includes the following components. A post-processing tray 410 that stores sheets sequentially discharged from the apparatus main body 300A of the image forming apparatus 300. An offset roller 407 that performs alignment processing of sheets on the post-processing tray 410. A stapler unit 420 that binds the sheet bundle on the post-processing tray 410. A sheet clamp member 412 that grips and discharges the sheet bundle on the post-processing tray 410. A stack tray 421 for finally stacking sheet bundles formed on the post-processing tray 410. A CPU 111 that is a control unit that controls the sheet processing apparatus 1 based on a control signal from a control unit 501 (FIG. 1) in the apparatus main body 300A. Each sensor 403, 150, 415. Each motor 431, 432, 430. Each solenoid 433,434.

  One of the control unit 501 and the CPU 111 in the apparatus main body 300A may be integrated with the other.

  The sheet receiving unit 401 (FIG. 4) receives the sheet S discharged from the apparatus main body 300A (FIG. 1). After the sheet S received by the sheet receiving unit 401 is detected by the entrance sensor 403, the sheet S is transported to the processing tray 410 and stacked by the transport roller 405 and the offset roller 407. The sheet S stacked on the processing tray 410 is detected by the sheet bundle discharge sensor 415.

  The offset roller 407 is a roller member that conveys the sheet S downstream, upstream, and in the sheet width direction in the sheet conveyance direction by forward rotation, reverse rotation, and offset movement. The offset roller 407 is formed in a cylindrical shape by an elastic body such as a rubber or a resin having elasticity similar to that of rubber at the outer peripheral portion. The offset roller holder 406 is provided on the offset shaft 511 so as to be able to reciprocate in the width direction of the sheet. The offset roller holder 406 rotates in the vertical direction with the offset shaft 511 serving as a fulcrum, so It is supposed to be separated.

  The offset axis 511 is a square axis. The offset roller holder 406 is provided in the offset shaft 511 via a square hole that engages with the angular offset shaft 511, rotates integrally with the offset shaft 511, and moves on the offset shaft 511 in the thrust direction (axis Direction).

  The offset roller holder 406 rotates in the vertical direction via the solenoid arm 512 and the separation lever 514 in accordance with the pickup solenoid 433 being turned on / off. As a result, the offset roller 407 moves up and down according to whether the pickup solenoid 433 is turned on or off.

  The offset roller 407 (FIG. 5) is rotated by a transport motor 431 capable of forward and reverse rotation that drives the transport roller 405 (FIG. 4) in common. The rotation of the conveyance motor 431 is transmitted to the offset roller 407 via the timing belt 523, the roller gear 524, the idler gear 525, the offset gear 526, the offset pulley 527, and the timing belt 522.

  The offset roller 407 rotates forward to convey the sheet S on the processing tray 410 downstream (FIG. 6A) according to the rotation direction of the conveyance motor 431, and reversely conveys the sheet S upstream ( FIG. 6 (B)). The offset roller 407 moves in the width direction of the sheet S by a necessary amount of movement by driving the offset motor 432 that can be rotated forward and backward (FIG. 6C), approaches the width direction positioning wall 416, and is positioned in the width direction. It is separated from the wall 416.

  The rotational motion of the offset motor 432 is transmitted from the offset motor gear 432 a to the offset pinion 516 and converted into a linear motion of the offset rack 515 along the offset shaft 511. By this linear motion, the offset roller 407 moves in the width direction of the sheet.

  The offset home position sensor 150 detects the offset rack 515 and detects that the offset roller 407 is at the home position. When the pickup solenoid 433 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is turned off, the normally rotating offset roller 407 descends by its own weight and lands (contacts) on the sheet. The offset roller 407 once transports the sheet S downstream and then reverses, pulls back the sheet S upstream, and pushes the rear end of the sheet S against the sheet rear end stopper 411 standing at the upstream end of the processing tray 410. By applying, the trailing edge of the sheet S is aligned (FIG. 6B).

  The sheet S aligned at the rear end is dragged by the frictional force of the offset roller 407 that is in contact with the offset roller 407 that has stopped rotating on the offset shaft 511, so that the RAM 120 extends in the width direction of the sheet S. Move the memorized distance. Then, the sheet S passes under the sheet press 510 (FIG. 5) and is brought into contact with the width-direction positioning wall 416 to align the side ends (FIG. 6C). The distance between the alignment positioning wall 416 and the home position of the offset roller 407 is stored in the RAM 120.

  The sheet S whose side edges are aligned with the alignment positioning wall 416 is again pressed against the sheet trailing edge stopper 411 by the offset roller 407 that rotates in reverse, and the trailing edge is aligned again. Thereafter, the sheet bundle is gripped by the sheet clamp member 412. The sheet clamp member 412 is configured to hold the sheet bundle by the upper and lower open / close claws 412c and 412d.

  The offset roller 407 leaves the sheet S, returns to the home position, and waits for the subsequent sheet S to be fed. Subsequent sheets S are stacked on the preceding sheet S fixed on the processing tray 410 by the sheet clamp member 412, and rear end alignment and side end alignment are performed in the same manner as the preceding sheet S. The sheet bundle formed by stacking a predetermined number of sheets S in this way is stapled (stitched) by the stapler unit 420 with the corners of the rear end being inclined. Note that the sheet bundle is merely aligned by the stapler unit 420 and may be discharged without being bound.

  A pin A553a and a pin B554a are suspended from a slide gear A553 and a slide gear B554 that rotate via a belt 551 and a pulley gear 552 by driving the sheet bundle discharge motor 430 shown in FIG. The pin A553a and the pin B554a are engaged with a guide slit 413a formed in the sheet bundle discharge member 413.

  When the sheet bundle discharge motor 430 rotates and the slide gear A553 and the slide gear B554 rotate, the pin A553a and the pin B554a move in the guide slit 413a of the sheet bundle discharge member 413 to move the sheet bundle discharge member in the sheet discharge direction. Move to. The sheet bundle sandwiched between the sheet clamp members 412 is moved to the stack tray 421 only by being stapled or aligned by the movement of the sheet bundle discharge member in the sheet discharge direction. The sheet bundle is discharged and stacked on the stack tray 421 (FIG. 3) from the sheet discharge portion 434 of the apparatus main body 1A by opening the sheet clamp member 412.

  At this time, since the sheet bundle already stacked on the stack tray 421 is pressed onto the stack tray 421 by the pressing member 421A (FIG. 4), it is pushed out of the stack tray 421 by discharging the subsequent sheet bundle. There is nothing.

  A bundle discharge home position sensor 160 is provided near the slide gear B554 (FIG. 7). The slide gear B554 is provided with a flag 160a that crosses the bundle discharge home position sensor 160. The current positions of the sheet bundle discharge member 413 and the sheet clamp member 412 are determined by the CPU counting rotation pulses of the sheet bundle discharge motor 430 that rotates the slide gear B554 after the bundle discharge home position sensor 160 detects the flag 160a. I understand.

  By the way, when the sheet processing apparatus 1 sequentially stacks the sheet bundle on the stack tray 421, the sheet discharge unit 434 is blocked by the sheet bundle, and the sheet S cannot be discharged from the sheet discharge unit 434. For this reason, the stack tray 421 is lowered by a predetermined distance when the uppermost sheet bundle is close to the sheet discharge portion 434 so that the sheet discharge portion 434 is not blocked by the sheet bundle.

  Further, the stack tray 421 is inclined such that the upstream end in the sheet discharge direction is lower than the downstream end. This is to prevent the sheet bundle from jumping out of the stack tray 421 when discharged from the sheet discharge unit 434. Also, the sheet bundle loaded on the stack tray 421 slides upstream on the stack tray 421 by its own weight, and the rear end of the sheet bundle is received by the stacking wall 1Aa which is the side wall of the apparatus main body 1A of the sheet processing apparatus 1, This is for aligning the rear ends of the sheet bundles.

  Next, in the above sheet processing apparatus, the initialization operation of the sheet processing apparatus when the power is turned on will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a connection relationship between a CPU as a control unit of the sheet processing apparatus in FIG. 4, a sensor, a motor, and the like. (A) is an overall block diagram. (B) is a figure which shows the content of the work data stored in RAM. (C) is a figure which shows the content stored in a non-volatile memory. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the sheet processing apparatus. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the mechanism initialization subroutine in FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the status monitoring subroutine in FIG.

  The CPU 111 has a ROM 110. The ROM 110 stores an operation control program according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. The CPU 111 controls each unit while reading the operation control program stored in the ROM 110. The CPU 111 has a RAM 120. The RAM 120 stores work data 121 shown in FIG. The nonvolatile memory 435 stores data 122 (initialization flag data) illustrated in FIG. The CPU 111 controls each part of the sheet processing apparatus based on the work data 121.

  The sheet processing apparatus 1 performs an initialization operation in response to an initial request when the power is turned on, or when returning from the low power mode, when the operation power is turned on, and after the initialization is completed, the sheet processing apparatus 1 transitions to a standby state.

  The CPU 111 turns on the power of the sheet processing apparatus (FIG. 9, S001), and reads initialization flag data from the nonvolatile memory 435 (FIG. 8) (S002). Then, the CPU 111 checks whether or not the initialization flag is ON (state in which the flag is set), and confirms whether or not initialization is necessary (S004).

  This initialization flag data is data indicating whether or not initialization processing has been performed at the time when the sheet processing apparatus was last used and turned off. When the initialization process is being performed (when the sheet processing apparatus is in an initialized state), the initialization flag data is OFF, and when the initialization process is not being performed (the sheet processing apparatus is in the initial state) The initialization flag data is ON. As an example in which the initialization process is not performed, a sleep mode button (not shown) is displayed when the user accidentally turns off the power during the initialization operation of the sheet processing apparatus or when the sheet processing apparatus is in the initialization operation. May be pressed. Further, as an example in which the initialization process is not performed, there is a case where the user accidentally turns off the power during the copy job operation.

  If NO in step S004 (the initialization flag is OFF), the CPU 111 sets the sheet processing apparatus 1 to the standby state without performing the initialization operation of the sheet processing apparatus 1 (S006).

  If the CPU 111 determines that the initialization flag is ON (YES (ON) in step S004), the CPU 111 proceeds to a mechanism unit initialization subroutine (S005).

  A mechanism initialization subroutine (S005) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The operation for initializing the offset roller 407 by the CPU 111 based on the initialization subroutine (FIG. 10) will be described.

  In the initialization process, the CPU 111 turns on the initialization flag of the nonvolatile memory 435 (S300). This is because when the user accidentally turns off the power or presses the sleep mode button during the initialization process or the copy job operation, when the power is turned on again or when the copy job start button is pressed, This is because the initialization process can be performed.

  In the sleep mode, when a sleep mode button (not shown) is pressed by the user, the power is not turned off, and the image forming apparatus 300 formed by the sheet processing apparatus 1 and the apparatus main body 300A enters a standby state. This is a so-called power saving mode. The sleep mode is a mode for returning to an operable state earlier when a copy job start button (not shown) is pressed than when the power is turned off. It should be noted that the image forming apparatus is not used for an arbitrary predetermined time (even if the setting can be changed by a user using a setting unit (not shown) or a fixed time) without pressing the sleep mode button. Has a mode that automatically goes into sleep mode.

  The CPU 111 determines whether or not the offset home position sensor 150 (FIG. 5) is ON (S301). The offset home position sensor 150 is turned on when detecting the offset rack 515 (FIG. 5) (YES in S301).

  The offset rack 515 can reciprocate in the width direction of the sheet according to the rotation direction of the offset motor 432 via the offset pinion 516 and the offset motor gear 432a. The offset rack 515 reciprocates in the sheet width direction integrally with the offset roller 407 via the offset roller holder 406.

  If the CPU is ON (YES) in step S301, the CPU turns ON the offset motor 432 in the FWD direction (forward rotation S302). Then, the offset rack 515 moves away from the offset home position sensor 150, and the offset home position sensor 150 is turned off (YES in S303). The CPU 111 moves the offset rack 515 by a predetermined distance in a direction away from the offset home position sensor 150 with reference to the fact that the offset home position sensor 150 is turned off (S304). When the offset rack 515 moves a predetermined distance (YES in S304), the CPU 111 stops the offset motor 432 (S305). The movement distance of the offset rack 515 can be determined by the CPU counting the number of rotation pulses of the offset motor 432.

  Thereafter, the CPU turns ON the offset motor 432 in the REV direction (reversely rotates, S306), and when the offset home position sensor 150 detects the offset rack 515 and turns ON (YES in S307), stops the offset motor 432 ( S308).

  As a result, the offset mechanism 170 including the offset motor 432, the offset rack 515, and the offset roller 407 that moves in the sheet width direction together with the offset rack 515 is initialized.

  The CPU 111 again turns on the offset motor to rotate it forward (S309). Then, the offset rack 515 moves away from the offset home position sensor 150, and the offset home position sensor 150 is turned off (YES in S310). The CPU 111 moves the offset rack 515 by a predetermined distance in a direction away from the offset home position sensor 150 based on the fact that the offset home position sensor 150 is turned off (S311). Then, when the offset rack 515 moves a predetermined distance (YES in S311), the CPU 111 stops the offset motor 432 (S312). As a result, the offset roller 407 is on standby at the standby position. Note that the movement distance of the offset rack 515 can be determined by the CPU counting the number of rotation pulses of the offset motor 432.

  In the process S301, when the offset home position sensor does not detect the offset rack 515 (NO in S301), the offset rack 515 is away from the offset home position sensor. Therefore, the CPU 111 rotates the offset motor 432 in the reverse direction to move the offset rack 515 to the initialization position where it is detected as the offset home position (S306, S307, S308).

  If the offset home position sensor 150 is YES (ON) in step S301, the offset rack 515 is at the initialization position detected by the offset home position sensor 150. However, the offset rack 515 is once moved away from the offset home position sensor 150 (S303, S304, S305) and then returned to the detected base position (S306, S307). This is to confirm whether or not the offset home position sensor 150 has failed. That is, when the offset rack 515 is once separated from the offset home position sensor 150 and moved again to the position detected by the offset home position sensor, if the off-cent home position sensor is turned on, there is no failure. If it does not turn ON, it has failed.

  Next, the CPU 111 performs an initialization operation of the sheet clamp member 412.

  In step S313, the CPU 111 determines whether the bundle discharge home position sensor 160 (FIG. 7) is ON.

  When the CPU 111 is turned on (YES) in step S313, the CPU 111 turns on the bundle discharge motor 430 (FIG. 7) in the FWD direction (rotates forward. S314). Then, the slide gear A 553 and the slide gear B 554 rotate forward, the flag 160a provided on the slide gear B moves away from the bundle discharge home position sensor 160, and the bundle discharge home position sensor 160 is turned off (YES in S315). . The CPU 111 rotates the flag 160a by a predetermined amount on the basis that the bundle discharge home position sensor 160 is turned off (S316). Then, when the flag 160a rotates by a predetermined amount (YES in S316), the CPU 111 stops the bundle discharge motor 430 (S317).

  Note that the slide gear A 553 and the slide gear B 554 rotate in opposite directions, and the respective rotation directions are assumed to be normal rotation directions. The slide gear A is engaged with a sheet bundle discharge member 413 provided with a sheet clamp member 412 by a pin A553a. The slide gear B is also engaged with the sheet bundle discharge member 413 by the pin B 554a. For this reason, when the slide gear A and the slide gear B rotate by a predetermined amount, the sheet clamp member 412 moves by a predetermined distance in a direction approaching the stack tray 421. The rotation amount of the flag 160a can be determined by counting the number of rotation pulses of the bundle discharge motor 430.

  Thereafter, the CPU 111 turns on the bundle discharge motor 430 in the REV direction (reverses, S318), and when the bundle discharge home position sensor 160 detects the flag 160a and turns on (YES in S319), the rotation of the bundle discharge motor 430 is performed. Is stopped (S320).

  During this time, the sheet clamp member 412 moves in a direction away from the stack tray 421 by the reverse rotation of the bundle discharge motor 430 and stops.

  As a result, the sheet discharge mechanism 560 including the bundle discharge motor 430, the slide gear A553, the slide gear B554, the flag 160a, the sheet bundle discharge member 413, the sheet clamp member 412, and the like is initialized. This initialized position is also a standby position of the sheet clamp member 412.

  Then, the fact that the offset mechanism unit 170 and the sheet discharge mechanism unit 560 have been initialized is stored in the nonvolatile memory 435 with the initialization flag OFF (S321).

  However, if the user accidentally turns off the power or presses the sleep mode button during the initialization (S005) processing of the offset mechanism 170 and the sheet discharge mechanism 560, the CPU 111 at that time Then, the mechanism part initialization (S005) process is interrupted. In this case, since the process has not proceeded to the process S321, the initialization flag remains ON in the process S300. Therefore, the CPU 111 stores an initialization flag ON in the nonvolatile memory 435.

  When the user accidentally turns off the power during the mechanism initialization (S005) process, the CPU 111 starts from the process S001 when the power is turned on again. When the user accidentally presses the sleep mode button, the mechanism unit initialization process is performed in process 203 based on the initialization flag ON stored in the nonvolatile memory 435 in process S202, which will be described later.

  Thereafter, the image forming apparatus 300 enters a standby state (S006). Further, when the user does not press a button (not shown) for starting a copy job within a predetermined time (NO in S007 and S201), the sleep mode state is entered, and the sleep state is maintained unless the copy job start button is pressed. That is, NO is held in step S007 and step S201, and the “status monitor” state is held in step S007. Thereafter, when the user turns off the power (YES in S008), the process ends.

  During the “status monitoring” of the sheet processing apparatus (S007), the user presses a copy job (JOB) start button for the purpose of document copy and sheet processing (YES in S201). Then, the CPU determines whether the initialization flag stored in the nonvolatile memory 435 is OFF or ON (S202).

  In this case, if the user does not accidentally press the sleep mode button during the above-described mechanism initialization (S005) process, the mechanism initialization (S005) process proceeds to process S321 and is non-volatile. The initialization flag stored in the memory is OFF. Therefore, in this case, NO (initialization flag OFF) in step S202.

  However, if the user accidentally presses the sleep mode button during the mechanism initialization (S005) process described above, the mechanism initialization process is stopped halfway, and the process does not proceed to the process S321. As a result, the initialization flag of the nonvolatile memory is ON. Therefore, in this case, YES (initialization flag ON) in process S202.

  If NO in step S202 (initialization flag OFF), the CPU 111 sets the initialization flag of the nonvolatile memory 435 to ON (S204), and then proceeds to the job operation (S205). The initialization flag of the non-volatile memory is turned on when the user accidentally turns off the power, presses the sleep mode button, then turns on the power during the job operation (S205) This is because the initialization process can be performed when the copy job start button is pressed.

  If YES in the processing S202 (initialization flag ON), the CPU 111 performs the processing of the mechanical unit initialization (processing 203) from processing S300 to processing S321 shown in FIG. Thereafter, the CPU 111 turns on the initialization flag of the nonvolatile memory 435 (S204), and proceeds to the job operation (S205).

  Then, the CPU 111 performs a copy job and a sheet processing job (S205). The processed sheets S are stacked on the stack tray 421. When the copy job and sheet processing job are completed (YES in S206), the CPU turns off the initialization flag of the nonvolatile memory 435 in process S207, and when the power is turned off (YES in S008), the CPU operates the image forming apparatus. Stop. The non-volatile memory 435 (FIG. 8) of the image forming apparatus whose operation has been stopped stores that the initialization flag of the non-volatile memory 435 is OFF. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that each sheet processing unit (offset roller 407, sheet clamp member 412) returns to the initialized state after the copy job is completed.

  In the above description, both the offset mechanism 170 and the sheet discharge mechanism 560 are initialized. However, only one of them may be initialized.

  The flag is stored directly in the nonvolatile memory, but may be temporarily written in the RAM 120 and stored in the nonvolatile memory.

  As described above, the sheet processing apparatus 1 includes the CPU 111 as a control unit that causes the offset roller 407 as a sheet processing unit to process a sheet to perform an initialization operation. Further, the sheet processing apparatus 1 includes a nonvolatile memory 435 as a storage unit that stores whether or not the offset mechanism unit 170 as a sheet processing unit is in an initialized state. When the operation power is turned on to the sheet processing apparatus and the nonvolatile memory 435 stores that the offset mechanism unit 170 is not initialized, the CPU causes the offset mechanism unit 170 to perform an initialization operation. . Further, when it is stored in the nonvolatile memory 435 that the offset mechanism unit 170 is initialized, the CPU 111 does not cause the offset mechanism unit 170 to perform the initialization operation. Note that the sheet processing means may be a sheet clamp member 412.

  Therefore, the sheet processing apparatus does not perform the initialization operation of the sheet processing means when the operation power is turned on and it is stored in the nonvolatile memory 435. For this reason, the sheet processing apparatus reduces the delay in starting the image reading operation due to the initialization operation after turning on the power, increases the power consumption, increases the noise, and shortens the service life of each processing unit. Can be prevented.

  In addition, when the sheet processing unit is a plurality of offset mechanism units 170 and the sheet discharge mechanism unit 560, when a plurality of uninitialized sheet processing units are stored in the nonvolatile memory 435, the CPU The sheet processing means is initialized.

  Note that one of the offset mechanism 170 and the sheet discharge mechanism 560 may be selected and initialized.

  That is, the non-volatile memory 435 can store an uninitialized mechanism unit among the offset mechanism unit 170 and the sheet discharge mechanism unit 560 as a plurality of provided sheet processing units. Then, the CPU 111 selects one of the offset mechanism 170 and the sheet discharge mechanism 560 based on the sheet processing means selection information from the apparatus main body 300A. For example, assume that the offset mechanism unit 170 is selected. In this case, when it is stored that the offset mechanism unit 170 is not initialized in the nonvolatile memory 435, the CPU 111 causes the offset mechanism unit 170 to perform an initialization operation. However, the CPU 111 does not cause the sheet discharge mechanism 560 to perform an initialization operation. Similarly, assume that the sheet discharge mechanism 560 is selected. In this case, when it is stored that the sheet discharge mechanism 560 is not initialized in the nonvolatile memory 435, the CPU 111 causes the sheet discharge mechanism 560 to perform an initialization operation. However, the CPU 111 does not cause the offset mechanism unit 170 to perform an initialization operation.

  Further, when there are a plurality of sheet processing means selected based on the sheet processing means selection information, one of the plurality of sheet processing means is not initialized when the operation power is supplied to the sheet processing apparatus. In this case, all the selected sheet processing means are initialized.

  Also in this case, the sheet processing apparatus reduces the delay in starting the sheet processing operation due to the initialization operation after the power is turned on, increases the power consumption, increases the noise, and further determines the service life of each processing unit. Shortening can be prevented. In addition, the sheet processing apparatus may have a plurality of mechanism units that perform initialization processing. In this case, the sheet processing apparatus is configured to initialize when the sheet processing means selected based on the sheet processing means selection information is not initialized. The sheet processing means selection information is information regarding the sheet processing means used by the sheet processing apparatus in the copy job based on information obtained from the image forming apparatus by the sheet processing apparatus when the copy job is started. For this reason, the sheet processing apparatus can omit the initialization of the sheet processing means that are not selected, so that the initialization at the start of the copy job can be performed efficiently.

  Since the image forming apparatus includes the sheet processing apparatus that reduces the delay in starting the processing operation, it is possible to prevent the first copy from being delayed.

S: Sheet, 1:
Sheet processing apparatus, 1A: apparatus main body of sheet processing apparatus, 111: CPU (control means), 150: offset home position sensor, 160: bundle discharge home position sensor, 170: offset mechanism (sheet processing means), 300: image Forming apparatus, 300A: apparatus main body of image forming apparatus, 300B: image forming unit, 305: automatic document feeder (ADF), 306: image reading unit, 401: sheet receiving unit, 407: offset roller, 410: processing tray 412: Sheet clamp member, 412a: Open / close claw, 412b: Open / close claw, 415: Sheet bundle discharge sensor, 420: Stapler unit, 432: Offset motor, 435: Non-volatile memory (storage means), 515: Offset rack, 560 : Sheet discharge mechanism (sheet processing means).

Claims (4)

Sheet processing means for processing the sheet;
Control means for causing the sheet processing means to perform an initialization operation;
Storage means for storing whether or not the sheet processing means is in an initialized state,
When the operation power is turned on to the apparatus and the storage means stores that the sheet processing means is not initialized, the control means causes the sheet processing means to perform an initialization operation, When it is stored that it is in an initialized state, the sheet processing means is not allowed to perform an initialization operation.
A sheet processing apparatus. A plurality of the sheet processing means;
The storage means can store the sheet processing means in an uninitialized state among the plurality of sheet processing means,
When the operation power is turned on in the apparatus and the uninitialized sheet processing unit is stored in the storage unit, the control unit causes all of the sheet processing units to perform an initialization operation and stores the storage unit. If the sheet processing means that has not been initialized is not stored in the means, the initialization operation is not performed for all the sheet processing means.
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1. A plurality of the sheet processing means;
The storage means can store the sheet processing means in an uninitialized state among the plurality of sheet processing means,
The control unit selects the sheet processing unit corresponding to the sheet processing unit selection information from among the plurality of sheet processing units based on the sheet processing unit selection information, and the selected sheet processing unit stores the storage If it is stored in the means that the uninitialized state is selected, the selected sheet processing means is initialized, and if it is stored in the initialized state, the selected Do not let the sheet processing means initialize
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet processing apparatus is a sheet processing apparatus. An image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet;
A sheet processing apparatus that processes a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming unit,
The sheet processing apparatus is the sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
An image forming apparatus.

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