JPH0596879A - Staple sorter and image formation device with staple sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To reduce the staple processing time. [Constitution] The final document detector 114 detects that the document is the final document. When the copied sheets are stored in the sort bin, the stapler 23 is driven by the sheet binding unit 115 to bind the sheets. During this period, the next sheet is copied and conveyed. After the paper binding is completed, the bin moving means 113 moves the next sort bin to the paper binding position. Immediately after the next paper is stored, the paper is bound and the staple processing can be performed at the same time as the copy processing, and the document is efficiently completed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorter having a stapling function, which is attached to a sheet discharge port of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional staple sorter, after a designated number of sheets of paper copied by a copying machine are stored in each sort bin, stapling processing is performed for each sort bin.

Therefore, after the copying process, more time is required for the stapling process, resulting in poor efficiency.

Therefore, as a prior art in which the stapling time is shortened, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-86597 discloses that a stapler is provided in the sheet distributing means so that the collating paper feeding to the sort bin in the former stage is completed and the sheet distributing means is in the latter stage. There is disclosed a method of binding the sheets accommodated in the preceding sort bin with a stapler every time when the sheet is moved to the sheet feeding position for the sort bin.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the stapler is provided at the upper end side of the sheet distributing means, the stapling process is possible when the upper bin is sorted to the lower bin, but the lower bin When sorting from the bin to the upper bin, it is necessary to perform the staple processing while moving the sheet distributing means in the opposite direction again after the sorting is completed, and there is a drawback that the staple processing time cannot be shortened depending on the sorting direction.

That is, when copying and binding a plurality of originals, the first sheet of paper is sorted in order from one direction, and then the second sheet of paper is sorted in reverse order. When the above prior art is applied to the sorter, the effect can be exerted only for sorting in one direction.

In view of the above, the present invention can provide a staple sorter capable of reducing the staple processing time regardless of the sorting direction, and by using this staple sorter, efficient document preparation can be performed. An image forming apparatus capable of performing the above is also provided.

[0008]

As shown in FIG. 1, a sorter main body 20 is provided with a plurality of sort bins 21 so that each sort bin 21 can move up and down. Transport unit 22 for transporting
A staple sorter including a stapler unit 24 having a stapler 23 for binding the sheets accommodated in each sort bin 21 and a bin moving unit 25 for raising and lowering each sort bin 21 to the binding position of the stapler 23. A control unit 26 is provided which drives the stapler unit 24 and the bin moving unit 25 each time the final sheet to be bound is conveyed. The control unit 26 controls the stapler unit 24 at the same time when the final sheet reaches the sort bin 21. And a bin moving unit 113 for moving the next sort bin 21 up or down to the paper binding position of the stapler 23 after the paper binding.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus having the staple sorter, a final document detector 114 for determining whether the document is the final document to be bound by paper is provided. The controller 26 of the staple sorter is operated based on the final document signal output from the container 115.

[0010]

In the above means for solving the problems, when the copy button is pressed, the copy process is performed, and the copied sheet is discharged to the sort bin 21 by the transport unit 22.

Then, the sorting bin 21 is moved by the bin moving unit 25, and the next sheet is discharged to the sorting bin 21 of the next stage. This continues until the final manuscript.

When the final original is copied, the final original detector 114 outputs a final original signal, and when the first copy of the final original is ejected to the sort bin 21, the paper binding means 115 causes the sort bin to start. The sheets of paper stored in 21 are bound together.

While the above paper binding work is being performed, the second copied paper is being conveyed, and after paper binding,
As soon as the next sort bin 21 is shifted to the paper binding position by the bin moving means 113, the paper is immediately ejected and the same paper binding operation is performed.

When a specified number of originals have been copied, the last copied sheet is conveyed and discharged to the sort bin 21, and the paper binding operation is performed immediately. Then, the stapling process is finished at the same time when the copying is finished.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which a staple sorter of the present invention is mounted on a copying machine will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the copying machine of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a staple sorter is connected to the paper discharge side of the copying machine main body 1.
This copying machine is equipped with an automatic document feeder (RADF) 2
And has a double-sided copy function.

In FIG. 2, 3 is an optical system unit, 4 is a photoconductor drum, 5 is a main charger, 6 is a developing device, 7 is a transfer charger, 8 is a cleaning device, 9 is a charge eliminating device, and 10 is a paper feeding device. A cassette, 11 is a fixing device, and 12 is a discharge port.

As shown in FIG. 3, the staple sorter includes a sorter main body 20 on which a plurality of sort bins 21 are vertically movable, and a transport unit 22 for transporting sheets to the sort bins 21 and each sort bin 21. A stapler unit 24 having a stapler 23 for binding the sheets accommodated in the tray, and a bin moving unit 25 for raising and lowering each sort bin 21 to the sheet binding position of the stapler 23.
And a control unit 26 that drives the stapler unit 24 and the bin moving unit 25 each time the final sheet to be bound is conveyed.

The sort bin 21 is a flat plate whose one end on the copying machine side is bent, and a paper regulating plate 21a is formed on its front side surface. Then, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 10, a pair of front and rear bin frames 30 are vertically arranged so as to be vertically supported and a non-sort bin 31 is fixed to the bin frame 30 at the uppermost portion.

The bin frame 30 is supported on the sorter main body 20 via a pair of front and rear fixed rollers 32 so as to be vertically movable. The fixed roller 32 is also used as the roller of the uppermost sort bin 21, and is guided in the vertical direction by a guide groove 33 formed in the sorter body 20.

In the guide groove 33, rollers 34 attached to both front and rear surfaces of each sort bin 21 are also guided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transport unit 22 is a sheet feed transport roller 4 rotatably supported by the sorter body 20.
0, the conveyance roller 41, the non-sort paper ejection roller 42, the paper ejection roller 43, the paper feed conveyance roller 40, and the conveyance roller 41
And a gate switching claw 45 for switching the paper to either the non-sort bin 31 or the sort bin 21.

The paper feed / conveyance roller 40 is, as shown in FIG.
A sorter paper input sensor 47 is arranged between the roller 40 and the paper discharge port 12 and is arranged at the transport port 46 connected to the paper discharge port 12 of the copying machine body 1 to detect the entry of the paper. ..

The gate switching claw 45 is disposed on the downstream side of the sheet feeding / conveying roller 40 in the conveying direction, is swingably supported by the sorter body 20 via a shaft 48, and is swung by a gate switching solenoid 49. ..

That is, when the solenoid 49 is turned on, the gate switching claw 45 swings downward, the sheet passes straight through the upper surface of the gate switching claw 45, and when the solenoid 49 is turned off, the sheet swings upward so that the sheet moves. It passes through the inner surface of the gate switching claw 45 and is guided to the lower transport path 44.

A paper passage sensor 50 for detecting the passage of the paper is arranged in the transport path 44.

As shown in FIG. 5, the paper discharge roller 43 is arranged near the sort bin 21 at the exit of the transport path 44 and faces the paper pressing roller 51.

The paper pressing roller 51 includes an L-shaped support 52.
Is rotatably supported on the sorter main body 20.
It is rotatably supported by a shaft 52a and is rotated by turning on and off the paper pressing solenoid 53.

That is, when the solenoid 53 is turned on, it is rotated to switch to a paper pushing posture for pushing the paper in the sort bin 21, and when it is off, the paper is held in a paper ejection posture facing the paper ejection roller 43.

Then, as shown in FIG.
0, the transport roller 41, and the discharge rollers 42 and 43 are rotationally driven by a transport motor 54, and the transport motor 54
The rotation speed is detected by the carry motor clock sensor 55, and is driven by a drive signal from the control unit 26.

In the control unit 26, until the paper passes the sorter paper input sensor 47 by the detection signal from the paper discharge sensor 56 provided in the paper discharge port 12, the paper is synchronized with the process speed of the copying machine main body. When the paper is conveyed and passes through the sorter paper input sensor 47, the conveyance speed in the staple sorter is increased to widen the space between the next paper and the paper passage sensor 50. When the paper passes the paper passage sensor 50, the paper discharge speed is reduced. The drive control of 53 is performed. In the non-sort mode, it is driven at a constant speed.

The stapler unit 24 is shown in FIGS.
As described above, the stapler 23 and the swinging portion 60 that switches the stapler 23 between the paper binding position facing the sort bin 21 and the standby position separated from the sort bin 21 are disposed on the side of the paper discharge roller 42. ..

As shown in FIG. 7, the stapler 23 includes a stapler main body 61 having a built-in staple and a staple push-out plate 6.
2, needle driving table 63, and needle pushing plate 62
And a cam plate 64 for moving the needle driving table 63 up and down with respect to the main body 61, a cam 65 for operating the cam plate 64, and a stapler drive motor 67 for rotating the cam 65 via a gear 66.

As shown in FIG. 8, the oscillating portion 60 includes an oscillating lever 68 attached to the stapler 23 and an oscillating lever 68.
8 includes a rocking cam 69 for rocking the cam 8 and a rocking motor 70 for rotating the cam 69.
Swing about a.

As shown in FIG. 9, the stapler 23 has a stapler unit home position sensor 71 for detecting a staple jam by detecting whether the staple push-out plate 62 and the staple driving table 63 are in the home position, and the paper. Staple position paper sensor 72 for detecting the presence or absence of paper at the binding position, staple position foreign matter sensor 7
3, a staple sensor 74 is provided.

Further, the swing unit 60 is provided with a stapler unit swing sensor 75 and a stapler position set sensor 76 to detect each position of the stapler 23. Then, at the paper binding position of the stapler 23, the stapler drive motor 67 is driven by the paper detection signal of the staple position paper sensor 72.

The bin moving unit 25 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, a lead cam 80 that vertically moves the rollers 32 and 34 of the sort bin 21 along the guide groove 33, and a bin shift motor 81 that rotationally drives the lead cam 80.

The lead cam 80 is arranged on the front and rear bin frames 30, a spiral groove 82 is formed on the outer peripheral surface, and the roller 34 rolls in the spiral groove 82. The drive belt 86 is wound around the pulley 84 fixed to the shaft 83 of the one lead cam 80 and the pulley 85 connected to the bin shift motor 81.
Rotational force is transmitted from a bevel gear 87 integrally attached to the pulley 84 via a drive shaft 88.

As the lead cam 80 rotates and the roller 34 moves up and down along the spiral groove 82 of the lead cam 80, the bin frame 30 connected to the fixed roller 32 and the sort bin 21 connected to the roller 34 move up or down. To do. A lead cam home position sensor 89 that detects that the lead cam 80 has rotated once and the sort bin 21 has been moved step by step is provided below the lead cam 80.

As shown in FIG. 12, the bin moving unit 25 detects the upper and lower limits of the bin movement, and the lower limit detection switches 90 and 91 and obstacles below the bin frame 30 cause the bin frame 30 to descend. Obstacle sensor 92 for detecting that the bin has disappeared, bin home position sensor 93 for detecting whether or not the sort bin 21 is at the home position lowered to the bottom, and that paper has entered the sort bin 21 from the paper ejection roller 43. And a paper entry detection sensor 94 for detecting

As shown in FIG. 13, a stapler guide bar 100 for aligning the sheets discharged to the sort bin 21 is rotatably supported on the bin frame 30, and the stapler guide bar 100 is attached to the sort bin 21. In order to swing along the formed guide hole 101, a drive transmission portion 102 including a plurality of gears and a driving stapler guide bar swing motor 103 are arranged at the lower end thereof.

Further, the drive transmission section 102 is provided with a stapler guide bar home position sensor 104 for detecting that the stapler guide bar 100 is at the home position which is a separated position away from the sheet.

The control unit 26 is composed of a microcomputer installed in the main body of the copying machine 1 and has a sort mode,
A mode switching unit 111 that selects each mode by output from the operation key 110 that switches between the group mode, the staple mode, and the non-sort mode, and the paper discharge sensor 55 and the sorter paper input sensor when the sort / group mode is selected. 47, a conveyance means 112 for controlling the rotation of the conveyance motor 54 in response to a paper detection signal from the paper passage sensor 50
And a bin moving unit 113 that aligns the sheets with the stapler guide bar 100 and rotates the lead cam 80 once by one bin shift each time the sheets are discharged to the sort bin 21.
When the stapling mode is selected, when the sheet on which the original is copied is discharged to the sort bin 21 based on the final original detection signal from the final original detector 114 provided in the automatic original feeder 2, the paper binding operation is performed. And a paper binding unit 115 for starting the.

The conveying means 112 swings the gate switching claw 45 by turning on / off the gate switching solenoid 49, and when the non-sort mode is selected, the solenoid 49 is turned on to guide the sheet to the non-sort bin 31. It also has a function.

The bin moving means 113 has a function of driving the stapler guide bar swing motor 103 by the sheet detection signal from the sheet entry detection sensor 94 to swing the stapler guide bar 100 once to align the sheets. The bin shift motor 81 is driven by the home position detection signal from the stapler guide bar home position sensor 104 and the swing position set signal from the stapler unit swing sensor 75 indicating the standby position, and the lead cam 8 is driven.
It has a function of rotating 0 to rotate the next sort bin 21 up or down to the exit of the transport path 44.

When the paper entry detection sensor 94 detects that the copied paper of the final document has been ejected to the sort bin 21, the paper binding unit 115 swings the stapler guide bar 100 three times to move the paper. The ability to align
The function of turning on the paper pressing solenoid 53 to rotate the paper pressing roller 51 to press the paper, the function of driving the rocking motor 70 to rock the stapler 23 from the standby position to the paper binding position, and the staple position paper The stapler drive motor 67 is driven by a paper detection signal from the sensor 73 to perform the paper binding, and the stapler guide bar 100 is separated by the home position signal from the stapler unit home position sensor 71 after the paper binding is completed. , The paper pressing roller 51 is opposed to the paper discharging roller 43, the stapler 23 is returned to the standby position, and a signal is output to the bin moving means 113 so as to raise or lower the next sort bin 21 to the paper binding position of the stapler 23. It has the function to do.

In the above construction, the originals are set in the automatic document feeder 2, the sort mode or the staple mode is selected, and the number of copies is designated.

When the copy button is pressed, the document is automatically fed and the copy process is performed, and the copied sheet passes from the sheet discharge port 12 through the sheet feeding / conveying roller 40 and is moved by the gate switching claw 45. It is guided to the transport path 44.

Then, as shown in FIG. 15, the paper is ejected to the uppermost sort bin 21 by the paper ejection roller 43, and the stapler guide bar 100 is swung to eject the paper.
Align it by pressing it against a.

When the stapler guide bar 100 returns to the home position, the bin shift motor 81 is driven to rotate the lead cam 80 once to raise the lower sort bin 21. As a result, the fixed roller 32 of the upper sort bin 21 is pushed up, and the bin frame 30 and the upper sort bin 21 are raised.

When the designated number of sheets have been copied and the sheet is ejected, the next original is fed and similarly copied and ejected. At this time, as shown in FIG. 16, the paper is discharged from the lower sort bin 21, and the sort bin 21 descends step by step. This continues until the final manuscript.

When the final document is fed, the final document detector 114 detects that there is no document in the automatic document feeder 2.

The sheet entry detection sensor 94 indicates that the first sheet of the copy of the final document has been discharged to the sort bin 21.
Is detected, as shown in FIG. 17, the stapler guide bar 1
00 is rocked three times to align the sheets, and the stapler guide bar 100 presses the sides of the sheets.

Next, the paper pressing roller 51 is rotated to press the paper from above, and the stapler 23 is swung to the paper binding position.

When it is confirmed by the staple position paper sensor 72 that the paper is at the paper binding position, the needle push-out plate 62 is lowered, the needle driving table 63 is raised, and the paper between them is touched by the needle. Bound.

When it is detected by the stapler unit home position sensor 71 that the staple push-out plate 62 and the staple driving table 63 have returned to the home position at the original position, the stapler guide bar 100 returns to the separated position, and the paper retainer is pressed. The roller 51 is separated from the paper, and the stapler 23 is swung to the standby position.

When all of these are returned to their original positions,
The bin shift motor 81 is driven and the lead cam 80 is rotated once.

Here, when the number of the set originals is an even number, as shown in FIG. 18, the paper binding position corresponds to the lowermost sort bin 21 among the sort bins 21 storing the paper, so that the upper sort bin 21 is To descend.

When the set number of originals is an odd number, since the paper binding position corresponds to the uppermost sort bin 21, the lower sort bin 21 moves up.

While the above paper binding work is being performed, the second copied paper is being conveyed, and when the next sort bin 21 is shifted to the paper binding position, the paper is immediately ejected. The paper is printed, and the same paper binding work is performed.

While the designated number of sheets have been copied and finished, and while the final original is being ejected, the final copied sheet is conveyed and ejected to the sort bin 21 to perform the paper binding operation.

Therefore, since the bound sheets can be bound each time the copied sheets are stored in the sort bin 21, the stapling process is finished almost at the same time when the copying is finished, and the stapling process time can be greatly shortened. You can
You can create documents efficiently.

Moreover, the stapling process can be performed regardless of the sorting direction, and the drawbacks of the conventional prior art can be eliminated.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that many modifications and changes can be made to the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

[0065]

As is apparent from the above description, according to claim 1 of the present invention, the controller for driving the stapler unit and the bin moving unit is provided each time the final sheet to be bound is conveyed. The control unit is provided with a paper binding means for actuating the stapler unit at the same time when the final paper reaches the sort bin, and a bin moving means for raising or lowering the next sort bin to the stapler paper binding position after binding the paper. Since the copied sheets are stored in the sort bin, the sheets can be bound, and the stapling process is finished almost at the same time when the copying is finished.
The staple processing time can be significantly reduced.

Moreover, since the sorting bin is moved to the paper binding position, the stapling process can be performed regardless of the sorting direction, and the drawbacks of the conventional prior art can be eliminated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the staple sorter is attached to the image forming apparatus, and a final document detector for determining whether or not the document is the final document to be bound is provided. By operating the controller of the staple sorter on the basis of the final document signal output from the device, the stapling process is completed when the image forming process of the document is completed, so that efficient document creation can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of a copying machine including a staple sorter of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the copying machine.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a staple sorter.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a transport switching unit of the transport unit.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a paper discharge unit similarly.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a drive system of a transport unit.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a stapler unit.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a swing unit of the stapler.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing a drive system of the stapler unit.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a bin moving unit.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a moving mechanism of the sort bin.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram showing a drive system of a bin moving unit.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a staple guide bar.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a paper binding operation for copied sheets.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a staple sorter at the time of discharging a sheet in the staple sort mode.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the staple sorter when the final original is ejected.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a paper sheet during the paper binding process.

FIG. 18 is a view showing the staple sorter when the sort bin is moved after the same paper binding.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 Sorter main body 21 Sorting bin 22 Conveying unit 23 Stapler 24 Stapler unit 25 Bin moving unit 26 Control unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A stapler having a sorter body provided with a plurality of sort bins which can be raised and lowered, and a transport unit for transporting sheets to the sort bins, and a stapler for binding the sheets accommodated in the sort bins. In a staple sorter provided with a unit and a bin moving unit that moves each sort bin up and down to the paper binding position of the stapler, a control unit that drives the stapler unit and the bin moving unit each time the final sheet to be bound is conveyed. The control unit is provided with a paper binding unit that operates the stapler unit at the same time when the final sheet reaches the sort bin, and a bin moving unit that raises or lowers the next-stage sort bin to the stapler paper binding position after binding the sheets. A staple sorter characterized by having and. 2. The image forming apparatus provided with the staple sorter according to claim 1, further comprising a final document detector for determining whether or not the document is the final document to be bound by paper, and output from the final document detector. An image forming apparatus in which a control unit of a staple sorter is operated based on the final document signal.