阅读说明：本技术 片材处理装置及具备它的图像形成装置 (Sheet processing apparatus and image forming apparatus including the same ) 是由 中野贵博 加藤将武 于 2017-12-07 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种片材处理装置,所述片材处理装置具备运入路径、位移辊、运入辊和冲孔移动单元,所述运入路径对来自运入口的片材进行引导,所述位移辊被设置在此运入路径上,运送片材并且位移,所述运入辊位于此位移辊的下游侧,将来自上述运入路径的片材朝向上述集聚托盘运入,所述冲孔移动单元被设置在此运入辊的上游侧,在处理位置对片材的端部进行处理,其中,通过冲孔移动单元在与位移辊相同的方向进行位移移动,并且将冲孔移动单元的位移量设定得与位移辊的位移量相等或比它大,在片材位移后,端部处理单元已位于端部处理位置或与之接近的位置,因此,能缩短片材的位移和端部处理的处理时间。(A sheet processing apparatus includes a carrying-in path, a shift roller, a carrying-in roller, and a punching moving unit, the carry-in path guides the sheet from the carry-in port, the displacement roller is provided on the carry-in path, conveys the sheet and displaces, a carrying-in roller located at the downstream side of the shift roller and carrying in the sheet from the carrying-in path toward the collecting tray, the punching moving unit is disposed on the upstream side of the carry-in roller, processes the end of the sheet at the processing position, wherein the punching moving unit performs displacement movement in the same direction as the displacement roller and the displacement amount of the punching moving unit is set to be equal to or larger than the displacement amount of the displacement roller, after the displacement of the sheet, the end portion processing unit has been located at the end portion processing position or a position close thereto, and therefore, the displacement of the sheet and the processing time of the end portion processing can be shortened.)

1. A sheet processing apparatus for displacing a sheet conveyed in a predetermined conveying direction, perforating an end portion of the displaced sheet, and collecting the sheet perforated at the end portion to a collecting tray, the sheet processing apparatus comprising a carrying-in path, a displacement roller, a carrying-in roller, and a punching unit,

the carry-in path guides the sheet from the carry-in opening,

the displacement roller is arranged on the carrying-in path, conveys the sheet, and displaces to the dividing position of the width direction crossed with the conveying direction,

a carrying-in roller located downstream of the shift roller and carrying in the sheet from the carrying-in path toward the collecting tray,

the punching unit is provided upstream of the carry-in roller, punches a hole in the sheet at a predetermined processing position by a plurality of punching blades in contact with the sheet and a plurality of punches receiving the punching blades, and moves the punching blades and the punches together in a direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction,

the punching unit performs displacement movement in the same direction as the displacement roller, and the displacement amount of the punching unit is set to be equal to or larger than the displacement amount of the displacement roller,

when the conveyed sheet includes a sheet of a specific size, the punching unit is moved to a retracted position where the corner retracted from the sheet of the specific size passes through the die hole before the sheet reaches the punching unit, and when the sheet is moved by the displacement roller for sorting including the sheet of the specific size, the punching unit is moved to a sorting corresponding position which is outside the retracted position in the width direction.

2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the punching unit is disposed on an upstream side in the conveyance direction of the carry-in roller and on a downstream side of the shift roller.

3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the movement of the punching unit to the discrimination position is performed simultaneously with or in advance of the start of the displacement roller.

4. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the displacement of the displacement roller in the direction intersecting the conveying direction is started after the leading end of the sheet passes through the die hole of the punching unit.

5. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of punching blades of the punching unit and the corresponding die holes are provided at positions for punching 2 or 3 holes with respect to the sheet, and the sheet of a specific size is a sheet corresponding to the die holes on both sides of the center in the width direction of the 3 holes.

6. An image forming apparatus is characterized in that,

comprises an image forming section for forming an image on a sheet and a sheet processing apparatus for processing the sheet conveyed from the image forming section,

the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1.

7. An image forming apparatus is characterized in that,

comprises an image forming section for forming an image on a sheet and a reading section for reading an image of an original document above the image forming section,

a sheet discharge space is provided between the reading section and the image forming section,

in this sheet discharge space, the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 is disposed.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus for performing separation and edge processing on a sheet, and more particularly, to an apparatus for separating and collecting an edge of a sheet in a collection tray by displacing the sheet while the sheet is being conveyed and punching a hole or cutting a corner of the sheet at the displaced edge of the sheet.

Background

Conventionally, image forming apparatuses such as copiers, laser printers, facsimiles, and multi-functional machines thereof include an image forming apparatus including a sheet processing apparatus that performs sheet processing such as stapling, punching, and sheet corner cutting processing on sheets on which images have been formed.

In such an image forming apparatus, in order to miniaturize the apparatus as a whole, an apparatus is disclosed in which the above-described apparatus for performing stapling or the like is disposed in a space in a main body between an upper side of an image forming section and an image reading section, and discharged sheets are punched or separated into holes and discharged to a stacking tray located above and below, for example, japanese patent No. 5608479 (substantially corresponding to U.S. patent No.8,794,616B2) filed by the present applicant.

Further, as disclosed in japanese patent No. 4785474 (corresponding to U.S. patent No.8,118,303B2), a relatively large sheet processing apparatus has been proposed in which sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus before being carried into a stapling unit are shifted by a predetermined number of sheets between a near side (front side of the apparatus) and a deep side (rear side of the apparatus) in a direction intersecting with a conveying direction during conveyance of the sheets, and the sheets are sorted in a collecting tray. Further, the apparatus may separately discharge the discharged sheets to the stacking trays located above and below. Therefore, particularly when the number of sorted sheets is large, since it is only necessary to sort the sheets by displacement and discharge the sheets to an arbitrary collecting tray during conveyance, there is no need to perform displacement processing in the processing tray, and there is an advantage that the processing time is shortened.

Further, japanese patent No. 5528088 (japanese patent application No. US8,346,155B2) discloses an apparatus in which, during the conveyance, punching is performed by a punching unit before displacement of displacement movement in a direction intersecting the conveyance direction in a direction toward the front side (front side of the apparatus) and in a direction toward the back side (back side of the apparatus) for each predetermined number of sheets, and thereafter, the sheets are displaced and separately accumulated on an accumulation tray.

Further, japanese patent No. 5528088 discloses that a plurality of punching blades and dies are arranged so as to intersect the sheet conveying direction when punching is performed, and 2 or 3 holes are punched out of the sheet. Further, there is disclosed a case where since the die holes of 3 holes are located on both sides in the width direction of a position 108 mm from the die hole at the center when a sheet of a specific size (a sheet width in a direction intersecting with the sheet conveying direction is about 216 mm, for example, letter size, legal exclusive paper size) passes through the punching unit, a corner of the sheet of the specific size is caught.

However, in the punching unit disclosed in japanese patent No. 5528088, the punching blade is moved to the corresponding die hole to perform punching. The punching blade and the die hole are generally arranged in a plurality of pairs (5 or more pairs) in a direction intersecting with the sheet conveying direction in order to perform punching processing of 2 or 3 holes with respect to the sheet. The punching chips are stored in the punching chip box from this position by the punching processing of the punching blade and the die hole, but the punching unit chip box is filled quickly in response to the demand for high speed punching processing, and the device needs to be stopped. Therefore, japanese patent No. 4236565 (corresponding to US8,346,155B2) proposes a method of periodically operating a lever (wiper) for moving chips in a chip box. This can flatten chips in the chip box.

The apparatus disclosed in japanese patent No. 5608479 is relatively small, and can perform sorting of sheets using a matching plate for sorting a sheet bundle on a processing tray temporarily placed for staple processing, but there is a limit to speed-up processing, and it is desirable to speed up sorting processing of sheets having a length of, for example, a4 or letter paper or less, which is commonly used.

On the other hand, the sorting apparatus shown in japanese patent No. 4785474 requires that the length of the carrying-in path (conveying path) of the sheets reaching the two stacking trays be relatively long, and that the door separating the sheets from the two stacking trays be disposed at a position relatively far from the sheet carrying-in port to the apparatus. Therefore, while the sheet can be easily separated between the near side (front side of the apparatus) and the far side (rear side of the apparatus) intersecting the sheet conveying direction during conveyance, a relatively long conveying path is required, and it is difficult to adopt the apparatus as disclosed in japanese patent No. 5608479.

Further, although it is disclosed in japanese patent No. 5528088 that sheets to be punched can be classified, this apparatus includes a punching unit on the upstream side of a shift roller that shifts the conveyed sheet. Therefore, in order to punch a hole at the rear end of a sheet normally, it is necessary to temporarily convey the sheet to a position where the sheet can be moved by being nipped by only the shift roller, and thereafter, it is necessary to perform registration with punching, and particularly, when punching, that is, punching and distinguishing are performed for a general-purpose size (a4, letter) which is frequently used and requires high speed, processing time is unexpectedly required.

In particular, in the apparatus disclosed in japanese patent No. 5528088, as shown in fig. 12 to 14, the sheet is once passed through the punching unit, and thereafter, the sheet is folded back again to the punching unit to perform punching processing. Further, in order to distinguish this, it is necessary to perform displacement for distinguishing after being discharged from the punching unit, and it is necessary to repeat movement of the sheet in a direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction and conveyance in the conveying direction.

Further, japanese patent No. 5528088 discloses a punching unit provided upstream of a shift roller that shifts a sheet being conveyed. Therefore, in order to punch a hole on the rear end side of the sheet, which is normally performed, the sheet is temporarily conveyed to a position where the sheet can be moved by being nipped by only the shift rollers, as described above. Thereafter, when the sheet is carried into the punching unit again, the sheet is first displaced to a position (6 mm from the center) to escape from the die hole, and the sheet is returned to the center to be punched again. When the sheet is displaced for sorting, the sheet is displaced to a position for sorting after being temporarily discharged from the punching unit. In this case, the above-described folding back conveyance, movement in a direction intersecting the conveyance direction, subsequent conveyance in the conveyance direction, and the like need to be repeated.

The device disclosed in japanese patent No. 4236565 is a device for flattening punching chips stored in the punching unit as described above, and is provided with a rod (wiper unit) for moving chips in a chip box, but the rod (wiper unit) must be moved a plurality of times in accordance with the requirement of the number of chips to be punched in the recent past, and if the amount of chips to be accumulated is large, the rod (wiper unit) must be moved with a relatively large force, and therefore, the driving device needs to be increased in size.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to reduce the displacement of a sheet and the processing time of an end process by moving an end process unit in advance in a direction intersecting a sheet conveying direction by a distance equal to or greater than a displacement range of the sheet for sorting before the sheet is carried into the end process unit, and then positioning the end process unit at an end process position or a position close to the end process position after the sheet displacement.

The second problem is to effectively perform a displacement operation for avoiding a die hole and dividing the sheet by moving a punching unit to a position where the corner of the sheet of a specific size is not caught before the sheet is carried into the punching unit, thereby reducing the processing time for dividing the displacement and punching while making the apparatus compact.

Further, the third problem is to disperse the punching chips in the chip box based on the concept of changing the punching position with respect to the chip box when punching the plurality of sheets, and to flatten the punching chips after dispersing the punching chips in advance even if a rod (wiper member) or the like is provided, thereby reducing the size and simplifying the driving source of the punching chips.

Means for solving the problems

In order to solve the first problem described above, the following configuration is disclosed.

A sheet processing apparatus which separates sheets conveyed in a predetermined conveying direction by displacement and processes an end of the separated sheets to collect the end-processed sheets on a collection tray, the sheet processing apparatus comprising a carry-in path which guides the sheets from a carry-in port, a displacement roller which is provided on the carry-in path and conveys the sheets and is displaced in a direction intersecting the conveying direction, a carry-in roller which is located on a downstream side of the displacement roller and conveys the sheets from the carry-in path toward the collection tray, and an end processing unit which is provided on an upstream side of the carry-in roller and processes an end of the sheets at a predetermined processing position and displaces the end processing unit in the same direction as the displacement roller, and the displacement amount of the end processing unit is set to be equal to or larger than the displacement amount of the displacement roller.

According to the configuration disclosed herein to solve the first problem, before the sheet is carried into the end processing unit, the end processing unit can be moved in advance in the direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction by the distance equal to or more than the range in which the sheet is displaced for sorting, and after the sheet is displaced, the end processing unit is already at the end processing position or a position close thereto, so that the processing time for the end processing and the displacement of the sheet can be shortened.

In order to solve the second problem described above, the following configuration is disclosed.

A sheet processing apparatus for displacing a sheet conveyed in a predetermined conveying direction, perforating an end portion of the sheet displaced in the conveying direction, and accumulating the sheet perforated at the end portion on an accumulation tray, the sheet processing apparatus comprising a carry-in path for guiding the sheet from a carry-in port, a displacement roller provided on the carry-in path, conveying the sheet, and displacing the displacement roller to a position separated in a width direction intersecting the conveying direction, a carry-in roller located downstream of the displacement roller, conveying the sheet from the carry-in path toward the accumulation tray, and a punching unit for punching the sheet by a plurality of punching blades abutting the sheet and a plurality of die holes receiving the punching blades, and moving the punching blades and the die holes together in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the sheet, when the conveyed sheet includes a sheet of a specific size, the punching unit is moved to a retracted position where the corner retracted from the sheet of the specific size passes through the die hole before the sheet reaches the punching unit, and when the sheet is moved by the displacement roller for sorting including the sheet of the specific size, the punching unit is moved to a sorting corresponding position which is outside the retracted position in the width direction.

According to the configuration disclosed herein to solve the second problem, by moving the punching unit to a position where the corner of the sheet of a specific size is not caught before the sheet is carried into the punching unit, the displacement operation for avoiding the die hole and sorting can be efficiently performed, and the processing time for sorting the displacement and punching can be shortened while the apparatus is made small.

In order to solve the third problem, the following configuration is disclosed.

A sheet processing apparatus for displacing a sheet conveyed in a predetermined conveying direction, perforating an end portion of the displaced sheet, and collecting the sheet perforated at the end portion to a collecting tray, the sheet processing apparatus comprising a carrying-in path for guiding the sheet from a carrying-in port, a displacement roller provided on the carrying-in path, conveying the sheet, and displacing the displacement roller in a direction intersecting the conveying direction, a carrying-in roller located downstream of the displacement roller, carrying the sheet from the carrying-in path toward the collecting tray, and a punching unit provided upstream of the carrying-in roller, perforating an end portion of the sheet, and having a scrap box for collecting scraps generated by the perforation, the punching unit perforating the sheet by a plurality of punching blades abutting against the sheet and a plurality of die holes receiving the punching blades, the punching blade and the die hole are movable together in a cross direction crossing the transport direction, the scrap box for receiving punching scrap from the sheet by the punching blade is provided within a range covering a movement range of the punching blade and the die hole in the cross direction, and the punching blade and the die hole are displaced in the same direction as the displacement roller for every predetermined number of sheets to be punched on the sheet, thereby punching the sheet.

According to the configuration disclosed herein to solve the third problem, when punching a plurality of sheets, the punching chips in the chip box are dispersed, and even if a rod (wiper unit) or the like is provided, the punching chips can be dispersed in advance and then flattened, so that the driving thereof can be made compact and simplified.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration in which an image forming apparatus and a sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention are combined.

Fig. 2 is an overall explanatory view of the sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a conveyance unit including a shift roller (intermediate roller) unit.

Fig. 4 is an explanatory view of driving of the periphery of a processing tray (mounting tray) of the sheet processing apparatus.

Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a moving structure of an integrating member (integrating plate) provided on the processing tray of fig. 4 and moving in the sheet width direction.

Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a moving position of the staple unit located at an end of the processing tray of fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between the shift roller (intermediate roller) unit and the sheet length.

Fig. 8 is a side sectional view illustrating the driving of the shift roller (intermediate roller) unit.

Fig. 9 is a front explanatory view for explaining the driving of the shift roller (intermediate roller) unit.

Fig. 10 is an explanatory view of a punching unit including a chip box as an end processing unit of a sheet.

Fig. 11 is an explanatory diagram of punching driving of the punching unit including the chip box.

Fig. 12 is an explanatory view of a sheet side edge detection sensor mounted on the punching unit.

Fig. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state in which displacement of the sheet by the displacement roller (intermediate roller) unit is completed. Fig. 13(a) is an explanatory view of a state in which the displacement ends before the carry-in roller of the first conveying path. Fig. 13(b) is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the displacement ends before the branching roller of the second conveying path.

Fig. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the displacement roller is separated at the time of folding back when the carried-in sheet is guided to the image forming section again.

Fig. 15 is a diagram showing a state in which the sheet is conveyed to the shift roller unit, and fig. 15(a) is a diagram showing a state in which the sheet is carried into the shift roller unit from the image forming portion. Fig. 15(b) is a state diagram in which the displacement of the sheet is completed on the near side (front side of the apparatus) or the deep side (rear side of the apparatus) by the displacement roller unit.

Fig. 16 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the sheet is carried out from the shift roller unit and punched by the punching unit, fig. 16(a) is a diagram illustrating a state in which the sheet after the completion of the shift is discharged from the shift roller unit roller, and fig. 16(b) is an illustration of a state in which the carry-in roller is stopped and the punching unit performs punching processing.

Fig. 17 is a view of planarly corresponding the state of the sheet of fig. 15, and fig. 17(a) corresponds to fig. 15(a) and is a view of a state where the sheet starts to be carried from the image forming portion into the shift roller unit. Fig. 17(b) corresponds to fig. 15(b), and is a state diagram in which the displacement of the sheet is completed on the near side (front side of the apparatus) by the displacement roller unit.

Fig. 18 is a view showing a planar correspondence of the sheet of fig. 16, fig. 18(a) is a view corresponding to fig. 16(a) illustrating a state in which the sheet after completion of the displacement is discharged from the displacement roller unit roller to the near side (the front side of the apparatus), and fig. 18(b) is an explanatory view corresponding to fig. 16(b) illustrating a state in which the carry-in roller is stopped and the sheet moved to the near side (the front side of the apparatus) is subjected to the punching process by the punching unit.

Fig. 19 is a view showing a planar correspondence between the states of the sheets of fig. 15 and 16, and fig. 19(a) is a view showing a state in which the sheet after completion of the displacement is discharged from the displacement roller unit roller to the depth side (the rear side of the apparatus) corresponding to fig. 15 (b). Fig. 19(b) is an explanatory view corresponding to fig. 16(b) of a state in which the carry-in roller is stopped and the sheet shifted to the entry side (the rear side of the apparatus) is subjected to the punching process by the punching unit.

Fig. 20 is a table in which the conveyance processing patterns are illustrated in the case where the sheet processing apparatus includes the punching unit and in the case where the conveyance guide (dummy punch unit) is provided without the punching unit.

Fig. 21 is a processing flowchart of a sheet based on the table of fig. 20.

Fig. 22 is a process flow diagram following the sheet of fig. 21.

Fig. 23 is a process flow chart following the sheet of fig. 22.

Fig. 24 is a process flow chart following the large size of the sheet of fig. 21.

Fig. 25 is a process flow chart following the sheet of fig. 24.

Fig. 26 is a process flowchart of a sheet following the case of the conveyance guide (no punching unit/dummy punch) of fig. 21.

Fig. 27 is a process flow chart following the sheet of fig. 26.

Fig. 28 is an explanatory view of a state of sorting of the sheet bundle viewed from the collecting tray side, and fig. 28(a) is a view of a state of collecting the sheets sorted by the shift roller unit from the discharge roller. Fig. 28(b) is a collection state diagram of sheets distinguished by the integrated plate of the processing tray.

Fig. 29 is an explanatory view for preventing a specific sheet from being caught on a die hole, and fig. 29(a) is an explanatory view for retreating the die hole and displacing to the front side (near side) of the apparatus. Fig. 29(b) is an explanatory diagram of the apparatus which is largely displaced to the front side (near side) for distinction.

Fig. 30 is an explanatory view for preventing a specific sheet from being caught on a die hole, and fig. 30(a) is an explanatory view for retreating the die hole and displacing the same to the rear side (depth side) of the apparatus. Fig. 30(b) is an explanatory diagram of the device which is largely displaced toward the rear side (depth side) for distinction.

Fig. 31 is a view illustrating a state in which the punching blade and the die hole are displaced and the chip box is fixed, and fig. 31(a) is a view in which the punching blade and the die hole punch a sheet at a center position. Fig. 31(b) is a view showing the punching blade and the die hole being displaced to the near side (the front side of the apparatus) to punch a hole in the sheet. Fig. 31(c) is a view of the punching blade and the die hole being displaced to the depth side (rear side of the apparatus) to punch a hole in the sheet.

Fig. 32 is a diagram showing another embodiment of an end processing unit for a sheet, and is a top explanatory view of a punching and chamfering unit.

Fig. 33 is a perspective view of the punch and chamfer unit of fig. 32.

Fig. 34 is a block diagram of a control structure in the overall structure of fig. 1.

Detailed Description

Next, a sheet processing apparatus B and an image forming apparatus a equipped with the sheet processing apparatus B, which include units and the like for displacing a sheet in a direction intersecting a conveying direction in a conveying path and punching the sheet, according to the present invention, will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a sheet processing apparatus B, an image forming apparatus a, and the overall configuration of the present invention. Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a sheet processing apparatus B according to the present invention including units for processing sheets, such as a conveying unit 40 having a shift roller unit 50, a punching unit 60, a stapling unit 100, a first collecting tray 110, and a second collecting tray 115.

[ image Forming apparatus A ]

An image forming apparatus a shown in fig. 1 is an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system, and a paper feed portion including 3-layer paper feed cassettes 1a, 1B, and 1c for storing sheets is disposed below an image forming portion 2, and when a sheet processing apparatus B is not mounted, an image reading apparatus 20 is disposed above the image forming portion 2 as a paper discharge space. Therefore, when the sheet processing apparatus B is disposed, it is disposed on the apparatus frame 29 as a so-called in-body type using the above-described paper discharge space as shown in the drawing.

The image forming section 2 adopts a tandem system using an intermediate transfer belt. That is, color components of 4 colors (yellow 2Y, magenta 2M, cyan 2C, and black 2BK) are used, and for example, in the case of yellow 2Y, the image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum 3a as an image carrier, a charging device 4a including a charging roller for charging the photosensitive drum 3a, and an exposure device 5a for forming an image signal read by the image reading device 20 into a latent image. Further, the image forming apparatus includes a developing device 6a for forming a latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 3a as a toner image, and a primary transfer roller 7a for transferring the image formed on the photosensitive drum 3a by the developing device 6a to the intermediate transfer belt 91 time. This structure transfers 1 time to the intermediate transfer belt 9 for each color component. The color component remaining on the photosensitive drum 3a is recovered by the photosensitive cleaner 8a for the next image formation. The same applies to the other color components (magenta 2M, cyan 2C, and black 2BK) shown in fig. 1.

However, the image of the intermediate transfer belt 9 is transferred to the sheet fed from the paper feeding portion 1 by the secondary transfer roller 10, and the image is dissolved and fixed on the sheet by the pressing force and heat by the fixing device 12. The overlapped color components remaining on this intermediate transfer belt 9 are removed by an intermediate belt cleaner 11 for the next transfer.

The sheet on which the image is formed in this way is transported from the relay roller of the main body to the main body discharge roller 30, but when images are formed on both sides of the sheet, the sheet transported to the sheet processing apparatus B side is once folded back by the switching gate, transported to the circulation path 17, and transported to the image forming unit 2, and an image is formed on the back surface side of the sheet.

The sheet on which the image is formed on one side or both sides of the sheet in this way is conveyed to the conveying unit 40 of the sheet processing apparatus B by the main body discharge roller 30.

Further, the image reading device 20 is disposed above the paper discharge space above the image forming unit 2. Here, the original document placed on the original document stacker 25 is conveyed to the platen 21 by the original document conveying device 24, and irradiated by the scanner unit 22, and the conveyed original document is sequentially read by the photoelectric conversion element 23 (for example, CCD), and an image is gradually stored in a data storage unit (not shown). The image forming section forms the stored image on a sheet as described above.

[ sheet processing apparatus B ]

Next, a sheet processing apparatus B, which is disposed in a sheet discharge space below the image reading apparatus 20 above the image forming unit 2 in fig. 1 and 2, will be described. In this sheet processing apparatus B, a conveying unit 40 including a shift roller unit 50 that receives a sheet discharged from the main body discharge roller 30 from the carry-in port 32 is disposed; a punching unit 60 that punches a sheet; and a staple unit 100 that temporarily places the sheets on the processing tray 90 on the downstream side in accordance with the need to perform a stapling process.

Further, the sheet processing apparatus B is provided with a first conveying path 70 and a second conveying path, and the first conveying path 70 guides the sheet from the carrying-in port 32 to the processing tray 90 side from the carrying-in path 34 for guiding the sheet downstream of the shift roller unit 50; the second conveying path branches off downstream of the shift roller unit 50. A first collecting tray 110 for storing the sheet discharged from the processing tray 90 or directly discharged from the first conveying path 70 is provided downstream of the first conveying path 70, and a second collecting tray 115 for storing the sheet conveyed from the second conveying path is disposed above the first collecting tray in an overlapping manner as needed.

As shown in fig. 2, the first collecting tray 110 is provided with a paper surface sensor 111S for sensing a paper surface by the collecting tray sensor 111 contacting an upper surface of the sheet in which the first collecting tray is accommodated. The elevation motor 110M is driven according to the paper height of the paper surface sensor 111S so that the storage position is always within a certain range.

Further, although the punching unit 60 for punching holes is disposed in the vicinity of the edge portion of the sheet (front and rear edges of the sheet) constituting the sheet processing apparatus B, particularly when punching of the sheet is not necessary, the punching unit 60 functions as the sheet processing apparatus B simply serving as a conveyance guide unit (60D) for guiding the sheet. The conveying guide unit (60D) has the same shape as the punching unit 60, and serves as a guide for guiding the sheet from the carry-in path 34 to the first conveying path 70, and is a so-called dummy punch unit. The mode of use of the punching unit 60 and the conveyance guide unit (60D) for performing the punching process will be described later.

Next, the driving of the periphery of the conveying unit 40, the punching unit 60, and the processing tray 90 constituting the sheet processing apparatus B, the integrating mechanism on the processing tray 90, and the stapling unit 100 for stapling sheets will be described. The conveyor unit 40 and the punching unit 60 according to the present invention will be described in detail later, including their operating states.

[ transport unit 40]

As shown in fig. 3, a conveying unit 40 of the sheet processing apparatus B is provided corresponding to the body discharge roller 30 provided at the body discharge port. The entrance of the carrying unit 40 is a carrying entrance 32 corresponding to the main body discharging roller 30. The transport unit 40 is provided with a shift roller unit 50 including a shift roller (relay roller) 52, and the shift roller (relay roller) 52 relays the sheet to the downstream side and moves and shifts the sheet to the front side (front side) and the rear side (back side) in the direction intersecting the transport direction during transport of the sheet.

The sheet carried in from the carrying-in port 32 is detected by the carrying-in sensor 42, and by the detection of this carrying-in sensor 42, the carrying rotation of the displacement roller 52 of the displacement roller unit 50 is started in the present embodiment.

The first flapper 68 that guides or switches the sheet to the first conveying path 70 or the second conveying path 80 is located immediately downstream of the shift roller 52. The first flapper solenoid 68 is connected to a first flapper solenoid 68SL, and the first flapper solenoid 68SL is constantly moved to a position (solid line position in fig. 3) for guiding the sheet to the first conveyance path 70 and a position (broken line position in fig. 3) for guiding the sheet to the second conveyance path 80 according to necessity. The position of the first flapper 68 is a branching position of the first path 70 and the second path 80.

In the second conveying path 80, a third conveying path 88 for conveying the sheet folded back by the main body discharge roller 30 for image formation on both sides of the sheet to the upper side of the second conveying path 80 may be a folded-back open path. The second flapper solenoid 85SL is coupled to the second flapper 85 which selectively guides the sheet to the branching position of the second and third conveyance paths 80 and 88.

A punching unit 60 is provided on the downstream side of the first flapper 68 in the first conveying path 70. The punching unit 60 is described later, but the punching unit 60 is provided with a die hole 63 for punching a sheet at a position corresponding to the punching. When the punching unit 60 is only a transport guide without punching as described above, the punching unit may be replaced with a transport guide unit (60D) serving as a dummy punch. In the description of this embodiment, the first path 70, the second path 80, and the third path 88 may be denoted by P1, P2, and P3, respectively.

[ sheet conveyance drive around the processing tray 90 ]

Here, with fig. 4, the sheet conveyance drive at the periphery of the processing tray 90 is mentioned in advance. A carry-in roller 72 for carrying in the sheet is provided in the first conveying path 70 (P1); a carry-out roller 74 that carries out the sheet from the first conveying path 70 toward the processing tray 90 or the first accumulation tray 110; and a discharge roller 78 for discharging the sheet on the processing tray 90 or the sheet on the carry-out roller 74 from the discharge port 105 to the first accumulation tray 110. The discharge roller 78 is composed of an upper discharge roller 78a that swings with respect to a lower discharge roller 78 b. The discharge roller 78 is rotatable in the forward and reverse directions, and conveys the sheet toward the first accumulation tray 110 by the forward rotation (in the solid line direction in fig. 4) and conveys the sheet toward the reference surface 92 of the processing tray 90 by the reverse rotation (in the broken line direction in fig. 4).

A carry-out guide 76 for guiding the sheet downward is provided above the processing tray 90 so as to be swingable, and is conveyed toward the reference surface 92 by the discharge roller 78 which is inverted together with the guide, and the conveyed sheet is conveyed to the reference surface 92 by the rotation of the tucking roller 93, and the leading ends thereof are aligned. When this operation is repeated, the sheets are placed as a bundle on the processing tray 90.

[ rotational drive of carry-out roller ]

First, the carry-out roller 74 composed of the carry-out upper roller 74a and the carry-out lower roller 74b is driven by the carry-out roller motor 74M. The carry-out roller motor 74M is formed of a hybrid stepping motor, and a speed detection sensor 74S for detecting the rotation speed of the motor shaft is disposed. The drive of the carry-out roller motor 74M is transmitted to the arm gear 126 via the transmission gears 120, 122 and the transmission belt 124. The drive is transmitted from the arm gear 126 to the upper roller shaft 74uj of the carrying-out upper roller 74a supported by the carrying roller support arm 136 by the transmission belt 128. The carry-out upper roller 74a is provided with a spring 134 between the support arm 1369 and the carry-out upper roller 74a so as to be driven in normal pressure contact with the carry-out lower roller 74 b.

The lower carry-out roller 74b is driven to rotate by transmitting the drive of the carry-out roller motor 74M to the driven gears 142 provided on the transport lower roller shaft 44sj, respectively, via the transmission gear 120 and the transmission belt 138.

Further, the driven gear 142 is driven to rotate the tucking roller 93 by a gear 144 with a one-way clutch and a belt 146 with a projection which also functions as a transmission belt. Since the tucking roller 93 is transmitted through the gear 144 with a one-way clutch, even if the driven gear 142 rotates forward and backward as described above, the tucking roller rotates only in the direction of the solid arrow in fig. 4 and rotates only in the direction of the reference surface 92 of the processing tray 90 to transfer the sheet.

Further, the projecting belt 146 rotates the tucking roller 93 at the tip, but only a circular tucking belt from which the tucking roller 93 is omitted may be rotated. However, the drive of the carry-out roller motor 74M also drives the carry-in roller 72 that carries in the sheet in the first conveying path 70 via the transmission gear 120 and the transmission belt 148.

[ rotational drive of discharge roller ]

Next, the discharge roller 78 composed of the upper discharge roller 78a and the lower discharge roller 78b is driven by the discharge roller motor 78M. The discharge roller motor 78M is also constituted by a hybrid stepping motor, and a speed detection sensor 78S for detecting the rotational speed of the motor shaft is also disposed in the same manner. The drive of the discharge roller motor 78M is transmitted to the arm gear 156 via the transmission gears 150, 152 and the transmission belt 154. The drive is transmitted from the arm gear 156 to the upper discharge roller shaft 48uj of the upper discharge roller 78a supported by the discharge roller support arm 166 by the transmission belt 158.

The upper discharge roller 78a is mounted to rotate about the axis of the arm gear 156 so as to contact and separate from the fixed lower discharge roller 78 b. This contact and separation is performed by a discharge roller moving arm 160, which is attached to the shaft of the arm gear 156, has a rear sector gear, and is attached to the front of the moving arm on the front end side with a spring 164 that biases the upper discharge roller 78 a. By driving the forward and reverse rotation, the discharge roller moving arm motor 160M engaged with the rear sector gear is moved in the release direction of the arrow O by the rotation in one direction, and is moved in the pressure contact direction of the arrow C by the rotation in the other direction, which is in pressure contact with the lower discharge roller 78b of the arrow C.

The discharge roller moving arm motor 160M is also configured by a stepping motor, and the position of the discharge roller moving arm 160 is detected by the discharge roller moving arm sensor 160S. The lower discharge roller 78b is driven to rotate by transmitting the drive of the discharge roller motor 78M to the driven gear 169 provided on the lower discharge roller shaft 78sj via the transmission gear 150 and the transmission belt 168.

[ integration plate for integration and positional Displacement ]

Next, with reference to fig. 5, a description will be given of an alignment structure in which the alignment plate 95 of the processing tray 90 abuts against the side edge of the sheet to align the sheet or change the placement position where the sheet is placed, each time the sheet is carried in. Fig. 5 is a view of the processing tray 90 seen from above, and the integration plate 95 is constituted by a front integration plate 95a on the front side and a rear integration plate 95b on the rear side. They have a front integration surface 95af and a rear integration surface 95bf, respectively, which are in contact with and separate from the side edges of the sheet. In contact with and separation from the side edge of the sheet, a front integration plate rack 95aR provided at the bottom of the front integration plate 95a and guided by a front rack guide 95aRG is moved by a front integration motor 95aM via a gear 95 aG. Also, a rear integration plate rack 95bR provided at the bottom of the rear integration plate 95b and guided by a rear rack guide 95bRG is moved by a rear integration motor 95bM through a gear 95 bG.

The front aligning plate 95a and the rear aligning plate 95b can be aligned with reference to the sheet center when performing multiple binding at arbitrary multiple positions, or can be aligned with reference to one side as shown in fig. 5 when performing corner binding, and the alignment reference can be changed according to the binding method. Further, as 1 sheet processing unit, so-called jog processing may be performed in which the sheet bundle placed on the processing tray 90 is deflected to one side and discharged to the first collecting tray to separate the sheet bundles. In addition, the carry-out roller 74 which carries in the sheet to the processing tray 90 and the carry-out roller 75 which performs middle strength reinforcement on the sheet carried out to both sides thereof are loaded by the plate spring.

[ binding unit and movement thereof ]

Next, although the stapling process of the stapling unit 100 according to the present embodiment is well known and therefore will not be described in detail, when the stapler 100SP of the stapling unit 100 is stopped at the stapling position, the stapler motor 100SPM is rotationally driven to move a driver, not shown, to staple a bundle of sheets, and the staple that has been stapled is bent by an anvil to perform the stapling process. This binding process is performed at a plurality of positions on the corner end surface and the width-direction end surface of the sheet. This is illustrated by fig. 6.

Fig. 6 shows a case where the stapler 100SP that performs stapling of a sheet bundle is moved on the moving table 101. The moving table 101 is provided on the apparatus frame of the sheet processing apparatus B, with the upper portion as shown in the figure as the front side and the lower portion as the rear side. Referring to fig. 2 as well, the moving table 101 is provided with a moving groove 106 that guides a groove pin 107 protruding from the stapler 100SP side in a substantially linear shape. On the front end side of the stapler 100SP, a guide pin 103 is engaged with a posture guide 104 provided on the moving base 101.

The stapler 100SP is combined with a moving belt moved by a stapler moving motor 100M. Thus, the stapler 100SP can staple the sheets at the corner binding position Cp1 on the rear side, the multiple binding ranges Ma1 to Ma2 on the center side, and the corner binding position Cp2 on the front side by performing the positional shift. Further, the staple replenishing position where the rear side of the stapler 100SP is positioned toward the outside of the apparatus and the home position HP before the start of stapling, which is also the manual stapling position on the front side, are controlled on the front side.

Therefore, the apparatus of this embodiment includes the staple unit 100 as 1 of the sheet processing portions, and the stapler 100SP of the staple unit 100 performs the staple processing at an arbitrary position of the sheet bundle placed on the processing tray 90. In addition, in the processing tray 90, there are arranged a pair of aligning plates 95 in the sheet width direction that perform sheet alignment each time a sheet is carried in it. Note that the binding unit 100 includes not only the stapler SP100SPM bound by staples but also binding by an adhesive or pressure binding for pressure-bonding sheets to each other.

The carrying unit 40 including the shift roller (intermediate roller) unit 50 particularly relevant to the present invention is explained here by referring to fig. 7 to 9. Hereinafter, the punching unit 60 (dummy punch (conveyance guide) 60D) will be explained.

[ Displacement roller Unit 50]

First, fig. 7 shows a state in which the sheet discharged from the main body discharge roller 30 is nipped by the shift roller 52, conveyed to the first conveying path 70, and the displacement of the sheet is completed (solid line L1 of fig. 7); and a state where the sheet is conveyed to the second conveying path 80 and the displacement of the sheet is completed (broken line L2 in fig. 7). The length from the carry-in port 32 to the carry-in roller 72 of the first conveying path 70 is a length at which a part of the sheet to be conveyed can be displaced in a direction intersecting the conveying direction while being nipped only by the displacement rollers 52.

Specifically, since the length from the carrying-in port 32 to the carrying-in roller 72 is set to 235 mm, the displaceable sheet is a sheet having a length in the carrying direction of 216 mm or less, and is displaceable in the a4 transverse direction, letter paper transverse direction, and B5 transverse direction, for example. In addition, in this invention, a sheet that is nipped only by the shift rollers 52 and can be shifted by the conveying unit 40 is referred to as a small sheet (simply referred to as "small"), and a sheet that cannot be shifted is referred to as a large sheet (simply referred to as "large").

Similarly, the length from the carry-in port 32 to the branch roller 82 of the second conveying path 80 is defined by the length of the sheet displaceable in the direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction. This is because it is considered that this sheet processing apparatus B is constructed as compactly as possible and is compatible with the image forming apparatus of the type in the main body described initially.

The displacement operation of the sheet having entered the first conveying path 70 or the second conveying path 80 by the displacement roller is performed after the sheet passes through the first flapper 68 located immediately behind the displacement roller 52, but in the apparatus of this embodiment, the position at which the displacement starts is further delayed. First, in the first conveying path 70, displacement is started from the time when the leading end of the sheet conveyed by the displacement roller 52 passes through the die hole 63 of the punching unit 60 described later, and is completed before reaching the carry-in roller 72, in other words, displacement is performed in the L3 shown in the drawing.

This is to reduce the possibility that the corners of the sheet conveyed to the die holes 63 described later get caught by curling or the like, particularly when the punching unit 60 is mounted. In addition, in the case where the dummy punch (conveying guide) 60D of the punching unit 60 is not mounted, by limiting the position of displacement, the load resistance and the like of the sheet at the time of displacement are constant, and the inclination and the like are also reduced. Therefore, the displacement of the displaceable lengths of sheet ends substantially immediately before the carry-in roller 72.

In the second conveying path 80, the displacement by the displacement roller 52 is also performed after the leading end of the sheet passes the leading end position of the second flapper 85. This is also because the start and end of displacement of the sheet are performed within the range of L4 in order to make the load resistance and the like when the sheet is displaced constant. That is, in the apparatus of this embodiment, after the sheet is carried into the first path 70 or the second path 80 beyond at least the first flapper 68, the displacement of the sheet by the displacement roller 52 is started.

[ Displacement drive Structure of Displacement roller Unit 50]

Next, a driving structure of the displacement roller (intermediate roller) unit will be described with reference to fig. 8 and 9. The displacement roller unit 50 including the displacement roller 52 is divided by a dotted line in fig. 8. The divided areas are unitized, and are removable by being pulled out from the conveyance unit 40. Fig. 8 shows a state in which the shift roller 52 rotates as a relay roller that relays conveyance of the sheet. Thereafter, when the leading end of the sheet is conveyed within the range of L3 described above, the shift roller 52 and the shift driven roller 54 are displaced in the direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction. This displacement is performed by moving the displacement roller 52, the displacement driven roller 54, and the moving rod 56 for bringing the displacement driven roller 54 into contact with and away from the displacement roller 52 in the lateral direction shown in the figure by the displacement cam 55 attached to the cam attachment plate 55F of the unit frame 50F, as shown in fig. 9. Since the cam engagement portion 59 of the displacement cam 55 fixes the displacement roller shaft 52J, the displacement driven roller shaft 54J, and the displacement lever shaft 56J, the displacement cam 55 moves in a displacement manner in the lateral direction. In the present application, the shift roller 52 and the shift driven roller 54 that displace the nipped sheet in the direction intersecting the relay conveyance and conveyance direction may be simply referred to as a shift roller 52.

The displacement cam 55 has a cam slit 58. A cam moving pin 57 provided on the displacement gear 53 rotated by the displacement motor 50M is engaged in this cam slit 58. Therefore, when the displacement motor 50M rotates, the moving pin 57 moves the displacement gear 53 in the left and right arrow directions shown in the figure through the cam slit 58. Further, although not particularly shown, the center position before displacement, the front side displacement position, and the rear side displacement position of the displacement roller 52 and the like are detected by detecting the positions of the displacement cam 55 and the displacement gear 53. The cam engaging portion 59 is also slidably supported by a mounting plate shaft 55FS fixed to the cam mounting plate 55F.

The displacement driven roller 54 is configured to move to a position away from the displacement roller 52 when the sheet is folded and conveyed by the forward and reverse rotation of the main body discharge roller 30. That is, the displacement driven roller 54 is supported by the shift lever 56, and the shift lever shaft 56J as the shaft of the shift lever 56 can be separated by the driven roller solenoid 54 SL. The displacement roller 52 is normally pressed by a spring 56b so as to be a relatively strong gripping force at the time of relay conveyance or displacement.

However, the rotational driving of the shift roller 52 as a relay roller for conveying the sheet is performed by a shift conveying motor 52M mounted on the unit frame 50F via the gear portions 46, 47. This driving is started or stopped by the carry-in sensor 42 provided at the entrance of the displacement roller 52 of the carry-in path 34, as shown in fig. 8. Therefore, when the carry-in sensor 42 detects the carry-in of the sheet, the drive of the displacement conveyance motor 52M is started, and the sheet is stopped after a predetermined time after the sheet passes. Of course, a signal for controlling the displacement conveyance motor 52M may be obtained from the image forming apparatus a of the main body.

[ punching unit Structure ]

A punching unit 60 as another element will be described herein using the front view of fig. 10 and the cross-sectional view of fig. 11. The punching unit 60 includes a punching moving unit 61 including a punching blade 62 and a die hole 63, and a fixing portion 69 including a scrap box 67 and the like. The punching blade 62 is configured to reciprocate relative to the die hole 63 by rotation of the punching cam 64. The punching cam 64 is provided with a 2-hole cam 64WC for punching out a 2-hole punch hole and a 3-hole cam 64TC for punching out a hole in the center of the sheet and punching out both sides thereof on both sides sandwiching the center of the sheet.

The punch moving unit 61 is movable in a direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction. This movement is performed by engaging a moving rack 66 fixed to the punching moving unit 61 with a moving gear 61G through rotation of a moving motor 61M provided at a fixing portion 69 including the chip box 67. Therefore, the punch moving unit 61 moves in the left-right direction of the illustrated arrow in accordance with the forward/reverse rotation driving of the moving motor 61M. To smoothly perform this movement, a moving roller 61R is provided between the punch moving unit 61 and the fixing portion 69. As described above, the 2-hole punching blade 62WP is provided at 2 positions, the 3-hole punching blade 62TP is provided at 3 positions, and the 2-hole die 63WD and the 3-hole die 63TD correspond thereto.

As can be well understood from fig. 11, the 2-hole cam 64WC and the 3-hole cam 64TC are provided in cam phases different. The punching cam 64 is driven by the punching motor 60M through a punching gear 65, and by switching the rotation direction of the punching motor 60M between the a arrow direction and the b rotation direction, the eccentric cam 64C rotated by the cam drive shaft 64J is rotated, and the cam holder 64H provided outside the eccentric cam and coupled to the punching blade 62 is moved. At this time, since the phases of the cams are different, the 2-hole punching blade 62WP and the 3-hole punching blade 62TP can be switched.

Returning to fig. 10, a side edge sensor 61S is provided on the side of the punch moving unit 61 opposite to the punch motor 60M so as to sandwich the sheet passage and correspond to the sheet size. The side edge sensor 61S is a sensor for detecting the edge of the sheet at a position close to the rear end of the sheet, and detects the sheet end by slightly moving the punching moving unit 61 from the outside to the inside of the edge and changing the state of the sensor (falling or rising) to determine the punching position of 2 or 3 holes. Further, a punching sensor 60S for detecting an end of the sheet is provided at a position corresponding to the center (the center of the 3-hole punching blade 62 TP). The position at which the rear end of the sheet is detected by the punching sensor 60S is determined as the punching position of the sheet. Of course, a position obtained by counting the number of holes from the position detected by the punching sensor 60S may be used as the punching position.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a state in which the side edge sensor 61S and the punching sensor 60S are attached to the punching moving means 61, and this diagram shows positions of the die holes 63 (the 2-hole die holes 63WD, the 3-hole die holes 63 TD). As shown in the figure, the side edge sensors 61S corresponding to the respective sizes are provided at positions slightly shifted in accordance with the sizes of the sheets. When the sheet is conveyed at the center reference (center of the punching sensor 60S), the side edge of the sheet can be detected by a slight movement. Note that the 2-hole die 63WD is located 40 mm from the center, and both sides of the 3-hole die 63TD are located 104 mm from the center. In this case, the letter paper size longitudinal direction (LTRR) and the legal exclusive paper size (LGL) correspond to the 3-hole die hole 63TD, but this point will be described separately as an operation of avoiding the die hole 63.

[ sheet conveyance by conveying unit ]

Here, the conveyance of the sheet to the first conveyance path 70(P1), the second conveyance path 80(P2), and the third conveyance path 88(P3) by the conveyance unit 40 including the shift roller unit 50 will be described. Fig. 13(a) shows a state in which the sheet having the length L1 has been completely displaced before the carry-in roller 72 of the first conveying path 70 (P1). Specifically, the length from the carry-in port 32 to the carry-in roller 72 is set to 235 mm, and the sheet displaceable by the displacement roller 52 in the direction intersecting the conveying direction is a sheet having a length of 216 mm or less. Here, the letter-size, length sheet below the a4 size in the cross direction is displaceable. The sheet having the sheet size of the length equal to or longer is temporarily placed on the processing tray 90 and then displaced by the aligning plate 95, which will be described later.

The sheet from the carry-in port is carried downstream by the shift rollers 52 in the shift roller unit 50 and is shifted in a direction intersecting the carrying direction, but in fig. 13(a), the position of the first flapper 68 is a position where the sheet is carried toward the punching unit 60 (or the dummy punch (carrying guide) 60D). Therefore, the sheet is conveyed and displaced toward the first conveying path 70, but in this embodiment, the following arrangement is made: after the leading end of the sheet passes through the die hole 63 of the punching unit 60, the displacement of the sheet is started, and the displacement of the sheet is ended until the carry-in roller 72 is reached.

That is, even if the sheet is a displaceable sheet of an arbitrary length, the displacement is started after the leading end of the sheet is carried into the range of L3, thereby reducing the catching of the sheet into the die hole 63. In addition, since the sheet is displaced from the same position, the load resistance of the conveyance guide and the like when the sheet is displaced is constant, and the sheet is prevented from being jammed at the position. In particular, when the displacement roller 52 displaces while being conveyed, catching or the like can be prevented.

Of course, in the case of the dummy punch (conveying guide) 60D having no die hole 63, the displacement of the sheet can be started at the timing when the trailing end of the sheet passes through the main body discharging roller 30, but in the present embodiment, the first flapper 68 and the displacement roller 52 are positioned at positions where the displacement of the sheet can be performed at least after the sheet passes through the swing leading end of the first flapper 68. This is because a gap is generated between the flapper and the conveyance guide, and therefore, displacement of the sheet starts after passing through the gap, and catching into the gap is reduced.

Next, fig. 13(b) shows a state in which the displacement of the sheet is completed before the branching roller 82 of the second conveying path 80. In this figure, the sheet from the carry-in port 32 reaches the second flapper 85 by the shift roller 52 via the first flapper 68 which closes the first conveying path 70 side and opens the second conveying path 80 side.

At the time when this swing front end of the second shutter 85 passes, the displacement of the sheet is started, and the displacement is ended until the branching roller 82 is reached.

Here, more specifically, the length from the carry-in port 32 to the branch roller 82 is set to 235 mm, and the sheet displaceable by the displacement roller 52 in the direction intersecting the conveying direction is a letter size having a length of 216 mm or less and a sheet having a length of a size of a4 size or less in the lateral direction. Therefore, if the sheet exceeding this size cannot be displaced for discrimination by the displacement roller 52, but in this case, it is only necessary to pass it through the first conveying path 70 and displace it by the integration plate 95.

In addition, in the second conveying path 80, even if the sheet is a sheet of any length that can be displaced, the displacement is started after the leading end of the sheet is carried into the range of L4, and thus the sheet is displaced after passing the leading ends of the first flapper 68 and the second flapper 85, and the catching of these flappers and conveying guides is reduced. In addition, any sheet is displaced from the same position, and the load resistance of the conveyance guide and the like at the time of displacement of the sheet is constant, thereby reducing the jamming and the like of the sheet at the position. In particular, when the displacement roller 52 displaces while being conveyed, catching or the like can be prevented.

Of course, the sheet can be displaced when the trailing end of the sheet conveyed to the second conveying path 80 passes through the main body discharge roller 30, but in the present embodiment, at least after the sheet passes through the swing leading end of the first flapper 68, the first flapper 68 and the displacement roller 52 are positioned at displaceable positions. This is because a gap is generated between the flapper and the conveyance guide, and therefore, after passing through this gap, displacement of the sheet is started, and catching into this gap is reduced.

As this embodiment, a case where a sheet is folded back when the carried-in sheet is guided again to the image forming section in order to form images on both surfaces will be described with reference to fig. 14. In this case, the sheet passes above the first flapper 68 and the second flapper 85 and is carried into the third conveying path 88. In this case, the sheet is moved by the main body discharge roller 30 in the forward direction on the left side in the drawing and in the reverse switchback direction, and at this time, the driven roller solenoid 54SL separates the displacement driven roller 54 in pressure contact with the displacement roller 52 from the displacement roller 52 so that the displacement roller 52 does not interfere with the sheet conveying operation by the main body discharge roller 30. Accordingly, even a sheet having a relatively long length such as a3 can be conveyed in the forward direction and the return direction by the main body discharge roller 30 without resistance.

[ description of sheet displacement operation in first conveying path ]

Here, the displacement operation of fig. 13(a) up to the end of the displacement of the sheet in the first transport path 70 will be described with reference to the sectional explanatory views of fig. 15 and 16 and fig. 17 and 18 which correspond to these views in a planar manner.

[ front side Displacement ]

Fig. 15(a) is a diagram of the sheet guided to the first conveying path 70 being discharged by the main body discharge roller 30 and carried in from the carry-in port 32. In this figure, the first flapper 68 has shielded the path on the second conveyance path 80 side. When the carry-in sensor 42 detects the sheet leading end from this state, as shown in fig. 17(a), the displacement roller 52 rotates in the conveying direction, and drives the moving motor 61M of the punching unit 60, so that the punching moving unit 61 is displaced to the front side in advance in this case. The displacement amount of the punch moving unit 61 in this embodiment is slightly more than 15 mm. The start of rotation of the displacement roller 52 and the start of displacement of the punch hole moving unit 61 may be performed after a signal of sheet carrying in from the image forming apparatus a of the main body is obtained, instead of the signal of the carrying in sensor 42. In addition, the die holes 63 of the punching moving unit 61 in the figure illustrate the die holes 63TD for 3 holes and the die holes 63WD for 2 holes.

Fig. 15(b) shows a state where the leading end of the sheet is conveyed to the carry-in roller 72 of the first conveying path 70 through the die hole 63 of the punch moving unit 61. As described above, the displacement of the front side by the shift roller 52 and the shift driven roller 54 (hereinafter, simply referred to as the displacement of the shift roller 52) is started at the timing when the leading end of the sheet passes through the die hole 63 at the position of L3 from the carry-in roller 72. This state is shown in fig. 17(b) as a state in which the rear end of the sheet has passed through the main body discharge roller 30, and the displacement roller 52 is displaced toward the front side while conveying the sheet. In this illustrated broken line state, the displacement of the sheet to the front side ends. The displacement amount Shift F on the front side of the displacement roller 52 is set to 15 mm, but may be about 10 mm which can be discriminated. Here, although the example in which the displacement roller 52 is displaced to both the front side and the rear side is shown, the displacement may be a single displacement from about 10 mm to about 15 mm in only one direction of the center of the apparatus and the front side or the rear side.

Next, fig. 16(a) shows a state in which the leading end of the sheet passes through the carry-in roller 72 of the first conveying path 70 and the trailing end of the sheet passes through the shift roller 52. In fig. 18(a), in response to this state, the sheet passes through the punching unit 60 (in the absence, a dummy punch (conveying guide) 60D) which is displaced to the front side by the displacement amount Shift F. When the sheet trailing end passes through the shift roller 52 as illustrated, the shift roller 52 is returned to the initial position at the center in the direction of the arrow shown in fig. 18 (a). The return to this initial position is set by the count of the sheet passing in sensor 42, but may be controlled by a main body signal. In this way, after the sheet passes through the shift roller 52, the shift roller is immediately restored to the initial position, and thus, even if the next sheet is shifted to the rear side, the sheet can be quickly handled.

As shown in fig. 16(b), when the punching sensor 60S of the punching moving unit 61 detects the sheet rear end, it is determined that the sheet reaches the punching position at that time, and the carry-in roller 72 is stopped. After the stop, the rotation direction of the punch motor 60M described above is designated according to whether the hole is 2 or 3, and the punch cam 64 is rotated, whereby the punch cam 64 moves up and down the punch blade 62 to perform the punching operation with respect to the die hole 63. In fig. 18(b), the center of the 3-hole die 63TD corresponds to the sheet movement by the shift roller 52, and therefore, the center of the sheet is punched.

In addition, in the positions between fig. 16(a) and 18(a) and fig. 16(b) and 18(b), the punching moving unit 61 is reciprocated in the direction intersecting the conveying direction within a range corresponding to the sheet size in order to determine the punching position to the sheet. This is to detect the sheet side edge by the side edge sensor 61S shown in fig. 10 and 12, and to correct the error in the sheet width direction based on a change in the state of the side edge sensor 61S (based on edge detection of rising or falling). This detection is desirably performed at a position close to the punching position, and in this embodiment, at a position on the rear end side of the sheet being conveyed.

[ posterior displacement ]

Now, a case where the sheet is displaced to the rear side by the displacement roller 52 will be described with reference to fig. 19. Since the operation of the rear displacement is only the direction intersecting the conveying direction and becomes the rear side, the other operations are the same as the front side, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted. The sheet is carried in from the carry-in port 32, and the shift roller 52 rotates in the conveying direction. The moving motor 61M of the punching unit 60 is driven, and the punching moving unit 61 has been displaced to the rear side in advance. The punching moving unit 61 is displaced slightly more to the rear side than 15 mm. When the leading end of the sheet passes through the die hole 63 corresponding to the punching blade 62 of the punching moving unit 61, the displacement motor 50M is driven this time to displace the displacement roller 52 rearward as shown in fig. 19 (a). Thereby, the sheet is shifted to the rear side by Shift R. This rear side displacement Shift R also becomes 15 mm.

When the sheet passes through the shift roller 52 from this state, the shift roller 52 is returned to the original position to wait for the next sheet to be carried in. On the other hand, the preceding sheet is conveyed by the carry-in roller 72 substantially at the center of the displaced punching moving unit 61. As shown in fig. 19(b), when the rear end of the sheet is detected by the punching sensor 60S, the carry-in roller 72 is stopped, the punching motor 60M is driven, and the designated punching blade 62 is driven to perform punching processing on the rear end side of the sheet. In addition, the same applies to the case of the forward displacement, but the punching moving unit 61 stays at the displaced position until the displacement direction for sorting the designated number of copies is changed, and when the displacement position is changed, the sheet moves to the displacement position on the opposite side before the sheet is carried into the carrying-in roller 72.

When the process of sorting the designated number of copies is completed in this way, the punch moving means 61 is returned to the original center position. That is, the shift roller 52 returns to the center every time the sheet passes, and the punching moving unit 61 changes the moving direction only when the shift direction is changed for the next number of sheets without changing the shift position until the shift position of the sheet is changed by changing the number of sheets. Note that the side edge detection of the sheet immediately before the punching process is performed by slightly moving the side edge sensor 61S, which is the same.

The above operations are the forward displacement and the backward displacement of the punching moving unit 61 and the displacement roller 52 in accordance with the movement of the sheet. As described herein, since the punching moving unit 61 is moved in advance in the displacement direction of the displacement roller 52 before the sheet is carried in, the sheet can be punched as needed after the displacement of the sheet, and the processing speed can be increased. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the punching moving unit 61 is located on the downstream side of the displacement roller 52, the movement of the punching moving unit 61 may be at a relatively low speed. Therefore, the displacement operation can be sufficiently performed without increasing the size of the movement motor 61M.

[ punching and sheet processing Pattern ]

Here, regarding the sheet punching process and the sheet displacement process in the sheet processing apparatus B of this embodiment, fig. 20 shows punching and sheet processing patterns in the case where the punching moving unit 61 is provided, the case where the dummy punch (conveying guide) 60D without the punching moving unit 61 is provided, and the case where the sheet conveying length is large or small. In this figure, the first row indicates the presence or absence of the punch moving unit 61, the second row indicates whether the sheet length is large or small (actually whether the conveyance length exceeds 216 mm), and the third and fourth rows indicate whether the sheet displacement is performed by the displacement roller 52 (o indicates executable, x indicates non-executable).

Further, the fifth row shows whether or not the sorting displacement of the sheet is performed (Δ is optional) by the aligning plate 95 on the processing tray 90, the sixth row shows whether or not the 3-hole die hole 63TD in the specific sheet (letter longitudinal direction, legal exclusive paper size sheet) is retracted, and the seventh row shows the punching processing. Also, the eighth row indicates the order of punching and displacement of sheet processing in the sheet processing apparatus B, and the last ninth row indicates a pattern indicating the processing result of punching and displacement corresponding to the sheet length. The details of these steps are clear from the description so far and the following description including the process flow, and therefore the description is omitted here.

Next, the flow of punching and sheet displacement based on the processing patterns described above and shown in fig. 20 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of fig. 21 to 27.

(Steps S10 to S19)

Fig. 21 shows an operation flow from the beginning. Here, it is first determined whether the punching unit 60 is mounted or the dummy punch (conveying guide) 60D of the punching unit 60 is not mounted on the sheet processing apparatus B (S10). This determination may be made by the sensor detection punching unit 60, not shown, or may be made by initial setting from an electric switch or a control panel. In the case where there is the punching unit 60 in this step, the carrying-in of the sheet is waited next (S11). When the carry-in sensor 42 detects the leading end of the sheet, the shift roller 52 and the shift driven roller 54 start to rotate in a sandwiched state (S12). Here, in the case of the virtual punch (conveyance guide) 60D, the carry-in of the sheet is also waited (S17), and if the carry-in sensor 42 detects the sheet, the rotations of the displacement roller 52 and the displacement driven roller 54 are started. The next operation in this case is separately described with reference to fig. 26.

Returning to fig. 21, at the same time as the start of the rotation of the displacement roller 52, the length information of the sheet carried in from the main body side by the main body discharge roller 30 is acquired. In this step, as shown in fig. 20, as the small size, for example, the sizes of the sheet length in the B5 transverse direction, letter paper transverse direction, and a4 transverse direction are set. Further, as large sizes, sizes of sheet conveyance lengths of B5 portrait, letter portrait, a4 portrait, legal-exclusive paper, B4, and A3 are set. That is, if the comparatively common a4 or letter paper is processed in the transverse direction, the processing can be performed quickly. Next, it is determined whether or not a displacement for discriminating the sheets is performed (S14). Here, in the case where there is the discrimination displacement, the punch moving unit 61 is displaced first according to whether the direction of discrimination is the forward side or the backward side (S15). The displacement of the punch moving means 61 is performed by driving the moving motor 61M to a position slightly more than 15 mm in consideration of the detection movement of the side edge sensor 61S.

Also, during this time, the displacement roller 52 conveys the sheet to the punching unit 60 side via the first flapper 681. Then, it is confirmed whether or not the sheet leading end enters the range of L3 beyond the die hole 63 of the punching unit 60 (S16). This confirmation is performed by the punch sensor 60S of the punch moving unit 61. Here, when it is instructed not to perform the discrimination displacement of the sheet, the conveyance by the displacement roller 52 is continued. The next operation in this case is separately described with reference to fig. 22.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the sheet transport length is long, the punch moving unit 61 is slightly displaced to the front side or the rear side in order to avoid catching of the die hole 63 (the 3-hole die hole 63TD) and the leading end corner of the sheet. Here, since the die holes 63 on both sides of the 3-hole die hole 63TD are targets, the displacement is about 6 mm. Therefore, the punch moving unit 61 moves more than 15 mm when the preceding sheet is distinguished, and moves within a range of about 6 mm when it retreats from the die hole 63. This reduces an excessive load on the travel motor 61M. The next operation in this case is separately described with reference to fig. 24.

(from step S100 to S190)

Next, S100 to S190 will be described with reference to fig. 22. When the sheet front end reaches the L3 area, the shift roller 52 and the shift driven roller 54 are shifted while conveying the sheet to the front side or the rear side in the specified direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction (S100). This state corresponds to fig. 17(b) and 19(a) described above. At this stage, the carry-in roller 72 of the first conveying path 70 starts rotating, and then the sheet is conveyed (S120). When the trailing end of the sheet following the carry-in roller 72 passes through the shift roller 52, the shift roller 52 returns to the initial position, which is the home position of the center of the apparatus, and stops, waiting for the carry-in of the next sheet.

On the other hand, the large-size sheet material that has been subjected to the die-hole escape operation (S19) by the punching moving unit 61 is then conveyed by the rotation of the carry-in roller 72 (S170). Thereafter, when the rear end of the large-size sheet passes through the shift roller 52(S180), the shift roller 52 stops rotating and waits for the next sheet to be carried in (S190).

[ execution of piercing treatment ]

Next, it is confirmed whether the punching unit 60 performs the above-described small-size or large-size punching process (S140). Here, when it is considered to be executed, first, the sheet is slightly displaced toward the center of the apparatus in order to detect the position of the side edge of the sheet. By this displacement, a change in the state of the side edge sensor 61S is confirmed, and the punching position in the sheet width direction is estimated (S150). The operation in this case and the operation in the case where the punching is not performed before will be described with reference to fig. 23.

(from step S200 to S250)

In fig. 23, when the punching sensor 60S detects the passage of the sheet trailing end, the carry-in roller 72 is stopped (S200). This position is a punching position of the rear end of the sheet, and the punch motor 60M determines the rotation direction based on the 2-hole or 3-hole instruction to punch a hole (S210). When the punching process for punching the target area is completed, the carry-in roller 72 starts to rotate again to carry the sheet. Although not shown in this flow, the sheets reach the carry-out roller 74 that rotates together with the carry-in roller 72, and thereafter, the sheets are directly discharged one by one to the first accumulation tray 110 by the discharge roller 78 that is pressed downward. When the discharge is completed, the rotation of the carry-out roller 74 and the discharge roller 78 is stopped (S240). If there are sheets next, the process returns to the start and repeats until the predetermined number of sheets is processed. By the above operation processing, a small-sized sheet processing in the case of having the punching unit 60 is performed.

[ with punching units, large size punching and displacement ]

Next, the flow of the large-size punching and division displacement with the punching unit will be described with reference to fig. 24 and 25.

(from S300 to S360)

First, in fig. 21, following the retreating operation of the die hole 63 (S19), the carry-in roller 72 is rotated (S300). Next, it is determined whether the rear end of the large-size sheet passes through the shift roller 52 (S310). When the sheet passes through, the shift roller 52 stops functioning as a relay roller, stops rotating, and waits for the next sheet to be carried in. Subsequently, the discharge roller 78 also starts to rotate (S330). Here, it is confirmed that the punching process is performed by the punching unit 60 (S340). If it is determined to be done, the punching moving unit 61 is slightly moved, and the punching position from the sheet side edge is determined by the sheet side edge sensor 61S (S350). Next, the punch sensor 60S detects the sheet rear end (S360). The operation in this case and the operation in the case where the punching is not performed before will be described with reference to fig. 24.

In the flowchart of fig. 25, the description is continued on the large-size sheet processing. When the punching sensor 60S detects the trailing edge of the sheet, the rotation of the carry-in roller 72 (carry-out roller 74) and the discharge roller 78 is temporarily stopped (S400). After the stop, the punch motor 60M is driven in a predetermined direction to perform a 2-hole or 3-hole punching process (S410). After the punching process, the carry-in roller 72, the carry-out roller 74, and the discharge roller 78 are rotated again, and the conveyance of the sheet is started again. Here, it is confirmed whether or not a displacement for discriminating the sheets together with the previous sheet on which the punching process is not performed is performed (S430).

When the sheet is carried out to the processing tray 90, the upper discharge roller 78a is lowered toward the lower discharge roller 78b to nip the sheet, the discharge roller 78 is reversed, and the sheet is conveyed toward the reference surface 92. Thereafter, the upper discharge roller 78a is stopped from being raised, and the carry-in roller 72 (carry-out roller 74) is also stopped (S440). At this time, the tucking roller 93 also rotates, and the sheet abuts against the reference surface 92.

If the sheet abuts on this reference surface 92, the sheet is displaced mainly by the rear side aligning plate 95b to move to the sorting position when moving to the front side, and the sheet is displaced mainly by the front side aligning plate 95a to move to the sorting position when moving to the rear side, according to the direction of displacing the aligning plate 95 (S450). In this case, the sorting movement on the processing tray 90 by the collecting plate 95 may be a displacement movement of 1 sheet by 1 sheet or 2 sheets by 2 sheets or per one set, but a displacement of 2 sheets by 2 sheets is often performed in view of rapidity of the processing.

The sheets separated and displaced by the aligning plate 95 of the processing tray 90 are again lowered by the upper discharge roller 78a, and are then discharged as a bundle to the first collecting tray 110 by the discharge roller 78 while being nipped. On the other hand, if the sheet on which the discrimination displacement is not performed in the processing tray 90 also reaches the discharge roller 78 from the carry-in roller 72, the carry-in roller 72 is stopped (S460). At the same time, the discharge roller 78 nips the sheet and discharges the sheet to the first accumulation tray 110. If there are sheets next, the process returns to the start and repeats until the predetermined number of sheets is processed. By the above operation processing, large-sized sheet processing in the case of having the punching unit 60 is performed. Here, since the large-sized sheet cannot be displaced by the displacement roller 52, the sorting process is performed by the conforming plate 95 of the processing tray 90 as also described above.

[ handling when the dummy punch (conveyance guide) 60D is carried ]

(from S500 to S590)

From here, the flow of sheet processing in the case where the punching unit 60 is not provided but only the conveyance guide unit (60D) will be described with reference to fig. 26. In addition, here, since there is no punching process, only displacement of the sheet, and a large-size process is performed by the integration plate 95, the table shown in fig. 20 is substituted, and the description here is omitted.

If it is determined that the punching unit 60 is not present, the length of the sheet to be conveyed is determined next. Here, as in fig. 26, the small size and the large size are also distinguished (S500). If it is determined that the sheet is a small-sized sheet, it is next determined whether or not the sheet is displaced by the displacement roller 52 (S510). When the displacement roller 52 displaces, it is checked whether or not the sheet is located within the range of L3 at substantially the same position as the die hole 63. This confirmation is performed by the sensor at the same position as the punch sensor 60S (S520). When the sheet is positioned in this L3, the shift roller 52 is shifted while conveying the sheet to the front side or the rear side (S530).

This displacement is performed until the leading end of the sheet reaches the carry-in roller 72. Then, the carrying-in roller 72 is rotated to continue the conveyance (S540). Next, when the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the shift roller 52, the shift roller 52 is returned to the home position at the center of the apparatus and stops rotating (S560).

When it is determined that the displacement roller 52 is not displaced (S510), the carry-in roller 72 is rotated to continue the conveyance of the sheet (S570). Thereafter, it is confirmed whether the sheet passes through the shift roller 52 (S580). When the sheet passes, the rotation of the shift roller 52 is temporarily stopped (S590). The next operation including the above-described return to the home position of the shift roller 52 is explained with reference to fig. 27.

(from S600 to S620)

As shown in fig. 27, after the sheet rear end passes through the sheet sensor 73 for a predetermined time after the shift roller 52 is stopped, the upper discharge roller 78a is lowered toward the lower discharge roller 78b, and the sheet is discharged as the discharge roller 78 toward the first collecting tray 110. Thereby discriminating sheets or sheets which are not discriminated are sequentially accumulated on the first accumulation tray 110. Thereafter, the upper discharge roller 78a is raised, and the rotation of the discharge roller 78 is stopped (S600). At substantially the same time, the carry-in roller 72 (carry-out roller 74) is also stopped (S610). If there are sheets next, the process returns to the start and repeats until the predetermined number of sheets is processed. By the above operation processing, small-sized sheet processing is performed in the case where the conveyance guide unit (60D) of the punching unit 60 is not provided. As described above, the large-sized sheets are sorted and processed by the aligning plate 95 of the processing tray 90 and are stacked on the first stacking tray 110, which is similar to the case described above.

[ Loading State on the first accumulating tray ]

In the above flow, the sheets are distinguished by the shift roller 52 or the integration plate 95 on the processing tray 90. A state where sheets are sorted and accumulated on the first accumulation tray 110 will be described with reference to fig. 28. First, fig. 28(a) is a view showing a state in which sheets separated by the shift rollers 52 are collected by the discharge rollers 78 and discharged. In this figure, the sheet displaced by the displacement roller 52 is discharged and accumulated by the discharge roller 78 via the carry-in roller 72 and the carry-out roller 74. In the case of this figure, the sheets are collected into 4 copies per 10 sheets. The same applies to the stacking method when the separation roller 114 stacks the sheets from the second conveying path 80 to the second stacking tray 115.

On the other hand, fig. 28(b) is a view showing a state in which sheets having been displaced from the aligning plate 95 of the processing tray 90 are collected in the first collection tray 110. As shown in the figure, large-sized sheets are temporarily placed on the processing tray 90, and are displaced by the front side aligning plate 95a and the rear side aligning plate 95b and then placed on the first collecting tray 110. In this embodiment, 2 sheets are displaced by the aligning plate 95, and the last 2 sheets are displaced to the rear side in the processing tray 90. As described above, in the present embodiment, even in the first conveying path 70 or the second conveying path 80, the small-sized sheets can be separately accumulated in the state of fig. 28 (a). In addition, large-sized sheets can be collected distinctively by the collecting plate 95 of the processing tray 90 shown in fig. 28 (b).

[ Displacement of avoiding die hole and Displacement of distinction ]

Here, in the case where the conveyance of the specific sheet material (in the present embodiment, letter longitudinal direction and legal exclusive paper size) is performed, there are the punching blade 62 formed on the punching moving unit 61 and the die hole 63 to receive it, but there is a risk that the leading end of the specific sheet material is corner-caught on the 3-hole punching blade 62TP and the 3-hole die hole 63TD therein and clogging is generated. That is, when the 3-hole die hole 63TD is located at both sides of 108 mm from the center, the punching moving unit 61 causes the above-described catching when the letter sheet is conveyed while being aligned with the center thereof, because the sheet width in the letter sheet longitudinal direction and the legal special paper size is 216 mm. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the following operation is performed.

First, in fig. 29(a), the die hole is moved to the front side of the apparatus to be retracted. In this case, the punch moving unit 61 is displaced (Ss) to the front side by about 6 mm. Thus, even if the letter paper longitudinal direction and the legal special paper size indicated by the range divided by the dotted line are conveyed, there is no longer a risk of being caught in the 3-hole die hole 63 TD.

On the other hand, fig. 29(b) is a diagram showing a case where the punching moving unit 61 is displaced in advance by the same amount as or more than the displacement roller 52 when the sheet is differentially displaced by the displacement of the displacement roller 52. In this case, even if the letter paper longitudinal direction sheet and the legal exclusive paper size sheet shown in the range divided by the illustrated broken line are conveyed, there is no longer a risk of hanging on the 3-hole die hole 63TD by this division displacement (Sr). That is, in the present embodiment, when the punching moving means 61 performs the division processing by the displacement roller 52 with a short displacement (Ss) of 6 mm for the purpose of the die hole retreat and a large displacement (15 mm) for the purpose of the division, the movement of the die hole retreat is not performed again. Of course, it is also possible to perform the displacement Ss when the sheet is carried into the punch moving unit 61, and thereafter, to displace the remaining amount (Sr-Ss), as a result, to move in the divided displacement Sr.

Fig. 30 is a diagram showing the displacement of the punch moving unit 61 to the rear side and the displacement of the die hole avoiding division, and fig. 31(a) shows a state of being displaced to the rear side (Ss) to avoid the die hole. Further, the punching blade 62 and the die hole 63 punch holes in the sheet at the center position. On the other hand, in fig. 31(b), the punching blade 62 and the die hole 63 are displaced rearward (Sr) for distinction. As in fig. 29, the punching moving means 61 has a short displacement (Ss) of 6 mm for avoiding the die hole and a large displacement (15 mm) for sorting, and does not perform any more movement for avoiding the die hole in the case of the sorting process by the shift roller 52.

[ Dispersion and accumulation of punching debris ]

Next, a case where punching chips generated by the sheet punching process performed by the punching blade in the present embodiment are dispersed and collected will be described with reference to fig. 31. This figure shows a state in which the punching chips generated from the die holes 63 by the punching process are collected with respect to the chip box 67 that is fixed. For the sake of explanation, the 3-hole die 63TD of the punching moving unit 61 that moves in the direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction is shown, and the 3-hole punching scrap 67TD generated therefrom is shown. In the actual apparatus, as shown in fig. 10, there are also 2-hole dies 63WD and more than this, but this is omitted for the sake of explanation.

Fig. 31(a) is a view of punching a sheet at the center position of the apparatus with a 3-hole die hole 63TD corresponding to the 3-hole punch blade 62 TP. In this state, the punching chips are collected as 3-hole punching chips 67 TD. If the punching process is continued while maintaining this state, the punching chips are simply accumulated, and the chip box 67 is quickly filled with the punching chips even if there is a space for accumulation. In this case, the wiper member such as a rod for dispersing the punching chips is operated, but if the punching chips are accumulated, the wiper member must be moved with a relatively large force.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the displacement roller 52 described so far moves the punch hole moving means 61 in the same manner as the front displacement and the rear displacement of the sheet. Therefore, when the chip box 67 is fixedly disposed with respect to the punching moving unit 61 that moves in the direction intersecting the conveying direction, the punching chips are dispersed as a result, and the punching chips are dispersed in advance without providing a wiping member such as a rod that disperses the punching chips, or even if a wiping member such as a rod that disperses the punching chips is provided, so that the punching chips can be dispersed and collected with a relatively light force.

That is, when the sorting process by the shift roller 52 is performed, as shown in fig. 31 b, the 3-hole punching chips 67TD are also moved to the collecting position by the forward displacement of the punching moving means 61, and are dispersed and collected (shown by the solid line) with respect to the chips (shown by the broken line) up to this point. In this case, the center of the sheet and punch moving unit 61 moves to FC shown in the drawing. On the other hand, as shown in fig. 31 c, when the displacement roller 52 and the punching moving means 61 are displaced rearward, the position where the 3-hole punching chips 67TD are collected is also displaced rearward by the displacement of the punching moving means 61, and the chips (shown by broken lines) are dispersed and collected (shown by solid lines) with respect to the chips (shown by broken lines) up to this point. In this case, the center of the sheet and punch moving unit 61 moves to RC as shown in the drawing.

As described above, in the above embodiment, the shift roller 52 and the punching moving unit 61 are shifted for each division of a predetermined number of sheets, and therefore punching chips can be dispersed and collected. Further, this configuration can be adopted particularly when a plurality of punching processes are performed without performing a sorting process. That is, for example, when only about 3000 punch holes are punched and accumulated in the first accumulation tray 110, if the punch chips are separately discharged and accumulated within an appropriate range from 500 or 1000 sheets and the total number of sheets, the punch chips can be dispersed as described in fig. 31, and the number of times of stopping the device or the like for discarding the punch chips in the chip box 67 is reduced. The number of sheets to be sorted is indicated by the range of 500 or 1000 sheets in a part of the stacked state shown in fig. 28(a), for example, and convenience is increased.

[ other examples of end treatment of sheet ]

In the description so far in the present embodiment, the punching unit 60 is shown as an end processing unit that processes an end of a sheet, but a corner cutting unit that cuts a corner of a sheet, for example, may be employed as the end processing unit. This chamfering device is schematically illustrated by fig. 32 and 33. Details are described in detail in Japanese patent application No. 2015-238732 (corresponding to Chinese application No. 201611100225.X, wherein national publication No. CN106842847A) related to the applicant's application.

Fig. 32 and 33 are punching and chamfering units also provided with a punching mechanism as an end processing unit of a sheet, fig. 32 is a top explanatory view of the unit, and fig. 33 is a perspective view of the unit. As shown in fig. 31, a punching and corner unit 180 is provided on the front side so as to reciprocate in a half area of the direction intersecting the conveying direction by a corner unit motor 184 within the illustrated broken line. The punching and corner portion unit 180 is provided with a corner cutter 181 for cutting the corner of the sheet, a punching cutter 182, and embosses 183 for embossing the sheet. Thus, the front half of the sheet can be subjected to end processing.

Further, on the rear side (upper side in the figure) of fig. 31, a punching and corner unit 190 is provided so as to reciprocate in a half region of the direction intersecting the conveying direction by a corner unit motor 194. The punching and corner unit 190 is provided with a corner cutter 191 and a punching cutter 192 for cutting corners of the sheet, and embosses 193 for embossing the sheet. From which the front half of the sheet can be end-treated. Therefore, the corner unit motor 184 and the corner unit motor 194 can be driven to move to the predetermined displacement position before the sheet is displaced in the direction intersecting the conveying direction by the displacement roller 52. The punching sensor 60S at the center and the side edge sensor 61S provided in each unit operate in the same manner as described in the embodiments so far. Further, downstream of the dashed line frame is a carry-in roller 72. Fig. 33 is a partial perspective view of the device of fig. 32. As described above, the punching unit 60, the corner cutting unit that cuts the corner of the sheet, and the like can be used as the end processing unit that processes the end of the sheet.

[ description of control Structure ]

A system control structure of an image forming apparatus a including a sheet processing apparatus B including the shift roller unit 50 and the punching unit 60 (corner cutting and punching unit) described above will be described with reference to a block diagram of fig. 34. The image forming apparatus system shown in fig. 1 includes an image formation control section 200 of the image forming apparatus a and a sheet processing control section 204 (control CPU) of the sheet processing apparatus B including the conveying unit 40, the shift roller unit 50, the punching unit 60, the stapling unit 100, the first aggregation tray 110, and the like.

The image formation control section 200 includes a paper feed control section 202 and an input section 203. Further, from the control panel 18 provided at this input section 203, inputs can be made to execute (1) "print mode", (2) "exit mode", (3) "discrimination displacement mode", (4) "punching mode (sheet side edge cutting mode)", (5) "sheet binding mode", (6) "folding back mode", and a combination thereof, which will be described later. In particular, the combination at the center of the present embodiment may be a combination as in the table of fig. 20.

The sheet processing control portion 204 is a control CPU that operates the sheet processing apparatus B in accordance with the designated sheet processing mode. The sheet processing control section 204 includes a ROM206 in which an operation program is stored and a RAM207 in which control data is stored. In the sheet processing control section 204, for example, in the conveying unit 40 relating to the present embodiment, a carry-in sensor 42 for detecting carrying-in of the sheet to the shift roller unit 50, a position sensor for detecting a shift position of the shift roller 52, a punching sensor 60S for detecting a position of the sheet in the punching unit 60, a side edge sensor 61S for detecting a side edge of the sheet, a sheet sensor 73 for detecting the sheet in the first conveying path 70, a discharge roller moving arm sensor 160S for detecting a vertical position of the discharge roller 78, and a sheet surface sensor 111S for detecting a sheet surface height of the first collecting tray 110 are connected.

Next, the sheet processing control portion 204 includes a sheet conveyance control portion 210, and the sheet conveyance control portion 210 controls the displacement motor 50M, the displacement conveyance motor 52M, the first flapper solenoid 68SL, the second flapper solenoid 85SL, the delivery roller motor 74M, the discharge roller motor 78, the discharge roller moving arm motor 160M, and the like of the conveyance unit 40 (including the displacement roller 52). Further, the sheet processing control portion 204 has a punching control portion 211, and the punching control portion 211 controls the punching motor 60M and the moving motor 61M that moves the punching moving unit 61. Further, a processing tray control unit 212 is provided, and the processing tray control unit 212 controls a front-side aligning motor 95aM and a rear-side aligning motor 95bM, and moves the aligning plate 95 by the front-side aligning motor 95aM and the rear-side aligning motor 95bM so that the positions where the sheets are placed are different for aligning the sheets for stapling or for sorting in the processing tray 90. The stapling control unit 213 controls a stapler moving motor 100M that moves a stapler 100SP of the stapling unit 100 to a predetermined position, the stapler 100SP of the stapling unit 100 staples the sheets placed on the processing tray 90, and the collecting tray lifting control unit 214 controls the lifting motor 110M of the first collecting tray 110 in accordance with the amount of collection in the final stage for sheets subjected to various kinds of processing or sheets not subjected to processing.

[ sheet processing mode ]

The sheet processing control portion 204 of the present embodiment configured as described above causes the sheet processing apparatus B to execute, for example, (1) "print mode", (2) "exit mode", (3) "discrimination displacement mode", (4) "punching mode (sheet side edge cutting mode)", (5) "sheet binding mode", (6) "folding back mode", and a combination thereof. Next, the main processing mode will be described.

(1) "printout mode"

The sheet on which the image is formed is received from the main discharge roller 30 of the image forming apparatus a, and is conveyed to the shift roller 52 and the first conveying path 70 leading to the first collecting tray 110, and is stored in the first collecting tray 110 one by one.

(2) Exit mode "

The sheet on which the image is formed is received from the main discharge roller 30 of the image forming apparatus a, and is conveyed to the shift roller 52 and the second conveying path 80 leading to the second collecting tray 115, and is stored in the second collecting tray 115 one by one. This exit mode is used when an instruction is given by an operator, when sheet conveyance to the first accumulation tray 110 is not possible, or when the length and thickness of the sheet to be conveyed are not constant.

(3) "Distinguishing Displacement Pattern"

In this mode, as already described, the small-sized sheet is processed for the sheet sorting so that the shift roller 52 is shifted to the front side and the rear side in the direction intersecting the conveying direction of the sheet. In addition, the large-sized sheets are distinguished by changing the placement position by the displacement of the alignment plate 95 of the processing tray 90. In the configuration of the present embodiment, when the displacement mode is designated, the position of displacement is automatically changed according to the sheet length.

(4) Punching mode (sheet side edge cutting mode) "

This is a punching pattern in which 2 or 3 holes are punched for filing through the edge of the sheet that can pass through the first conveying path 70, such as a displaced sheet or an undisplaced sheet. Further, a corner cutting pattern by a corner cutting unit for cutting the corners of the sheet in an arc shape may be used in combination or in place of the corner cutting pattern.

(5) "sheet binding mode"

This is a mode in which the sheet on which the image is formed is relayed by the shift roller 52 from the main body discharge roller 30, is temporarily placed on the processing tray 90 via the first conveying path 70 including the punching unit 60, is stapled by the stapling unit 100, and is then discharged to the first stacking tray 110. In this binding mode, not only the stapler 100SP for staple binding but also press binding or glue binding without staples can be used.

(6) "Turn back mode"

This is a mode in which the main body discharge roller 30 conveys the sheet on which the one-side image is formed to the image forming portion again to use the sheet processing apparatus B as a conveyance guide for performing image formation on both sides of the sheet. In this case, as already described with reference to fig. 14, the mode is such that the displacement driven roller 54 is separated from the displacement roller 52 so as not to be an obstacle in the folding back conveyance of the main body discharge roller 30. This mode is automatically performed when a double-sided image is formed on the main body side even if the operator does not specify it, but the mode will be described specifically as the mode since it relates to the present embodiment.

As described above, according to the embodiment for solving the first problem, the following effects are obtained.

A sheet processing apparatus for displacing and sorting a sheet to be conveyed and processing an end of the sheet sorted and gathering the sheet subjected to the end processing to a gathering tray (a first gathering tray 110), wherein the apparatus comprises a carrying-in path 34, a shift roller 52, a carrying-in roller 72, and an end processing unit (a punching moving unit 61 or a punching and corner unit R190, a punching and corner unit F180 of a punching unit 60), the carrying-in path 34 guides the sheet from a carrying-in port 32, the shift roller 52 is provided on the carrying-in path, conveys the sheet and shifts in a direction intersecting with a sheet conveying direction, the carrying-in roller 72 is positioned on a downstream side of the shift roller, and conveys the sheet from the carrying-in path to the gathering tray, the end processing unit (the punching moving unit 61 or the punching and corner unit R190 of the punching unit 60, a conveying roller 72, a conveying roller, a sheet from the carrying-in path to the gathering tray, and a sheet processing unit, A punching and corner unit F180) is provided on the upstream side of the carry-in roller, the end of the sheet is processed at a processing position, the end processing unit is displaced in the same direction as the displacement roller, and the displacement amount of the end processing unit is set to be equal to or larger than the displacement amount of the displacement roller.

Accordingly, the end processing unit can be moved in advance in the direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction by a distance equal to or longer than the range of displacement of the sheet for sorting before the sheet is carried into the end processing unit, and the end processing unit is already at the end processing position or a position close to the end processing position after the sheet displacement, so that the processing time for the end processing and the displacement of the sheet can be shortened.

In addition, the displacement movement of the end processing unit is started simultaneously with or earlier than the displacement of the displacement roller.

Accordingly, the processing of the end processing unit is not delayed by the sheet displacement of the displacement roller, and the sheet is not kept on standby, thereby improving the processing speed.

The end processing unit is disposed upstream of the carry-in roller in the sheet conveying direction and downstream of the shift roller.

Accordingly, since the end portion processing unit is located downstream of the displacement roller, the end portion processing unit can be displaced with a time margin, and it is not necessary to increase the size of a drive source or the like for moving the end portion processing unit.

The start of the displacement of the sheet in the direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction by the displacement roller is performed after the leading end of the sheet passes through the processing position of the end processing unit (within the range of L3 shown in fig. 7, 11, and the like).

In this way, since the sheet is displaced after the corner which is relatively liable to curl passes through the processing position of the end portion processing unit, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of catching of the corner of the sheet at this processing position.

The sheet processing apparatus further includes a second collecting tray 115, a second conveying path 80, a branch roller 82, and a switching flapper (first flapper 68) at the branching position, the second collecting tray 115 collects sheets at a position different from the collecting tray, the second conveying path 80 is branched from the carrying-in path 34 for guiding the sheets from the shift roller 52 to the second collecting tray, the branch roller 82 is provided in the second transport path and transports the sheet, and the switching flapper (first flapper 68) selects between the shift roller and the end processing unit whether to transport the sheet to the collecting tray (first collecting tray 110) or to transport the sheet to the second collecting tray 115, and the start of the sheet shift in the second transport path by the shift roller is performed after the sheet passes through the switching flapper (first flapper 68).

Accordingly, since the sheet conveyed to the second collecting tray 115 can be displaced by the displacement roller 52 and the displacement roller 52 is operated after the sheet passes through the switching flapper (first flapper 68), it is possible to reduce the step or space where the corner of the sheet or the like gets caught between the switching flapper (first flapper 68).

Further, the shift roller performs the shift of the sheet in a case where the sheet shorter than the length of conveyance from the carry-in port to the carry-in roller or the branch roller is conveyed, and the shift is ended before the sheet reaches the carry-in roller or the branch roller.

Accordingly, since the sheet having a relatively high frequency of use is displaced by the displacement roller 52, the productivity of sorting the sheets improves.

The sheet end processing unit that processes the end of the sheet is a punching unit 60 that punches a hole in the end of the sheet.

This makes it possible to perforate the end of the sheet.

The sheet end processing portion for processing the end of the sheet is a corner cutting unit (a front side punching and corner unit 180, a rear side punching and corner unit 190) for cutting the corner of the sheet.

Accordingly, the corners (corners) of the sheet can be cut, and various sheet processes can be performed.

Next, according to the embodiment for solving the second problem, the following effects are obtained.

A sheet processing apparatus for displacing a sheet to be conveyed and perforating an end portion of the displaced sheet to collect the perforated sheet to a collection tray (first collection tray 110), the sheet processing apparatus comprising a carrying-in path 34 for guiding the sheet from a carrying-in port 32, a displacement roller 52 disposed on the carrying-in path for conveying the sheet and displaced to a dividing position in a width direction intersecting a sheet conveying direction, a carrying-in roller 72 positioned downstream of the displacement roller for carrying the sheet from the carrying-in path 34 to the collection tray, and a punching unit 60 for punching the sheet by a plurality of punching blades 62 abutting the sheet and a plurality of die holes 63 receiving the punching blades and moving the punching blades and the die holes together in a direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction, when a sheet of a specific size (letter longitudinal, legal exclusive paper size) is included in the conveyed sheets, the punching unit (punching moving unit 61 of the punching unit 60) is moved to a retreat position where the corner retreating the sheet of the specific size passes through the die hole before the sheet reaches the punching unit, and when the sheet is moved by the shift roller for sorting including the sheet of the specific size, the punching unit (punching moving unit 61 of the punching unit 60) is moved to a sorted corresponding position (Sr) which is outside the retreat position (Ss) in the width direction.

Accordingly, by moving the punching unit to a position where the corner of the sheet of a specific size is not caught before the sheet is carried into the punching unit, the displacement operation for avoiding the die hole and for sorting can be efficiently performed, and the processing time for sorting the displacement and punching can be shortened while the apparatus is made small.

The punching unit is disposed upstream of the carry-in roller in the sheet conveying direction and downstream of the shift roller.

Accordingly, since the punching unit is disposed between the carry-in roller and the shift roller, and it takes time until the sheet reaches the punching unit, the shifting of the punching unit for avoiding the die hole or the shifting for distinguishing can be performed at a low speed, and thus, it is not necessary to increase the size of the driving source for shifting the punching unit.

The displacement movement of the punching unit to the sorting position is performed simultaneously with or earlier than the start of the displacement roller.

Accordingly, since the punching unit is already displaced to the punching position or the position to be retracted from the die hole when the sheet is displaced, the sheet can be carried into the punching unit without stopping the sheet, which contributes to speeding up the processing.

The displacement of the displacement roller in the direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction is started after the leading end of the sheet passes through the die hole of the punching unit.

Accordingly, since the sheet displacement for sorting by the displacement roller is performed after passing through the die hole of the punching unit, it is possible to reduce the space or step difference where the corner of the sheet or the like is caught in the die hole.

The punching blades (2-hole punching blades 62WP and 3-hole punching blades 62TP) and the corresponding punch holes of the punching unit are provided at positions where the 2-hole (2-hole punch holes 63WD) or the 3-hole (3-hole punch holes 63TD) are pierced with respect to the sheet, and the sheet of the specific size corresponds to the punch holes on both sides of the center in the width direction of the 3-hole (3-hole punch holes 63 TD).

Accordingly, the sheet to be displaced by the punching unit 60 so as to escape the die hole 63 is a sheet corresponding to the die holes on both sides with the center of the 3-hole (the 3-hole die hole 63TD) in the width direction, and is selectively displaced so as to escape the die hole.

Further, according to the embodiment for solving the third problem, the following effects are obtained.

A sheet processing apparatus for displacing a conveyed sheet, perforating an end portion of the displaced sheet, and accumulating the perforated sheet on an accumulation tray (a first accumulation tray 110), wherein the apparatus comprises a carrying-in path 34 for guiding the sheet from a carrying-in port 32, a displacement roller 52 disposed on the carrying-in path for conveying the sheet and displaced in a direction intersecting a sheet conveying direction, a carrying-in roller 72 disposed downstream of the displacement roller for carrying the sheet from the carrying-in path toward the accumulation tray, and a punching unit 60 disposed upstream of the carrying-in roller for punching an end portion of the sheet and having a scrap box 67 for collecting scraps generated by the punching, the punching unit punching the sheet by a plurality of punching blades 62 abutting on the sheet and a plurality of die holes 63 receiving the punching blades, the punching blade and the die hole are moved together (as a punching moving unit 61) in a crossing direction crossing the sheet conveying direction, a scrap box 67 for receiving punching scraps from the sheet by the punching blade is fixedly provided in a range covering a moving range of the punching blade and the die hole in the crossing direction, and the punching blade and the die hole are displaced in the same direction as the displacement roller for every predetermined number of sheets to be punched to punch a hole in the sheet.

Accordingly, when punching a plurality of sheets, the punching chips are dispersed in the chip box, and even if a rod (wiping unit) or the like is provided, the punching chips can be dispersed in advance and then flattened, so that the driving of the punching chips can be made compact and simplified.

The shift roller has a receiving position (device center position) for receiving the sheet conveyed from the carrying-in port, a first reference on the near side and a second reference on the deep side for shifting the sheet from the receiving position in the intersecting direction after receiving the sheet, and the punching blade and the die hole have a first reference on the near side (front side center FC) and a second reference on the deep side (rear side center RC) in the direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction.

Accordingly, since the center reference can be changed in the same manner as the displacement roller, the chips can be dispersed in the chip box 67.

The displacement of the displacement roller, the punching blade, and the die hole to the first reference and the second reference is performed when the number of punched holes in the sheet exceeds a predetermined number.

Accordingly, for example, in the case of performing a collective punching process of a plurality of sheets of 500 or more, even if the reference position is changed every 100 sheets without performing the division instruction, the chips can be dispersed

The shift roller and the punching unit are disposed between the carry-in port and the carry-in roller in this order in the sheet conveying direction, and the shift movement of the punching blade and the die hole (punching moving unit 61) is performed simultaneously with or in advance of the start of the shift roller.

Accordingly, since the displacement roller 52 is located on the downstream side, the displacement can be performed without increasing the driving size of the punching blade and the die hole (punching moving means 61).

The displacement of the displacement roller in the direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction is started after the leading end of the sheet passes through the die hole.

Accordingly, since the displacement operation by the displacement roller 52 for sorting is performed after the sheet passes through the die hole 63 of the punching unit, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the corner of the sheet or the like gets caught in the space of the die hole or a step.

In the description of the effects of the above-described embodiments, the corresponding components of the respective constituent elements in the claims are denoted by parentheses in the respective portions of the present embodiments, and the relationship between the two is clarified by the reference numerals.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention, and all technical matters included in the technical idea described in the claims are intended to be the object of the present invention. The embodiments described so far are embodiments showing preferable examples, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various alternatives, modifications, variations, and improvements can be realized based on the contents disclosed in the present specification, and these are included in the technical scope described in the appended claims.

The present application claims priority from Japanese patent application No. 2016-.

Description of the symbols

A: an image forming apparatus; b: a sheet processing apparatus; 30: a main body discharge roller; 32: a carrying-in port; 34: a carry-in path; 33: a tray unit; 37: a conveyance path; 40: a conveyance unit; 50: a displacement roller unit; 52: a displacement roller; 53: a displacement gear; 54: a displacement driven roller; 55: a displacement cam; 60: a punching unit; 60D: a dummy punch (conveyance guide); 61: a punching moving unit; 62: punching a hole cutter; 63: a die hole; 62 WP: 2, punching a hole by using a cutter; 62 TP: 3, punching a hole by using a punching knife; 63 WD: 2, die holes for holes; 63 TD: 3, die holes for holes; 64: punching a cam; 67: a scrap box; 67 WD: 2, punching scraps in holes; 67 TD: 3, punching scraps in holes; 68: a first baffle plate; 70: a first conveyance path; 72: a carry-in roller; 80: a second conveyance path; 82: a branching roller; 85: a second baffle; 88: a third conveyance path (a folded open path); 90: a processing tray; 95: an integration plate; 100: a binding unit; 110: a first accumulation tray; 114: an exit roller; 115: a second nesting tray; 180: a punch and corner unit; 190: punching and singly punching corners; 204: a sheet processing control section; 210: a sheet conveyance control section; 211: a punching control section; 212: a processing tray control part.