JP5533075B2 - Sheet processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, and image forming system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that binds and folds a sheet bundle with staples, an image forming apparatus including the sheet processing apparatus, and an image forming system.

  There is a sheet processing apparatus that bundles image-recorded sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus, and binds and folds the sheet bundle with staples. Further, some sheet processing apparatuses have technical means for suppressing the swelling of the folded sheet bundle and improving the finished quality and stacking quality.

  For example, while pressing the front and back surfaces of the folded back part of the folded sheet bundle to adjust the shape of the folds, the lower press roller and the back part of the folded back part of the sheet bundle are moved while pressing the back part. There is a sheet bundle spine processing device that includes a flattening roller for flattening, and selects and operates at least one of an upper and lower press roller and a flattening roller (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  As other devices, it can move in the sheet bundle conveyance direction that presses the center part in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle to form a folded portion and pushes the sheet bundle into the clamping position of the middle folding roller pair A middle folding plate member, a first driving means for moving the middle folding plate member forward and backward, a second driving means for rotating the middle folding roller pair forward and backward, and driving the first driving means and the second driving means. Control means for controlling the forward and backward movement of the half-folded plate member, and forward and backward rotation of the pair of half-fold rollers are executed a plurality of times, so that the middle folding portion of the sheet bundle holds the middle folding roller pair. There is a sheet processing apparatus that controls the first driving unit and the second driving unit so as to pass through the position a plurality of times (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

However, these apparatuses require a large number of mechanism units and a complicated control unit for controlling the mechanism units in order to suppress the swelling of the sheet bundle after folding.
The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and improves the finishing quality and stacking quality by suppressing the bulging of the folded sheet bundle without significantly changing the existing sheet processing apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet processing apparatus that can be expected from the above, an image forming apparatus including the sheet processing apparatus, and an image forming system.

In order to solve the above problems, a sheet processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus and an image forming system including the sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention employ the following technical means.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a folding means in which staple means for driving staples so that sheet bundles can be bound together, and the sheet bundle bound by the staple means by folding plates provided so as to be able to advance and retreat are opposed to each other. A sheet folding means that folds the sheet bundle from the stitched portion of the sheet bundle by pushing between them, and an operation for controlling the operation of the staple means so that the staple can be driven into a plurality of locations in the thickness direction of the folding plate a sheet processing apparatus that has a control unit, said staple means includes a moving mechanism for moving the sheet bundle, the operation control means gradually moves the sheet bundle in the moving mechanism, wherein The sheet bundle is configured by controlling operation so that staples can be driven into a plurality of locations in the thickness direction of the folding plate. That depending on the number of sheets, characterized by a sheet processing apparatus of the staple it is distinguishably configure whether to execute the implant at a plurality of positions in the thickness direction of the folding plate.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the operation control unit drives the staples according to the number of the sheet bundles when performing the driving of the staples at a plurality of positions in the thickness direction of the folding plate. The movement mechanism is controlled so that the interval between the staples is variable .
The invention according to claim 3 includes the input operation means according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operation control means can finely adjust the staple driving position based on input information to the input operation means. The movement mechanism is controlled in operation .
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, a plurality of staples are provided at the upper and lower corners of the U-shape of the sheet bundle formed by folding the folding plate. And
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising the sheet processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to be able to form an image on the sheets constituting the sheet bundle. To do .
According to a sixth aspect of the invention , an image is formed on the sheet processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects and the sheet constituting the sheet bundle, and the sheet can be transferred to the sheet processing apparatus. An image forming system including an image forming apparatus provided side by side is characterized .

  According to the present invention, the staple means pushes the staple into a plurality of positions in the thickness direction of the folding plate that pushes the sheet bundle between the folding rollers disposed so as to face each other. As a guide, reliable folding starts smoothly from this part, so that the finished sheet stack can be suppressed without significant changes to the existing sheet processing device, and the finished and stacked quality can be improved. An expected sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the sheet processing apparatus can be provided.

1 is a schematic longitudinal side view illustrating a system configuration of an image forming system including a sheet processing apparatus and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is a top view of a staple means. It is a perspective view of a staple means. It is a typical side view of a stapling means and a sheet folding means. It is a typical partial enlarged side view of the sheet folding means in the folded state of the sheet bundle. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a front side of a staple-bound sheet bundle. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a series of operations of the sheet processing apparatus according to the third exemplary embodiment.

An embodiment of a sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, an outline of components common to the embodiments will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of an image forming system including a sheet processing apparatus and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The entire sheet processing apparatus and a part of the image forming apparatus are illustrated. Is shown. Note that the image forming apparatus is well known, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

In FIG. 1, the sheet processing apparatus PD is provided side by side with the image forming apparatus PR, and an image-formed sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus PR is delivered to the sheet processing apparatus PD.
The sheet processing apparatus PD includes a punch unit 100 that performs punching processing on a sheet, a staple unit F that staples staples at a desired position of a sheet bundle, and staples the sheet bundle stapled by the staple unit F. The folding plate 74 is pushed between the opposing folding rollers 81 by the folding plate 74 to control the operation of the entire sheet processing apparatus PD, such as punching, stapling, center folding, and sheet conveyance. A conveyance path A including an operation control means (not shown), a receiving port for receiving a sheet from the image forming apparatus PR, and a punch unit 100 for punching the sheet; a conveyance path B leading to the upper tray 201; The transport path C leading to the shift tray 202 and the transport path D leading to the stapling means F are Each by the branching claw 15 and the bifurcating claw 16, and is movable in sorting the sheet.

  Further, the sheet processing apparatus PD distributes the sheet bundle stapled by the stapling means F to the sheet folding means G for performing folding and the like by the branch guide plate 54 and the movable guide 55 for guiding the sheet bundle to the shift tray 202. The sheet bundle folded by the sheet folding means G is guided to the lower tray 203 through the conveyance path H.

  A branching claw 17 is disposed in the conveyance path D and is held in the state shown in the figure by a low-load spring (not shown). After the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the branching claw 17, the branching claw 17 is switched, and the conveyance roller 9 and 10 are reversed, and the trailing edge of the sheet is guided to the sheet storage portion E by the prestack roller 8 and stays there. Then, the sheet can be overlapped with the next sheet and conveyed. By repeating this operation, two or more sheets can be stacked and conveyed.

  In the conveyance path A common to the upstream of the conveyance path B, the conveyance path C, and the conveyance path D, an inlet sensor 301 that detects a sheet received from the image forming apparatus PR, an inlet roller 1, a punch unit 100, The punch and waste hopper 101, the conveying roller 2, the branching claw 15 and the branching claw 16 are sequentially arranged.

  The branching claw 15 and the branching claw 16 are held in the state shown in FIG. 1 by a spring (not shown). When the solenoid (not shown) is turned on, the branching claw 15 is turned upward and the branching claw 16 is turned downward. Accordingly, the sheet is distributed to the conveyance path B, the conveyance path C, and the conveyance path D.

  When the sheet is guided to the conveyance path B, the branch claw 15 is in the state of FIG. 1 and the solenoid is OFF. When the sheet is guided to the conveyance path C, the branch claw 15 is turned on by turning on the solenoid from the state of FIG. When the sheet is guided to the conveyance path D, the branch claw 16 is in the state shown in FIG. 1, the solenoid is OFF, and the branch claw 15 is moved from the state shown in FIG. By turning on the solenoid, the state is rotated upward.

Next, the stapling means F will be described with reference to FIGS.
The stapling means F stacks and aligns the sheets guided to the conveyance path D by the conveyance rollers 7, 9, 10, 11 with a pair of rollers pressed against each other, and moves the sheet bundle upward. A staple tray section to be stapled, a first stapler S1 for stapling staples at the rear end of the sheet bundle aligned at the staple tray section, and a staple 63 fixed to the stay 63 (FIG. 2), and aligned at the staple tray section A pair of left and right second staplers S2 that raise the staple to a predetermined position and drive staples at arbitrary positions of the sheet bundle to perform staple binding (saddle stitching).

  The staple tray section includes a pair of left and right support plates 13 that support the sheet conveyed by the conveyance rollers 7, 9, 10, and 11 in an inclined manner, and a rear end of the sheet provided below the support plate 13. A rear end reference fence 51 that abuts and vertically aligns the sheet bundle, a swingable tapping roller 12 that promotes vertical alignment for each sheet discharged to the support plate 13, and a drive motor on the upper portion of the support plate 13 A plurality of discharge rollers 56 that are rotatably provided, and a guide that selectively swings to a conveyance path C that is swingably provided by a drive motor above the discharge rollers 56 and leads the sheet bundle to the sheet folding means G or the shift tray 202. The arcuate movable guide 55 to be moved and the jogger fence 5 which is provided so as to face both sides of the support plate 13 so as to be capable of advancing and retreating to each other so as to align the sheet bundle horizontally. And a discharge claw 52a provided so as to protrude from the surface of the support plate 13, and a discharge belt as a moving mechanism that is rotatably supported between the pair of left and right support plates 13 in the vertical direction (sheet conveyance direction). 52.

  A first stapler S1 and a second stapler S2 provided below and in the middle of the support plate 13 respectively rotate a cam by a drive motor to bend a staple (binding staple) and a staple. A main body configured to include a sheet bundle supported by the support plate 13 with a groove formed and a receiving portion that staples the staple that is pushed out along the groove by pressing the staple. The side and the receiving part are arranged.

  Further, the position of the second stapler S2 is such that the distance from the rear end reference fence 51 to the staple driving position of the second stapler S2 is equal to or longer than the distance corresponding to half of the conveyance direction length of the maximum sheet size that can be saddle stitched. The two are arranged symmetrically with respect to the alignment center in the sheet width direction.

  The stapling means F configured as described above performs the following operations under the control of the operation control means. First, a sheet distributed from the conveyance path A by the branch claw 15 and the branch claw 16 is guided to the conveyance path D by the conveyance rollers 7, 9, 10, and 11, and the support plate 13 is conveyed by the conveyance rollers 7, 9, 10, and 11. And sheet alignment is executed. That is, the sheet discharged to the support plate 13 is aligned along the support plate 13 by the hitting operation of the hitting roller 12, and is vertically aligned by the rear end of the sheet hitting the rear end reference fence 51 by the rotation of the hitting roller 12. Next, as the pair of jogger fences 53 moves forward, the sheet is pushed and moved to a predetermined position to be horizontally aligned. This alignment operation is executed for each sheet sequentially discharged by the paper discharge roller 11.

  Then, when stapling the lower portion of the aligned sheet bundle, staple binding is performed by the first stapler S1, and when the middle portion of the aligned sheet bundle is stapled, stapling is performed by the second stapler S2. . When stapling is performed by the second stapler S2, the binding process is executed after the sheet bundle is moved (upwardly moved) by a predetermined distance set for each sheet size by the discharge claw 52a. The bound sheet bundle moves to the sheet folding means G by the rotation of the discharge roller 56, the upward movement of the discharge claw 52a, and the movable guide 55.

Next, the sheet folding means G will be described with reference to FIGS.
The sheet folding means G includes a pair of bundle conveying upper guide plates 92 and a pair of bundle conveying lower guide plates installed so as to hang down in the vertical direction so as to communicate with the conveying path formed by the discharge roller 56 and the movable guide 55. 91, a bundle conveyance upper roller 71 and a bundle conveyance lower roller 72 installed along the bundle conveyance upper guide plate 92, and a pair of rollers pressed against each other, and the bundle conveyance upper guide plate 92 and the bundle conveyance lower Formed by a pair of guide plates 76 that extend in a horizontal direction from the nip of the folding roller 81 and a folding roller 81 that is provided on the opposite side of the stapling means F and is in contact with the guide plate 91. The transport path H, the lower paper discharge roller 83 provided on the most downstream side of the transport path H, and a reciprocating motion from the horizontal direction with respect to the nip of the folding roller 81 are provided. A folding plate 74 that is pushed into the nip of the roller 81 and folded, a movable rear end fence 73 that protrudes into the conveying path of the bundle conveying lower guide plate 91 and can be moved in the vertical direction by an elevating mechanism 75, and a sheet of the bundle conveying lower roller 72 A bundle arrival sensor 321 provided downstream in the bundle conveyance direction and upstream from the folding position, a movable rear end fence HP sensor 322 for detecting the home position of the movable rear end fence 73, and a conveyance path H And a folding portion passage sensor 323 for detecting the sheet bundle that has moved.

  The sheet folding means G configured as described above performs the following operation under the control of the operation control means. First, the movable rear end fence 73 positioned at the home position by the movable rear end fence HP sensor 322 starts to move so that the folding plate 74 is positioned at the center of the sheet bundle, for example. Around this time, the bundle conveying upper roller 71 and the bundle conveying lower roller 72 start to rotate.

  The staple-bound sheet bundle moved from the stapling means F by the bundle conveying upper roller 71 and the bundle conveying lower roller 72 is formed by the pair of bundle conveying upper guide plates 92 and the pair of bundle conveying lower guide plates 91. The sheet bundle storage unit to be moved is moved. At this time, when the bundle arrival sensor 321 detects the leading edge of the sheet bundle, the conveyance amount until the leading edge of the sheet bundle hits the movable rear end fence 73 is determined, and the bundle conveying upper roller 71 and the bundle conveying lower roller 72 rotate. Be controlled.

  When the sheet bundle is accommodated in the sheet bundle storage unit, the folding plate 74 starts to advance. The sheet bundle is folded from the bound portion by the sheet bundle being pushed between the folding rollers 81 by the folding plate 74, and is discharged to the lower tray 203 by the lower discharge roller 83. If there is only one sheet, the folding process is performed without stapling.

Next, each embodiment of the sheet processing apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
Conventionally, the sheet processing apparatus PD according to the first embodiment adjusts the movement of the discharge claw 52a so that the staple driving position of the second stapler S2 is positioned at the center in the sheet bundle conveyance direction. However, instead of this, the operation is controlled by the operation control means so that staples can be driven in a plurality of locations in the thickness direction of the folding plate 74 (sheet conveyance direction).
The staple driving position is a position corresponding to the upper and lower corners of the front portion of the folding plate 74, or the inside or the vicinity thereof when folded, and hereinafter, the upper and lower corners of the front portion of the folding plate 74. A case where staples are driven at substantially corresponding positions will be described as an example.

  In other words, as shown in FIG. 4, the operation control unit according to the first embodiment performs the upper and lower ends of the front end of the folding plate 74 when performing staple binding using the second stapler S2 in the center in the conveyance direction of the aligned sheet bundle P. The second stapler is adjusted so that the staple driving position of the second stapler S2 is substantially positioned at or near the lower corner 74a of the second stapler 52a. The first staple N1 is driven in S2.

  Next, the second stapler S2 performs movement adjustment so that the staple driving position of the second stapler S2 is substantially positioned at or near the upper corner 74b, and the second stapler S2 performs the second adjustment. The staple N2 is driven.

  Then, the movable rear end fence 73 is moved so that the center in the thickness direction of the folding plate 74 is positioned at the center in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle P (the center between the first staple position and the second staple position). As shown in FIG. 4, the folding plate 74 is advanced to perform sheet folding. The state of the sheet bundle P folded in this way is shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the front cover side in a state where the folded sheet bundle P is slightly expanded.

  In this manner, the corners of the front portion of the folding plate 74 that pushes the sheet bundle P between the folding rollers 81 arranged in opposition to each other and the staple driving position at the position of the sheet bundle P are substantially aligned with each other. The two staples in the direction serve as a guide when forming the folds, and the reliable folding starts smoothly from this part to form a U-shaped fold, so that the folding can be performed without any significant changes to the existing apparatus. By suppressing the swelling of the subsequent sheet bundle, it can be expected to improve the finished quality and stacking quality.

  In the first embodiment, the case where the first and second staple driving positions are aligned with the upper and lower corners of the front end of the folding plate 74 is exemplified. However, the position correction (position shift) is performed in consideration of the thickness of the sheet bundle. ) Is preferable. That is, in the case of a thick sheet bundle, the staple driving interval is slightly wider than the position described above. Or make it continuous. Further, the number of staples to be driven is not limited to two.

(Embodiment 2)
The operation control means according to the second embodiment is an example of determining whether or not to execute a plurality of staples according to the number of sheet bundles, and changing the staple driving operation according to the determination result. is there.
That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the staple discharge sensor 305 provided in the conveyance path D leading to the staple unit F detects the sheet, and the operation control unit counts the number of sheets discharged to the staple unit F. . The staple discharge sensor 305 is provided from a conventional apparatus, and counts the number of sheets in order to obtain a desired number of sheet bundles set by the user.

When the number of sheets discharged to the stapling means F, that is, the number of sheets constituting the sheet bundle is less than a predetermined number, the movement of the discharge claw 52a is adjusted in the center in the sheet bundle conveyance direction as in the conventional case. After the staple driving position of the 2-stapler S2 is positioned, the staple driving is executed only once. Then, the sheet bundle is folded so that the driving position is at the center of the folding plate 74.
When the number of sheet bundles is equal to or greater than the predetermined number, the staple driving and the sheet bundle folding are performed a plurality of times as exemplified in the first embodiment.
In this way, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, it is possible to avoid performing unnecessary stapling with a low effect on a sheet bundle having a small number of sheets and a small swelling.

(Embodiment 3)
The operation control means according to the third embodiment varies the interval between the staples to be driven in accordance with the number of sheet bundles when the staples are driven at a plurality of positions in the thickness direction of the folding plate 74. This is an example in which the movement operation of the discharge claw 52a is controlled.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the number of sheets discharged to the stapling means F is counted by the operation control means (S1). The sheets discharged to the stapling means F are aligned by a sheet aligning operation each time (S2). Then, it is determined whether or not stapling is requested (S3).
If stapling is not requested (S3N), the sheet is folded (S8) and the process is terminated.

  When stapling is requested (S3Y), when the number of sheets discharged to the stapling means F, that is, when the number of sheets constituting the sheet bundle is five or less (S4Y), only one central portion of the sheet is used. The staple driving process is selected (S5), the position is adjusted by moving the discharge claw (S6), the staple is stapled (S7), and then the sheet folding process (S8) is performed to complete the process.

  If the sheet bundle is 6 sheets or more and 10 sheets or less (S9Y), continuous staple driving processing is selected (S10) so that there is almost no space between the staples with the center of the sheet interposed therebetween (S10), and the sheet is discharged. After the first position adjustment (S11) by the movement of the nail, the first staple binding (S12) is performed, and then, after the second position adjustment (S13) by the movement of the discharge nail, the second staple binding is performed. (S14) is performed, and then the sheet folding process (S8) is performed and the process is terminated.

When the number of sheet bundles is 10 or more (in this case, the upper limit value is set so as not to exceed the processing limit of the stapler) (S9N), the interval between the staples is staple 1 with the center of the sheet interposed therebetween. The staple driving process is selected (S15), and after the first position adjustment (S16) by the movement of the discharge claw, the first staple binding (S17) is performed, and then the discharge claw is moved. After the second position adjustment (S18), the second staple binding (S19) is performed, and then the sheet folding process (S8) is performed and the process is terminated.
In this way, in addition to the effects of the first and second embodiments, it can be expected that the swollenness of the folded sheet bundle is more effectively suppressed according to the number of sheets in the sheet bundle.

(Embodiment 4)
In the fourth embodiment, the distance between the staples is adjusted with respect to a preset standard position for driving the staples, and the position of the folding plate 74 in the thickness direction (sheet conveyance direction) is adjusted for the entire staples to be driven. Input operation means capable of input is provided, and the operation control means is configured to be able to finely adjust the staple driving position based on information input to the input operation means by the user and to control the movement operation of the discharge claw 52a. Yes. The arrangement of the input operation means may be provided in the sheet processing apparatus PD, or may be shared with the input operation means of the image forming apparatus PR provided with the sheet processing apparatus PD.
According to the fourth embodiment, by enabling adjustment of the staple binding position, it is possible to more effectively suppress sheet swelling after staple binding. In addition, variations in devices can be absorbed.

The sheet processing apparatus according to this embodiment has been described above. However, the above-described embodiment shows an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. Various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
For example, in the present embodiment, an example in which the sheet bundle is moved by adjusting the movement of the discharge claw 52a by the operation control unit and the staple is driven a plurality of times is illustrated. However, the second stapler S2 itself is installed at a plurality of locations. You may comprise so that driving-in can be carried out collectively.
Further, the image forming apparatus may include any one of the sheet processing apparatuses according to the first to fourth embodiments and configured to be able to form an image on the sheets constituting the sheet bundle.

PD: Sheet processing apparatus PR: Image forming apparatus 100: Punch unit F: Staple means 81: Folding roller 74: Folding plate G: Sheet folding means 52a: Release claw (moving mechanism) 52: Release belt (moving mechanism)

Japanese Patent No. 3915439 JP 2006-321622 A

Claims (6)

Stapling means for driving staples so that the sheet bundle can be bound;
The sheet bundle, which is bound by the stapling means, is pushed between folding rollers arranged so as to face each other with a folding plate provided so as to be able to advance and retreat, and the sheet bundle is folded so that the sheet bundle is folded from the bound portion of the sheet bundle. Means,
A sheet processing apparatus that provides an operation control means for operating control capable with said staple means driving the staples at a plurality of positions in the thickness direction of the folding plate,
The stapling means includes a moving mechanism for moving the sheet bundle,
The operation control means moves the sheet bundle gradually with the moving mechanism, and controls the operation so that the staple can be driven into a plurality of positions in the thickness direction of the folding plate to obtain the number of sheets constituting the sheet bundle. Accordingly, the sheet processing apparatus is configured to be able to determine whether or not to execute the staple at a plurality of positions in the thickness direction of the folding plate . The movement control unit is configured to change the interval between the staples to be driven in accordance with the number of the sheet bundles when the staples are driven at a plurality of positions in the thickness direction of the folding plate. the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the running control. An input operation unit, the operation control means, according to claim, characterized in that it implantation position of the staple on the basis of the input information to the input operation unit finely adjustable, then the operation control of the moving mechanism The sheet processing apparatus according to 1 or 2 . 4. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of staples are provided in a U-shaped upper and lower corner portion of the sheet bundle formed by folding the folding plate . 5. An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to be capable of forming an image on a sheet constituting the sheet bundle . A sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, to form an image on a sheet constituting the sheet bundle, and a transfer capable features image forming apparatus that sheet to the sheet processing apparatus An image forming system comprising:

Images