JP2007084301A - Paper post-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

A paper post-processing apparatus capable of stapling any type of paper at the same angle is provided.
The vicinity of the center of the sheet is moved horizontally with the edge of the sheet, and is rotated by an angle of less than 45 degrees at a predetermined position moved from the vicinity of the center. After advancing the moving distance according to the paper width, stapling is performed at that position.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing of paper discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a multifunction peripheral.

In recent years, in an image forming apparatus, in order to perform post-processing of paper such as sorting or stapling of paper after image formation, the paper post-processing device is adjacent to the paper discharge unit of the image forming apparatus main body. There is something to provide. In such a sheet post-processing apparatus, there is a sheet post-processing apparatus that can perform stapling processing according to a user setting in order to bundle sheets on which images are formed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP-A-10-279160

  There are various sizes of sheets on which images are formed, and the stapling angle is not constant during the stapling process due to the relationship of the movable area of the stapler. For this reason, it is inconvenient in organizing the sheet bundle after the stapling process.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus capable of stapling at the same angle for any type of sheet.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a sheet post-processing apparatus including a stapler that receives a sheet of an image formed by an image forming apparatus and performs a stapling process, and the stapler starts from a vicinity of the center of the sheet width dimension. It is controlled to move outward in the paper width by a predetermined distance horizontally with the front edge of the paper, then rotate at an angle of less than 45 degrees, further move outward in the paper width, and staple at a desired position. A sheet post-processing apparatus is provided.

  According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a sheet post-processing apparatus, wherein the angle less than 45 degrees is 30 degrees.

  According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a paper post-processing apparatus, wherein the predetermined distance to move horizontally is ¼ to ３ of the width dimension of the paper. The

  According to the present invention, any type of paper can be stapled at the same angle, so that the throughput of paper post-processing can be increased.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of a paper post-processing apparatus 7 in which a stapler according to an embodiment of the present invention is incorporated. FIG. 2 shows the paper post-processing apparatus 7 arranged adjacent to an image forming apparatus 5 such as a copying machine. It is a schematic block diagram.

  The sheet post-processing device 7 basically includes a standby tray 10, a processing tray 12, a stapler 14, a first discharge tray 16, and a second discharge tray 18.

    A sheet P formed by an image forming apparatus 5 such as a copying machine and discharged from a pair of paper discharge rollers 6 is received by a pair of entrance rollers 22 and supplied to a pair of paper feed rollers 24 for supply. It is sent from the paper roller 24 to the standby tray 10. The entrance roller 22 is driven by an entrance roller motor 26. A paper path ceiling 36 for guiding the paper P to the paper feed roller 24 is provided between the entrance roller 22 and the standby tray 10. The entrance roller 22 includes an upper entrance roller 22a and a lower entrance roller 22b. The paper feed roller 24 also includes an upper paper feed roller and a lower paper feed roller.

    Below the standby tray 10 is disposed a processing tray 12 on which the sheets P dropped from the standby tray 10 are stacked.

    The processing tray 12 aligns and supports the stacked paper P while the paper P is stapled by the stapler 14 which is a processing mechanism that performs post-processing.

    As shown in FIG. 3, the stapler 14 receives a control signal from a control unit (not shown) provided in the sheet post-processing apparatus, is positioned by the staple driving unit 49, and the staple process is controlled.

  From the image forming apparatus, information about the sheet P on which an image is formed is sent to the control unit of the sheet post-processing apparatus. From the home position, the stapler 14 first changes its position so as to be parallel to the front end of the paper P (the front end in the paper transport direction X), and moves to the vicinity of the center of the paper width dimension. Next, the stapler 14 moves in the outward direction of the paper width horizontally with the front edge of the paper P by a predetermined distance from the vicinity of the center of the paper width. This is to shorten the processing time by horizontally moving. Therefore, the predetermined distance is preferably set to, for example, ¼ to ３ of the width dimension of the paper P.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the stapler 14 that has moved from the vicinity of the center of the sheet width to a predetermined position rotates at an angle of less than 45 degrees, for example, 30 degrees at the predetermined position, and further moves outward in the sheet width. After advancing by a moving distance according to the paper width, stapling is performed at a desired position A1 or A2. Therefore, even if the paper sizes are different, the staple is processed at the same angle. Here, the desired position is, for example, a position set by an operator using an operation unit provided in the image forming apparatus. If there is no setting of the designated position by the operator, appropriate position information for each paper size prepared in advance may be the desired position.

  The processing tray 12 has a pair of upper and lower upper alignment rollers 38a and a lower vertical alignment roller 38b shown in FIG. 6 for aligning a plurality of sheets P dropped and supplied from the standby tray 10 in the vertical direction as the transport direction. The vertical and vertical alignment rollers 38 a and 38 b also serve as a bundle conveying roller that sandwiches the sheet bundle T after the stapling process and picks it up from the stapler 14. The upper vertical alignment roller 38a is driven by a vertical alignment upper roller motor 40, and the lower vertical alignment roller 38b is driven by a vertical alignment lower roller motor 42.

    Further, at the position where the trailing edge of the paper P falls when the paper P is dropped and supplied to the processing tray 12, it can be rotated to align the uppermost paper P placed on the processing tray 12 in the vertical direction. A paddle 44 is disposed. As shown in FIG. 6, the paddle 44 aligns the receiving portion 44 a of the paper P that is dropped and supplied onto the processing tray 12, the punching portion 44 b that scrapes off the paper P on the processing tray 12, and the paper P on the processing tray 12. It has a feed portion 44 c and is driven by a paddle motor 46. The paddle 44 is made of a rubber material and has elasticity.

    A stopper 45 is provided at the end of the processing tray 12 on the side of the stapler 14 to abut the rear end of the paper P and regulate the rear end position. Near the center of the processing tray 12, there is a conveying belt 50 that carries the stapled and the sheet bundle T taken out from the stapler 14 by the vertical and vertical alignment rollers 38a and 38b to the first or second discharge trays 16 and 18. Provided. A feed claw 50 a that hooks the rear end of the sheet bundle T is attached to the transport belt 50.

    As shown in FIG. 2, the standby tray 10 can supply the paper P to the processing tray 12 while being transported in the direction of the first or second paper discharge tray 16 or 18. The conveyance of the paper P in the direction of the paper discharge trays 16 and 18 is performed by bringing the standby tray roller 28 that aligns the paper P into contact with the paper P on the standby tray 10. The standby tray roller 28 is controlled to move up and down by a standby tray roller drive source 30.

    The standby tray 10 is disposed so as to have an inclination angle θ1 in order to support the paper P in a state where the leading edge of the paper P is higher than the rear end. The first or second paper discharge tray 16 or 18 is lifted or lowered by the paper discharge tray driving unit 52 to select either one. The first or second paper discharge trays 16 and 18 are raised and lowered to substantially the same height as the standby tray 10 or the processing tray 12 when the paper P is stacked to improve the consistency of the paper P to be discharged. The first or second paper discharge trays 16 and 18 are arranged at an inclination angle θ2 to support the paper P with the leading edge of the paper P being higher than the trailing edge.

  During the period from the standby tray 10 to the processing tray 12, when the paper P on the standby tray 10 is dropped and supplied to the processing tray 12, the paper P is prevented from being disturbed in the lateral direction perpendicular to the transport direction. Lateral alignment plates 47a and 47b shown in FIG. The lateral alignment plates 47a and 47b are formed to be slidable so as to be adjusted to the width of the paper P by the lateral alignment motor 48.

    Next, the operation will be described. When an image is formed by the image forming apparatus 5 and the paper P is supplied from the paper discharge roller 6, the paper post-processing device 7 performs the post-processing when the paper P is post-processed or not. Different operations are performed depending on whether the process is being executed or the post-processing is finished.

    When the post-processing is not performed, for example, the first paper discharge tray 16 is slid to the position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 2, and the paper P discharged from the standby tray 10 can be stacked with good consistency. When no post-processing is performed, the paper P conveyed from the entrance roller 22 to the paper feed roller 24 through the paper path ceiling 36 is fed to the standby tray 10 by the paper feed roller 24. Next, the paper P is transported by the standby tray roller 28 that is lowered onto the standby tray 10 and rotated in the direction of the arrow f, and is discharged onto the first paper discharge tray 16.

    In this way, the sheets are sequentially stacked on the first paper discharge tray 16. Since the first paper discharge tray 16 is arranged so that the inclination angle is θ2, and the leading edge of the sheet is higher than the trailing edge, for example, the sheet P is curled in a mountain as shown by the dotted line in FIG. Even if the paper is discharged onto the first paper discharge tray 16 in the state, the paper P placed on the first paper discharge tray 16 in advance is pushed out by contact with the leading edge of the subsequent paper P. There is no. That is, the discharged paper P is sequentially placed on the first paper discharge tray 16 without being out of order. Even if the preceding paper P is pushed by the succeeding paper P and is slightly misaligned, the paper P falls by its own weight on the first paper discharge tray 16 due to the inclination angle θ2. Thus, the rear ends are aligned and stacked, and the paper P discharge processing is completed.

    Next, a case where a stapling process as a post-process is performed and there is no sheet P on which the stapling process is being executed prior to the processing tray 20 will be described.

  In this case, the standby tray 10 drops and supplies the paper P onto the processing tray 12. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the horizontal alignment plates 47a and 47b are arranged so that the width between the horizontal alignment plates 47a and 47b is substantially the same as that of the paper P in order to align the horizontal direction of the paper P to be dropped. . As a result, the paper P fed by the paper feed roller 24 is dropped and supplied onto the processing tray 12 via the standby tray 10.

    At the time of dropping, the upper vertical alignment roller 38a is retracted upward, and the receiving portion 44a of the paddle 44 receives the rear end of the paper P. Both sides of the paper P fall while contacting the horizontal alignment plates 47a and 47b, and are aligned in the horizontal direction. Next, the paddle 44 rotates in the direction of the arrow o, the trailing edge of the paper P is dropped from the receiving portion 44a, and is knocked onto the processing tray 12 by the knocking portion 44b. Further, the paddle 44 feeds the paper P in the direction of the arrow q by the feeding portion 44c, and the rear end of the paper P is brought into contact with the stopper 45 to complete the vertical alignment of the paper P. The vertical alignment of the paper P on the processing tray 12 may be performed by the upper vertical alignment roller 38a by moving the upper vertical alignment roller 38a up and down each time.

    In this way, the paper P on which the image has been formed is stacked on the processing tray 12 from the paper feed roller 24 via the standby tray 10 while being sequentially aligned in the horizontal and vertical directions. When the number of sheets P reaches a predetermined number, the stapler 14 first moves from the home position so as to be parallel to the front end of the sheet P (with respect to the end in the sheet conveyance direction), and moves to the vicinity of the center of the sheet width dimension. . Next, the stapler 14 moves in the outward direction of the paper width horizontally from the front edge of the paper P by a distance of ¼ to ３ of the width dimension of the paper P from near the center of the paper width. As shown in FIG. 4, the stapler 14 that has moved from the vicinity of the center of the sheet width to a predetermined position rotates at an angle of less than 45 degrees, for example, 30 degrees at the predetermined position, and further moves outward in the sheet width. After advancing the moving distance according to the paper width, the paper P on the processing tray 12 is stapled at a desired position to form a paper bundle T.

  Thereafter, the upper vertical alignment roller 38a is lowered onto the sheet bundle, and the sheet bundle T is sandwiched between the upper vertical alignment roller 38a rotating in the direction of arrow r and the lower vertical alignment roller 38b rotating in the direction of arrow s. The sheet is conveyed in the direction of the paper discharge tray 16.

  When the rear end of the sheet bundle T passes through the vertical and vertical alignment rollers 38 a and 38 b, the sheet bundle T is caught on the feeding claw 50 a of the conveyance belt 50 rotated in the direction of the arrow t and bundled on the first paper discharge tray 16.

    At this time, the first paper discharge tray 16 is slid from the position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 2 to the position indicated by the solid line. The first paper discharge tray 16 is arranged so that the inclination angle is θ2, and the front end of the paper is higher than the rear end, so that the paper bundled on the first paper output tray 16 in advance is bundled. P is not pushed out by contact with the leading end of the subsequent sheet bundle T. Even if the preceding sheet bundle T is slightly misaligned by the succeeding sheet P, the sheet bundle T falls due to its own weight on the first discharge tray 16 because of the inclination angle θ2. The stapling process of the paper P stacked in a state where the rear ends are aligned is completed.

    Next, a case where the stapling process as the post-process is performed and the sheet P on which the stapling process is being executed remains on the processing tray 20 will be described.

  In this case, the sheet P can be supported in the standby tray 10. The standby tray roller 28 is retracted above the standby tray 10 so as not to interfere with the paper P. The paper P discharged from the image forming apparatus 5 and supplied by the paper feed roller 24 is temporarily placed on the standby tray 10 in order to wait for the processing tray 12 to become empty.

    The paper P placed on the standby tray 10 is vertically aligned by the standby tray roller 28 rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow f direction. Further, since the standby tray 10 is arranged so that the inclination angle is θ1, and the leading end of the sheet is higher than the trailing end, the sheet P is vertically aligned by its own weight.

    Further, since the standby tray 10 is arranged so that the inclination angle is θ1, even if the paper P is supplied from the paper supply roller 24 in a curled state and fed onto the standby tray 10, for example, The paper P placed on the standby tray 10 in advance is not pushed out by contact with the leading edge of the subsequent paper P. That is, the supplied paper P is sequentially placed on the standby tray 10 without being out of order. Even if the preceding paper P is pushed by the succeeding paper P and is slightly misaligned, there is an inclination angle θ1, so the paper P falls due to its own weight, and the trailing edge of the standby tray 10 is It is loaded in line with the aligned state.

    During this time, when the preceding paper P on the processing tray 12 is discharged to the first paper discharge tray 16 side and the processing tray 12 becomes empty, the standby tray 10 drops and supplies the paper P onto the processing tray 12. At this time, the interval between the lateral alignment plates 47a and 47b is arranged to be substantially the same width as the paper P. Accordingly, the sheet P dropped from the standby tray 10 is regulated in the lateral direction by being regulated by the lateral alignment plates 47a and 47b on both sides.

    The lower sheet P of the two sheets P dropped on the processing tray 12 is sent in the direction of the arrow q by the lower vertical alignment roller 38b rotated in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow s, and the rear end of the sheet P is stopped by the stopper. 45, the vertical alignment of the paper P is completed. The upper sheet P of the two sheets P dropped on the processing tray 12 is sent in the direction of the arrow q by the upper vertical alignment roller 38a rotated in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow r, and the trailing end of the sheet P is stopped at the stopper 45. The vertical alignment of the paper P is completed, and then the upper vertical alignment roller 38a is retracted upward.

    The third and subsequent sheets P discharged from the image forming apparatus 5 are directly dropped onto the processing tray 12 without waiting on the waiting tray 10. Thereafter, the third and subsequent sheets P are sequentially aligned on the sheet P loaded on the processing tray 12 by the paddle 44 first.

    When the number of sheets P stacked on the processing tray 12 reaches a predetermined number, the stapler 14 first changes the position from the home position so as to be parallel to the front end of the sheet P (with respect to the end in the sheet conveyance direction). Move to near the center of the width dimension. Next, the stapler 14 moves in the outward direction of the paper width horizontally from the front edge of the paper P by a distance of ¼ to ３ of the width dimension of the paper P from near the center of the paper width. As shown in FIG. 4, the stapler 14 that has moved from the vicinity of the center of the sheet width to a predetermined position rotates at an angle of less than 45 degrees, for example, 30 degrees at the predetermined position, and further moves outward in the sheet width. After advancing the moving distance according to the paper width, the paper P on the processing tray 12 is stapled at a desired position to form a paper bundle T.

  Thereafter, the sheet bundle T is conveyed in the direction of the first sheet discharge tray 16 by the vertical and vertical alignment rollers 38a and 38b, and the rear end of the sheet bundle T is hooked on the feed claw 50a of the conveyance belt 50. Bundled up, the stapling process for the paper P is completed.

    In this embodiment configured as described above, any type of paper can be stapled at the same angle, so that the post-processing throughput can be increased.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims, and these are also included in the scope of the present invention. Needless to say.

    In the present invention, stapling is described as the post-processing performed on the sheets stacked on the processing tray. However, this post-processing is not limited to the case where stapling is performed, and there is no problem even in post-processing such as performing hole punching (punching) processing on a sheet. In this case, there is no problem even if the sheets stacked on the processing tray are not a plurality of sheets but a single sheet. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention is effective even for an aftertreatment apparatus having such an aftertreatment mechanism.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims, and these are also included in the scope of the present invention. Needless to say.

It is a perspective view which shows the principal part of the paper post-processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the paper post-processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a perspective view showing a stapler of a paper post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining control of the stapler of the paper post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the vertical alignment roller which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the paddle which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the horizontal alignment board and conveyance belt which concern on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state by which the paper on the standby tray or paper discharge tray which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is extruded.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 ... Image forming apparatus, 7 ... Paper post-processing apparatus, 10 ... Standby tray, 12 ... Processing tray, 14 ... Stapler, 16 ... First discharge tray, 18 ...・ Second discharge tray, 22 ... Inlet roller, 22a ... Upper entrance roller, 22b ... Lower entrance roller, 24 ... Feeding roller, 26 ... Inlet roller motor, 28 ... Standby tray roller, 30 ... standby tray roller drive source, 32 ... standby tray roller motor, 33 ... belt, 34 ... standby tray motor, 36 ... paper path ceiling, 38a ... vertical Alignment roller, 38b ... Lower vertical alignment roller, 40 ... Vertical alignment upper roller motor, 42 ... Vertical alignment lower roller motor, 44 ... Paddle, 45 ... Stopper, 46 ... Paddle motor , 47 ... Lateral alignment plate, 48 ... Lateral alignment motor, 49 ... Staple drive unit, 50 ... Conveyor belt, 50a ... Feeding nails.

Claims (5)

A paper post-processing device including a stapler that receives a paper image formed by an image forming apparatus and performs a stapling process.
The stapler moves to the outside of the sheet width horizontally by a predetermined distance from the vicinity of the center of the sheet width dimension, and then rotates at an angle of less than 45 degrees and further moves to the outside of the sheet width. And a sheet post-processing device controlled to perform stapling at a desired position.   2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined distance to move horizontally is ¼ to ３ of the width dimension of the sheet.   The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the angle less than 45 degrees is 30 degrees.   The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a desired position for the stapling process can be set by an operator.   2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein position information appropriate for each sheet size is held in advance for the desired position to be stapled.

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