JPH11301912A - Finisher device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a finisher device by setting a space between the downstream end of a carrying path and a processing tray to be narrow and arranging a paddle in this space, and prevent an adverse effect caused by the kicking out of a sheet rear end by the arranged paddle or the like. SOLUTION: In a finisher device including a paddle 9 arranged in the vicinity of the downstream end of a carrying path for carrying sheets discharged from an image forming device for scraping off and aligning sheets S discharged from a carrying path onto a processing tray 3, to discharge the sheets S onto the processing tray 3, the driving of the paddle 9 is started before the tips of the discharged sheets S are brought into contact with a sheet S1 loaded on the processing tray 3, the driving of the paddle 9 is stopped immediately before the rear ends of the sheets S go out of the carrying path and, after the rear ends of the sheets S reach a position where the sheet rear ends are not kicked out, the paddle 9 is driven again to align the discharged sheets S in the specified position of the processing tray 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, an image-formed sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine is temporarily stacked on a sheet storage section such as a processing tray, and an end of the stacked sheet bundle is stapled. The present invention relates to a finisher device that performs post-processing with a press or a punching device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional finisher, a paddle is known as a means for aligning a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus on a processing tray. Normally, this paddle is arranged near the upper part of the processing tray, and is configured to guide the sheet discharged from the transport path onto the processing tray to a post-processing unit while scraping the sheet (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-225227).

[0003]

However, when the sheet is ejected from the conveyance path onto the processing tray, the downstream end of the conveyance path is prevented from being adversely affected by the paddle kicking out the rear end of the sheet. Since a large space is provided between the processing tray and the paddle, the paddle is disposed there, and thus there is a problem that the entire finisher device becomes large.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce the size of the finisher device by setting the space formed between the downstream end of the transport path and the processing tray to be narrow, and disposing an alignment member in this space. It is another object of the present invention to provide a finisher device which is prevented from being adversely affected by the rear end of the sheet being kicked out by the arranged alignment member.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a finisher apparatus, comprising: a finishing device which is provided near a downstream end of a conveying path for conveying a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus; In a finisher device including an alignment member that scrapes and aligns a sheet discharged from a transport path to a sheet storage unit, when a sheet is discharged to the sheet storage unit, the leading end of the discharged sheet is stacked in the sheet storage unit. The driving of the alignment member is started before the sheet comes into contact with the sheet.

Further, in the finisher device according to a second aspect of the present invention, the aligning member is in contact with a part of the sheet discharged to the sheet accommodating portion when the aligning member is driven, and the trailing end of the discharged sheet is moved from the conveying path. It is characterized in that the driving of the alignment member is stopped before exiting.

Further, in the finisher device according to a third aspect of the present invention, the aligning member is in contact with a part of the sheet discharged to the sheet storage portion when the aligning member is driven, and the trailing end of the discharged sheet is moved from the transport path. The driving of the alignment member is stopped before the sheet is removed, and the alignment member is driven again after the rear end of the discharged sheet that has escaped from the transport path is not kicked out by the driving of the alignment member. After being aligned with the predetermined position, the sheet is stopped until the leading end of the next discharged sheet comes into contact with the stacked sheet.

Further, in the finisher device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the aligning member is a paddle disposed in a space formed between a downstream end of the transport path and the sheet storage section. And

In a finisher according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a sheet detection sensor is disposed at a downstream end of the conveyance path, and alignment is performed based on a sheet front end detection signal and a sheet rear end detection signal of the sheet detection sensor. The driving of the member is controlled.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a finisher according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a finisher device according to the present invention. In this figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a finisher device, 2 denotes a transport path for guiding a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus (not shown) into the finisher device 1, and 3 denotes a processing tray disposed at a downstream end of the transport path. , 4,5,6
Is a discharge roller provided in the transport path 2. The processing tray 3 is arranged so that the front side is higher and the rear side is lower and inclined with respect to the sheet conveyance direction, and a rib 7 for seating the sheet is provided at the center in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction. It is. A pair of regulating members 8 are provided on both sides of the processing tray 3 for slidably aligning the stiffened sheets in the width direction.

In the vicinity of the lower portion of the discharge roller 6, a paddle 9 that rotates in synchronization with the sheet discharge timing is disposed in a space 30 formed between the processing roller 3 and the processing tray 3.
This paddle 9 is made of two soft rubber members arranged at an appropriate angle around the rotation axis 10, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a notch 22 provided on the conveyance guide plate 21. It is arranged corresponding to the position. Therefore, at the time of rotation, the paddle 9 hits the lower surface of the transport guide plate 21 and bends and deforms, and the notch 22 pushes the lower surface of the sheet in the transport direction, and hits the sheet S discharged onto the processing tray 3 while bending. The sheet guide 1 disposed near the rear end of the processing tray 3
2, the sheet is aligned in the transport direction by abutting the rear end of the sheet. In this embodiment, the paddle 9 is formed by two soft rubber members. However, the paddle 9 is not limited to two, and the length of the soft rubber member may be appropriately determined. Further, in FIG. 2, a feed roller 23 that rotates integrally with the discharge roller 6 is provided adjacent to the discharge roller 6, and pushes the rear end of the sheet fed by the discharge roller 6 so that the sheet is moved along the conveyance path 2. Prevents it from staying at the downstream end.

The sheet guide 12 is formed in a U-shape so as to be able to receive the rear end of the sheets stacked on the processing tray 3, and extends in a direction perpendicular to the inclination of the processing tray 3. It is movable. Note that the height position of the sheet guide 12 at the time of stacking the sheets is slightly lower than the sheet stacking surface of the processing tray 3 so as to be able to cope with a change in the curl paper or the sheet thickness.

Further, a stapler 15 for stapling a bundle of sheets stacked on the processing tray 3 is disposed near the rear end of the processing tray 3. A support frame 16 is integrally provided below the stapler 15, and the support frame 16 can be moved via a roller 18 to a guide rail 17 provided in the casing of the finisher device 1. On the front side of the stapler 15, an anvil 19 for supporting a sheet surface at the time of stapling and a driver 20 for driving a staple are set up and down in a positional relationship facing each other. The stapling is performed by driving in the direction. The number of staples is appropriately selected at one or two or more places.

Note that sheet detection sensors 27 and 28 for detecting the passage of a sheet are arranged at the entrance end and the exit end of the conveyance path 2. These sheet detection sensors 27 and 28
, A photo interrupter or the like is used, and each time the leading end and the trailing end of the sheet shield the photo interrupter, the number and the time are detected. In the vicinity of the processing tray 3, a pair of upper and lower discharge rollers 32a and 32b and a delivery roller 33 for discharging the post-processed sheet bundle onto the stacking tray 31 are arranged.

Next, a method of controlling the paddle having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4A, when the leading end of the discharged sheet S passes through the sheet detection sensor 28, the paddle 9 is stopped. The discharge sheet S is sent out onto the processing tray 3 by the discharge roller 6, but as shown in (b), a predetermined time has elapsed since the detection of the front end by the sheet detection sensor 28, and the front end of the discharge sheet S The paddle 9 is driven to rotate just before coming into contact with the upper stacking sheet S1. At this time, by rotating the paddle 9 counterclockwise, the upper end of the stacking sheet S1 is rubbed down from the top while the tip of the rubber member bends, so that the stacking sheet S1 is pushed out at the tip end of the discharge sheet S. Even so, the stacked sheet S1 is prevented from rubbing forward.
Next, as shown in (c), when the sheet detection sensor 28 detects the rear end of the sheet S, the paddle 9
Rotation stops. Stopping the paddle 9 prevents the paddle 9 from hitting the rear end of the discharge sheet S and kicking the discharge sheet S in the transport direction when the rear end of the discharge sheet S comes out of the discharge roller 6. Then, (d)
As shown in the figure, the sheet S is sent out from the discharge roller 6 and discharged onto the processing tray 3, and at the same time, the paddle 9 starts to rotate again, and the discharged sheet S is scraped off so that the rear end of the stapler 15 is formed. To match.

Therefore, in the finisher 1 having the above-described configuration, the image-formed sheet processed by the image forming apparatus is guided into the transport path 2 by the discharge roller 4 and further discharged downstream. The sheet is discharged onto the processing tray 3 by the paddle 6, and the sheets are always aligned on the processing tray 3 by the drive control of the paddle 9 described above, and are stacked with the rear end abutting against the sheet guide 12. Also, there is no kick-out of the rear end of the sheet when discharging the sheet. On the other hand, the alignment of the sheet in the width direction is performed by the regulating member 8. Further, the sheets stacked on the processing tray 3 are stacked in a state where the central portion of the processing tray 3 is raised by the ribs 7 and is curved and seated.

In the above embodiment, the case where a staple unit is used as a post-processing device has been described. However, the present invention is also applicable to post-processing processes other than staples, such as a punching process using a punching device.

[0018]

As described above, according to the finisher device of the present invention, the sheet storage is controlled by controlling the driving of the alignment member disposed in the space between the downstream end of the transport path and the sheet storage section. The position of the alignment member can be set narrower without impairing the alignment of the sheets stacked on the sheet and without adverse effects such as kicking out the rear end of the sheet when discharging the sheet. Can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view perspectively showing an internal structure of a finisher device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view in the vicinity of an arrangement of a paddle.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the vicinity of an arrangement of a paddle.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing drive control of a paddle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Finisher apparatus 2 Transport path 3 Processing tray (sheet accommodating part) 9 Paddle (alignment member) 28 Sheet detection sensor 30 Space part

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takehiro Yamakawa 430-1, Kobayashi, Masuho-cho, Minamikoma-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture Inside (72) Inventor Misao Kobayashi 430-1, Kobayashi, Masuho-cho, Minamikoma-gun, Yamanashi Niska Corporation (72) Inventor ▲ Hiro ▼ Kawayuki Hiroshi 430-1, Kobayashi, Masuho-cho, Minamikoma-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture Nisca Corporation

Claims (5)

[Claims] An alignment member is disposed near a downstream end of a transport path for transporting a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus to scrape and align a sheet discharged from the transport path to a sheet storage unit. In the finisher device, when the sheet is discharged to the sheet storage unit, the driving of the alignment member is started before the leading end of the discharged sheet comes into contact with the stacked sheets in the sheet storage unit. 2. The driving device according to claim 1, wherein the aligning member is in contact with a part of the sheet discharged to the sheet storage portion when driven, and stops driving the aligning member before the trailing edge of the discharged sheet falls out of the conveyance path. The finisher device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The aligning member is in contact with a part of the sheet discharged to the sheet storage portion during driving, and stops driving of the aligning member before the trailing end of the discharged sheet exits the conveyance path. After the trailing end of the discharged sheet that has fallen out of the conveyance path reaches a position where the trailing end is not kicked out by the driving of the alignment member, the alignment member is driven again, and the discharged sheet is aligned with the predetermined position of the sheet storage unit. The finisher device according to claim 1, wherein the stop is performed before the leading end of the sheet contacts the stacking sheet. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the alignment member is a paddle disposed in a space formed between a downstream end of a conveyance path and a sheet storage unit. The finisher device as described. 5. A sheet detecting sensor is disposed at a downstream end of the conveyance path, and driving of an alignment member is controlled based on a sheet leading edge detection signal and a sheet trailing edge detection signal by the sheet detecting sensor. Item 5. The finisher device according to items 1 to 4.