JP4801915B2 - Sheet post-processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus that receives a sheet on which an image is formed by an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, or a printing machine, and performs post-processing such as stapling, punching, or stamping on the sheet.

  In general, this type of sheet post-processing apparatus temporarily places a sheet on which an image has been formed by an image forming apparatus on a tray, performs post-processing on this tray, and then stores the sheet in a downstream stacking tray. ing. In the processing tray, for example, in the case of stamp processing, a single sheet is placed on the processing tray, and in the case of staple processing, a series of sheets are placed in a bundle and processed. Therefore, this processing tray requires a conveyance mechanism for carrying in sheets and a conveyance mechanism for carrying out processed sheets to the stacking tray.

  Conventionally, as a transport mechanism for discharging a sheet from the processing tray, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-128332), a claw-like protruding member that engages with the rear end of the sheet on the processing tray There is known a mechanism for moving the protruding member along the processing tray and carrying the sheet toward the processing tray. That is, a long groove extending from the sheet inflow side to the carry-out side is provided in the central portion of the processing tray, and a claw-like projection member is disposed in this long groove so as to protrude from the back side of the tray (back side) onto the tray. Is fixed to an endless belt provided on the back side of the tray, and a pulley of the endless belt is driven to rotate. In this way, even if a sheet having a weight stacked in a bundle is pushed out by pushing the rear end of the sheet with a claw-shaped protruding member, it can be surely discharged to the stacking tray, and the sheets can be conveyed in a bundle in an orderly manner. I can do it.

  On the other hand, when one or a few small sheets are stacked on the processing tray, the sheet may be bent or fluttered, and the moving speed from the processing tray to the stacking tray can be controlled by a roller mechanism described later. There is a characteristic that it is slower than that. Therefore, a carry-out mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-241029) and the like is known in which a conveyance roller is provided at the discharge port of the processing tray, and the sheet is conveyed to the stacking tray by the conveyance roller. ing. When discharging sheets one by one to the stacking tray, this sheet can be discharged smoothly without causing problems such as sheet fluttering and bending as compared with the case where the sheet is pushed out by the above-mentioned claw-shaped projection member. . On the other hand, when stacking sheets on the processing tray and carrying them out at the same time, it is necessary to configure the transport roller with a pair of pressure rollers and sandwich the sheets with a strong nip force (for example, 1 kg weight). . In particular, since a color copy paper is thick and coated on its surface, a stronger clamping force is required to eject these.

Further, for example, Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-193515) proposes a conveyance mechanism in which a conveyance roller is arranged at the discharge port end simultaneously with a sheet extrusion mechanism that extrudes a sheet rear end. A claw-like projecting member is arranged on the processing tray so as to be movable along the carrying-out direction, and a conveying roller is arranged on the downstream side of the tray so that the sheet is carried out. And the sheet | seat mounted on the processing tray is extruded with a nail | claw-shaped projection member, and is then carried out with a conveyance roller. In other words, the sheet is pushed downstream along the tray by the claw-shaped projecting member, and then the sheet is taken over and transported by the transport roller disposed at the downstream discharge port away from the claw-shaped projecting member.
JP 2003-128332 A JP 2002-241029 A JP 2002-193515 A

  As described above, when a sheet is placed on a processing tray on which the sheet is temporarily placed, post-processing is performed, and the post-processed sheet is carried out to the stacking tray, the conventional technique is disclosed in Patent Document 1. In the case of adopting such a sheet pushing mechanism, there is a problem in that the sheet on the processing tray is one sheet or several sheets and the sheet is thin and easily curled, so that reliable conveyance cannot be obtained and the sheet end is bent. In addition, in the case of the transport roller mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 2, a bundle of sheets stacked thickly on the processing tray has a large mechanism and a driving mechanism for securely nip the bundle sheet with the transport roller. A device incorporating this mechanism must also be constructed robustly.

  Further, even in the structure provided with the sheet extrusion mechanism and the conveyance roller mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 3, conventionally, the sheet from the processing tray to the stacking tray is engaged with the rear end of the sheet on the downstream side. Since it is transported by the protruding member and then handed over by the transport roller disposed on the upstream side, the following problem has occurred. A single or bundle-like sheet is first pushed out along the processing tray by only the claw-like projection member, then conveyed by the claw-like projection member and the conveyance roller, and then carried out only by the conveyance roller. When the sheet is conveyed by the protruding member alone or the conveying roller alone, the same problem as described above is caused.

  In view of this, the present invention reliably transports sheets placed on a processing tray in a single or bundle shape to a downstream stacking tray, whether it is thin paper that tends to curl or coated paper whose surface is slippery. It is also an object of the present invention to reduce the size and weight of a transport mechanism for that purpose, particularly a drive unit such as a drive motor.

  A sheet pressing claw provided on a belt stretched between pulleys arranged at a smaller interval than a sheet stored in the processing tray and a pressing roller separated from a pulley on the stacking tray side for discharging the sheet bundle from the processing tray. By doing so, there is no transfer to the roller, so the roller nip force is not increased, and the sheet bundle is moved and discharged by both extrusion and withdrawal, so that the roller and belt drive sources can be made smaller Since the sheet can be discharged, a single sheet can be directly discharged to the stacking tray, and the cardboard bundle can be reliably removed by the nail discharge.

  The present invention has the following configuration in order to achieve the above object. A processing tray for temporarily stacking sequentially delivered sheets; post-processing means for performing post-processing such as binding processing on the sheets on the processing tray; a stacking tray for storing the processed sheets; Roller conveying means disposed at the sheet carry-out end and movable between an operating position for engaging with a sheet on the processing tray and a retracted position separated from the sheet tray, and a sheet conveying mechanism disposed movably along the processing tray. Sheet extruding means for engaging and extruding and conveying the edge. The roller conveying unit is disposed at a position shorter than the minimum sheet length from the sheet rear end reference position on the processing tray, and the sheet pushing unit is disposed between the sheet rear end reference position and the sheet carry-out end. The sheet bundle is carried out from the reference position on the processing tray to the stacking tray in cooperation with the roller conveying means and the sheet pushing means.

The sheet pushing means includes a belt member stretched between a pair of pulleys, and a claw-like projecting member that is provided on the belt member and engages with the trailing edge of the sheet, and the roller conveying means is disposed on the sheet carry-out side. It is configured to be able to press and separate from a pinch roller that is rotatably attached to the pulley shaft that is positioned. Each of the roller conveying means and the sheet pushing means includes a driving means, and after the sheet bundle is transferred by a predetermined amount from the reference position on the processing tray by the sheet pushing means, the roller conveying means conveys the sheet bundle. Apply force and carry it out to the stacking tray.

The sheet extruding means includes at least two claw-like projecting members arranged at intervals in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction, and two pinch rollers are arranged on the sheet unloading end side , and the roller conveying means Is constituted by two drive rollers engaged with the pinch roller. The two driving rollers constituting the roller conveying means are supported by a bracket member attached to a driving rotating shaft, and the bracket member can swing in the sheet width direction so that the driving roller is substantially uniform on the sheet on the processing tray. Abuts with pressure.

  The roller conveying means is configured to be movable between a retracted position separated from the sheet on the processing tray, a standby position approaching the sheet, and an operating position pressed against the sheet. When a sheet is carried into the processing tray, it is located at a retracted position, when a sheet on the processing tray is post-processed, it is located at a standby position, and when a sheet is carried from the processing tray to the stacking tray, it is located at an operating position. To do. The sheet pushing means is configured to reciprocate along the processing tray between an upstream start point of the sheet rear end reference position and an end point downstream of the unloading end where the roller conveying means is located. .

  The present invention cooperates with a roller conveying means arranged at the carry-out end of a sheet placed on the processing tray and a sheet push-out means arranged movably from the sheet rear end reference position to the sheet carry-out end. In this sheet unloading process, the sheet is always subjected to the nip (pressing) force of the roller conveying means and the conveying force (propulsive force) of the roller conveying means and the extruding means. It will be received and carried out. Therefore, it is possible to reliably carry out the sheet from the processing tray without bending or floating and fluttering.

  In addition, a roller conveying means arranged at the carry-out end is provided at a position shorter than the minimum sheet length from the sheet rear end reference position on the processing tray, and the sheet pushing means is provided from the rear end reference position. Since the sheet can be conveyed to the end, it can be configured easily and inexpensively. At the same time, the driving mechanism shares and reduces the load on the roller conveying means and the load on the sheet pushing means, and the apparatus can be reduced in size and weight.

  Such an effect is that when conveying a large-capacity bundled sheet with a thick and slippery sheet such as colored paper, or when conveying a sheet that tends to curl with thin paper, the sheet edge can be bent. It is possible to stably carry out a wide range of sheets without curling and fluttering. At the same time, when the sheet is carried out, the drawing by the roller and the sheet pushing by the claw-like projecting member are simultaneously performed, so that the driving load is not shifted to one side and the driving unit can be downsized. Further, when the movement of the sheet bundle on the processing tray is started, the nail-like projecting member moves the sheet bundle and then performs the pressing contact with the sheet bundle of the roller conveying means provided at the carry-out end. When the extrusion with the claw-shaped projecting member and the roller nip are performed at the same time, the trouble that the conveying force of the roller conveying means first acts on the sheet and only the uppermost sheet moves is eliminated, and the sheet can be discharged stably. is there.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 shows a post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing such as paper binding on a printed sheet (hereinafter referred to as sheet) formed by an image forming apparatus or the like. Hereinafter, a case where the present invention is applied to the post-processing apparatus will be described. To do.

[Image forming system]
The post-processing apparatus according to the present invention sequentially receives sheets on which images are formed connected to a paper discharge port of an image forming apparatus (not shown), and performs “paper binding processing”, “jog processing”, and “sheet carry-out processing”. In view of this, the image forming system includes an image forming apparatus main body having a copying machine, a printing function, a facsimile function, and the like, and a post-processing apparatus connected thereto. The main body of the image forming apparatus is composed of a printer device connected to an external device such as a computer, and is widely known as a device that prints on a sheet fed from a paper feeding unit by a printing unit and sequentially carries out from a paper discharging unit. . A laser head for electrostatic printing, an inkjet head, an offset printing head, or the like is used for the printing unit, and image information sent from an external device is printed on the sheet.

  Further, the multifunction printing system is configured by integrating the scanner device into the printer device having such a configuration and adding a copying function or a facsimile function. In such a system, a series of processing operations such as a paper binding process for aligning and binding sheets after image formation in the page order, or a jog process for sorting and storing in the aligned state when discharging and storing are set as operation modes. I have. In the control of each operation mode, the operator sets the post-processing mode such as “paper binding processing”, “jog processing”, “sheet carry-out (storage) processing” simultaneously with the printing mode such as the number of copies and the printing function in the image forming apparatus, In accordance with the command signal from the image forming apparatus, the post-processing apparatus executes processing corresponding to each operation mode.

  The post-processing apparatus 10 is disposed below the sheet discharge path 11 that receives sheets sequentially discharged from an image forming apparatus (not shown) and carries them out to the downstream processing tray 20 and the sheet discharge outlet 13 of the sheet discharge path. And a stacking tray 30 disposed on the downstream side of the processing tray 20. The paper discharge path 11 is provided with a transport roller 14 for transporting the sheet sent toward the carry-in port 12, and the transport roller 14 is composed of a pair of rollers in pressure contact with each other. The paper discharge path 11 is provided with an inlet sensor 15 for detecting the leading edge and the trailing edge of the conveyed sheet.

  A carry-in guide 16 is connected to a paper discharge port of the image forming apparatus and sequentially guides sheets to the carry-in port 12 of the paper discharge path 11. Accordingly, the sheet from the image forming apparatus is guided to the paper discharge path 11 and is sequentially sent to the paper discharge port 13 by the conveying roller 14 and is carried out. A processing tray 20 is disposed below the discharge port 13 with a step formed thereon, and the sheet is temporarily supported on the tray, and the sheet is post-processed in this state. The processing tray 20 incorporates a mechanism corresponding to a post-processing function to be applied to the sheet. The illustrated one is a “paper binding function” and a “jog function”, and the stacking tray 30 on the downstream side for sheets from the paper discharge port 13. It is equipped with a “sheet unloading function” for unloading.

  The “paper binding function” stacks a series of sheets carried out from the image forming apparatus on the processing tray 20 in the order of pages and staples them, and stores the processed sheet bundle in the stacking tray 30. Therefore, the processing tray 20 has a regulating member 21 for regulating the sheet to the reference position, a sheet pressing unit 22 for correctly guiding the curled sheet to the regulating unit 21, and an aligning unit 23 for aligning the accommodated sheets. Then, a stapler (post-processing unit) 24 for binding the aligned sheets is disposed. Further, the processing tray 20 is provided with a sheet pushing means 25 for carrying out the sheet bundle after the stapling process to the stacking tray 30. The “jog function” sorts and stores a series of sheets conveyed from the image forming apparatus in the stacking tray 30 and aligns the sheets. Therefore, the processing tray 20 is provided with a shift mechanism that shifts the sheet by a predetermined amount in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction. In the illustrated shift mechanism, the aligning means 23 also has the function. The “sheet carrying-out function” sequentially carries out a series of sheets carried out from the image forming apparatus onto the stacking tray 30 without performing post-processing on the processing tray 20. For this reason, an eject roller means 26 is disposed on the processing tray 20.

[Sheet carry-in mechanism]
Between the paper discharge outlet 13 of the paper discharge path 11 and the processing tray 20, the following transport mechanism is provided. First, a belt transfer unit 17 that conveys a sheet from the paper discharge port 13 to the processing tray 20, a plate-shaped guide member 18 (a guide plate that will be described later) that guides the sheet so as to be sandwiched between the belt transfer unit 17, a sheet, A pressurizing means 19 is provided for transporting the tip so as to be scraped toward the restriction position of the processing tray 20. As shown in FIG. 3 a, the belt transfer unit 17 is configured by bridging a caterpillar belt 173 between a pair of pulleys 171 and 172, and is arranged between the sheet discharge port 13 and the processing tray 20 along the sheet conveyance direction. . Then, the sheet from the paper discharge port 13 is conveyed to the processing tray 20 by the illustrated belt upper surface 173a.

  Therefore, a drive motor, which will be described later, is connected to the shaft 174 of the pulley 171 located on the paper discharge port 13 side, and rotates counterclockwise in the figure. The pulley shaft 174 is rotatably supported by a device frame 50 (the illustrated one is a side frame of the device). The other pulley 172 of the caterpillar belt 173 is supported by a shaft 175, and this shaft 175 is supported by an arm member 176 that is integral with a shaft 174 that is rotatably supported by the apparatus frame 50. Therefore, the caterpillar belt 173 is supported by the apparatus frame 50 (frame side frame) so that the pulley shaft 174 on the discharge port side can be freely rotated, and the pulley shaft 175 located on the processing tray 20 side is supported by the arm member 176 and swings. It becomes movable. The swingable caterpillar belt 173 always comes into contact with the sheet on the processing tray 20 at the front end side (pulley shaft 175 side) in the sheet discharge direction, and the belt lower surface 173b shown in FIG. Transport in the reverse direction.

  Accordingly, the caterpillar belt 173 transports the sheet from the sheet discharge outlet 13 onto the processing tray 20 by the belt upper surface 173a, and at the same time, the sheet on the processing tray 20 is transported in the direction opposite to the sheet ejection direction by the belt lower surface 173b. Switchback is carried. In this manner, the switchback transfer means is constituted by the illustrated belt transfer means 17 between the paper discharge outlet 13 and the processing tray 20. In addition, a pinch roller 177 is disposed opposite to the caterpillar belt 173 so as to reliably transfer the sheet from the sheet discharge outlet 13 to the processing tray 20, and a plate-shaped guide member 18 is disposed opposite to the side.

  The pinch roller 177 is disposed opposite to the sheet discharge port 13 side of the caterpillar belt 173 and supported by a paper guide 178 that forms the sheet discharge path 11. The plate-shaped guide member 18 is constituted by a guide plate that guides the sheet in the sheet discharge direction. The guide plate 18 is supported at the end of the sheet discharge port so that the paper guide 178 is rotatable, and the leading end thereof is a caterpillar belt. 173 along the sheet discharge direction. Accordingly, the sheet from the paper discharge port 13 is nipped between the belt upper surface 173a of the caterpillar belt 173 and the pinch roller 177, and is guided so as to be sandwiched between the belt upper surface 173a and the guide plate 18 and moved toward the processing tray 20 side. Sent.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a pair of the belt transfer means 17 and the guide plate 18 described above are arranged at appropriate intervals in the sheet width direction (conveyance orthogonal direction; the same applies hereinafter) so that the guide plate 18 is positioned between the belt transfer means 17. Is arranged. In order to give a greater conveying force to the sheet conveyed by the caterpillar belt 173, the guide plate 18 is disposed at a position shifted from the caterpillar belt 173 in the width direction. The guide plate 18 is provided with the following pressing force applying means.

  A pressure means 19 (pressure elastic piece 192; the same applies hereinafter) is provided at the leading end of the caterpillar belt 173 in the paper discharge direction. The pressurizing means 19 is configured by attaching a pressurizing elastic piece 192 made of a rubber material to a paddle rotating shaft 191 connected to a drive motor M1 described later, and the pressurizing elastic piece 192 is counterclockwise in FIG. 3a. The paddle piece 193 moves the sheet on the processing tray 20 to the right side in the figure. The paddle piece 193 moves to the right side in the drawing when the trailing edge of the sheet conveyed by the caterpillar belt 173 is fed onto the processing tray 20 and moves to the right side of the figure, and this sheet is moved between the caterpillar belt 173 and the processing tray 20. Let it go in between.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the paddle rotating shaft 191 is provided with first, second, and two pressure elastic pieces 192a and 192b, and a stepping motor is connected to the rotating shaft 191. A home position sensor (not shown) is provided. Then, after the estimated time (timer time) for the trailing edge of the sheet to reach the processing tray 20 from the timing when the trailing sensor of the sheet is detected by the entrance sensor 15 of the paper discharge path 11, the paddle piece 193 is connected to the sheet on the processing tray 20. The sheet is moved in the opposite direction (reverse direction) to the conveying direction. The paddle rotation shaft 191 is provided with a pressure elastic piece 192 that is a pressure means. The pressure elastic piece 192 has a tip abutting against the tip portion 181 of the guide plate 18 to press the guide portion 182 and press the sheet against the belt upper surface 173a. The above-described caterpillar belt 173 and the guide plate 18 are supported so as to be swingable around the end on the paper discharge port 13 side, and the front end in the transport direction is self-weighted on the processing tray 20 with the belt transfer means 17 and the guide thereon. The plates 18 are in contact with each other in this order.

  A pressure elastic piece 192 of the paddle rotating shaft 191 applies a pressing force to the guide plate 18. The pressure elastic piece 192 presses the guide plate 18 toward the caterpillar belt 173 at the timing when the rear end of the sheet is carried out to a predetermined position in the same manner as the paddle piece 193 that rotates at the predetermined timing described above, and at the same time the tip of the caterpillar belt 173 is pushed. Press toward the processing tray 20 side. The timing at which the pressure elastic piece 192 presses the guide plate 18 is set from the following conditions. When the leading end of the sheet from the discharge port 13 enters between the guide plate 18 and the caterpillar belt 173, the pressure elastic piece 192 does not apply pressure at a position away from the guide plate 18. As a result, the sheet smoothly enters between the guide plate 18 and the caterpillar belt 173 (see FIG. 3a).

  Next, immediately before or after the rear end of the sheet is separated from the front end of the caterpillar belt 173, the pressure elastic piece 192 abuts against the guide plate 18 to push it down and apply pressure (see FIG. 3b). When a pressing force is applied immediately before separation, the trailing edge of the sheet reliably receives the conveying force of the caterpillar belt 173 and is conveyed onto the processing tray 20, and there is no possibility that the trailing edge of the sheet remains (remains) on the caterpillar belt 173. Further, if a pressure is applied immediately after separation, the curled sheet enters between the guide plate 18 and the caterpillar belt 173 when the rear end of the sheet carried out on the processing tray 20 is switched back and conveyed by the paddle piece 193. And is reliably guided between the processing tray 20 and the lower surface side of the caterpillar belt 173 (belt lower surface 173b in the drawing).

[Configurations of processing trays]
Next, each configuration of the processing tray 20 will be described. The processing tray 20 has the following configuration for temporarily stacking and supporting sheets carried out by the caterpillar belt 173 from the discharge port 13 and performing post-processing. First, the illustrated processing tray 20 supports the sheet from the sheet discharge outlet 13 by bridging with a stacking tray 30 described later. For this reason, the processing tray 20 is configured to be shorter than the length in the conveyance direction of the smallest size sheet to be carried out. The processing tray 20 is provided with a regulating member 21 that regulates the positioning of the trailing edge of the sheet in the conveyance direction. The restricting member 21 is configured by a stopper piece that protrudes from the processing tray 20. Therefore, the sheet conveyed onto the processing tray 20 is reversed in the conveying direction by the paddle piece 193 and switched back, and is sent until it hits the regulating member 21 on the belt lower surface 173b of the conveying belt and stops. On the processing tray 20, sheet pressing means 22 for pressing the trailing end portion of the sheet reaching the regulating member 21 is provided.

  The sheet pressing means 22 includes a plate-shaped pressing member 221 (hereinafter referred to as a weight plate) that contacts the upper surface of the sheet, and an arm member 222 that supports the weight plate 221. The weight plate 221 is swingably supported on the arm member 222 by the first support shaft 223 on the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction, and the arm member 222 is swingable by the support member 224 such as a frame by the second support shaft 225. It is supported. This is because when the sheets are sequentially stacked on the processing tray 20, the weight plate 221 swings around the first support shaft 223, and at the same time, the arm member 222 that supports the weight plate 221 supports the second support shaft 225. This is because a substantially uniform pressing force is applied to the sheets regardless of the stacking amount by swinging to the center.

  Therefore, the weight plate 221 and the arm member 222 preferably have the following conditions. The weight plate 221 is inclined with respect to the mounting surface of the processing tray 20 so that the upstream side is high and the downstream side (regulating member 21 side) is low. This is to make it easier for the front end of the sheet to enter the weight plate 221, and the sheet with the front end curled is corrected along the inclined surface of the weight plate 221. Further, the weight plate 221 shown in the figure has a tip portion that intersects the regulating member 21 as shown in FIG. The restricting member 21 protruding on the processing tray 20 is formed with a notch that is partially cut in the sheet width direction, and a part of the weight plate 221 is fitted into the notch to cross the two. . This is because no gap is formed between the regulating member 21 and the weight plate 221 for the curled tip to enter.

  Next, the arm member 222 supports the weight plate 221 with the first support shaft 223 so as to be swingable, and at the same time, the second support shaft so that the rotation fulcrum position moves up and down according to the sheet stacking amount. At 225, the device frame and other support members 224 are supported. The positional relationship between the first support shaft 223 and the second support shaft 225 is set as follows. A second support shaft 225 (hereinafter referred to as a second fulcrum) is disposed downstream of the first support shaft 223 (hereinafter referred to as a first fulcrum) in the sheet conveying direction. The second fulcrum 225 is set at a position lower than the maximum sheet height (maximum stacking amount). This is because, when the second fulcrum 225 is set at a position higher than the maximum load, the arm member 222 is pressed against the arm member 222 by the entering sheet and strongly presses the sheet in FIG. .

  Next, the first fulcrum 223 is arranged at a position higher than the second fulcrum 225 (upward in FIG. 8 a) with reference to the sheet placement surface of the processing tray 20. This is because the arm member 222 is applied with a counterclockwise rotational force in FIG. As described above, the weight plate 221 has the first, second, and second rotation fulcrums, and swings around the first fulcrum 223 when the sheet stacking amount on the processing tray 20 is small (T1 shown in FIG. 8b). When the loading amount is large (T2 shown in FIG. 8c), the first fulcrum position is moved around the second fulcrum 225. Therefore, the arm member 222 is provided with an upper limit stopper 226 for restricting the upper limit and a lower limit stopper 227 for restricting the lower limit. When the sheet stacking amount is equal to or less than a predetermined amount (T1 shown in FIG. 8B), the lower limit stopper 227 works. The upper limit stopper 226 prevents unnecessary rotation.

  Further, a movement regulating member 228 is provided between the weight plate 221 and the arm member 222, and when the weight plate 221 is pushed up by the sheet, the movement regulating member 228 pushes up the arm member 222. Accordingly, the weight plate 221 rotates counterclockwise about the first fulcrum 223 until the sheets are stacked on the processing tray 20 on the T1 line in the drawing, and presses the sequentially fed sheets. At this time, the arm member 222 is locked to the lower limit stopper 227 and maintains its posture. When the sheets are sequentially stacked and exceed the stacking amount T1, the movement restricting member 228 is pushed up by the sheet being brought into contact with the arm member 222. Then, the arm member 222 rotates in the clockwise direction in the drawing, and the first fulcrum 223 that is the support shaft of the weight plate 221 gradually moves upward. This swinging movement of the arm member 222 moves the position of the first fulcrum 223 in accordance with the sheets that are sequentially fed up to the maximum sheet stacking amount T2. As a result, the position of the weight plate 221 gradually moves upward on the processing tray 20 and moves the sheet up and down with substantially the same pressing force as if it moved up and down according to the paper level on the processing tray 20. 21 will be guided.

  Next, the structure of the processing tray 20 will be described. The processing tray 20 is provided with a regulating member 21 that regulates the trailing edge of the sheet that is switched back and conveyed. A side regulating member that regulates the side edge is provided. Although not shown, the side regulating member is configured by a flange wall protruding from the processing tray 20 on the front side in FIG. An alignment plate 231 that can reciprocate in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction is provided on the opposite side edge of the sheet.

  The aligning means 23 constituted by the aligning plate 231 positions the sheet placed on the tray with the aligning plate 231 on the side regulating member. Although not shown in the drawing, the well-aligning mechanism of the alignment plate 231 can employ various known structures. For example, an alignment plate having an L-shaped cross section is supported on the tray so as to reciprocate. Then, a wire suspended on a pair of pulleys is provided on the back surface (back side of the bottom surface) of the tray, and an alignment plate is fixed to a part of the wires, and one of the pulleys is connected to a drive motor capable of forward and reverse rotation. Then, the alignment plate attached to the wire moving in the sheet width direction can be reciprocated in the width direction by forward / reverse rotation control of the motor. The processing tray 20 is provided with the above-mentioned regulating member 21 at the rear end of the sheet and a side regulating member at one side edge, and a sheet positioned at these regulating members has a sheet binding, marking, punching or the like at a predetermined position of the sheet. A processing means 24 is provided.

  A guide groove (not shown) through which the pushing claw 251 moves is provided at the center of the processing tray 20 in the sheet width direction, and the pushing claw 251 moves the sheet positioned on the downstream regulating member 21 along the guide groove to the upstream side. It is transferred to the ejection port 29. For this reason, a belt member 254 is stretched between a pair of pulleys 252 and 253 provided on the back side of the processing tray 20, and an extrusion claw 251 is integrally fixed to the belt member 254. The pulley 252 is connected to a sheet pushing claw drive motor M2. Accordingly, the push-out claw 251 is wound around the processing tray 20 by the sheet push-out claw drive motor M2. Similar to the sheet pushing claw 251, the ejection port 29 is provided with ejection roller means 26 having the following structure.

  The eject roller means 26 includes an eject roller 261 that can be pressed against and separated from an eject port 29 of the processing tray 20 and an elevating support arm 262 that moves the roller member up and down. FIG. 5 shows the configuration, and a rotation shaft 263 is provided on the apparatus frame 50, and a bracket member 264 is swingably attached around the rotation shaft 263. A drive rotating shaft 265 is supported by a bearing on the bracket member 264, and the rotation of the rotating shaft 263 is transmitted by a transmission gear 266. A pair of elevating support arms 262 are pivotally supported on the drive rotating shaft 265, and an eject roller 261 is supported by a bearing at the tip thereof. A transmission belt 267 is bridged between a pulley formed integrally with the eject roller 261 and a pulley (not shown) provided on the drive rotating shaft 265.

  Accordingly, the pair of eject rollers 261 can swing around the drive rotation shaft 265, and at the same time, the rotation is transmitted to rotate in the clockwise direction (sheet discharge direction). Therefore, a balance arm 268 is provided between the pair of lift support arms 262, and the balance arm 268 is joined to the bracket member 264 at the center so as to swing left and right by a hinge coupling portion 269. On the left and right of the balance arm 268, a lifting support arm 262 is coupled, and this coupling is loosely fitted as shown. Therefore, when the eject roller 261 attached to the left and right lifting support arms 262 tilts against the sheet surface on the processing tray 20, the balance arm 268 tilts around the hinge coupling portion 269 by the force, and the bracket member The roller pressing force acting on H.264 is equally transmitted to the left and right eject rollers 261.

[Stacking tray]
The structure of the stacking tray 30 disposed on the downstream side of the processing tray 20 will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, the stacking tray 30 is attached to the apparatus frame 31 so as to be movable up and down. A guide rail 32 is provided in the apparatus frame 31 along the sheet stacking direction, and rollers 33 and 34 fitted to the guide rail 32 are attached to a fixing member 35 of the stacking tray 30.

  Therefore, the stacking tray 30 is supported so as to be movable up and down along the guide rail 32 by the rollers 33 and 34 integrated therewith. The apparatus frame 31 is provided with a pair of upper and lower pulleys 36 and 37 and an elevating belt 38 spanned between the pulleys 36 and 37, and a fixing member 35 is fixed to a part of the elevating belt 38. A lifting motor M3 is connected to one of the pulleys 36 and 37 by a transmission gear 39, and the stacking tray 30 is driven up and down in the illustrated vertical direction by driving the lifting motor M3.

  On the other hand, an upper limit sensor (not shown) is mounted above the stacking tray 30, and the lifting motor M3 gradually moves according to the stacking amount of sheets so that the uppermost sheet on the stacking tray 30 is positioned at the upper limit sensor position. The stacking tray 30 is lowered, and when the sheets on the stacking tray 30 are taken out, the upper surface of the tray is raised to the upper limit sensor position. In the present invention, the stacking tray 30 may be fixedly attached to the apparatus frame 31 without moving up and down as shown.

[Conveyance drive system]
Next, the conveyance drive mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. Sheets from the image forming apparatus are accumulated on the processing tray 20 by the conveying roller 14 in the paper discharge path 11, the belt transfer unit 17, and the pressurizing unit (paddle) 19, and after the post processing, the sheet extruding unit 25 from the processing tray 20. And the eject roller means 26 are stacked on the stacking tray 30. These conveying means are driven by a conveyance driving motor M1 and a sheet pushing claw driving motor M2, respectively. The conveyance drive motor M1 rotates in one direction, and the rotation shaft 51 of the conveyance roller 14, the rotation shaft 52 of the caterpillar belt 17, and the rotation shaft 53 of the eject roller 261 arranged in the paper discharge path 11 are always rotated in one direction. To drive.

  Therefore, the conveyance drive motor M1 rotates the intermediate rotation shaft 54 via the transmission belt V1 and the transmission gear G1, and this intermediate rotation shaft 54 is connected to the rotation shaft 52 of the caterpillar belt 17 and the rotation shaft 53 of the eject roller 261. Drive is transmitted by V2 and V3. The rotation of the rotation shaft 52 of the caterpillar belt 17 is transmitted to the rotation shaft 51 of the transport roller 14 by the transmission gear G2. As a result, the conveying roller 14, the caterpillar belt 17 and the eject roller 261 rotate in the sheet conveying direction at a speed set by the transmission belt and the transmission gear, respectively. The conveyance drive motor M1 is transmitted from the intermediate rotation shaft 54 to the rotation shaft 191 of the pressurizing means 19. The illustrated transmission gears G3 and G4 are connected as follows, and the transmission gear G3 rotates at a predetermined timing. It is transmitted to the transmission gear G4.

  The transmission gear G4 is constituted by a toothless gear and includes a notch portion to which the rotation of the transmission gear G3 is not transmitted. The transmission gear G4 is provided with a biasing spring in a direction to mesh with the transmission gear G3, and is held in a non-engagement position with the transmission gear G3 by a solenoid SL1. That is, the transmission gear G3 and the transmission gear G4 are held and locked at the non-engagement position by the solenoid SL1, and when the lock is released by the solenoid SL1, the transmission gear G4 moves to a position where it is engaged with the transmission gear G3 by the force of the urging spring. Then, after meshing with the transmission gear G3, the transmission gear G4 makes one rotation, and then the engagement is disengaged at the missing portion (toothed portion) and held at the non-engaged position by the claw of the solenoid SL1.

  Therefore, the transmission gear G4 transmits the rotation of the transmission gear G3 to the rotating shaft 191 of the pressurizing means 19 only by one rotation by the action of the solenoid SL1. The solenoid SL1 guides the pressure elastic piece 193 immediately before the trailing edge of the sheet reaches the processing tray 20 from the caterpillar belt 17 based on a signal detected by the inlet sensor 15 of the sheet discharge path 11. The plate 18 is pressed, and the paddle piece 192 is set at a timing to engage with the sheet rear end after the sheet rear end reaches the processing tray 20. The rotation of the transmission belt V2 transmits the rotational force to the lifting support arm 262 of the ejection roller 261 as follows when the ejection roller 261 is moved up and down. The rotary shaft 56 rotated by the transmission belt V2 is connected by transmission gears G6 and G7. The transmission gear G7 is constituted by a toothless gear, and the toothless gear G7 is a biasing spring (like the transmission gear G4 described above). (Not shown) and a solenoid SL2.

  Then, the rotation of the rotary shaft 56 is transmitted to the rotary shaft 57 only once at a predetermined timing by the action of the solenoid SL2. One rotation of the rotary shaft 57 is transmitted to the lift support arm 262 that supports the eject roller 261 via the cam 58. The cam 58 moves up and down a lifting support arm 262 supported by the rotary shaft 53 between a retracted position, a standby position, and an operating position shown in FIG. Although the shape of the cam 58 is not shown, it is constituted by, for example, an eccentric cam, and the cam follower is constituted by a slide lever and is slid up and down. The slide lever is engaged with the lifting support arm 262. Then, the rotation of the drive motor M1 is transmitted from the cam 58 to the lift support arm 262, and the eject roller 261 is lowered from the retracted position by a predetermined amount. When the motor is stopped there, the lift support arm 262 is stopped and held at the standby position, and again the drive motor. When M1 is driven to rotate, the lifting support arm 262 moves the eject roller 261 to an operating position in contact with the sheet.

  In the above configuration, the rotation of the driving motor M1 rotates the conveying roller 14 and the caterpillar belt 17 and conveys the sheet from the paper discharge path 11 onto the processing tray 20. On the other hand, an instruction signal for post-processing the sheet on the processing tray 20 is obtained from the control means, and the solenoid SL2 is unlocked to the disengaged state. Then, the sector gear G7 rotates following the rotation of the drive motor M1, and rotates the cam 58. As the cam 58 rotates, the lift support arm 262 of the eject roller 261 gradually descends from the retracted position. The drive motor M1 is stopped at a timing when the drive motor M1 is rotated by a predetermined amount from the unlocking operation of the solenoid SL2.

  Then, the lifting support arm 262 stops the eject roller 261 at the standby position shown in FIG. In this way, the eject roller 261 is stopped between the retracted position and the operating position, and is put on standby when a user's fingers or foreign matters enter the sheet on the processing tray 20 from outside when performing post-processing such as stapling. This is to block noise generated by the stapling operation.

  Next, upon receiving an operation end signal from the post-processing device, the control means starts the drive motor M1 again. As the drive motor M1 is driven, the lifting support arm 262 positions the eject roller 261 in the operating position in contact with the sheet. In the illustrated example, the abutment between the eject roller means 26 and the sheet applies a pressing force by the weight of the eject roller means 26. The operation timing of the lifting support arm 262 will be described later. In addition, CL shown in the figure is a one-way clutch, which is provided between the rotary shaft 53 and a gear G8 that transmits the drive of the transmission belt V3, and the lifting support arm 262 that supports the eject roller 261 rotates around the rotary shaft 53. To do. This is because the user manually rotates the eject roller 261 when a trouble such as a paper jam occurs while the eject roller 261 is carrying out the sheet.

  Next, the sheet push-out means 25 is driven as follows by a sheet push-out claw drive motor M2 capable of forward and reverse rotation. In the sheet pushing means 25, an extrusion claw 251 is integrally connected to a belt member 254 spanned between a pair of pulleys, and the extrusion claw 251 reciprocates along the processing tray 20. A sheet pushing claw drive motor M2 is connected to the one pulley 252.

  The configuration characteristic of the illustrated embodiment described above will be described in detail. First, the sheet tray means 25 and the eject roller means 26 are arranged on the processing tray 20. The positional relationship will be described with reference to FIG. The distance (L1 in the drawing) between the regulating member 21 on the processing tray 20 and the eject roller 261 is set to a position shorter than the length in the conveyance direction of the smallest size sheet. Also, the extrusion claw conveyance length (L2 in the drawing) is set to satisfy the relationship of L2 ≧ L1 so that the extrusion claw 251 of the sheet pushing means 25 is engaged with the sheet from the regulating member 21 on the processing tray 20 to the ejection roller 261 and pushed out. It is. The movement stroke (L3 in the drawing) of the push-out claw 251 is L3> L2 ≧ L1.

  Next, the characteristic feature is the pressurizing means 19 provided in the belt transfer means 17 described above, and details are shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b. As shown in FIG. 3A, the guide portion 182 of the guide plate 18 whose base end portion is swingably supported is in contact with the sheet by its own weight on the belt upper surface 173a of the caterpillar belt 173. In this state, the sheet carried out from the paper discharge port 13 is nipped between the pinch roller 177 and the caterpillar belt 173 and sent to the left side of the figure. At this time, the guide plate 18 prevents curling when the sheet guided to the belt upper surface 173a is a thin paper sheet and prevents the sheet leading edge from rising above the belt upper surface 173a. In the case of a cardboard sheet, the guide plate 18 is pushed up at the leading end of the sheet to facilitate its passage.

  In such a configuration, the guide plate 18 is strongly pressed against the upper surface 173a of the caterpillar belt 173 by the pressing means 19 in the state shown in FIG. In the pressing means 19, a pressing elastic piece 192 provided on the paddle rotation shaft 191 presses the tip 181 of the guide plate 18 by elastic deformation. Then, the sheet receives a strong conveying force from the caterpillar belt 173 and is surely carried out onto the processing tray 20, and at the same time, even if the leading edge is curled when the sheet is reversed and conveyed by the paddle piece 193 (the right side in the figure), the belt upper surface 173a. And the guide plate 18 are prevented from entering. Further, when the leading end of the sheet is carried between the belt lower surface 173b and the sheets stacked on the processing tray 20, the caterpillar belt 173 is pressed by the pressure unit 19 and receives a strong conveying force.

  Next, the characteristic feature is a sheet pressing means 22 for guiding a sheet that is abutted and conveyed against the regulating member 21 on the processing tray 20, and this is shown in FIGS. 8a, 8b, and 8c. When the number of sheets stacked on the processing tray 20 is small, the sheet pressing means 22 having the above-described structure swings counterclockwise by the sheet entering around the first fulcrum 223 as shown in FIG. 8a. The sheet is guided to the regulating member 21 while pressing the sheet. At this time, the arm member 222 maintains its position (posture) by the lower limit stopper 227. Therefore, even a sheet with a curled rear end can be reliably abutted against the regulating member 21 and regulated.

  When a predetermined amount or more of sheets are stacked on the processing tray 20, the movement pressing member 22 is engaged with the arm member 222 in the sheet pressing unit 22 as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 8c, the sheet pressing means 22 swings in the clockwise direction in the figure integrally with the arm member 222 around the second fulcrum 225 by the entering sheet, and the first fulcrum 223 also moves upward. Therefore, even if the amount of stacked sheets changes, the sheet pressing means 22 guides the sheets with substantially the same state (posture) and pressing force.

  Further, the illustrated embodiment has an operation mode configuration characterized as follows. As shown in FIG. 11, a sheet (sheet 1 in the drawing) stacked on the processing tray 20 in advance and a subsequent sheet (sheet 2 in the drawing) carried out from the sheet discharge outlet 13 are simultaneously carried out by the eject roller means 26 and the pushing claw 251. In this case, the rear end S21 of the succeeding sheet (sheet 2) and the rear end S11 of the preceding sheet are offset by α in the figure, and the trailing end S21 of the succeeding sheet (sheet 2) is offset from the trailing end S11 of the preceding sheet (sheet 1). The start timing of the eject roller means 26 and the pushing claw 251 is set so as to precede. The offset amount (α in the figure) formed before and after the conveyance direction is expressed by the relationship between the position (β in the figure) between the position where the front end of the sheet first contacts when entering the accumulation tray 30 and the rear end of the accumulated sheet (β in the figure). > Α is set.

  This is to prevent the offset sheet from being pushed out of the tray at the leading edge of the succeeding sheet when the offset amount is set to be large beyond the contact point where the sheet leading edge enters the stacking tray 30. As described above, the trailing edge S21 of the preceding sheet and the trailing edge S21 of the succeeding sheet are offset by a predetermined amount in the front and rear directions in the conveyance direction, so that the trailing edge S21 of the succeeding sheet is not damaged by the pushing claw 251.

  Next, each operation mode will be described. The above-described apparatus has operation modes of “paper binding and stamping processing operation” and “jog sorting operation”, which will be sequentially described below.

[Processing operations such as paper binding and stamping]
A series of sheets carried out from the image forming apparatus are sequentially stacked on the processing tray 20 in order of pages from the sheet discharge outlet 13 and aligned, and in this state, post-processing such as stapling is performed on the trailing edge of the sheet. The processed sheet bundle is stored in the stacking tray 30 by the eject roller means 26. The operation is shown in FIGS. 12a to 12n.

  FIG. 12a shows a state in which the preceding sheets are placed on the processing tray 20 in a bundle shape. Therefore, a sheet carry-out signal is obtained from the image forming apparatus, and the conveyance drive motor M1 is driven to rotate the conveyance roller 14. When the leading edge of the sheet is detected by the inlet sensor 15, the control CPU operates the solenoid SL2 to rotate the cam 58. The eject roller means 26 is moved from the operating position shown in FIG. 12a to the retracted position shown in FIG. 12b by the action of the cam 58 and held in this state. Next, the sheet continues to move between the caterpillar belt 173 and the pinch roller 177 in the state shown in FIG. When the leading end of the sheet reaches a predetermined position of the caterpillar belt 173, the solenoid SL1 is operated to start the rotation of the pressure elastic piece 192. The operation timing of the solenoid SL1 is set by a timer from the signal that the entrance sensor 15 detects the leading edge of the sheet.

  Simultaneously with the rotation of the pressure elastic piece 192, the paddle piece 193 presses the tip 181 of the guide plate 18 in the state shown in FIG. 12d, and gradually pushes the guide plate 18 against the belt upper surface 173a. Immediately before the rear end of the seat is detached from the caterpillar belt 173, the pressure elastic piece 192 presses the guide plate 18 in the state shown in FIG. As a result, the trailing edge of the sheet is vigorously carried out from the caterpillar belt 173 and reliably reaches the processing tray 20 even if it is a cardboard sheet.

  Thus, the sheet that has reached the processing tray 20 is conveyed in the reverse direction to the state shown in FIG. 12f by the paddle piece 193, and then switched back toward the regulating member 21 at the belt lower surface 173b as shown in FIG. 12g. Transport. When the trailing end of the sheet is abutted against the regulating member 21 in the state of FIG. 12h, the sheet width direction is aligned by the aligning means 23. The operations shown in FIGS. 12a to 12h are repeated so that a predetermined amount of sheets are stacked on the processing tray 20.

  Next, after a predetermined amount of sheets are stacked on the processing tray 20 as described above, a post-processing instruction signal is received from the image forming apparatus, and a post-processing operation (a stapling operation in the drawing) is executed. When a predetermined number of sheets are stacked on the processing tray 20 and a stapling instruction signal is output, the eject roller means 26 is first brought close to the processing tray 20, and the stapler is turned on by turning on the power to the stapler by this proximity. (State of FIG. 12i). After the execution of this post-processing operation, the processed sheet is carried out from the processing tray 20 to the stacking tray 30. In this operation, the sheet pushing claw driving motor M2 is driven to move the pushing claw 251 to a position where it is engaged with the rear end of the sheet as shown in FIG. 12j. At this time, the eject roller means 26 is placed at a position away from the sheet.

  Next, in a state where the sheet is slightly moved by the pushing claw 251 (the illustrated one is about 5 mm), the pushing claw 251 and the eject roller 261 simultaneously convey the sheet bundle toward the stacking tray 30 at the same speed as shown in FIG. . The reason why the sheet is carried out by the push-out pawl 251 before the eject roller 261 is to prevent the sheet bundle from being broken when the eject roller 261 contacts the sheet first. In this way, the sheet bundle is discharged to the stacking tray 30 (see FIG. 12l). After such an operation, as shown in FIG. 12m, the pushing claw 251 reverses the sheet pushing claw drive motor M2 to return to the home position and prepares for the next sheet carry-out. In the course of the return of the push-out pawl 251, control is performed so that the subsequent sheet starts to be fed as shown in FIG.

[Jog sorting operation]
A series of sheets carried out from the image forming apparatus are sorted and stored in the stacking tray 30 and aligned. Therefore, the processing tray 20 is provided with a shift mechanism that shifts the sheet by a predetermined amount in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, and is controlled as follows. The sheets from the image forming apparatus are sequentially carried out by the operation described with reference to FIGS. 12a to 12h. A jog operation for aligning and sorting sheets will be described with reference to FIGS. 13a to 13h.

  FIG. 13 a shows a state where the leading edge of the sheet is conveyed from the carry-in entrance 12 to the caterpillar belt 173 by the conveyance roller 14. FIG. 13 b shows the start timing of the operation in which the preceding sheet bundle is discharged to the stacking tray 30 by the sheet extruding means 25 (extrusion claw 251). The trailing edge of the succeeding sheet is positioned at the sheet discharge port 13, and the trailing edge of the succeeding sheet precedes at an interval of α = 5 mm in the state where the pushing claw 251 is engaged with the trailing edge of the preceding sheet bundle. At this time, the preceding sheet bundle is moved in the width direction by a predetermined amount on the processing tray 20 by the aligning means 23. Further, when the succeeding sheet is carried out by the caterpillar belt 173, the paddle piece 193 is held at the initial position and placed in an inoperative state.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 13c, the eject roller 261 is lowered to the lowest position when the pushing claw 251 moves 5 mm in the discharging direction, and the subsequent sheet and the sheet bundle are stacked and discharged. At this time, the pinch roller 41 is in a position where it is not released until the eject roller 261 nips the succeeding sheet. FIG. 13D shows a state in which the trailing edge of the preceding sheet bundle and the trailing edge of the succeeding sheet overlap on the processing tray 20. As is apparent from the drawing, the trailing edge of the succeeding sheet precedes the trailing edge of the preceding sheet by a predetermined amount (α), and a predetermined interval is formed between the trailing edge of the succeeding sheet and the pushing claw 251 in this state. The sheet bundle is discharged onto the stacking tray 30 by the claw member 251 and the eject roller 261 in a state where the trailing edge of the succeeding sheet is advanced in the discharging direction by a predetermined amount (α) from the trailing edge of the sheet bundle.

  FIG. 13e shows a state in which the succeeding sheet is discharged by the pushing claw 251 and the eject roller 261 in a posture shifted by a predetermined amount (α). At this time, the pushing claw 251 passes the side of the eject roller 261. FIG. 13f shows a state in which the pushing claw 251 on the side of the eject roller 261 passes and the subsequent sheet is overlaid and discharged by the sheet bundle. FIG. 13 g shows a state in which the overlapping preceding sheet and succeeding sheet are stored in the stacking tray 30. At this time, subsequent sheets are sequentially discharged from the sheet discharge outlet 13. In the illustrated example, the leading edge of the succeeding sheet is sent to the caterpillar belt 173, and this sheet is fed to the eject roller means 26 by the caterpillar belt 173. When the sheet bundle push-out pawl 251 is positioned (withdrawn) upstream of the caterpillar belt 173 in the discharge direction, the next succeeding sheet (n−1) is continuously conveyed and discharged to the stacking tray 30 by the eject roller 261. On the other hand, the push-out claw 251 returns to the home position and waits until the third copy sheet is sent.

  FIG. 13 h shows a state in which the leading edge of the succeeding sheet is fed onto the stacking tray 30. As shown in the figure, the succeeding sheet is engaged with the sheet on the stacking tray 30 at the X position shown in FIG. 11, and this X position is determined by the interval between the ejection port 29 and the stacking tray 30 and the inclination angle of the tray. The aforementioned offset interval (α) is set to be smaller than β shown in FIG. When all the succeeding sheet groups are discharged and there is a third sheet division, the operation returns to the operation described with reference to FIG. 12B, and when the entrance sensor 15 detects the carry-in of the sheet, the eject roller means 26 moves to the retracted position. . If there is no division after the third copy, the operation is terminated.

1 is an overall cross-sectional view of a post-processing apparatus according to the present invention. The top view which shows the principal part structure of the apparatus of FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between a belt conveyance means and a pressurization means (state in which the pressurizing force is not provided). Explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between a belt transfer means and a pressurization means (state in which the applied pressure is given). The block diagram of the conveyance drive mechanism of the apparatus of FIG. The perspective view which shows the structure of an eject roller. The perspective view which shows the structure of a pressurizing means. The perspective view which shows the structure of a sheet | seat press means. The block diagram which shows the positional relationship of the 1st fulcrum of a sheet | seat press means, and a 2nd fulcrum (state without a sheet | seat). The block diagram which shows the positional relationship of the 1st fulcrum of a sheet | seat press means, and a 2nd fulcrum (state with few sheet | seat stacking amounts). The block diagram which shows the positional relationship of the 1st fulcrum of a sheet | seat press means, and a 2nd fulcrum (state with much sheet | seat stacking amount). Explanatory drawing which shows the structure of a stacking tray. Explanatory drawing which showed the operation | movement relationship between an eject roller and an extrusion nail | claw. Explanatory drawing which showed the positional relationship of a preceding sheet and a succeeding sheet. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of “processing operation such as paper binding and sealing” of the post-processing apparatus. The operation explanation flow of the “jog sorting operation” of the post-processing device. The operation explanation flow of the “jog sorting operation” of the post-processing device. The operation explanation flow of the “jog sorting operation” of the post-processing device. The operation explanation flow of the “jog sorting operation” of the post-processing device. The operation explanation flow of the “jog sorting operation” of the post-processing device. The operation explanation flow of the “jog sorting operation” of the post-processing device. The operation explanation flow of the “jog sorting operation” of the post-processing device. The operation explanation flow of the “jog sorting operation” of the post-processing device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Post-processing apparatus 11 Paper discharge path 13 Paper discharge port 15 Inlet sensor 17 Belt transfer means 18 Guide plate 19 Pressure means (192 pressure elastic piece)
20 Processing tray 22 Sheet pressing means 23 Alignment means 24 Post-processing means 25 Sheet pushing means 26 Eject roller means 29 Eject port 30 Stack tray 173 Conveyor belt (caterpillar belt)
176 Arm member
177 Pinch roller 193 Paddle piece 221 Weight plate 222 Arm member 223 First support shaft (first support point)
225 Second pivot (second fulcrum)
231 Alignment plate 251 Extrusion claw 261 Eject roller 262 Lifting support arm M1 Conveyance drive motor M2 Sheet extrusion claw drive motor

Claims (6)

A processing tray for temporarily loading sheets that are sequentially carried out;
Post-processing means for performing post-processing such as binding processing on the sheet on the processing tray;
A stacking tray that is disposed downstream of the processing tray and stores processed sheets;
Roller conveying means disposed at a sheet carry-out end of the processing tray and movable between an operating position engaging with a sheet on the processing tray and a retracted position spaced apart;
A sheet extruding means that is movably disposed along the processing tray and engages with a trailing edge of the sheet to extrude and convey the sheet;
The sheet pushing means includes a belt member stretched between a pair of pulleys, and a claw-like projection member provided on the belt member and engaged with a rear end edge of the sheet. Arranged movably along the processing tray from a reference position to the sheet carry-out end,
It said roller conveyor means, the pinch roller mounted rotatably on the rotation shaft of the pulley located on the sheet trailing end reference is located a short position than the length of the minimum size sheet from the position Rutotomoni sheet take-out side on the processing tray It is configured so that it can be pressed and separated .
A sheet post-processing apparatus, wherein a sheet bundle is carried out from a reference position on the processing tray to the stacking tray in cooperation with the roller conveying unit and the sheet pushing unit. Each of the roller conveying unit and the sheet pushing unit includes a driving unit, and after the sheet bundle is transferred by a predetermined amount from the reference position on the processing tray by the sheet pushing unit, the roller conveying unit applies a conveying force to the sheet bundle. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is applied to the stacking tray. The sheet extruding means includes at least two claw-like projecting members arranged at intervals in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction,
Wherein the sheet discharge side are arranged two pinch rollers, the roller conveying means A sheet according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it consists of two drive rollers which engage with said pinch roller Post-processing device. The two drive rollers constituting the roller conveying means are supported by a bracket member attached to a drive rotation shaft, and the bracket member can swing in the sheet width direction so that the drive roller is substantially uniform on the sheet on the processing tray. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is brought into contact with a pressing force. The roller conveying means is configured to be movable between a retracted position separated from the sheet on the processing tray, a standby position approaching the sheet, and an operating position pressed against the sheet,
The roller conveying means is located at a retracted position when carrying the sheet into the processing tray, and is located at a standby position when post-processing the sheet on the processing tray, and carries the sheet from the processing tray to the stacking tray. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is located at an operating position. The sheet pushing means is configured to reciprocate along the processing tray between an upstream start point of the sheet rear end reference position and an end point downstream of the carry-out end where the roller conveying means is located. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is provided.

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