JPH0367699A - Image forming device post-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention is connected to an image forming apparatus, and is used to sort recording paper sequentially discharged from the apparatus into a predetermined number of sheets, or to bind the recording paper. The present invention relates to a post-processing device for an image forming apparatus that performs bookbinding.

(Prior Art) As a conventional post-processing device of this type, there is one described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 180674/1983 shown in FIG. In FIG. 17, reference numeral 1 denotes a post-processing device connected to a copying machine 2 as an image forming device;
consists of a folding device 3 and a finisher device 4. Then, in the folding device 3 of the post-processing device 1, the recording paper 5 discharged from the copying machine 2 is received at the entrance 6a of the first conveyance path 6, and is conveyed as it is along the first conveyance path 6 by the pair of rollers 7.8. , the second il is sent to the finisher device 4 through the outlet 6b, or is switched by the switching claw 9 and branches downward from the inlet 6a side of the first conveyance path 6.
! The recording paper 5 is fed into the feeding path lO, and the folding mechanism 1
After the recording paper 5 is folded by 1, it is transported again along the second transport path 10 to the exit 6b side of the 1 m transport path 6, and fed into the finisher device 4 through the exit 6b. Note that reference numerals 12, 13 and 14 are roller pairs provided sequentially along the second conveyance path 10, and reference numeral 15 is one of the pair of rollers 8 on the exit 6b side of the first conveyance path 6. The recording paper 5 is conveyed along the second ya feeding path 1O by being driven by one of the paired rollers 12, 13, 14, the roller 15, and the paired roller 8.

On the other hand, the finisher device 4 includes an upper stacker section 16, an intermediate staple section 17, a lower storage tray 18, and a transport unit 19 having a reversing function, which will be described later.
The recording paper 5 sent out from the first conveyance path 6 of the folding device 3 or the folded recording paper 5 is conveyed to the stacker section 16 through the 3'R conveyance path 20 of the conveyance unit 19, and is also switched to the deflector 21. Then, it is conveyed to the stapling section 17 through the fourth conveyance path 22 of the conveyance unit 19 that branches downward from the entrance side of the third IIIi conveyance path 20 . Note that reference numerals 23, 24 and 25 are a group of conveying rollers, a pair of conveying rollers, and a group of discharging rollers provided along the third conveying path 20, respectively, and are driven by these to transport the folding device 3 to the finisher device 4. The recording paper 5 fed into the transport unit 19 is transported to the stacker section 16. Similarly, reference numerals 26 and 27 are pair of conveyance rollers provided along the second conveyance path 10, and the recording paper 5 is conveyed to the stapling section 17 by being driven by these rollers. Then, the recording paper 5 conveyed to the stapling section 17
is stacked on the processing tray 28 and is pulled together by the belt 29 driven together with the pair of conveyance rollers 27 to stop the stopper 30 provided at the rear end of the processing tray 28.
position in the front-back direction. In this way, the recording sheets 5 are sequentially stacked and stacked on the processing tray 28.
The recording sheets 5 are further aligned in the width direction by a pair of width adjusting plates 31 provided in the width direction of the recording paper 5, and when a predetermined number of sheets is reached, they are stapled and bound by a stapler 32, and are further dropped into the storage tray 18 and stored. Ru.

FIG. 18 shows how to place a document on the automatic document feed mechanism in the copying machine 2 (A) and the processing tray 28 of the stapling unit 17.
The staple position of the recording paper 5 stacked above (B) and the bound recording paper 5 (C) are respectively horizontally written originals (D).
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the case of a vertically written original (E) and the case of a vertically written original (E). In FIG. 18, when the original is a horizontally written original (D), the recording paper 5 is superimposed with the image facing upward;
Furthermore, as shown in column (B) in the figure, the staple position to be stapled in the staple section 17 is at the lower right of the recording paper 5, so the staple position after binding is at the left shoulder as shown in column (C). This does not cause any particular trouble when turning over the recording paper 5 bound in a book. However, if a vertically written original (E) is copied using the same procedure and bound without reversing the recording paper 5, the stapling position will be on the right shoulder as shown in column (C), and the stapling position will be on the right shoulder. Recording paper 5 while holding a writing instrument
The disadvantage is that it is difficult to turn over the recording paper 5 when turning over the paper.

For this reason, in the post-processing device 1 in FIG.
It is necessary to turn the recording paper 5 upside down before it is sent out to the printer 7, and such a reversing operation of the recording paper 5 is performed by the conveyance unit 19 of the finisher device 4. That is, in FIG. 17, the recording paper 5 fed from the first conveyance path 6 of the folding device 3 to the conveyance unit 19 through the outlet 6b is moved along the conveyance unit 19 by switching the deflector 21 and driving the conveyance roller group 23. The sheet is then conveyed to the pair of conveying rollers 24 side, and further sent into the fourth conveying path 22 along the back surface of the deflector 21 by stopping and reversing the conveying roller group 23 . stop,
Then, the recording paper 5 is driven by the pair of transport rollers 26 and 27 to be transported as it is to the processing tray 28 along the 4111th transport path 22, and is transferred to the processing tray 28 with the image facing downward.
will be loaded on. Therefore, in Fig. 18, the vertically written manuscript (E
) is reversed, the stable position of the recording paper 5 is at the lower right corner of the back side as shown in column (B), and the stable position after binding is at the left shoulder as shown in column (C). Defects can be eliminated.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the post-processing device of such a conventional image forming apparatus, the position of the stapler 32 of the stapling unit 17 is fixed, and the recording paper 5 is turned over and bound into a book. Because the position of the latter staple was aligned with the left shoulder of the recording paper 5, in some cases the order of the pages of the bound recording paper 5 was reversed, and the order of the pages of the recording paper copied by the copying machine was changed each time. I had to get everything together. For this reason, there was a problem in that it could not be supported depending on the model of the copying machine, and its scope of application was narrowed.

That is, in FIG. 17, the recording paper 5 ejected from the copying machine 2 after copying the vertically written original (E) shown in FIG.
When the image is sent to the post-processing device 1 in the order of pages 1 to N, it is reversed by the conveyance unit 19 of the finisher device 4, and the image is oriented downward as shown in FIG. Since the sheets are sequentially stacked and bound, the stable position of the bound recording sheets 5 is at the left shoulder, and the pages are in the same order, so no problems occur.

However, when the above-mentioned recording paper 5 is sent to the post-processing device 1 in the reverse order of pages, that is, in the order from N to 1, even though there is no problem with the position of the staples on the bound recording paper 5, As shown in FIG. 19(b), the recording paper 5 is inverted and the images are superimposed face down, so that the page order of the bound recording paper 5 is reversed from N to 1. Therefore, when copying and binding the vertically written original (E) shown in FIG. 18, the recording sheets 5 must be arranged so that they are fed into the post-processing device 1 in the order of 1 to N each time. As mentioned above, depending on the model of the copying machine 2, it becomes unusable, resulting in a problem that the scope of its application is narrowed.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made against the background of the problems of the prior art as described above, and it is an object of the present invention to make the stable of a staple unit movable and to correspond to the page order of recording paper fed by a switching means. By making it possible to easily switch to transport mode or reversing mode, the stable position is always at the desired position regardless of whether the document is written horizontally or vertically.
Furthermore, regardless of the page order of the fed recording paper, the recording paper is always bound in the correct page order, so it is compatible with all types of image forming apparatus, and therefore has a wide range of applications. is intended to provide.

(Structure of the Invention) To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a transport unit that transports recording sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus in a predetermined order, and a transport unit that transports recording sheets that are sequentially stacked one on top of the other that are transported by the transport unit. In a post-processing device of an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus includes a stapler unit that is provided with a stapler that staples the edges in the transport direction, and a reversing mechanism that is provided in the transport unit and that reverses the front and back sides of the recording paper. moves left and right in the direction of conveyance of the recording sheets and binds at least one of the ends of the stacked recording sheets in the direction of conveyance and both left and right ends in the direction of conveyance, and binds the sheets of recording paper together. A switching means is provided for switching to either a transport mode in which the recording paper is transported along the transport unit or a reversal mode in which the recording paper is reversed through a reversing mechanism, and the recording paper is outputted from the image forming apparatus in a predetermined order. When the order of the pages is , the switching means switches to the inversion mode, and when the predetermined order is the reverse order from the last page of the recording paper, the switching means switches to the transport mode. It is something.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained based on examples. 1 to 16 are diagrams showing an embodiment of a post-processing device of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

First, the bottom of the tank will be explained.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 41 is a post-processing device connected to a copying machine 42, and the post-processing device 41 includes a shift tray section 43 provided at the top and a stapler section 44 provided at the bottom.
Then, the recording paper 45 discharged from the copying machine 42 in a predetermined order is transferred to the shift tray section 43 or the stapler section 4.
4 is provided with a transport unit 46 for transporting. Note that the copy 1142 described above is the bottom of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, and the predetermined order of the recording paper 45 discharged from the copying machine 42 is such that, for example, N pages of original are copied and attached to the recording paper 45. The printed pages are either in the order from 1 to N, or in the reverse order from the last page N to l attached to the recording paper 45.

Of the respective parts included in the above-mentioned post-processing device 41, the conveying unit 46 includes a duct-shaped 11th unit that conveys the recording paper 45 discharged from the copying machine 42 to the upper shift tray section 43.
i feeding path 47 and the 2111th feeding path 4, which is also duct-shaped and which conveys the recording paper 45 to the stapler section 44 below.
8, the first conveyance path 47 is provided approximately at the center in the height direction of the post-processing device 41, has a horizontal entrance portion 47a at one end for receiving the recording paper 45 discharged from the copying machine 42, and a lower end. It consists of a vertical part 47b connected to the other end of the inlet part 47a, and a discharge part 47c connected to the upper end of the vertical part 47b and rising up at an angle to the left in the figure. In addition, the 21st feeding path 48 includes a sloped portion 48a whose upper end branches from the other end of the entrance portion 47a of the first conveyance path 47 and extends downward, and a U-shaped discharge portion 48b connected to the lower end of the sloped portion 48a. It consists of Note that the entrance portion 47a of the first conveyance path 47,
The connecting portions where the vertical portion 47b and the discharge portion 47c are connected to each other, and the branch portion where the inclined portion 48a of the second conveyance path 48 branches from the entrance portion 47a of the l-th conveyance path 47 are all formed in a smooth curve shape. Needless to say, consideration has been made so as not to hinder the conveyance of the recording paper 45. Further, at the entrance portion 47a of the first conveyance path 47, a drive roller 49a that drives the recording paper 45 along the entrance portion 47a and a driven roller 49b that is driven while sandwiching the recording paper 45 together with the drive roller 49a are provided. Drive roller 49a
The first conveyance roller 49 is moved to the bottom of the tank by the first driven roller 49b. Similarly, a second conveyance roller 50 is provided on the vertical portion 47b.
, a third conveyance roller 51 and a fourth i11th conveyance roller 52 are arranged at equal intervals, a first discharge roller 53 is provided at the exit of the discharge section 47c, and these second to fourth conveyance rollers 50, 51, 52 Similarly to the first conveyance roller 49, the first discharge roller 53 is connected to the drive roller with the subscript (a) and the driven roller with the subscript (b), respectively. On the other hand, numeral 54 is a first drive motor.
, the output shaft 54a of the first drive motor 54 is connected to the drive roller 49 of the first conveyance roller 49 via the timing belt 55.
The drive roller 49a is connected to the rotating shaft of the first roller 49a.
Driven by the drive motor 54 to rotate, the driven roller 49
The recording paper 45 is driven along the entrance portion 47a along with the movement of the recording paper 45. Although not shown, the rotation axis of the drive roller 49a of the 11Ii feed roller 49 is connected to the drive roller 50 of the 2111th feed roller 50 via a plurality of timing belts.
a, drive roller 51a of the third conveyance roller 51, 41st @
The drive roller 52a of the feed roller 52 and the drive roller 53a of the first discharge roller 53 are connected to their respective rotating shafts, and these drive rollers 50a, 51a, 52a, and 53a are synchronized with the drive roller 49a of the first conveyance roller 49. driven by a first drive motor 54 to rotate, and driven rollers 50b, 51b, 52b and 53b, respectively.
At the same time, the recording paper 45 is moved to the vertical section 47b and the ejection section 47c.
, and conveyed to the shift tray section 43.

Similarly, in the 2111th conveyance path 48 branching from the first conveyance path 47, a fifth conveyance roller 56, a sixth conveyance roller 57, and a seventh conveyance roller 58 are arranged at equal intervals on the inclined portion 48a. A second discharge roller 5 is attached to the tip of 48b.
9 are provided, and these 5th to 7111th feed rollers 5
6.57.58 and the second discharge roller 59 are
Similar to the transport roller 49, the bottom of the tank is formed by a driving roller with a subscript (a) and a driven roller with a subscript (b), respectively. Then, the entrance portion 47 of the first conveyance path 47
The output shaft 60a of the second drive motor 60, which is provided opposite to the first drive motor 54 with A in between, connects to the drive roller 5 of the 5111th feed roller 56 via the timing belt 61.
Although not shown, the rotation shaft of the drive roller 56a of the fifth iIl feed roller 56 is connected to the rotation shaft of the fifth iIl feed roller 56 via a plurality of tie belts.
, the drive roller 58a of the 7111th feed roller 58, and the drive roller 5 of the second discharge roller 59.
9a, and these drive rollers 57a, 58a, and 59a are connected to the respective rotation shafts of the fifth conveyance roller 56.
are driven and rotated by the second drive motor 60 in synchronization with the drive roller 56a of the driven roller 56a, respectively.
b, 57b, 58b, and 59b, the recording paper 45 is driven along the inclined section 48a and the discharge section 48b, and is conveyed to the stapler section 44. Note that the code 62 is the copying machine 42.
The main body paper ejection sensor provided in the ejection part of the main body, numeral 63 is the first
Paper feed sensors 64 and 65 provided upstream of the 1111th feed roller 49 at the entrance portion 47a of the 111th feed path 47 are located upstream of the first ejection roller 53 of the ejection portion 47c of the first conveyance path 47, respectively. A first ejecting sensor provided on the side and a second ejecting sensor provided upstream of the second ejecting roller 59 on the second conveyance path 48. The paper feed sensor 63 and the first paper discharge sensor 64 detect the rear end 45b and the leading end 45a of the recording paper 45 in the transport direction, respectively, which are transported along the first transport path 47. The leading edge 45a of the recording paper 45 conveyed along the second conveyance path 48 is detected.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 71 indicates the entrance portion 47a of the 11119th feed path 47 and the 21st! This is a switching pawl provided at the branching part of the inclined part 48a of the feeding path 48, and the switching pawl 71 is biased by a spring 72 and normally changes the feeding direction of the recording paper 45 at the branching part to the entrance of the first feeding path 47. 47a to the vertical portion 47b, and is driven by the switching solenoid 73 to change the recording paper 4.
5 is configured to switch the conveyance direction of the first conveyance path 47 from the entrance portion 47a of the first conveyance path 47 to the inclined portion 48a of the first conveyance path 47. Therefore, by switching the switching claw 71, the transport unit 46 can transport the recording paper 45 discharged from the copying machine 42 to the shift tray section 43 or the stapler section 44 as described above.

Furthermore, the first! The first
111i feed roller 49, 2nd I11 feed roller 50, 3rd
11 to the feed roller 51. The fourth conveyance roller 52 and the first discharge roller 53 are connected to a first roller group 74 whose switching pawl 71 is switched to the first conveyance path 47 side and conveys the recording paper 45 along the first conveyance path 47 to the shift tray section 43. Construct, first
The roller group 74 is independently driven by the first drive motor 54. Similarly, the switching pawl 71 of the fifth conveyance roller 56, sixth conveyance roller 57, seventh conveyance roller 58, and second discharge roller 59 arranged along the 211th conveyance path 48 is on the 211th conveyance path 48 side. The recording paper 45 is switched to the second
A second roller group 75 is configured to convey the stapler unit 44 along the conveyance path 48, and the second roller group 75 independently
It is driven by a drive motor 60. In the transport unit 46, the output shaft 5 of the first drive motor 54 is
4 a rotates forward, and the recording paper 45 is driven by the first roller group 74 to move from the entrance section 47 a of the first conveyance path 47 to the vertical section 47 .
The leading edge 4 of the recording paper 45 is conveyed to the discharge section 47c via the
5a passes through the first paper ejection sensor 64 and is connected to the first paper ejection sensor 6.
4, it is possible to stop the first drive motor 54, reverse the rotation, and drive the second drive motor 60 at the same time. Therefore, the recording paper 45 in the first conveyance path 47 is conveyed to the inclined part 48a of the 21st conveyance path 48 by passing through the back surface of the switching claw 71 with the rear end 45b leading, and at the same time, the front and back sides of the recording paper 45 are reversed. In this state, the sheet is conveyed to the stapler section 44 by the second roller group 75 driven by the second drive motor 60. In the transport unit 46, the switching claw 71 is driven by the switching solenoid 73 to change the transport direction of the recording paper 45 from the entrance portion 47a of the 1i11th transport path 47 to the inclined portion 48a of the 2111th transport path 48.
The recording paper 45 is switched from the entrance section 47a to the 21st
! The recording paper 45 is transported to the inclined portion 48a of the transport path 48, and the recording paper 45
It is also possible to reverse the rotation after stopping the second drive motor 60 when the leading end 45a of the paper is detected by the second paper discharge sensor 65. Therefore, the recording paper 45 in the second conveyance path 48 is conveyed to the vertical portion 47b of the first conveyance path 47 by passing behind the switching claw 71 with the rear end 45b leading, and at the same time, the recording paper 45
5 is conveyed to the shift tray section 43 by the first roller group 74 driven by the first drive motor 54 in a state where the front and back sides are turned over. That is, the first transport path 47, the second
Conveyance path 48, first roller group 74, second roller group 75,
The first drive motor 54 and the second drive motor 60 constitute a conveyance unit 46 of the post-processing device 41 and are provided in the conveyance unit 46 to reverse the recording paper 45 and shift the recording paper 45 to the tray section 43. Alternatively, a reversing mechanism 76 for conveying to the stapler section 44 is configured.

Therefore, the reversing mechanism 76 in this embodiment is connected to the first transport path 47 and the 21st transport path branched from the first transport path 47.
11th sending route 48th, 1111th sending route 47th and 2nd f
ll feeding path 48 respectively, and the recording paper 45 is
111 sending path 47 and the second i11! A first roller group 74 and a second roller group 75 that transport each along the feeding path 48, and a first drive motor 54 and a second drive that independently drive the first roller group 74 and the second roller group 75, respectively. Needless to say, it is equipped with a motor 60.

The stapler section 44, through which the recording paper 45 is transported by the transport unit 46, includes a staple unit 81 and a discharge tray unit 82. Of these units, the staple unit 81 includes a stapler 83, a stapler moving mechanism 84, and a pair of left and right jogger fences 85. 86, a jogger fence moving mechanism 87, a discharge belt mechanism 88, and a fur brush mechanism 89, and the discharge tray unit 82 further includes a discharge tray 90 and a discharge tray movement mechanism 91.

Here, FIG. 2 shows section F in FIG. 1, that is, the stapler 8.
3 and an enlarged view of the stapler moving mechanism 84, FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line mm in FIG.
86, a plan view of the jogger fence moving mechanism 87 and the discharge belt mechanism 88, FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the jogger fence 85, 86 and the discharge belt mechanism 88. , Figure 6 shows Vl-Vl in Figure 3.
7 is an enlarged view of section G in FIG. 1, and the structure of the staple unit 81 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, reference numeral 92 is a stapler stand that supports and fixes the stapler 83, and reference numeral 93 is a stapler slider that moves the stapler 83 horizontally together with the stapler stand 92. The stapler stand 92 includes a plate portion 92a to which the stapler 83 is fixed, and a pair of flange portions 92b, 92 bent at right angles to both sides of the plate portion 92a and elongated in the vertical direction.
The stapler slider 93 includes a pair of support plate portions 93a, 93b extending in parallel to the outside of the flange portions 92b, 92c of the stapler stand 92, and connects these support plate portions 93a, 93b to each other. Consisting of a connecting plate 93C, the connecting plate 93
c is provided in parallel to and opposite to the plate portion 92a of the stapler stand 92. A pair of flange portions 92b192c of the stapler table 92 have a pair of pins 94a194b projecting outward, and a pair of pins 95a,
5b, a pair of pins 94a, 94b of these flange portions 92b and a pair of pins 94 of flange portions 92c.
5a and 95b are movably inserted into a pair of elongated holes 96a and 96b elongated in the vertical direction and a pair of elongated holes 97a and 97b formed in the pair of support plate portions 93a and 93b of the stapler slider 93, respectively. ing.

Therefore, the stapler stand 92 is supported by the stapler slider 93 together with the stapler 83, and at the same time, each of the long holes 95a, 96b, 97a, 97
It is possible to move up and down along b. Further, a base end portion of a fixed shaft 98 that penetrates the connecting plate 93C of the stapler slider 93 and projects to the back surface of the connecting plate 93c is fixed to the upper part of the plate portion 92a of the stapler stand 92, and is guide roller 9
9 is rotatably supported.

Note that reference numeral 100 in FIG. 3 is an elongated hole in the vertical direction formed in the through portion through which the fixed shaft 98 passes through the connection plate portion 93c of the stapler slider 93, and the above-mentioned stapler 8
3 and the stapler table 92 in the vertical direction.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, reference numeral 101 denotes a guide rod whose both ends are supported and fixed to the frames 41a and 41b of the post-processing device 41, and the guide rod 101 corresponds to the pair of support plate portions 93a and 93b of the stapler slider 93.
The stapler slider 93 is supported so as to be movable in the horizontal direction by passing through support members 93f and 93g provided on the upper part of the stapler slider 93. Reference numeral 102 is a belt for moving the stapler table 92, and the belt for moving 102 is wound around a drive pulley 103 shown in FIG.
04 to move horizontally. As shown in FIG. 2, the moving belt 102 is fixed to the connecting plate 93c of the stapler slider 93 via a fixing member 105, and therefore the stapler 83 is driven by the stapler moving motor 104 together with the stapler slider 93. can be moved horizontally along the guide rod 101. In FIG. 3, a gear block 106 is interposed between the stapler moving motor 104 and the driving pulley 103, and transmits the rotation of the stapler moving motor 104 to the driving pulley 103. Although not shown, a driven pulley is of course provided on the frame 41a side opposite to the driving pulley 103. Furthermore, the stapler movement motor 1
Preferably, 04 is a step motor so that the stapler 83 can be moved horizontally and reliably stopped at a predetermined stapling position. Reference numeral 107 denotes a horizontal channel-shaped stay with both ends fixed to the frames 41a and 41b on the back side of the stapler slider 93, and the web 107a of the stay 107 has the stapler slider 9
A guide roller 109 rotatably supported via a bin 108 is in contact with a bracket 93d formed by bending the lower part of the connecting plate 93c of No. 3. The guide rod 93 is provided in order to regulate the drive based on its own weight around the guide rod 101 and to further smooth the movement in the horizontal direction. Also, stay 107
A guide cam 110 is fixed horizontally along the stay 107 on the upper part of the cam surface 110a of the guide cam 110.
is provided so as to be in contact with the aforementioned guide roller 99 and to guide the stapler stand 92 and the stapler 83 when the stapler slider 93 is moved via the moving Velcro 02 by the stapler moving motor 104.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cam surface 110a of the guide cam 110 is horizontal at both ends and has a smooth concave shape at the center.
When the stapler stand 92 moves in the horizontal direction together with the stapler slider 93, the stapler stand 92 moves along the concave portion of the cam surface 110a to the pins 94a, 94b, 95a, 95b and the long holes 95a, 96b, 97a, 97 of the stapler slider 93.
b, the stapler 83 lowers the lower fences 144b, 145 of the driven pulley 129 of the discharge belt mechanism 88 and the guide plate (144, 145), which will be described later.
It moves while avoiding the protruding end of b. Further, reference numeral 111 is a home position sensor of the stapler 83, and the home position sensor 111 includes a light emitting element 111a and a light receiving element 111b facing each other,
When the stapler 83 is driven by the stapler moving motor 104 and moves to the left in FIG.
The home position sensor 111 is inserted between the stapler 83 and the home position sensor 11b to block the transmission and reception of light beams between them so that the home position sensor 111 can detect that the stapler 83 is at the leftmost home position in FIG.

In addition, the above-mentioned stapler stand 92 and stapler slider 9
3. Guide roller 99, guide rod 1011 moving belt 102, drive pulley 103, stapler moving motor 104, guide roller 109 and guide cam 11
Each member and device of 0 is connected to the stapler moving mechanism 84 described above.
It consists of

In FIG. 3, the pair of left and right jigger fences 85 and 86 shown in FIG.
horizontal jogger fence guide rod 11 supported by
4 penetrates, and the left slider 112 is the jogger fence 85
Also, the right slider 113 is connected to the jogger fence 8.
6 and is guided by a jogger fence guide rod 114 to be movable in the horizontal direction. Also, code 1
Reference numeral 15 denotes a jogger fence driving motor provided on the frame 41b on the right side in FIG. A timing bell (11B) is wound around a driven pulley 117 attached to the left frame 41a. A left slider 112 is fixed to the lower horizontal portion 118a of the timing belt 118, and a right slider 113 is fixed to the upper horizontal portion 118b of the timing belt 118 by fixing members 119 and 120, respectively, and is driven by the jogger fence driving motor 115. Drive side pulley 116
When rotates in the counterclockwise direction in FIG.
13 and move closer toward the center, and when the drive side boob 17116 rotates in the clockwise direction in the figure,
The jogger fences 85 and 86 move together with the left slider 112 and the right slider 113 so as to be separated from each other from the center. Furthermore, since the jogger fence guide loft 114 is located at the bottom of the jogger fence 85.86, guide rollers 121 and 122 are rotatably provided at the upper and rear sides of the jogger fence 85, 86, respectively, and these guide rollers rollers 121 and 1
22 is frame 4 on the back of jigger fence 85.86
It moves together with the jogger fence 85.86 while rotating in contact with guide stays 124 and 125 provided at the upper end of the plate 123 that connects 1a and 41b, and prevents the upper part of the jogger fence 85.86 from falling down. Furthermore, the reference numeral 126 is a home position sensor for the jigger fence, and the home position sensor 126
has a light emitting element 126a and a light receiving element 126b similar to the home position sensor 111 of the stapler 83,
When the jogger fences 85 and 86 are separated from each other by the jogger fence drive motor 115 and move in the left and right directions in FIG. 3, the left slider 112
112a is the light emitting element 126
a and the light receiving element 126b, so that the home position sensor 126 can detect that the jogger fences 85 and 86 are at the leftmost and rightmost home positions in FIG. 3, respectively. In addition,
The above-mentioned left slider 112, right slider 113, jogger fence guide rod 114, jogger fence drive motor 115, driving pulley 116, driven pulley 11
7 and the timing belt 118 and devices constitute the aforementioned jigger fence moving mechanism 87.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the ejection belt mechanism 88 of the staple unit 81 described above has an endless ejection belt 127, t' provided vertically in the center between the jogger fences 85 and 86. A driving pulley 128 provided at the upper part to drive the ejection belt 127 that is wrapped around it, a driven pulley 129 at the lower part around which the ejection belt 127 is wound, and a back surface 12 of the ejection belt 127.
A tension pulley 130 that contacts and presses the discharge belt 127 and applies tension to the discharge belt 127, both ends of which are attached to the frame 4.
1a, 41b, a drive pulley 128 is fixed to the center part, and the drive shaft 131 is rotatably provided together with the drive boolean 17128, the drive shaft 131 in FIG.
The intermediate pulley 132 provided at the right end of the transmission belt 1
A drive pulley 134 is connected to the intermediate pulley 132 via a drive pulley 134 and is fixed to the frame 41b side, and
As shown in FIG.
It consists of a hook 137 formed in the shape of a protrusion on the outside of a.

Then, the discharge belt drive motor 136 is driven, and the gear block 135, the drive pulley 134, and the transmission belt 1 are driven.
33, the drive pulley 128 rotates via the intermediate pulley 132 and the drive shaft 131, and along with this, the hook 137
is adapted to move up and down together with the front part 127a of the discharge belt 127. Note that reference numeral 138 in FIG. 3 is a home position sensor that detects that the hook 137 is at the lowest home position. Also, the third
In the figure and FIG.
This guide plate is provided so as to cover the front part 127a of 7 from the back side, and prevents the elongated ejection belt 127 from being bent, and also prevents the recording paper 45 from being bent between the jigger fences 85 and 86, as will be described later. It has a function as a paper guide that supports and guides the recording paper 45 when inserted into the paper.

In FIGS. 3 to 5, the jogger fence 8 on the right side of the pair of jogger fences 85 and 86 mentioned above
6 is a bottom plate 86a formed elongated in the vertical direction;
A hook-shaped lower fence 86b is formed by bending the lower part of the bottom plate 86a and opens upward, and the right outer side of the bottom plate 86a is bent at right angles in two stages and opens inward, and the upper and lower sides of the bottom plate 86a Side fence 8 formed across the entire direction
6c and the lower ends of the upper plate 86d of the side fence 86c are bent, and the upper plate 86d is a guide plate 86e that stands up with a gentle slope. Note that the jogger fence 85 on the left side of the figure is formed symmetrically with the jogger fence 86 with respect to the vertical center line of the discharge belt 127, and therefore, subscripts a to e are attached to each corresponding member for detailed explanation. is omitted. Furthermore, the aforementioned left slider 112 and right slider 113 are fixed to the back surfaces of the bottom plate 85a of the jogger fence 85 and the bottom plate 86a of the jogger fence 86, respectively.

3 and 4, reference numerals 141 and 142 are a pair of fur brushes provided symmetrically across the discharge belt 127 of the discharge belt mechanism 88;
41.142 is the drive roller 59a of the second discharge roller 59 of the second roller group 75 of the transport unit 46 mentioned above.
It is coaxially fixed to a drive shaft 143 that drives the second discharge roller 59, and rotates in synchronization with the drive roller 59a of the second discharge roller 59. As shown in FIG. 3, the drive roller 59a of the second discharge roller 59 is divided into a central portion facing the discharge belt 27, and a left and right portion facing the jogger fences 85 and 86. Fur brush 141, 14
2 is arranged to sandwich the discharge belt 127 and the central driving roller 59a. Furthermore, fur brush 141
．． 142, as shown in FIG. 7(a), boss portions 141a and 142a are coaxially fixed to the drive shaft 143, respectively.
and boss portion 141a.

The brush portions 141c and 142c are respectively installed in the radial direction of the brush portion 142a and are composed of a large number of hair-like bodies 141b and 142b each having a cylindrical outer periphery. Then, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the jigger fence 8
A pair of left and right guide plates 144 are provided on the lower rear side of the 5.86 with the release belt 127 of the release belt mechanism 88 sandwiched therebetween.
．． 145 is provided, and the rotating fur brush 14
The tips of the bristles 141b and 142b of hairs 1 and 142 are in contact with guide plates 144 and 145, respectively. Furthermore, the guide plates 144 and 145 have ribs 144 that protrude toward the drive roller 59a adjacent to the discharge belt 127 and are elongated in the vertical direction.
a and 145a, respectively, and as shown in FIG.
a and 86a are located above and apart from the guide plate eye 44 and the guide plate 145, respectively, so when the recording paper 45 is fed between the jogger fences 85 and 86, both left and right sides of the recording paper 45 are Bottom plate 85
a and 86a, and the central portion is provided with guide play eyes 44 and 145 by ribs 144a and 145a.
lifted up from. Further, since the left and right intermediate portions of the recording paper 45 are pressed against the guide plates 44 and 145 by the fur brushes 141 and 142, the recording paper 45 is undulated in the left and right direction, increasing the rigidity in the vertical direction. , buckling of the recording paper 45 placed against the plate 123 and the guide plates 144, 145 is prevented. In addition, the above-mentioned fur brushes 141, 142 and guide plates [44, 145, including the drive shaft 143, constitute the above-mentioned fur brush mechanism 89.

In addition, at the bottom of the guide plates 144 and 145,
The lower fence 1 protrudes downward along both sides of the driven pulley 129 of the discharge belt mechanism 88, and has the same configuration as the lower fences 85b and 86b of the jogger fences 85 and 86.
Lower fences 144b and 145b are formed at the same height as l15b and 86b.

In FIG. 1, the ejection tray unit 82 is shown as described above.
The ejection tray 90 and the ejection tray moving mechanism 9 that constitute the
1, the ejection tray moving mechanism 91 is rotatably provided on the tray stand 146 that fixes the base end of the ejection tray 90, and the front frame 41c of the post-processing device 41, although not shown. A plurality of guide rollers 147 are interposed between the front frame 41C and the tray stand 146, and guide the tray stand 146 in the vertical direction together with the ejection tray 90 by engaging with guide rails provided on the tray stand 1.
46 upward, and is comprised of a pair of lift springs 148 provided on the left and right sides with respect to the longitudinal direction of the discharge tray 90.

Note that reference numeral 149 is a connecting pin for the lift spring 148 provided at both ends of the tray stand 146, and reference numeral 150 is a guide slit in the front frame 41c that guides the connecting pin 149. Then, as described later, the recording sheets 4 are stacked and bound in the stapling unit 81.
5 are sequentially conveyed by the discharge belt mechanism 88 and sent to the discharge tray 90 to be accumulated, the discharge tray 90 is automatically lowered together with the tray stand 146 against the biasing force of the lift spring 148 due to its own weight. It has become. Note that the staple unit 81 that constitutes the stapler section 44 is housed in the post-processing device 41 and has a complicated structure. I need to take it out. For this reason, the stapling unit 81 is integrated except for the fur brushes 141 and 142, and the left and right lower portions in FIG.
It is supported by a pair of guide rails 151 and 152 with rollers provided on the frames 41a and 41b, and can be easily pulled out toward the front in the figure if necessary.

Here, FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) are diagrams showing the functions of the fur brush mechanism 89 described above. In FIG. 7(a),
The second VA feeding path 4 is moved by the second roller group 75 shown in FIG.
The recording paper 45 conveyed along the guide plate 144, 145, 139 and the plate 123 is sent upward between the jigger fences 85 and 86 by the second discharge roller 59 of the second roller group 75. When the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45 jumps out from the drive roller 59a and the driven roller 59b, the hair-like bodies 14 of the fur brushes 141 and 142 rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 7(a).
The tips of the bristles 1b and 142b contact the vicinity of the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45, causing the guide plate 144.145 and the brush portion 141c of the fur brush 141.142.

142c. In addition, fur brush 1
41 and 142, the recording paper 45 is scraped off along the guide plates 144 and 145, and as shown in FIG.
), the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45 is connected to the lower fence 85b of the jigger fence 85 and 86 shown in FIG.
86b and the lower fences 144b, 145b of the guide plates H44, 145, the recording paper 45 is positioned in the vertical direction. In addition, in FIG. 7(a), the vicinity of the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45, which is successively retracted by the rotation of the fur brushes 141 and 142, is shown by imaginary lines.

At this time, the length of the guide plate 48c located on the driven roller 59b side of the discharge section 48b of the second conveyance path 48 from its end to the center of the driven roller 59b is the driving roller 59a1.
The rear end 45 of the recording paper 45 that has jumped out from the driven roller 59b
b and the center of the driven roller 59b, and even if the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45 is inserted between the guide plate 48c and the fur brush 1415142, the fur brush 141.142 can push the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45 back toward the guide plate (144, 145). Also, Fig. 7(a)
Reference numeral 153 is a curl presser provided at the lower end of guide plates 85e and 86e of jogger fence 85 and jogger fence 86, respectively; similarly, reference numeral 154 is
A discharge part 4 formed in a semicircular shape so as to cover the drive shaft 143
This is a curling press provided between the end of the guide plate 48d on the drive roller 59a side of 8b and the guide plate 144, 145, both of which are made of a film-like elastic body, for example, a polyester film. And curl presser 1
53 uses its elastic force to press the fed recording paper 45 toward the guide plates 144 and 145 to assist the functions of the fur brushes 141 and 142, and also prevent the transferred recording paper 45 from buckling. The curl presser 154 is attached to the lower fences 85b and 86b as shown in FIG. 7(b).
, 144b and 145b, the recording paper 45 is supported by the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45 being in contact with the fur brush 141.
The elastic force of the recording paper 45 prevents it from being further scraped by the paper 142 and buckling as shown by the imaginary line in the figure.
(guide play) 144 and 145 side. Note that reference numeral 155 in FIG. 7(a) is a static elimination brush provided at the end of the guide plate 48c of the discharge section 48b, and is used to remove static electricity from the charged recording paper 45 conveyed within the second conveyance path 48. This is provided to make subsequent operations smoother.

On the other hand, as shown by thick broken lines in FIGS. 3 and 5, the recording paper 45 is in a state where the back side is supported between the jogger fences 85 and 86 by the guide plate 139, the plate 123, and the guide plate eyes 44 and 145. Then, record paper 4
The rear end 45b of 5 is the lower fence 85b, 86b of the jogger fence 85.86 and the guide play) 144.1
When the jogger fence is supported by the lower fences 144b and 145b of 45 and positioned in the vertical direction, the jogger fence driving motor 115 of the jogger fence moving mechanism 87 is driven as shown in FIG. do. Accordingly, the jogger fences 85 and 86 approach and separate from each other the same number of times along the jogger fence guide rod 114 via the drive pulley 116, the timing belt 118, the left slider 112, and the right slider 113, and sequentially move to the second conveyance. The second roller group 7 through the path 48
5, the overlapping recording sheets 45 are oriented in the conveyance direction, and both sides in the left and right directions are aligned. When a predetermined number of recording sheets 45 are stacked and arranged both vertically and horizontally, the stapling unit 8 shown in FIG.
One stapler 83 staples the ends of the recording paper 45 in the transport direction. That is, the stapling unit 81 is provided with a stapler 83 that staples the ends of the recording sheets 45 in the conveyance direction that are conveyed by the conveyance unit 46 and stacked one on top of the other in sequence. Further, in FIG. 3, the stapler 83 of the staple unit 81 is moved by the stapler moving mechanism 84 in the left-right direction in the figure, that is, in the left-right direction toward the conveyance direction of the recording paper 45, and furthermore, the jogger fence 8
The edge of the recording paper 45 overlapped between 5.86 and 86, in this embodiment, the rear end of the recording paper 45 in the conveyance direction, and at least one of the left and right ends facing the conveyance direction, If necessary, it is possible to bind both the left and right ends. In FIG. 3, the discharge belt mechanism 88
The ejection belt drive motor 136 rotates, and the ejection belt 127 is driven by the drive pulley 134, the transmission belt 133, the intermediate pulley 132, the drive shaft 131, and the drive side boolean l7.
128, and a predetermined number of bound recording sheets 45 are driven upward in the figure through the hook 1 shown in FIG.
37 with the rear end 45b being supported, and is discharged onto the discharge tray 90 of the discharge unit 82 shown in FIG. At this time, the jogger fences 85 and 86 are provided from the vicinity of the second discharge roller 59 of the second roller group 75 to the vicinity of the discharge tray 90, so that the bound paper that is discharged by the discharge belt mechanism 88 is The recording paper 45 is guided in the left and right direction and is smoothly discharged onto the discharge tray 90.

Here, the tank bottom of the shift tray section 43 of the post-processing device 41 will be explained based on FIG. 1 and FIGS. 8 to 14. In FIG. 1, the shift tray section 43 includes a tray 161, a fur brush mechanism 162, a lay shift mechanism 163, and a tray vertical movement mechanism 164. Tray 161 is the eighth
As shown in the figure, a plurality of convex portions 161m formed at the base end are formed in a trapezoid shape with a narrowing width at the distal end portion, and mesh with a plurality of concave portions 165a formed in the vertical direction on the abutting plate 165. are doing. The tray 161 has a convex portion 161a.
are respectively guided by recesses 165a of the abutment plate 165 and are movable in the vertical direction, and together with the abutment plate 165 driven by the tray shift mechanism 163, they are moved in the left-right direction toward the conveyance direction of the recording paper 45. It has become.

On the other hand, FIG. 9 shows the tray 1 seen from the direction of arrow H in FIG.
61 and the vicinity of the outlet of the discharge section 47c of the first conveyance path 47, the discharge section 47c has the aforementioned first
The drive roller 53a of the discharge roller 53 is coaxially fixed to a rotation shaft 166, and the rotation shaft 166 is driven by the first drive motor 54 shown in FIG. 1 to rotate together with the first discharge roller 53, and is opposed to the drive roller 53a. A driven roller 53b provided thereon is driven to rotate. Furthermore, the first discharge roller 53
A pair of fur brushes 16 are directly below the drive roller 53a.
7.168 is arranged, and the output shaft 54 of the first drive motor 54 shown in FIG.
These fur brushes 16 are connected to a rotating shaft 169 connected to a.
7.16B is coaxially fixed. The fur brushes 167.16B have the same configuration as the fur brushes 141.142 of the fur brush mechanism 89 in the staple unit 81 shown in FIG.
At the same time, the recording paper 45 transferred from the ejection section 47c to the tray 161 by being rotationally driven by the first drive motor 54 is scraped toward the abutting plate 165 side, and the back @45b of the recording paper 45 is pushed against the protrusion of the abutting plate 165. The rear ends 45b of the recording sheets 45 that are sequentially transferred by contacting the section 165b are aligned. In addition, fur brushes 167 and 168, rotation shaft 169
, a timing belt (not shown) and the first drive motor 54 constitute the above-mentioned fur brush mechanism 162.

FIG. 10 is a view taken along the line X-X of the main part in FIG. 1, that is, the upper surface of the tray shift mechanism 163 with the tray 1611, the discharge section 47C1 of the first conveyance path 47, the first discharge roller 53, and the fur brushes 167 and 168 omitted. 11 is a perspective view of a main part of the tray shift mechanism 163 as seen from the direction of the arrow in FIG. 10. Figures 10 and 11
In the figure, the tray shift mechanism 163
65 via a pair of bearings 170a, 170b, and has both ends fixed to the left and right frames 41a, 41b of the post-processing device 41. recess 165
A loft 174, one end of which is rotatably supported via a pin 173 on a support fitting 172 fixed to the back surface of the rod 174, is connected to the other end of the rod 174, and the abutting plate 165 is moved along the shift guide 171. a reciprocating crank 175;
Tray shift motor 176 that drives crank 175
．． 1-A series of gear trains 177 that decelerate the rotation of the lay shift motor 176 and transmit it to the crank 175; one end is connected to the gear train 177, and the other end is connected to the output shaft 176a of the tray shift motor 176 via a gear 178; It consists of a drive shaft 180 connected to a fixed pinion 179.

The tray shift motor 176 is connected to the post-processing device 41.
The drive shaft 180 is supported by a frame 41b via a bracket 181, and the gear train 177 is supported by a bracket eye 82.
They are each supported by the frame 41b via the frame 41b. In FIG. 10, reference numerals 183 and 184 are shafts that pivotally support the respective gears of the gear train 177, and among these, the shaft 183 rotatably supports the crank 175. Further, in FIG. 11, reference numeral 185 is an opening provided so that the input side gear of the gear train 177 protrudes from the frame 41b and is connected to the tray shift motor 176. And tray shift motor 1
76 is driven, the pinion 179 of the output shaft 176a
, the crank 175 rotates around the shaft flow 83 via the gear 178, the drive shaft 180, and the gear train 177.
The abutting plate 165 is connected to the tray 1 shown in FIG.
61 along the shift guide 171,
The tray 161 is configured to shift in the left-right direction with respect to the recording paper 45 discharged from the discharge section 47c of the first conveyance path 47. In addition, in FIG. 10, reference numeral 1
Reference numerals 86 and 187 denote a pair of shift detection plates provided on the back surface of the abutment plate 165, and the distance between the abutment plates 165 of the pair of shift detection plates 186 and 187 in the shift direction is determined by the distance between the abutment plates 165 of the pair of shift detection plates 186 and 187. crank 1
A shift detection sensor 188 is provided on the movement path along which the shift detecting plates 186 and 187 move together with the abutting plate 165. When the sensor 188 detects the shift detection plates 186 and 187, it can be determined that the abutment plate 165 has shifted once.

In FIG. 10 and FIG. 12, reference numeral 189 is a paper surface press that presses the vicinity of the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45 stacked on the tray 161 to prevent the recording paper 45 from shifting in the left-right direction when the tray 161 is shifted. The paper surface pressing mechanism 189 has a pair of brackets 90S191.190.191 provided protruding from the upper back surface of the abutment plate 165 toward the shift guide 171 side of the tray shift mechanism 163.
A pair of arm members 192aS192b and 1 parallel to
Plate member 1 connecting the proximal ends of 92a and 192b
Consisting of 92c and 190.191 via pins 1-33
Support bracket 92 is rotatably supported by arm members 192a and 192b having support brackets 192 at both ends.
Roller pin 194 fixed to Roller pin 194
Tray 1 of the abutment plate 165 is rotatably supported by
A pair of presser rollers 195 protruding from the 61 side.
196 and arm member 192 of support bracket 192
It is constituted by a sensor arm member 197 protruding from the rear side of the abutment plate 165 from b. Then, in FIG. 9, the fur brushes 167 and 168 of the fur brush mechanism 162 rotate to
The rear end 4 of the recording paper 45 transferred from 7c to the tray 161
5b comes into contact with the abutment plate 165, the presser roller 19
5.196 holds the recording paper 45 together with the tray 161, and uses its own weight to press the recording paper 45 against the tray 161 to prevent the stacked recording papers 45 from shifting as described above. Therefore, the paper surface pressing mechanism 189 has an auxiliary function of the tray shift mechanism 163, and also has a function of supporting the tray shift mechanism 163.
If the height of the stacked recording sheets 45 transferred to the tray 1 increases, or if the tray vertical movement mechanism 164 described later
When the tray 161 is raised by
the abutting plate 1 via the bracket 198.
It is detected by a paper surface detection sensor 199 fixed to the recording paper 45 or the tray 161, and it is determined that the top surface of the recording paper 45 or the tray 161 has reached a specified height.

On the other hand, the structure of the tray vertical movement mechanism 164 of the shift tray section 43 will be explained based on FIGS. 13 and 14.

In addition, Fig. 13 is an enlarged view of the corner part in Fig. 1, and Fig. 14 is an enlarged view of the
This figure is a perspective view of the L part in FIG. 13, viewed from the back side of the paper. In FIG. 13, reference numeral 201 is a tray support stand that fixes and supports the base end of the tray 161.
a, 202b, and is supported by the tray vertical movement table 203. Therefore, as described above, when the abutment plate 165 is driven by the tray shift mechanism 163, the tray 161
can be freely shifted together with the abutting plate 165. Reference numerals 204a and 204b denote left and right frames 41 toward the front frame 41c of the post-processing device 41.
A and 41b are a pair of guide rails provided vertically, respectively, and reference numerals 205a and 205b refer to a side plate 203a provided on the frame 41a side of the tray vertical movement table 203 and a side plate 203b provided on the frame 41b side, respectively. It is a rotatably supported roller. Rollers 205a and 205b are fitted into guide rails 204a and 204b, respectively, and rotate in sliding contact with each other.
The tray vertical movement table 203 can move up and down along the guide rails 204a and 204b together with the tray support table 201 and the tray 161, and at the same time, the tray 161's own weight and the recording paper 4 transferred and stacked on the tray 161 can be moved up and down.
The weight of the tray 161 is received by the guide rails 204a and 204b to prevent the tray 161 from falling over.

13 and 14, reference numerals 206a and 206b are a pair of timing belts fixed to the left and right side plates 203a and 203b, respectively, of the tray vertical movement table 203, and the timing belts 206a and 206b are provided on the upper left and right sides, respectively. A pair of drive side pulleys 20
7a, 207b and, as shown in FIG. 1, is wound around a pair of driven side boos 208a and 208b provided on the left and right sides of the lower part. And drive side pulleys 207a, 2
07b has both ends fixed coaxially to a horizontal drive shaft 209 that is rotatably supported by frames 41a and 41b, respectively, and furthermore, a gear 210 to which a one-way clutch 210a is attached is provided on the frame 41a side of the drive shaft 209. It is being Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the gear 210 is connected to a tray up/down motor 217 via a gear train 211, a worm wheel 212, a worm 213, a large boob IJ 214, a belt 215, and a small boob IJ 216. When the gear 217 is driven, the gear 210 rotates via each of the above-mentioned members.

At this time, the one-way clutch 210a of the gear 210 is
Drive shaft 209, drive side boo! When the gear 210 rotates in the direction of raising the tray 161 through the J 207a, 207b and the timing belts 206a, 206b, it is locked and transmits the rotational force of the tray up/down motor 217 to the drive shaft 209. death,
When the gear 210 rotates in the opposite direction, it becomes free and the drive shaft 209
release. Furthermore, when the tray up/down motor 217 is stopped, the one-way clutch 210a is locked and the worm wheel 212 and worm 213 are locked.
The drive shaft 209 is fixed by the self-holding force of the tray 161, so that the tray 161 does not descend. That is, tray 1
61 is fixed at the stop position when the tray up/down motor 217 is stopped, and the tray up/down motor 217 is connected to the tray 161.
When rotated in the direction of raising the one-way clutch 2
10a is locked and the tray 161 is connected to the guide rail 20.
4a and 204b, and when the tray up/down motor 217 further rotates in the direction to lower the tray 161, the one-way clutch 210a becomes free, and the tray 161 moves to the tray support stand 201 and the tray up/down movement stand 20.
3 and the guide rails 204a and 2 due to their own weight.
Descend along 04b. When the tray 161 is lowered, the one-way clutch 210a is free, so even if the tray 161 is stopped by an external force such as manual force, the tray up/down motor 217 only rotates idly; It is possible to prevent troubles such as overload or fingers being caught between the descending tray 161 and the front frame 41c. Also,
The side plate 203b of the tray vertical movement table 203 has a plate for vertical detection at the fixing part where the timing belt 206b is fixed.
218 is provided, and when the up/down detection plate 218 moves up and down together with the tray 161, the upper limit sensor 219 provided above facing the up/down detection plate 218 and the lower lower limit sensor 220 shown in FIG. 1 move up and down, respectively. By detecting the detection plate 21B, it is possible to determine whether the tray 161 is located at the upper limit or the lower limit.

FIG. 15 is an overall configuration diagram showing the sensors, drive motors, main operating members, and mechanisms provided in the shift tray section 43, stapler section 44, and transport unit 46, which constitute the post-processing device 41, respectively. Middle code 221
．． 222. Components other than the tray presence/absence sensor, one-rotation sensor, staple presence/absence sensor, and staple motor indicated by 223 and 224 were explained when explaining the configurations of the shift tray section 43, the stapler section 44, and the conveyance unit 46, and are described here. Therefore, the same reference numerals are used to omit detailed explanation.

The above-mentioned tray presence/absence sensor 221 detects the presence or absence of the recording paper 45 on the ejection belt 127 of the ejection belt mechanism 88, and the one-rotation sensor 222 detects the presence or absence of the recording paper 45 on the ejection belt 127 of the ejection belt mechanism 88. 4
5 is stapled, and the needle presence/absence sensor 2
23 detects the presence or absence of staples for binding of the stapler 83, and a staple motor 224 is a drive source that drives the stapler 83 to staple the stacked recording sheets 45 with the staples.

On the other hand, FIG. 16 shows the shift tray section 43 and the stapler section 4.
4 is a block diagram of a control unit 231 of the post-processing device 41 that controls operations of the transport unit 4 and the transport unit 46;
As shown in FIG. 16, it consists of a 1f#Jm section 232 and a second control section 233, and although not shown, is housed in a control panel and provided above the post-processing device 41. The first control unit 232 controls the operation of the tray shift motor 176 of the shift tray unit 43, the tray up/down motor 217, and the first drive motor 54 of the transport unit 46, and each of the above-mentioned devices is The first CPU U2 via the servo control circuit 236.235.234
37, and is also connected to the shift detection sensor 188 of the shift tray section 43, the paper surface detection sensor 199, and the upper limit sensor 21.
9. The lower limit sensor 220 is connected to the first CPU 237 via the interface 238 and is connected to the transport unit 46
The paper feed sensor 63 and the first paper discharge sensor 64 are connected to the first CPU 237 via an interface 239. On the other hand, the second control section 233 includes the stapler movement motor 104 of the stapler section 44, the jogger fence drive motor 115, the ejection belt drive motor 136, the staple motor 224, the second drive motor 60 of the transport unit 46, and the switching solenoid 73. The above-mentioned devices, except for the staple moving motor 104, are connected to the second CPU 245 via servo control circuits 240 to 244, respectively, in the same way as the first control section 232, and The staple moving motor 104 is connected to the second CPU 245 via a step motor control circuit 246. Furthermore, the home position sensor 111.126.138 of the stapler section 44, the tray presence/absence sensor 221.1 rotation sensor 222, the staple presence/absence sensor 223
via the interface 248 to the transport unit 46
A second paper discharge sensor 65 is connected to the second CPU 245 via an interface 247, respectively. Reference numeral 249 indicates the first CPU 237 and the second CP 024
5, and has a function of mutually exchanging data based on the signals of each sensor input to the first CPU 237 and the second CPU 245, or the operating status of each device. Further, reference numeral 250 is a first mode changeover switch connected to the first CPU 237 via an interface 251, and when the post-processing device 41 is switched to the shift tray mode by switching the first mode changeover switch 250, the In the figure, recording paper 45 sent from a copying machine 42 is conveyed to a shift tray section 43 through a 16th conveyance path 47 of a conveyance unit 46, and a post-processing device 41 is set to staple mode by switching the first mode changeover switch 250. When switched,
The recording paper 45 passes through the second conveyance path 48 and is delivered to the stapler section 4.
4. Further, although not shown, the control unit 231 of the post-processing device 41 controls the copying machine 4.
The first CPU 237 is connected to the first CPU 237 to mutually control and coordinate the operations of each mechanism, and in particular, the signal from the main body paper ejection sensor 62 of the copying machine 42 shown in FIG. 1 is input to the first CPU 237. It has become.

In FIG. 16, reference numeral 252 indicates the interface 25.
3, which is a second mode changeover switch connected to the second CPU 245 via the second mode changeover switch 252.
The transport mode and post-processing device 41 transport the recording paper 45 along the transport unit 46 of the post-processing device 41 according to the shift tray mode or staple mode of the post-processing device 41 by switching the first mode changeover switch 250.
The recording paper 45 is reversed through the reversing mechanism 76 of the post-processing device 41 according to the shift tray mode or the staple mode. In FIG. 1, the predetermined order of the recording sheets 45 discharged from the copying machine 42 and fed into the post-processing device 41 is as described above.
When it is the order of the pages attached to the recording paper 45, the second
When the mode changeover switch 252 switches the post-processing device 41 to the reverse mode, and when the predetermined order of the recording sheets 45 ejected from the copying machine 42 is the reverse order from the last page of the recording sheets 45, the second mode changeover switch 252, the post-processing device 41 is switched to the transport mode.

Next, the effect will be explained.

When the copying operation of the copying machine 42 is started in FIG. 1 with the first mode changeover switch 250 being switched and the post-processing device 41 being switched to the shift tray mode as shown in FIG. The tray shift motor 176 of the shift mechanism 163 is driven, and as shown in FIGS.
Pinion 179, gear 178, gear train 177 shown in Figure 1
The crank 175 rotates through the rod 174 at the same time.
A butting plate 165 connected to the crank 175 via
moves in the left-right direction in FIG. 8 together with the tray 161 shown in FIG. Then, when the shift operation of the tray 161 as described above is started, as shown in FIG. Detecting the other different from the first CP in FIG.
A signal is output to U237, and based on this, the tray shift motor 176 is stopped and the shifting operation of the tray 161 is completed. After the shift operation is completed, the tray up/down motor 217 shown in FIG.
, worm 213 , worm wheel 212 gear train 21
1. The tray 161 is raised via the gear 210, the drive pulleys 2ρ7a and 207b, and the timing belts 206a and 206b, and the paper surface pressing mechanism 189 shown in FIG.
Presser roller 196, . 195 comes into contact with the tray 161, the sensor arm member 197 of the paper surface pressing mechanism 189 is detected by the paper surface detection sensor 199, and the paper surface detection sensor 1
99 outputs a signal to the first CPU U237 in FIG. Based on this, the tray up/down motor 217 stops, the raising of the tray 161 is completed, and the shift) I-lay part 43
Preparations for acceptance have been completed.

The following describes the conveyance of the recording paper 45 ejected from the copying machine 42 by the conveyance unit 46 and the reception of the recording paper 45 into the shift tray section 43.Input of output signals of each sensor of the conveyance unit 46 and the shift tray section 43 Based on this, control of each driving motor of the transport unit 46 and the shift tray section 43 is all executed by the first control section 232 shown in FIG. 16. is not mentioned unless it is particularly necessary. In FIG. 1, the recording paper 45 ejected from the copying machine 42 is fed into the entrance portion 47a of the first @ feed path 47, and at the same time, the first drive motor 54 is driven to drive the recording paper 45.
5 is conveyed along the first conveyance path 47 by the first roller group 74 at a conveyance speed equal to the ejection speed of the copying machine 42 .

When the trailing edge 45b of the recording paper 45 is detected by the paper feed sensor 63, the first drive motor 54 is accelerated to feed the recording paper 45.
is transported at a transport speed greater than the ejection speed of the copying machine 42. Further, when the leading edge 45a of the recording paper 45 is detected by the first ejecting sensor 64, the first drive motor 54 is decelerated after a predetermined time so that the conveyance speed of the recording paper 45 becomes equal to the ejection speed of the copying machine 42. Then, the recording paper 45 passes through the discharge section 47c and is delivered to the tray 161 of the shift tray section 43.
It is discharged to and transferred to. At this time, as shown in FIG. 9, the fur brush 167.1 of the fur brush mechanism 162 is
68 rotates, the recording paper 45 transferred to the tray 161 is scraped up against the abutment plate 165, the rear end 45b abuts the abutment plate 165, the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45 is aligned, and the recording paper 45 is simultaneously recorded. The vicinity of the rear end 45b of the paper 45 is sandwiched between the press rollers 195 and 196 of the paper surface pressing mechanism 189 and the tray 161.

In this way, the recording papers 45 are sequentially stacked on the tray 161, and as the height of the stacked recording papers 45 increases, the presser rollers 195 and 196 of the paper surface pressing mechanism 189
is pushed up, the sensor arm member 197 of the paper surface pressing mechanism 189 rotates in the direction of arrow J in FIG. 12, and is detected by the paper surface detection sensor 199. Paper surface detection sensor 199
Based on the detection signal, the tray up/down motor 217 shown in FIG. 13 is driven in the direction of lowering the tray 161, and the self-holding force of the worm wheel 212 and the worm 213 and the lock of the one-way clutch 210a of the gear 210 are released, and the tray is removed. 161 descends along guide rails 204a and 204b due to the weight of the tray 161 and the weight of the recording paper 45 stacked on the tray 161. As the tray 161 descends, the presser rollers 195 and 196
The recording paper 45 that comes into contact with the sensor arm member 1 is lowered and
97 rotates in the opposite direction to the arrow J and the paper surface detection sensor 19
9 is no longer output, and at the same time, the tray up/down motor 217 is stopped, and the tray 161 is stopped due to the self-holding force of the worm wheel 212 and the worm 213 and the locking of the one-way clutch 210a of the gear 210. Then, the above-mentioned operations are sequentially repeated, and the tray 16
1 gradually descends, and a lower limit sensor 220 shown in FIG.
18, the tray up/down motor 217 stops and the tray 161 does not descend any further.

On the other hand, when a predetermined number of recording sheets 45 are ejected from the copying machine 42, a signal is output from the control section of the copying machine 42 to the first CPU 237 of the control section 231 shown in FIG. The shift motor 176 is driven, the tray 161 is shifted as described above, and when one stroke of the shift operation is completed, the tray shift motor 176 is stopped again. By the shifting operation of the tray 161, the stacking position of the recording sheets 45 is distributed to the left and right in the conveyance direction for each predetermined number of recording sheets 45 transferred to the tray 161, and sorting is performed sequentially. When the copying operation in the copying machine 42 is completed and the last recording paper 45 is ejected, the tray up/down motor 217 of the tray up/down movement mechanism 164 is driven in the direction of lowering the tray 161, and the up/down detection plate 218 is driven. The tray 161 stops at the position lowered to the lower limit sensor 220, and the shift tray mode operation of the post-processing device 41 ends.

The first mode changeover switch 250 shown in FIG. 16 is switched to switch the post-processing device 41 to the stapling mode, and furthermore, the number of recording sheets 45 discharged from the copying machine 42 is N, and the predetermined number of recording sheets 45 to be discharged is N. If the order is the order of the pages of the recording paper 45, the post-processing device 41 is switched to the inversion mode by the second mode changeover switch 252 shown in FIG. When the copying operation of the copying machine 42 is started in FIG. 1, the home position sensor 111 of the stapler moving mechanism 84 detects the shield plate 93e of the stapler slider 93 and the stapler of the staple unit 81 is moved as shown in FIG. 83 is in the home position sensor, the stapler moving motor 104 is driven, and the stapler 83 moves along with the stapler slider 93 to correspond to the left and right width of the recording paper 45 via the gear block 106, the drive pulley 103 and the moving belt 102. Move to the specified stapling position. Also, stapler 8
3 is not at the home position, the stapler 83 is moved back to the home position by the stapler moving motor 104 and further moved to the above-mentioned predetermined stapling position. Next, the home position sensor 126 of the jogger fence moving mechanism 87 detects the shielding plate 112a of the left slider 112 and moves the jogger fence 85.86.
is at the home position, the jogger fence drive motor 115 is driven, and the jogger fence 85,86 moves via the drive pulley 116, timing bell) 118, left slider 112, and right slider 113,
It stops at a predetermined position corresponding to the horizontal width of the recording paper 45 discharged from the copying machine 42. Also, jogger fence 85
．． 86 is not at the home position, the jogger fence drive motor 115 moves the jogger fence 85.
86 once returns to the home position and further moves to the above-mentioned predetermined position, and preparations for receiving the stapler section 44 are completed.

In FIG. 1, recording paper 45 ejected from the copying machine 42
When the leading edge 45a of the recording paper 45 passes through the paper feed sensor 63 and is detected by the paper feed sensor 63, the reversing mechanism 76 shared by the transport unit 46 is switched. The claw 71 is switched to the position shown by the solid line in the figure, and the conveyance direction of the recording paper 45 is switched from the entrance portion 47a of the first conveyance path 47 to the vertical portion 47b. The recording paper 45 fed into the entrance section 47a from the copying machine 42 is moved from the entrance section 47a of the first conveyance path 47 to the vertical section 47b by the first roller group 74 driven by the first drive motor 54.
The leading edge 45 of the recording paper 45 is conveyed to the discharge section 47c through the
a passes through the first ejection sensor 64 and the first ejection sensor 64
When detected by , the first drive motor 54 stops and then
The rotation is reversed, and at the same time, the second drive motor 60 is driven. Then, the recording paper 45 in the first conveyance path 47 is conveyed to the inclined part 48a of the second conveyance path 48 by passing through the back surface of the switching claw 71 with the rear end 45b leading, and at the same time, the front and back sides of the recording paper 45 are reversed. In this state, the discharge section 48b is moved by the second roller group 75.
Then, in FIG. 7A, the recording paper 45 is transported between the jogger fences 85 and 86 by the second ejection roller 59 of the second roller group 75 and the guide plate 144, 145, 139 and the plate 123. At the same time, the charge on the recording paper 45 that was charged during conveyance is removed by the charge removal brush 155.

When the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45 jumps out from the drive roller 59a and the driven roller 59b, it is pulled in by the rotation of the fur brushes 141 and 142 of the fur brush mechanism 89, and the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45 is pulled out from behind the recording paper 45 as shown in FIG. 7(b). The lower fences 85b, 86b and the guide plate 144.1 of the jogger fence 85.86 whose ends 45b are shown in FIG.
45 lower fences 144b, 145b and are positioned in the vertical direction. On the other hand, the leading edge 45a of the recording paper 45
When the recording paper 45 is positioned in the vertical direction as described above after a predetermined period of time has passed after the recording paper 45 passes the second ejection sensor 65, the jogger fence driving motor 115 of the jogger fence moving mechanism 87 is activated as shown in FIG. is driven, and the jogger fences 85 and 86 are driven by the drive pulley 116, the timing belt 118, the left slider 112, and the right slider 1.
13, along the jogger fence guide loft 114, the recording paper 4 is repeatedly moved close to and separated from each other once to several times.
Both left and right ears are positioned in the conveyance direction of the jogger fence 85, 86, and then the jogger fences 85, 86 are returned to their home positions by the jogger fence drive motor 115. Then, the N-page recording paper 4 ejected from the copying machine 42
5 are sequentially transported by the transport unit 46 in the same procedure as described above, reversed by the reversing machine $1176, and sent to the stapler section 44. Further, the same operation as described above is repeated in the stapler section 44 for each of the recording sheets 45 that have been sequentially fed in, so that the recording sheets 45 are superimposed,
At the same time, they are aligned vertically and horizontally. At this time,
Since the N-page recording sheets 45 have been turned over by the reversing mechanism 76, they are stacked with the front side facing down according to the order of the pages, as shown in FIG. 19(a). and,
The stapler 83, which has moved to a predetermined stapling position and is on standby as described above, is driven by the stapling motor 224 shown in FIG. 15 to staple the stacked recording sheets 45. Note that the predetermined stapling position of the stapler 83 is set in advance to be at the left shoulder of the bound recording paper 45 so that the bound recording paper 45 is easy to read, and can also be set to the right shoulder if necessary. It is also possible to staple the right shoulder portion by moving the stapler 83 after the left shoulder portion has been stapled. Note that the presence or absence of the recording paper 45 on the ejection belt 127 of the ejection belt mechanism 88 is detected by the tray presence/absence sensor 221 shown in FIG.
Further, the presence or absence of binding staples in the stapler 83 is detected by the staple presence/absence sensor 223, and the operation of the stapler 83 is accurately controlled in accordance with each case.

Next, in FIG. 3, the discharge belt drive motor 136
is driven, and the discharge belt 127 moves upward via the gear block 135, the drive pulley 134, the transmission bell 133, the intermediate pulley 132, and the drive pulley 128. The hook 13 grips the rear end 45b of the recording paper 45 and rises, and the bound N pages of recording paper 45 are delivered to the ejection unit 8 shown in FIG.
Then, a series of operations in the stapler section 44 of the post-processing device 41 is completed. Note that the recording sheets 45 are sequentially stapled from the staple unit 81.
Of course, when the paper is transferred to the discharge tray 90, the discharge tray 90 is lowered by its own weight via the discharge tray moving mechanism 91.

On the other hand, the post-processing device 41 is in the stapling mode by the first mode changeover switch 250 shown in FIG. If the order is in the reverse order, the post-processing device 41 is switched to the transport mode by the second mode changeover switch 252 shown in FIG. Then, in FIG. 1, the switching claw 71 of the reversing mechanism 76 is switched to the position shown by the imaginary line in the figure, so that the recording paper 45 is not reversed from the entrance portion 47a of the first transport path 47 along the second transport path 48. It is then transported to the stapler section 44. Since the N pages of recording paper 45 that have been sequentially conveyed are stacked on the ejection belt mechanism 88 and between the jogger fences 85 and 86 with the front side facing upward, the stacked recording papers 45 are arranged in page order from the top. Then, the bound recording sheets 45 are ejected to the ejection tray 90 in the order of the pages by the same operation as in the inversion mode.

As described above, in this embodiment, the stapler 83 of the stapling unit 81 is made movable in the left and right width directions of the recording paper 45, and the second mode switching switch 252 is used to control the recording paper sent from the copying machine 42 to the post-processing device 41. The post-processing device 41 can be easily switched to the transport mode or the reversing mode in accordance with the order of the pages of the paper 45. Therefore, regardless of whether the document to be copied by the copying machine 42 is written horizontally or vertically, the position of the staple that the stapler 83 taps is always set as the desired position, and the position of the staple that is tacked by the stapler 83 is always the desired position, regardless of the order of the pages of the recording paper 45 that is fed. , the recording sheets 45 can always be bound in the correct page order. As a result, the post-processing device 41
can be used for all functions of the copying machine 42, and therefore the range of application of the post-processing device 41 can be widened.

Note that not only when the post-processing device 41 is in the staple mode, but also when the post-processing device 41 is switched to the shift tray mode, the second mode changeover switch 2 in FIG.
It is possible to reverse the recording paper 45 by switching the recording paper 52 to the reverse mode side. That is, in FIG. 1, the recording paper 4
5 from the entrance portion 47a of the first conveyance path 47 to the second conveyance path 48, and further convey the recording paper 45 through the back surface of the switching claw 71 by reversing the second drive motor 60 to the vertical portion 47b. It is possible to reverse the front and back sides of the recording paper 45 conveyed to the shift tray section 43 by using the shift tray section 43.

(Effects) According to the present invention, the stapler of the stapling unit is movable and can be easily switched to the conveying mode or the reversing mode according to the order of the pages of the recording paper fed by the switching means. Regardless of horizontal writing or vertical writing, the staple position can always be set at a desired position, and the recording sheets can always be bound in the correct page order regardless of the order of the pages of the fed recording sheets. therefore,
It is possible to provide a post-processing device for image forming apparatuses that is applicable to all m types of image forming apparatuses that are the object of the present invention, and thus has a wide range of application.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 16 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the post-processing device of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front cross-sectional configuration diagram thereof, and FIG. Enlarged view, Figure 3 is the first
Fig. 4 is a view taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a view taken shown the jogger fence and discharge belt mechanism, and Fig. 6 is a view taken along the line Vl- of Fig. 3. 7 is an enlarged view of section G in FIG. 1, FIG. 8 is a plan view of the tray and abutting plate of the shift tray section, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of section G in FIG.
In the figure, a partial perspective view of the vicinity of the base end of the tray seen from the direction of arrow H, FIG. 10 is a view of the main part of FIG. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the main part of the mechanism, FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the paper surface pressing mechanism, FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of the part in FIG.
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the L portion of the figure, FIG. 15 is an overall configuration diagram of the sensor, drive motor, main operating members, and mechanism, and FIG. 16 is a block diagram of the control section. Figures 17 and 18
The figures show an example of a conventional post-processing device. FIG. 17 is a front cross-sectional view of the device, and FIG. 18 shows the position of staples on the recording paper corresponding to the way the document is placed and the position of the recording paper after binding. A diagram showing the state, FIG. 19, is a diagram for explaining the problems of the conventional example. 41... Post-processing device, 42... Copying machine (image forming device), 45... Recording paper, 46... Conveyance unit, 76... ... Reversing mechanism, 81 ... Staple unit, 83 ...
- Stapler, 252...Second mode switching switch Patent attorney Agagun (switching means) Fig. 2 Fig. q Fig. 8 Fig. 3 Fig. 15 Fig. 7

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A stapler equipped with a transport unit that transports the recording sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus in a predetermined order, and a stapler that binds the ends in the transport direction of the recording sheets that are transported by the transport unit and stacked one on top of the other in the transport direction. In the post-processing device of an image forming apparatus, the stapler of the stapling unit moves in the left-right direction toward the conveyance direction of the recording paper. Stapling at least one end of the stacked recording sheets in the transport direction and both left and right ends facing the transport direction,
A switching means is provided for switching to one of a transport mode in which the recording paper is transported along the transport unit and a reversal mode in which the recording paper is reversed through a reversing mechanism,
When the predetermined order of the recording paper discharged from the image forming apparatus is the order of the pages of the recording paper, the switching means switches to the inversion mode, and when the predetermined order is the reverse order from the last page of the recording paper. 1. A post-processing device for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that a switching means switches to a transport mode. (2) The reversing mechanism is provided in a first conveyance path, a second conveyance path branched from the first conveyance path, and the first and second conveyance paths, and the reversing mechanism moves the recording paper to the first and second conveyance paths. Claim 1 characterized by comprising: first and second roller groups that respectively convey along the first and second roller groups, and first and second drive motors that independently drive the first and second roller groups, respectively. A post-processing device for the image forming apparatus described above.