JPH06335896A - Picture image forming device with punching function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a small capacity punching device to be employed by performing repetitively copying process and punching process in every predetermined number of blanks to be punched before the completion of copying all blanks and performing the punching process to unprocessed blanks after the completion of copying. CONSTITUTION:A stable sorter 2 disposed on the side of a copier body to receive copied blanks through emitting rollers 15 is provided with a bin unit 27, a transfer unit 28 for transferring the blanks to the bin unit 27 and a process unit 29 provided with a staple device and punch device. Then, when a punching process is specified, the copying process and punching process are repeatedly performed in every predetermined number of blanks capable of being punched before the completion of copying to all blanks to be processed. After the completion of copying to all blanks to be processed, the punching process is performed to unpunched blanks. Thus, the punched holes can be formed surely with a small punching capacity.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus with a punch function, which is capable of punching a plurality of sheets that have undergone image forming processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in the field of image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, sorters for sorting sheets discharged from the main body of the image forming apparatus have become widespread. In particular, recently, a sorter equipped with a punching device for forming punched holes in sorted sheets is also used.

In a sorter equipped with such a punching device, sheets are sorted and stacked in a plurality of bins provided in the sorter, and the stacked sheets are punched. By the way, although it is possible to store, for example, 30 or more sheets per bin in the sorter bin, the punching capability of the punching device may be less than 30 sheets in some cases. In such a case, the number of sheets accommodated per bin is detected, the punching operation is prohibited when the number of sheets accommodated per bin exceeds the capability of the punching device, and when it is within the capability range. The control is such that the punching operation is executed.

Therefore, it is conceivable to increase the capacity of the punch driving motor so that the punching operation can be performed with respect to the maximum thickness of the sheets that can be accommodated in one bin, but in this case, the power consumption is large. However, there is a problem that the cost becomes higher and the punching device becomes larger. An object of the present invention is to make it possible to reliably form punch holes on a large number of sheets with an inexpensive structure.

[0005]

An image forming apparatus with a punching function according to the present invention includes an image forming unit for performing an image forming process on a sheet, and a punching unit for performing a punching process on the image formed sheet. A determination unit that determines that the image forming process by the image forming unit has ended, a designation unit that designates execution of the punching process by the punching unit, and a control unit. When the execution of the punching process is designated, the control means causes the image forming process and the punching process to be repeatedly executed for each of a predetermined number of punchable sheets before the image forming process is completed for all the sheets to be processed. ,
After the image forming process is completed, the punching process is executed on the unpunched sheet on which the image is formed.

[0006]

In the image forming apparatus with punch function according to the present invention,
The image forming process is performed on the sheet by the image forming unit.
When image formation is performed on a large number of sheets, the number of sheets subjected to image formation may exceed the number of punchable sheets by the punching means. Therefore, the control means
When the number of unpunched sheets reaches a predetermined number during the image forming process, the image forming operation is temporarily stopped and the punching process is executed. When the punching process is completed, the image forming operation is restarted again.

In this way, the image forming process and the punching process are repeatedly executed for each of a predetermined number of punchable sheets,
Punch processing is performed on a predetermined number of sheets. Then, after the image forming process is completed for all the sheets to be processed, the punching process is executed for the remaining unpunched sheets. In this case, since the punching process is executed for each predetermined number of sheets within the capability of the punching means, even if the capability of the punching means is, for example, less than the sheet accommodating capacity of the sheet receiving part, all the sheets stacked in the sheet receiving part are Punch holes can be formed in. Therefore, the motor and the like in the drive unit for punching can be made small and inexpensive.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Overall Structure and Copying Machine Main Body FIGS. 1 and 2 show the overall structure of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the copying machine is a copying machine main body 1
And a staple sorter (hereinafter, simply referred to as a sorter) 2 arranged on the left side of the copying machine main body 1, and a sheet take-out device (hereinafter, referred to as a multi-stacker) arranged on the front side (operator side) of the sorter 2. 3 and 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the copying machine main body 1 includes a case 5 and an image forming section 6 disposed in the center of the case 5.
A document scanning section 7 arranged above the image forming section 6;
The image forming unit 6 has a sheet conveying device 8 for supplying a sheet to the image forming section 6 and for discharging a sheet from the image forming section 6.
The image forming unit 6 includes a photoconductor drum arranged in the center, a charging device, a developing device, a transfer device arranged around the photoconductor drum,
It has a sheet separating device and a cleaning device. The document scanning unit 7 includes an optical system 9 arranged above the image forming unit 6.
And a document table 10 arranged above the optical system 9 and an automatic document feeder 11 provided on the document table 10. The automatic document feeder 11 has a document placing portion 12 provided on the upper surface of the case and a document feeding portion 13 including a document moving belt and the like arranged inside the case. The sheet conveying device 8 has a sheet supply path arranged on the upstream side of the image forming section 6 in the sheet conveying direction, and a sheet discharge path arranged on the downstream side, and is fixed in the middle of the sheet discharge path. A device 14 is provided.

Further, on the downstream side of the fixing device 14, a discharge roller 15 for discharging the paper to the sorter 2 side and a reversing device 16 for reversing the paper are provided. At the lower part of the case 5, an intermediate conveyance path 17 for conveying the sheet that has passed through the reversing device 16 and an intermediate tray 18 for temporarily storing the sheet are provided. Below the intermediate tray 18, a plurality of paper feed cassettes 19 are arranged side by side in the vertical direction. A paper feed deck 20 for continuously feeding paper is arranged at the lower right side of the case 5. A manual paper feed path 21 is arranged above the paper feed deck 20.

[0011] sorter sorter 2, the bin unit 27 including a driving unit 26 for driving a plurality of bins 25 and these bins 25 vertically disposed between the copying machine main body 1 and the bin unit 27 copying It has a transport unit 28 that transports the paper from the machine body 1 to the bin unit 27, and a processing unit 29 that is arranged below the transport unit 28 on the upstream side of the bin unit 27 (the copy machine body 1 side). The bin unit 27 also includes a support frame 30 that supports the leading ends of the plurality of bins 25 on the sheet ejection side.

As shown in the plan view of FIG. 3, each bin 25 is formed of a flat plate member. A notch 25a for taking out the sheet is formed from the front end side in the discharge direction toward the inside. Further, on the rear side (back side of the apparatus), a width-adjusting hole 25b penetrating in the vertical direction for moving a width-adjusting member 31 for adjusting the width of the sheet to the front side.
Are formed. Trunnions 32 projecting outward are provided on both sides of the paper introduction side (copy machine main body 1 side) end of the bin 25.
6 is meshed with the groove of the spiral cam 33. Further, projecting portions 34 projecting outward are formed on both sides of the tip of the bin 25 on the discharge side.
Is locked to a holder portion 30a formed on the support frame 30.

At the end of the bin 25 on the copying machine body 1 side, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, an L-shaped stopper 3 is provided.
5 is installed. The stoppers 35 are rotatably supported by the pins 36 at both ends of the bottle 25, as shown in FIG.
Can be a restricted position shown by a solid line and a retracted position shown by a one-dot chain line. In the regulation position, the stopper 35 prevents the falling of the paper by the abutting wall portion 35a thereof coming into contact with the rear end of the paper in the bin 25. In addition, the standing wall portion 35 of the stopper 35
a At the upper end, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
7 is rotatably attached. In the normal state, the stopper 35 is located at the regulation position shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 by a biasing member such as a spring (not shown).

The drive unit 26 of the bin unit 27 has a pair of spiral cams 33 having spiral grooves 33a on its surface.
, A transmission mechanism including a pulley and a belt, and a drive monitor. The spiral grooves 33a formed on the outer surface of the spiral cam 33 are formed at substantially the same pitch in the upper and lower parts, but the two pitches of the portion facing the processing unit 29 (substantially the central portion) are more than the other pitches. Widely formed. As a result, a wide space is formed above and below the bin 25 facing the processing unit 29 as compared with other portions.

As shown in FIG. 6, an upper bottle frame 27a is provided at the upper end of the bin unit 27, and a lower bottle frame 27b is provided at the lower end thereof at substantially the same inclination as the bottle 25. Further, a guide bin 27c is provided on the side of the bin 25 facing the processing unit 29.
The guide bin 27c serves as a movement guide for the bin 25 when the bin 25 is pulled toward the copying machine main body 1 side. The tip ends of the bin frames 27a and 27b are fixed to the support frame 30, and the base end portion of the guide bin 27c is fixed to the tip end of the sorter frame 2a. The guide bin 27c extends to the front end side in the paper discharge direction along the inclination of the bin 25, and a guide member 45 having a guide groove 45a formed therein is fixed to the front end portion. Also, the upper and lower bin frames 2
A pair of photosensors 4 for detecting whether or not there is a sheet in the bin 25 at the sheet introduction side ends of 7a and 27b.
6a and 46b are provided.

The sorter 2 is provided with a bin moving mechanism (not shown) for moving the bin 25 moved to the processing position to the processing unit 29 side and returning it to the original position. Further, the sorter 2 has a paper pressing mechanism (not shown) for pressing the paper on the bin 25 that advances and retracts at a position facing the processing unit 29. This paper pressing mechanism moves integrally with the bin 25.

As shown in FIG. 7, the sorter frame 2a is provided with a guide member 55 for releasing the stopper 35 of the bin 25 that has moved to the sheet processing position. The guide member 55 is the guide roller 3 of the stopper 35.
7 is guided downward, and is provided so as to face the front-back direction. The guide member 55 has an upper rail 55a and a lower rail 55b.

In such a construction, the guide roller 37 of the bin 25 drawn into the processing unit 29 is guided downward by the guide member 55 so that the stopper 35 is rotated downward. Expose the trailing edge of the paper.
In this state, it is possible to punch or staple the trailing edge of the sheet on the bin 25. Processing unit 2
As shown in FIG. 9, the reference numeral 9 designates a fixed frame 56, a base table 57 which is slidable with respect to the fixed frame 56 and which can be pulled out to the front side of the apparatus, and a movable table 58 which is movable with respect to the base table 57. And have. A stapling device 59 and a punching device 60 are arranged on the moving table 58. A motor 61 for moving the table is provided on the lower surface of the base table 57.
Is fixed, and a moving mechanism including the motor 61 moves the moving table 58 on the base table 57.

A schematic structure of the punch device 60 is shown in FIGS.
It shows in 0. The punch device 60 includes a frame 65, a support block 66 fixed to an upper portion of the frame 65, and a punch 67 guided by the support block 66 so as to be vertically movable.
A lever 68 and a drive unit 69 for driving the punch 67. The punch 67 is rotatably attached to the tip of a lever 68 by a pin 70.
The lever 68 is rotatably attached to the support block 66 by a pin 71, and a long hole 68a is formed on the other end side. On the other hand, the drive unit 69 has a motor (not shown) and a gear train that transmits the driving force of the motor. A positioning plate 72 is fixed to the gear train as shown in FIGS. 9 and 11. A notch 72a is formed in a part of the outer peripheral portion of the positioning plate 72, and a photo interrupter 73 is provided so that the notch 72a can be detected. A disc plate 75 having rollers 74 on its side surface is fixed to the output portion of the drive unit 69. The roller 74 is locked in the long hole 68 a of the lever 68.

In such a structure, when the disc plate 75 is rotated by the drive unit 69, the lever 68 is rotated around the pin 71 to move the punch 67 up and down. At this time, the position of the punch 67 at the home position means that the positioning plate 72 and the photo interrupter 7 are positioned.
3 detected. Transport unit 28 of sorter 2
2, as shown in FIG. 2, the introduction portion 28a and the introduction portion 28a
It has a sorting carry-in passage 28b and a non-sorting carrying-in passage 28c which are provided so as to branch from each other. An introduction roller 80 and a branch claw 81 are provided in the introduction portion 28a.
The sorting carry-in path 28b is provided between the introducing section 28a and the sorting bin 25, and guides the sheets onto the bin 25. Further, the non-sort carry-in passage 28c is provided in the sorter 2
Non-sorting bin 82 and branching unit 28 arranged on the upper part of the
The sheet is guided to the non-sort bin 82 in the non-sort mode.

Multi Stacker FIGS. 12 and 13 show the overall structure of the multi stacker 3. FIG. 12 is a plan view of the multi-stacker 3, and FIG.
FIG. 13 is a side view of the multi-stacker 3 viewed from the direction of arrow Z in FIG. 12. The multi-stacker 3 has a case 3a, and a stacker hand mechanism 85 for gripping the processed paper in the bin 25 located at the take-out position and pulling it into the multi-stacker 3, and a stacker hand mechanism 85 to the front side of the apparatus. Ejection mechanism 8 for ejecting the drawn paper
6, a stack section 87 for accommodating discharged sheets, and a sheet conveying path 88 for guiding the sheets taken out from the bin 25 to the stack section 87.

Control Unit As shown in FIG. 1, an operation panel 90 for operating the copying machine main body 1 is provided on the upper front side portion of the copying machine main body 1. The operation panel 90 is provided with a key for designating an operation mode, a key for designating staple and punch positions, a ten key for setting the number of copies, and other keys.

An operation panel 91 for an operator to directly input a command to the sorter 2 is arranged on the front side of the upper end of the sorter 2. The operation panel 91 is provided with a multi-key or the like for performing the stapling and punching processes and the process for taking out the paper from the bin in parallel. By pressing this multi-key, it is possible to forcibly discharge the sheets in the bin 25 to the stack section 87.

FIG. 14 shows a schematic control block diagram of this copying machine. The copying machine main body 1 has a copying machine main body control unit 100 that controls the copying operation in the copying machine main body 1 and the operation of the automatic document feeder 11. The sorter 2 has a sorter control unit 101.
In addition, the multi-stacker 3 has a multi-stacker control unit 102. Each control unit 100, 101, 102
Is composed of a microcomputer including a CPU, a RAM and a ROM. Each control unit 100, 101, 10
The two are connected to each other via a bus, and various kinds of information can be exchanged between the control units.

The operation panel 90, the image forming section 110, and other input / output sections are connected to the copying machine main body control section 100. The sorter control unit 101 includes the above-described operation panel 91, various sensors 111 including a sensor for detecting the number of sheets introduced into each bin, a sheet conveying unit 112, and the bin 25 in the lateral direction. The bin lateral movement unit 113 for moving, the paper pressing unit 114 for pressing the paper in the bin 25, the staple and punch processing unit 1
15, the bin up-and-down moving unit 116 for moving the bin in the up-and-down direction, and other input / output units are connected. The multi-stacker control unit 102 includes various sensors 120.
The stacker hand mechanism 85, the discharge mechanism 86, and other input / output units are connected to each other.

Operation of Copying Machine Body On the copying machine body 1 side, in step S1 of FIG.
Initial settings such as setting the number of copies to "1" are made. In this initial setting, non-sort mode, non-staple mode, and non-punch mode are set as mode settings. Next, in step S2, a condition input process such as receiving an input for setting the number of copies is performed. In step S3, a mode selection process described later is performed. Step S
In 4, the copy start command by the print button is accepted. When the copy start command is issued, the copy operation is performed by controlling each unit. During this copy operation, the paper is conveyed from the paper feed cassette 19 or the paper feed deck 20 to the image forming unit 6, the toner image is transferred to the paper in the image forming unit 6, and after the fixing device 14 performs the fixing process. The sheet is guided to the introduction section 28 of the sorter 2 by the discharge roller 15. The processing for the sheet guided into the sorter 2 will be described later. When the copy process in step S4 is completed, the process returns to step S2.

Operation of Sorter In the sorter 2, initial setting is performed in step P1 of FIG. Here, the stapling device and the punching device are arranged at the initial position, and the branching claw 81 is placed in the non-sorting bin 8.
Perform processing such as setting to the 2 side. In step P2,
Resets various modes. As a result, the non-sort mode is set for the sort / non-sort mode, the non-staple mode is set for the staple / non-staple mode, and the non-punch mode is set for the punch / non-punch mode.

Next, in step P3, it is determined whether or not the processing condition information such as the number of processed sheets and the contents of the setting mode is sent from the copying machine main body 1 side. If the processing condition is input, the process proceeds to step P4 to set the operation mode according to the condition. In step P5, it is determined whether the non-sort mode is selected, in step P6 it is determined whether the sort mode is selected, in step P7 it is determined whether the punch mode is selected, and in step P8 the multi mode is selected. It is determined whether or not there is, and in step P9, it is determined whether or not there is another processing mode.

In the non-sort mode, step P
The procedure moves from step 5 to step P10 to execute non-sort processing. If the sort mode is set, the process shifts from step P6 to step P11 to execute the sort process. When the punch mode is set, the process shifts from step P7 to step P12 to execute the punching process, and when the multi mode is set, shifts from step P8 to step P13 to execute the multi-processing. . In the case of another mode, the process proceeds from step P9 to step P14 and the corresponding process is executed.

Punching process When the punching mode is set, as shown in FIG. 17, first, the sorting process is started in step P20.
Next, in step P21, it is determined whether or not, for example, 30 sheets are stacked in one bin 25 by the sorting process. If it has not reached 30 sheets, step P
Move to 22. In Step P22, it is determined whether or not the sorting process for all the documents has been completed. If not finished, the process returns to step P21.

In this way, steps P21 and P2
2 is executed repeatedly, and bin 2
When the number of sheets in 5 reaches 30 sheets, step P21
To P23. If the sorting process for all the documents is completed before the number of sheets in the bin 25 reaches 30, the process similarly shifts from step P22 to step P23. In Step P23, the sorting process is temporarily stopped. Then, in step P24, punching processing is executed. In this punching process, first, the motor for driving the punch is normally rotated. As a result, the lever 68 of the punch device 60 rotates and the punch 67 descends. If the punch 67 has not returned to the home position within a predetermined time after the normal rotation of the motor is started, punch holes are formed in all the sheets in the pin 25 by one punch operation. Because it can be judged that it has not been done,
In this case, the punch drive motor is rotated in the reverse direction, and the punch 67 stopped during the punch hole formation is pulled up. On the other hand, when the punch 67 returns to the home position within the predetermined time, the motor is stopped, the punching process is finished, and the routine goes to Step P25. In Step P25, it is determined whether or not the sorting process is completed. If not, the process returns to Step P20 and the sorting process is started again. Then, the above-described processing is repeatedly executed, and when the sorting processing is completed, this routine is completed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the sheets to be sorted exceed the punching capability, the copying process is interrupted and the punching process is performed in plural times. Therefore, the punch driving motor can be realized by a small motor even when the bin accommodation capacity is large. [Other Embodiments] In the above embodiments, the present invention is applied to the punching device provided in the sorter. However, when the punching device is provided in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine without a sorter, the punching device is also used. The invention can be applied.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, when punching a plurality of sheets stacked on the sheet receiving portion, a plurality of sheets are processed for each sheet having a punching ability or less. A motor or the like for driving can be made small and inexpensive.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a copying machine to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional schematic configuration diagram of the copying machine.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a bottle used in the sorter of the copying machine.

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of the bottle.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of the bottle.

FIG. 6 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the sorter.

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of the sorter.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a moving mechanism of a processing unit of the sorter.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a punch device.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective partial view of the punch device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a position detection unit of the punch device.

FIG. 12 is a schematic vertical sectional front view of a multi-stacker of the copying machine.

FIG. 13 is a sectional side view of the multi-stacker.

FIG. 14 is a control block diagram of the copying machine.

FIG. 15 is a control flowchart of the copying machine main body.

FIG. 16 is a control flowchart of the sorter.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of punch processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 image forming unit 25 bin 60 punch device 101 sorter control unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image forming unit for performing an image forming process on a sheet, a punching unit for performing a punching process on the sheet subjected to the image forming process, and an end of the image forming process by the image forming unit. Judgment means for making a judgment, designation means for designating execution of punching processing by the punching means, and when execution of punching processing is designated, punching is possible before completion of image forming processing for all sheets to be processed An image with a punch function, including a control unit that repeatedly executes the image forming process and the punching process for each number of sheets, and executes the punching process on the unpunched sheet on which the image is formed after the image forming process is completed. Forming equipment.