JPH0977327A - Sheet material processing apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [PROBLEMS] To prevent a sheet from tilting and shifting when gripping only the front and rear end corners of a bundle of sheets stacked on a bin by a gripper and transferring the sheet. And to stabilize the operation at that time. A regulation guide 150 for preventing tilt deviation is provided. The regulation guide is moved to a position corresponding to the sheet size to regulate the sheet bundle end portion. In addition, the driving of the above-mentioned movement is made common with the aligning rod for aligning the sheet on the bottle. Further, the regulation guide is moved to an appropriate regulation position according to the number of sheets.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a sheet material processing apparatus,
More specifically, for example, after the sheet materials sequentially discharged one by one from the sheet material output device are distributed to a plurality of stacking means, the sheet bundle is gripped and taken out, and processing such as binding is selectively performed to stack the sheets. The present invention relates to a material processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, after the sheets discharged one by one from a sheet material output device (for example, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer) are sequentially distributed to a plurality of stacking means (bins),
There is known an apparatus that transfers and stacks a sheet bundle on a bin onto a stacker by a bundle transfer unit configured by a gripper or the like.

However, in the case of the conventional bundle transfer means, when gripping and transferring the bundle, the gripping is performed only on one end of the sheet bundle, and therefore the sheet bundle is inadvertently rotated during the transfer. There was a fear that

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems of the above conventional device,
According to the present invention, the regulation means for regulating the rotation is provided on the opposite surface side of the grip by the bundle transfer means.

Further, a bin for accommodating the discharged sheet material and a sheet on the bin are arranged so as to face each other, and are sandwiched by a matching means movable in the opposite direction and a reference means fixed at a predetermined position. Aligning means for aligning, a feed-out gripper for transferring the aligned sheet material to the outside of the bin, and a sheet bundle end portion together with the aligning means, which is installed downstream of the aligning means at the time of transferring the sheet bundle. A predetermined amount according to the size is moved to the reference means side, and has a regulating means for regulating,
By making the aligning means that moves according to the sheet size and the driving means of the regulating means the same, it is possible to reduce the size and simplification of the apparatus and further reduce the cost.

Further, when the sheet bundle is being transferred by the first-out gripper, the distance between the aligning means and the regulating means and the reference means is made smaller than the sheet width dimension by a predetermined amount (pushing amount), so that the bin is actually loaded on the bin. Even if the width of the formed sheet becomes slightly smaller due to factors such as curl and dimensional variation, the edges can be reliably regulated.

Further, since the aligning means or the regulating means is urged toward the reference means by the spring member so as to be capable of expanding and contracting with a stroke larger than the pushing amount, it is possible to have a target width dimension. Even when the sheets are loaded in the bin,
Since the spring member absorbs the movement exceeding the pushing amount, it becomes possible to regulate the sheet without causing damage such as bending.

Further, by changing the pushing amount according to the number of sheets stacked on the bin, the bundle can be regulated with an appropriate pushing pressure that meets each condition, and more reliable regulation can be performed. .

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows an electrophotographic copying machine (image forming apparatus) 200 as a sheet material output device.

The electrophotographic copying machine 200 includes a copying machine main body 20.
1 and an automatic document feeder 2 arranged at the top of the copying machine main body
02 and a sheet material post-processing device 203 arranged on the side of the copying machine main body 201 from which the sheet S is discharged. The sheet material post-processing device 203 includes a folding device 204 and a stapling / stacking device 205.

The document table 20 of the automatic document feeder 202
6 are separated in order from the bottom,
Pass 20 on the platen glass 208 of the copying machine body 201
After being read by the optical system 210 of the copying machine main body 201, the sheet is discharged from the platen glass 207 via the path 211 to the uppermost surface on the document placing table 205. The sheet S is fed from the deck 212, an image is formed by the image forming unit 213, and is fixed by the fixing unit 214. Generally, the sheet S passes through the folding device 204 and is stapled.
The sheet is conveyed to the sheet entrance 215 of the stacking device 205.

Since the image forming process of the copying machine 200, which is the main body of the present invention, is well known, it will not be described here. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the stapling / stacking device 205 includes a bin module B ₁ , which is divided into upper and lower halves,
B ₂ and each bin module has a plurality of bins B ₁₁ ~
B _1n , B _{21 to} B _2n (n = 6 in the figure).
Each bin module can independently change the bin interval and the bin position to move each bin to the sheet receiving position or the sheet bundle discharging position.

At the sheet carry-in entrance 215, a solenoid SL3 (not shown) is used to switch between the upward first transport path 1 and the downward second transport path 2. The deflector 3 determines the traveling direction of the sheet. Furthermore, the first transport path 1
Is a deflector 4 driven by a solenoid SL4 (not shown)
Thus, the carry-out path 6 to the non-sort tray 5 and the path 7 to the upper module B ₁ are branched. On the other hand, the second transport path 2 directly serves as the path to the lower module B ₂ . Therefore, for each roller pair 8a-p, 8a, b, c for the non-sort tray, 8a, b, d-g for the upper module,
It is conveyed to the lower module by each pair of rollers 8a and hp. Further, the staple / stack device 105 is
A grip / stapling unit 9 is provided in a space between the path to the upper module and the path to the lower module, and the bundle on each bin is conveyed by the advance gripper 10 in the right direction of FIGS. After selectively stapling at 11, the front end of the bundle is nipped by the transport gripper 12 and further transported to the right. Similarly, in the space between the path to the upper module and the path to the lower module, grip /
A stack unit 13 is provided below the staple unit 9.
Waits and stores the bundle transported by the transport gripper 12.

[0014] Further, the left end portion of the right end portion and the stack unit 13 of the stapler 11, as shown in FIG. 2, overlap substantially in the horizontal direction (region of width 1 ₁₅ of FIG. 2).

[0015] After the sheet bundle is met bin B ₁₁ .about.B ₁₆ above module, Figure 1, to the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 2, takes out the sheet bundle from the bin move the grip / stapling unit 9 While in the lower module bin B ₂₁
Conveying the sheet into .about.B _26, lower rear ends extraction bundle from the bin B ₁₁ .about.B _16, also after the transport end of the lower module bin B ₂₁ .about.B _26, now 1, a solid line position in FIG. 2 Remove the bundle from the module. By repeating this operation, copying can be continued continuously until the stack unit becomes full.

The schematic structure has been shown above, and the detailed structure of each part will be described below.

The folding device 204 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
Since it is the same as the folding device disclosed in JP-A No. 1-223272, JP-A No. 62-59002, etc., it will not be described in particular.

First, the bin modules B ₁ and B ₂ will be described. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bin module. Hereinafter will be described bin module B _1, but the same configuration applies to B _2.

The bin module B ₁ is mainly composed of the bins B _{11 to} B _1n.
And two reference rods 14a and 14b, an alignment wall 15, lead cams 16a to 16c for moving the bin up and down, and a drive unit thereof. The reference rods 14a and 14b are members that determine a reference line when performing post-processing such as stapling on the sheet material discharged onto the bin, and are normally slightly retracted from the end position when discharging the sheet. It is set. Matching wall 15
The sheet material discharged onto the bin one by one or a plurality of sheets in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction (the direction of arrow A in the figure), and the opposite ends are abutted against the reference rods 14a, 14b. Make a match. FIG. 4 is a top view of the bin module, but the lead cams 16a, 16b, 16c are as shown in FIGS.
One bottle is arranged on the front side and two bottles are arranged on the rear side of the bottle, and a spiral cam is provided on the outer circumference. Roller portions Ba, Bb, and Bc protruding from the bin are engaged with the cam, and the bin is moved up and down by a predetermined pitch each time each lead cam makes one revolution in synchronization. As shown in FIG. 4, the bin has a notch Bd corresponding to the reference rod, a hole Be corresponding to the matching wall, a notch Bf for a gripper, which will be described later, and a bin standing drive mechanism. The notch Bg and the notch Bh necessary for operation are formed.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the bin module. As shown in FIG. 5, the bins are arranged parallel to each other with a certain angle with respect to the horizontal. On the other hand, the bincoro part Ba,
Bb and Bc are configured so that all of them have the same height when the bottle is inclined. That is, while the position of the bin roller Bb near the right side of the bin is near the reference plane of the bin, the position of the bin roller Bc near the left side of the bin is considerably below the reference plane of the bin, and a V-shaped space is provided between them. It is connected by a fixed arm. As a result, even when the adjacent bins B ₁₅ and B ₁₆ shown in FIG. Further, since the bin roller portions Ba, Bb, Bc are all at the same height, the positions of the lead cams 16a to 16c in the height direction can be set at the same height, and the overall size can be reduced. That is, as compared with the case where the rollers Ba, Bb, and Bc are provided near the thick portion of each bottle as shown in FIG. 5B,
The size of 1 ₁₆ minutes shown in FIG. 5B can make the overall size of the device small.

The bin interval will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows the upper bin module B _{1, in} which the second bin B ₁₂ from the top is located at a position corresponding to the pair of ejection rollers 8 g and receives the sheet to be ejected. On the other hand, the fourth bin B ₁₄ from the top is at the bundle discharge position, and when the sheet discharge to the bin is completed, the bins are sequentially shifted to this position and the bundle discharge is performed from each bin. In FIG. 5, bins B _{11 to} B ₁₅ have a large bin interval of 1 ₁₇ and a small bin interval of B ₁₅ and B ₁₆ of 1 ₁₈ , but the bin interval changes depending on the situation. Figure 6 is the bin B ₁₆ within the sheet receiving position, with the bottle is shifted uppermost, at this time, the bin interval until B ₁₁ .about.B ₁₅ smaller in 1 _18, B _15, between B ₁₆ only 1 ₁₇ Is big.

Further, in FIG. 7, the bin B ₁₁ is at the bundle discharging position,
With the bin shifted to the bottom, at this time, the bin interval is large at 1 ₁₇ only between B ₁₁ and B ₁₂ , and small at 1 ₁₈ at others. That is, the distance between the bins in a sheet receiving position and the bottle on its one greater to about _17, and its upper and lower bin and the bin in the bundle discharging position should have as large as 1 ₁₇ intervals. In FIG. 5, B ₁₁ and B ₁₂ , B ₁₃ and B ₁₄ , B
₁₄ and B ₁₅ . Although distance is large between the FIG. 5, B ₁₂ and B ₁₃ which functionally may be as small as 1 _18, the magnitude of the interval is determined by the relationship between the half of the space and bottle spacing on the stapler 11.

On the other hand, in the case of the lower bin module, as can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheet receiving position and the bundle discharging position are upside down as compared with the upper module. Therefore, given the same way, in FIG. 2, the interval between the bin B ₂₃ of the upper and the bin B ₂₄ at the sheet receiving position is greater to about 1 _17, the upper and lower bins B ₂₂ in the bundle discharging position bin B
_It is necessary that the distance between ₂₁ and B ₂₃ is as large as 1 ₁₇ , but B
The distance between ₂₄ and B ₂₅ need not be as large as 1 ₁₇ . But,
By increasing to about 1 ₁₇ between the B ₂₄ and B _25, sheet receiving position, although the bundle discharge position is reversed, the interval configuration of the bottle at the top and bottom of the module are the same.
That is, the pitch of the lead cams that determine the bin interval may be the same, and there is a merit that the upper and lower lead cams are shared. Further, the fact that the sheet receiving position and the bundle discharging position are reversed in the upper and lower modules has another merit that the grid / staple unit 9 and the stack unit 13 can be shared when the sheet is taken out.

Next, the bin shift drive will be described (FIGS. 4 and 5).

The bin shift motor M1 is a motor pulley 1
Drive is synchronously transmitted to the lead cams 16a to 16c by the belt 8, the belt 19 and the lead cam pulleys 20a to 20c, the motor is rotated in the forward and reverse directions, and the lead cam is rotated once to raise and lower the bin by the cam pitch. Each shaft of the lead cam is rotatably supported by a bearing, and drive is transmitted from a pulley 20 attached to one side of the shaft. The bin shift motor 17 has an encoder 21 on the side opposite to the pulley 18, and the sensor S1 detects one rotation.

Further, each bin module has a bin home position detecting sensor S2 (not shown) for detecting that the respective top bins B ₁₁ and B ₂₁ are in their sheet receiving positions. Further, each bin module has a penetration sensor S3 (FIG. 2) for detecting the sheet on the bin, and detects the presence or absence of the sheet on the bin to determine the timing of switching the module.

Next, the drive structure of the alignment wall for aligning the sheets on the bin will be described (FIGS. 8 and 9). FIG. 8 is a top view and FIG. 9 is a front view.

A shaft 22 is caulked on the alignment wall 15, and the caulking shaft 22 is stopped by penetrating a U-shaped support plate 23. On the other hand, a compression spring 24 is installed inside the U-shaped plate 23 while being slightly biased in the compression direction. One side of the compression spring 24 is an inner wall of the plate 23, and the other side is a stopper 25 provided on the caulking shaft. It has been hit. By the force of the compression spring, the caulking shaft 22 and the matching wall 15
Is urged downward in FIG.

The lower side of the U-shaped support plate 23 is fixed to the moving side of the accuride 27 via the slide plate 26, and the fixed side of the accuride is fixed to the accuride rail plate 28 extending in the sliding direction of the alignment wall. Has been done. Caulking shafts 29 and 30 stand on the front side and the back side of the accurride rail plate, and a pulley gear 31 and a pulley 32 are rotatably attached to the caulking shafts 29 and 30, respectively. Double pulley 3
A timing belt 33 is passed between 1 and 32, and the slide plate 26 is fixed to the belt 33. On the other hand, the motor gear 34 of the matching wall drive motor M2 is transmitted by being engaged with the gear portion of the pulley gear 31. The home position of the matching wall is detected by the sensor S4.
A slide member 35 is attached above the U-shaped support plate 23, and is engaged with and guided by a recess of a fixed rail 36.

In FIG. 9, the drive is entered from below the alignment wall and the upper part is guided by the rail, but it may be constructed upside down. Further, the configuration of the matching wall and the way of driving may be reversed between the upper module and the lower module.

It should be noted that, in the alignment wall 15 extending in the vertical direction, only at the position corresponding to the bundle discharge bin, a regulating member 150 having a height dimension equal to or larger than the maximum sheet bundle thickness is provided for each of the upper and lower modules. (FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 30). The sheet contacting surface of the regulating member 150 is flush with the sheet contacting surface of the matching wall 15, and the bent portion at the end thereof is joined to the matching wall 15. As described above, since the regulation member 150 is provided only in the bundle discharge bin portion, it does not affect the operation of retracting the alignment wall at the time of sheet discharge, and because it is small, the output of the motor M2 does not become insufficient. .

Further, the width dimension 150 L of the regulating member 150
In FIG. 8, the length is determined so that the end of the sheet bundle can be guided even at the sheet bundle pull-out position by the first-out gripper described later.

The operation will be described below based on the above configuration.

First, the basic operation will be described.

First, a manuscript is set on the manuscript table 105 of the automatic manuscript feeder 202 provided in the copying machine main body 201 (FIG. 1), and a predetermined mode condition is input by an operation unit (not shown) to start. Press the key. Each part of the sheet post-processing device 203 is controlled to be in a standby state in response to a start key depression signal. The description will be made below for each mode condition.

(A) In case of non-sort mode In FIG. 2, the deflector 3 is a solid line direction deflector 4
Is located in the direction of the broken line, and the motor M14 is controlled so that the roller pair 8a, 8b, 8c existing in the carry-out path 6 rotates from the first transport path 1 (FIG. 25). Of course, the roller pair in the upper part of the folding device 204 also includes a folding motor M1 (not shown).
The sheet is rotated by 7, and the sheet can be received. However, the standby operation may be performed after the copying operation described below and before the sheet material is discharged from the copying machine main body. When the sheet post-processing device side is in the standby state, the document 206 of FIG. 1 is fed by the document feeding device 202 onto the platen glass 207 of the copying machine main body 201, and the copying machine main body 201 enters the copying operation.

The first sheet that has undergone image formation processing in the copying machine main body 201 and is discharged passes through the upper path of the folding device 204 and enters the stapling / stacking device 205 from the carry-in port 215. The sheet is deflected vertically upward by the deflector 3, conveyed vertically upward on the right side of the deflector 4, and ejected onto the non-sort tray 5 by the ejection roller pair 8c.

(B) In case of sort mode Although special control may be performed depending on the sheet condition and the mode setting condition, the operation in the general sort mode will be described. First, as a standby operation, the deflector 3 is positioned in the direction of the solid line and the deflector 4 is also positioned in the direction of the solid line.
The rollers of the upper pass of No. 4 and the roller pairs of 8a, 8b, 8d to 8g are rotated. Upper and lower bin modules B ₁ , B ₂
Shifts so that the uppermost bins B ₁₁ and B ₂₁ are positioned to face the pair of discharge rollers 8g and 8p. The alignment wall 15 of the bin module stands by at the home position corresponding to the width of the sheet material, and it is checked that it is in the non-operating position for driving the bin standing portion.

The grip / staple unit 9 moves to a position (position indicated by a broken line in FIG. 2) corresponding to the sheet bundle removal of the upper bin module and stands by.

The movable body in the grip / staple unit 9 will be described with reference to FIG. The first-out gripper 10 stands by at the position shown in FIG. 12 so as not to obstruct the sheet on the bin when the bin is moved up and down in the bin module located on the left side of the grip / staple unit 9.

Since the stapler 11 is not operated, the stapler 11 shown in FIG.
2 moves to the front retracted position 11a indicated by the broken line. As shown by the broken line in FIG. 12, the transport gripper 12 is at a position where it grips the approximate center of the conveyed sheet bundle in the direction of arrow F,
In the direction of arrow G, the leading edge of the sheet bundle advanced by the advance gripper 10 stands by at the position 12a where the grip is possible.

The grippers of both the first feed unit 10 and the transport unit 12 stand by at their respective positions with the upper and lower grippers open.

Next, the stack unit 13 is moved to the position shown by the broken line in FIG. 2, and the grip / staple unit 9 is moved.
The sheet bundle conveyed by is received. In FIG. 23, the stack tray 116 inside the stack unit 13, the reference wall 117, and the pressing member 118.
Is moved to a position where the upper surface of the stack tray 116 can receive the sheet bundle and other positions corresponding to the stack tray. The tip of the pressing member 118 is projected to the stack tray 116 side as shown in FIG. It has become.

As described above, the sheet post-processing apparatus is placed in the standby state, the original is fed, the image is formed, and the sheet material is fed, as in the non-sort mode. FIG.
Then, the first sheet material passes through the upper path of the folding device, enters from the carry-in port 215, and is conveyed vertically upward by the deflector 3 and leftward by the deflector 4. The sheet is discharged onto the bin B _{11 by the} discharging roller 8g.

[0045] detects that the sheet discharge sensor S18 in the first sheet to the bin B ₁₁ in the sheet is discharged, the bottle is shifted to one bin upwards, the bin B ₁₂ rises in the sheet accommodating position. When the sheets having the same image are discharged to all the bins of the upper module by repeating the above operation, the original is replaced and the image is formed on the second original. The lowermost bin (B _{16 in} FIG. 2) of the bins of the upper module is in the sheet accommodation position, and the second sheet material accommodates sheets sequentially from the lowermost bin. The above operation is repeated for all the originals, and the operation of storing the original in the bin is completed. In this finished state, if the number of originals is odd, the bottom bin B ₁₆
Is in the sheet storage position, and when the number of originals is even, the uppermost bin B ₁₁ is in the sheet storage position.

Next, the operation for taking out the sheet bundle from the bin is started. In this embodiment, in the upper module,
The position where the sheet bundle is taken out, that is, the gripper / stapling unit 9 is on standby is a position that is two bins below the sheet storage position. Therefore, the control of the stack take-out order changes depending on the number of documents.

(B)-(i) When the number of originals is an even number If the number of originals is an even number, the bin position after the sorting is the same as at the start, and the state is as shown in FIG. In this case, the bin B _{13 at the} bundle take-out position is not taken out, but first the bins are lowered by 2 bins and the state shown in FIG. 27 is set, and the uppermost bins B ₁₁ to B ₁₆ are taken out sequentially (FIG. 28).

Next, the container is raised by 2 bins to the state shown in FIG. 29, and the preparation for receiving the next sheet bundle is completed. Even when the upper module receives a sheet in a continuous job, the number of originals is even, so if the sorting is started in the state of FIG. 29, the sorting is finished in the state of FIG. 29. B from the lowest bin B ₁₆ in the state of FIG. 28 2 lower bottle content since the are bottles not to be in the order
_Take out the bundle up to ₁₁ . At this time, the state shown in FIG. 27 is reached, so that the state of FIG. Therefore, when the upper module repeats a plurality of times to receive the sheet bundle, the state change described above is repeated.

(B)-(ii) When the number of originals is an odd number If the number of originals is an odd number, the bin position after sorting is completely opposite to that at the start. That is, if sorting is started from the state shown in FIG. 26, the state shown in FIG. 29 is reached at the end. This time B from the lowest bin B ₁₆ in the state of so 2 bottles partial lowered 28 absent bin corresponding to beam extraction in order ₁₁
Take out the bundle until. At this time, since the state shown in FIG. 27 is reached, the bin is raised by 2 bins, and the preparation for receiving the next sheet bundle is completed in the state shown in FIG. In the case of the same job, the number of originals is an odd number even in the next sheet receiving opportunity, so that FIG.
If the sorting is started with, the processing ends with FIG. Therefore, also in this case, the above-mentioned state change is repeated.

In the case of the lower module, in the present embodiment, the relationship between the sheet receiving position of the bin and the bundle take-out position is opposite, and the bundle take-out position is located two bins above.
Although the bin control in the lower module will not be described in detail here, it is controlled by repeating the state change in almost the same manner as in the case of the upper module described above. The subsequent operation of the sort mode will be described below.

The sheets stacked on the bin are aligned with respect to the reference rods 14a and 14b shown in FIG. 4 by moving the alignment wall 15 in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance. When the sorting and the alignment are completed, the sheet bundle S on the bin is moved with the first-out gripper 10 being opened from the solid line position to the broken line position in FIG. 13, and then the sheet bundle is pinched. FIG.
The first bin standing portion Bj is opened by the solenoid SL1 and the sheet bundle can be conveyed.

At this time (when the gripper starts moving toward the grip position), the bundle of sheets is moved by the reference rods 14a and 14b and the aligning rod 15 is moved by the sheet size on the back side, as shown in FIG. And the regulation member 150
Both sides are restricted by and. Therefore, the sheet bundle does not shift when gripping. Further, the sheet bundle to be transferred is guided by the bin surface and the tilted bin standing surface in the lower direction (lower surface), the lower guide stay 53, and the upper guide stay 52 in the upper direction (upper surface) (FIG. 13). At this time, the matching rod 1
5, the sheet regulation surface of the regulation member 150 and the reference rod 14a,
The distance from 14b is set shorter than the sheet width dimension S _{L by the} pushing amount P _L. The pushing amount P _L has a stroke (for example, 2 mm) longer than the variation of the sheet width dimension S _L (curling, generated due to the accuracy at the time of cutting the sheet, etc.). However, when the sheet width S _L on the bin is a legitimate value, since it is able to absorb the push amount P _L by the spring 24, nor cause the deflection of the sheet bundle.

Although the spring 24 is a compression coil spring as an example, it may be a leaf spring, a torsion coil spring or the like as long as the matching rod 15 is biased toward the reference rod 14.

As described above, both ends of the sheet bundle are aligned with the aligning rod 1.
5, since it is reliably guided by the regulating member 150 and the reference rods 14a and 14b, even if the sheet bundle receives a rotational moment in the direction of the arrow SM around the nipping portion by nipping one point at the front corner of the advance gripper (the bin is The bundle never tilts (due to the downward tilt) (Fig. 30).

The first-out gripper 10 moves to the right and stops at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG.
The bundle is transferred between 0 and the transport gripper 12. The regulating member 150 has a length of 150 L so that the bundle end can be guided even if the smallest size bundle is pulled out by the first-out gripper 10 as described above. Therefore, even in this state, the sheet bundle does not tilt. No (state indicated by alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 30).

The transport gripper 12, which is on standby while being opened at the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 12, holds the substantially central portion of the sheet bundle. Next, the first-out gripper 10 releases the clamp in preparation for the next conveyance. The transport gripper 12 is driven in the right direction of arrow G in FIG. 12 to transport the sheet bundle in the right direction, and stops at a proper position according to the size. In this process, the end of the sheet bundle is out of the regulation of the regulation member 150, but since the transport gripper 12 holds the substantially central portion of the leading end of the sheet bundle as described above, the sheet bundle does not rotate.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 31, the rear end of the sheet bundle S is dropped on the upper surface of the stack tray 116, and the left side is regulated by the stacker reference wall 117, and
The upper surface of the bundle is pressed by a pressing member 118 driven by a solenoid. From this state, the transport gripper 12 is opened and the leading end of the sheet bundle is also dropped onto the stack tray.

At this time, the pressing member 118 has a function of preventing deviation in the falling bundle.

Next, when the second bundle of sheets is being conveyed, the conveyance gripper 12 grasps the approximate center of the sheet bundle,
Up to the point where the bundle is transferred between the grippers, it is the same as the first bundle, so only the subsequent operation will be described.

After delivering the bundle, the transport gripper 12 is shown in FIG.
2 moves in the direction of arrow F by a predetermined amount. At this time, the reference rod, the alignment wall, and the guide member 53a may be allowed to escape so that the trailing edge side of the sheet bundle is not regulated. Further, after the trailing edge of the sheet bundle is completely removed from these width regulating members, the transport gripper is removed. You may move 12 in the arrow F direction. By this movement, it becomes possible to distinguish from the first sheet bundle when stacking on the stack tray. As shown in FIG. 32, during conveyance in the right direction by the conveyance gripper 12, the central portion of the sheets falls onto the upper surface of the sheet bundle on the stack tray before the rear end of the sheet bundle S reaches a predetermined position. If the sheet bundle S ₂ being conveyed is continuously conveyed as it is, there is a possibility that the already stacked sheet bundle S ₁ may be disturbed. At this time, FIG.
As described above, by pressing the upper surface of the already stacked sheet bundle S ₁ with the pressing member 118, the deviation can be prevented.

The uppermost surface of the stack of sheets stacked on the stack tray is always detected by the sensor, and the stack tray is gradually moved so that the distance between the upper grip / stapling unit and the uppermost stack surface is always constant. It is lowered and controlled.

The sheet bundle on the stack tray can be arbitrarily taken out when the stack unit is not in operation. When the operator presses a take-out button (not shown), the stack unit moves to the take-out position, and only the stack take-out cover can be opened and closed.

If the cover is closed after taking out the sheet bundle, the processing can be continued. The stapler 11
After pulling out the sheet with the first-out gripper, the staple binding operation is performed as necessary.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the reference rods 14a and 14b are fixed.
Similar to the aligning rod 15, it may be movable to the opposite side (FIG. 33). As a specific configuration, a belt or the like may be connected to the moving mechanism of the alignment rod 15 so as to move in the opposite direction. According to this configuration, the moving distance of the alignment rod 15 can be made shorter than that of the first embodiment, and the processing speed can be increased.

(Third Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the pushing amount of the alignment rod 15 and the regulating member 150 at the time of pulling out the bundle by the first-out gripper is taken as an example.
Although it is set to 2 mm, this value may be variable depending on the number of sheets discharged onto the bin.

As shown in the first embodiment, the alignment rod 15 and the regulating member 150 are constructed so that the compression spring 24 absorbs the pushing amount.

When the number n of sheet bundles pulled out by the first-out gripper 10 is large (n> 10), the weight of sheet bundles also increases, and the rotation moment indicated by S _M in FIG. 30 also increases. Therefore, increase the pushing amount (for example, 4m
m), the repulsive force of the compression spring may increase the holding force at the end of the sheet to suppress the inclination of the sheet. On the other hand, when the number n of sheet bundles is small (n <10), the rotational moment S _M is also small, so the pushing amount is reduced (for example, 2 m).
In m), the inclination of the seat is suppressed. Further, since the repulsive force of the compression spring is reduced, the bending of the sheet is eliminated, and stable bundle transfer is possible.

The width of the sheets stacked on the bin is non-uniform even with the same size paper due to factors such as dimensional variations of the individual sheets and curl produced by the image forming apparatus.

Accordingly, the distance between the regulation position of the rotation preventing means 150 after being clamped by the first-out gripper 10 and the sheet end face also varies. That is, when the regulation surface and the sheet end are separated, the sheet rotates, and conversely, when the regulation surface is pushed more strongly than the sheet width, the sheet bundle bends,
There is a risk that the sheet bundle may be damaged and the transferability with the next transport gripper 12 may be deteriorated.

However, according to the above embodiment, the above inconvenience is solved.

Hereinafter, the detailed description of each part will be referred to.

The drive configuration of the bin standing portion forming the alignment surface in the transport direction on the bin will be described (FIG. 1).
0, FIG. 11).

This is to move the bin standing when the sheet bundle stacked on the bin is conveyed in the bin standing direction from the bin for post-processing and stacking. 10 is a top view and FIG. 11 is a front view.

The bin B includes a sheet stacking section Bi and a matching section B.
The rotating shaft on the side of the matching surface Bj fits into the rotating hole on the side of the stacking unit Bi to be rotatable. The rotation angle is about 90 as shown in FIG.
It can be rotated until the alignment surface, which stands at a right angle to the fixed loading surface, becomes substantially flush with the loading surface.
Normally, the alignment surface is at a right angle to the loading surface (Fig. 1
It is urged by a spring or the like so that it becomes a solid line 1). The spring has such strength that the aligning portion Bj does not fall down even with the weight of the sheet bundle on the bin. A drive arm 45 is attached to the back side of the matching section Bj. A bin 45a is erected at the tip of the drive arm.

The bin stand-up drive solenoid SL1 has a base 4
6 is supported on. A link 47 is rotatably supported on the base 46, and one end of an arm 48 is engaged with a bin 47a on the link. The other end of the arm 48 is attached to the solenoid SL1 and the solenoid is operated to move the link 47 from the solid line portion to the two-dot chain line portion. A bin contact member 47b is attached to the tip of the link 47, but in a normal state, the space between the bin 47b and the bin 45a is separated, and does not hinder the up-and-down operation of the bin B. When the sheet discharge into the bin is completed and the sheet bundle in the bin is post-processed and stacked, the corresponding bin is set as shown in FIG.
The solenoid SL1 is operated by shifting to the 1 position.
The pin contact portion 47b contacts the pin 45a, and the link 4
When 7 rotates, the matching portion Bj is moved to the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. When the solenoid SL1 is turned off, the link 47 returns to the original solid line position by the action of the spring 49, and correspondingly the aligning portion Bj also returns to the position orthogonal to the loading surface.

Next, the grip / staple unit 9 will be described (FIGS. 12 and 13).

FIG. 12 is a top view and FIG. 13 is a front view.

The overall structure is such that the guide stays 52 and 53 and the right stay 5 are provided between the unit front side plate 50 and the unit rear side plate 51.
It is a frame body to which 4 is passed, and a total of 4 lifting rollers 55 are crimped on each of the left and right sides. The four rollers are guided in two rails fixed to the main body side, a rack integrally cut by the rail 56, and a shaft 57 penetrating in the lateral direction of the frame body.
The pinion gears 58 provided on both ends of the frame engage with each other, and the drive from the lifting motor M4 is transmitted to the gears so that the entire frame can be moved up and down.

Three moving bodies are arranged in the frame body. The first-out gripper 10 is configured to be movable in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 12, grips the vicinity of the right end of the sheet bundle S on the bin on the front reference side, and pulls out the sheet bundle to the right.
The distance l ₄ from the right end of the first-out gripper 10 to the leading end of the sheet bundle S is set to be longer than the distance l ₅ from the left end of the stapler 11 to the leading end of the sheet bundle S when pulling out is completed. The stapler 11 is movable in the direction of arrow E in the figure, and can be moved to a front or rear retracted position that does not overlap with the sheet width, or an arbitrary position on the leading end of the sheet bundle.

The transport gripper 12 is movable in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 12, and is also movable in the direction of arrow G in the figure including the entire front and rear side plates 59, 60. The sheet bundle is gripped at a substantially central position of the sheet width in the direction of arrow F according to the size of the sheet bundle, conveyed in the direction of arrow G, and the sheet bundle is completely pulled out from the bin and conveyed to the stacker described later. The movement in the arrow F direction is used for the purpose of sorting on the stacker, in addition to the movement corresponding to the size as described above. That is, when the bundle is conveyed to the stacker, the conveyance amount in the arrow G direction depends on the sheet bundle size, but by changing the conveyance amount in the F direction, sheet bundles of the same size can be sorted or sorting between different jobs can be performed. Can be done. The depth dimension l ₆ of the transport gripper 12 is the stapler 1
The size is set so that the front end of the sheet bundle S can be held even when 1 is operating with respect to the sheet bundle S.

The moving bodies 10, 11, 12 in the grip / staple unit 9 will be described in detail below.

First, the grip portion for sandwiching the bundle will be described. This is a configuration common to the first-out gripper 10 and the transport gripper 12 (FIG. 14).

The side plates 62, 62 have three shafts 63, 64, 6
5 are supported. An upper gripper 66 and a lower gripper 67 are arranged on the shaft 65, and a lower gripper cam 68 fixed to the shaft 63 and an upper gripper cam 6 fixed to the shaft 64.
By the rotation of the arrow 9 in the arrow direction, the rocking in the arrow H and arrow I directions is repeated (solid line and broken line diagrams). Also, the spring member 7
0 indicates the cam portion 67a of the lower gripper 67 to the lower gripper cam 6
8, the spring member lower 1 is the cam portion 6 of the upper gripper 66.
6a is biased to the upper gripper cam 69 so that the contact pressure between the upper gripper and the lower gripper is controlled to be substantially constant. The cams of the upper / lower grippers are driven by motors M5 (holding the advance feed gripper) and M6 (holding the transport gripper) which are not shown.

The first-out gripper 10 and the transport gripper 12 have the same basic structure as described above, but the conditions such as the clamping pressure, the width of the gripper, and the maximum opening amount are optimally set according to the respective usage conditions. I don't care. For example, in the case of the present embodiment, the first-out gripper holds the width small in terms of space, but clamps only on the reference side, so the clamping pressure is set high to prevent misalignment and the opening amount also enters between the bottles. Try to hold down as much as possible. On the other hand, since the transport gripper can hold the sheet bundle center, the pressure can be set to a low level. In addition, it is possible to generally set the curl amount of the sheet, the basis weight, the presence or absence of folding, the number of sheets, and the like.

Next, the drive configuration of the first-out gripper 10 will be described (FIGS. 15 and 16). FIG. 15 is a top view, FIG.
Is a front view.

A roller 72 having a groove is caulked on the front side surface of the advance gripper, and is engaged with an elongated hole 50a provided in the unit front side plate 50 of the grip / staple unit. The elongated hole 50a is formed substantially horizontally on the right side of the stapler in FIG. 16, but is formed on the left side of the FIG. 16 near the bin at an angle according to the inclination of the bin. The tip ends of the shafts of the two rollers are connected by a connecting metal plate 73, and a pin member 74 is attached to the metal plate. On the other hand, the advance motor M7 is attached to the front side of the unit front side plate 50, and the swing arm 76 is fixed to the tip of the drive shaft. The other end of the swing arm is a long hole 7
6a is formed, and the tip of the pin member 74 engages with the long hole. By the drive of the first-out motor M7, the swing arm 76 reciprocates between the solid line position and the double-dot chain line position in FIGS. As a result, the first-out gripper 10 grips the sheet bundle along the elongated hole of the unit front side plate 50 at the inclined position, conveys the sheet bundle to the horizontal position, separates the sheet bundle at the horizontal position, and returns to the inclined position.

Next, the drive configuration of the transport gripper 12 will be described (FIGS. 17 and 18). 17 is a top view and FIG. 18 is a front sectional view.

First, driving in the left and right directions of FIGS. 17 and 18 and in the sheet bundle conveying direction will be described.

The transport gripper 12 is supported below it by two shafts 77 and 78. One of the shafts 77 is a ball screw and the other 78 is a normal shaft. Both ends of the shaft 77 are rotatably supported between the front and rear plates (the front plate is omitted; the rear plate 60), and both ends of the shaft 78 are completely fixed. A guide roller 79 is attached to each side plate, and the roller 79 can move in the left-right direction along an elongated hole 51a formed in the unit side plate 51. The transport gripper horizontal movement motor M8 is attached to the unit side plate 51, and transmits drive to the penetrating shaft 83 via the motor pulley 80, the belt 81, and the pulley 82. A driving pulley 84 is attached on the penetrating shaft 83 in front and one in the back, and a belt 806 is wound between the driven pulleys 84 and the driven pulleys 85 facing each other. By fixing a part of the belt on the rear side plate 60 by the regulation member 87, the drive of the motor M8 is transmitted to the transport gripper 12 and the lateral movement is enabled.

Next, driving in the vertical direction of FIG. 17, that is, in the direction orthogonal to the sheet bundle conveyance will be described.

A transport gripper forward / backward movement motor M9 is mounted on the rear side plate 60 via a base 88. Motor M via motor pulley 89, belt 90, and pulley 91
The drive of 9 is transmitted to the ball screw shaft 77. Since a similar screw is also cut on the portion of the transport gripper 12 that engages with the ball screw shaft 77, the transport gripper can be moved forward and backward by rotating the ball screw shaft.

The position of the transport gripper is determined by detecting the home position and the rotation amount of the motor. In the left-right direction, the protrusion 87a above the regulating member 87 is detected by the home position sensor S7, and the movement amount is detected by the sensor S8 that reads the encoder 92 of the motor M8, and the protrusion 87a is stopped at a predetermined position.

On the other hand, when moving forward and backward, the home position sensor S9 detects a part of the transport gripper, the sensor S10 reading the encoder 93 of the motor M9 detects the amount of movement, and the vehicle is stopped at a predetermined position.

Next, the forward / backward drive of the stapler 11 will be described (FIGS. 19 and 20). 19 is a left view and FIG. 20 is a top view.

In FIG. 19, the stapler 11 is a base 9
It is fixed on 4. A slider 95 is attached above the base 94. Bearings for passing two shafts are provided at four positions on the slider 95.
By fixing the two shafts 6 and 97 between the unit front and rear side plates 50 and 51, the stapler 11 is suspended and supported by the two shafts. A motor base 98 is provided on the unit rear side plate 51 side.
And the stapler forward / backward motor M10 is fixed. Drive is transmitted by a motor gear 99, a motor pulley 100, a driven pulley 101, and a belt 102 passed between both pulleys, and a belt 102 is passed by a restriction member 103.
The belt to the stapler 1 and fix the belt drive to the stapler 1.
Tell unit 1. This allows the staple unit to move in the direction of arrow J in FIG. The stapler can be stopped at any position between the retracted position 11a on the front side and the retracted position 11b on the back side. The position is set by detecting the position sensor S11 on the front side or the position sensor S12 on the back side, and setting the encoder 104 of the motor M10 to the sensor S13.
It is determined by reading.

Next, the structure of the stack unit 13 will be described (FIGS. 21, 23 and 24). 21 is a top view, FIG. 23 is a front view of the stack frame portion, and FIG. 24 is a left view.

First, in FIG. 21, the stack frame 105, which is the outer frame of the stack unit 13, is composed of four parts. First, the rear side plate 105a, then the left side plate 105b, the right side plate 105c, and the bottom plate 105d. Two elevating rollers 106, two in total, are attached to the outer surfaces of the left and right side plates 105b and 105c of the outer frame, which are guided by rails 107 fixed to the main body. The rail 107 may be the same member as the rail 56 of the grip / staple unit 9 shown in FIG.

21 and 24, the left and right side plates 105
The chain 109 is fixed by a fixing plate at the bent portions on the back side of b and c.
Are fixed, and the left and right chains 109 are passed between the upper and lower sprockets 110 and 111, respectively. The lower sprockets are connected by a through shaft 112, and the drive of a stack frame lifting motor M11 fixed to the main body side is transmitted to the through shaft 112 by gears 113 and 114 to lift and lower the frame. The frame stop position is usually 2 in correspondence with the two stop positions of the grip / staple unit 9 shown in FIG. 2 (the upper broken line portion and the lower solid line portion).
In addition to one stop position, it is set at a plurality of places such as a stacker tray pulling-out position and a stacker limit number of sheets which will be described later. Normally, the home position is the position corresponding to the upper module. Returning to FIG. 21, by reading the encoder 115 of the motor M11 with the sensor S14, it is possible to stop at the various set positions described above.

On the left side plate 105b of the stacker frame, a stacker reference wall 117 serving as a reference wall for the sheet bundle on the stack tray 116 is supported so as to be able to move up and down, and a presser for pressing the sheet bundle on the stack tray 116 from above. Member 118 is also supported.

The stacker reference wall 117 is normally located at the lower side, and moves upward to correspond to the change of the stacker limit number which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 21, the ascending / descending structure is such that two rollers 119 are provided on the reference wall side, two on the rear side and two on the front side.
Rail 1 fixed to stacker frame left side plate 105b
Guided by 20, 121, it can move up and down.
It is driven by a lifting motor M12 (not shown). FIG. 2
1. As shown in FIG. 23, the guide roller 1 is attached to the reference wall 117.
17a is rotatably supported so that the rear end of the sheet bundle does not remain on the upper inclined surface 117b of the reference wall 117.

Further, the proximity prevention sensor S1 is provided at the upper end of the reference wall.
6 is attached, detects the distance between the stack unit and the upper gripper / stapling unit, and when they approach a certain distance or less, controls to stop the driving in the mutual approaching direction to prevent interference. . A stack height detection sensor S17 is attached to the side surface of the reference wall, and the stack top sheet is detected in S17 to control the height of the stack tray 116 and the like.

Next, the stack tray 116 will be described (FIGS. 21 and 22). FIG. 22 is a front view of the stack tray portion.

The stack tray 116 is gradually lowered inside the stack frame 105 so that the upper surface of the stack is always maintained.

In FIGS. 21 and 22, 128 is a rail fixed to both side plates of the stack frame 105.
The stack tray 116 is configured so that it can be pulled out from the stack tray base 129 by the aclide 130 toward the front. U-shaped roller receiving plates 131 are attached to both end surfaces of the stack tray base, and two rollers 132 are provided.
They are crimped one by one and guided by rails 128.
A rack is vertically formed at one end of the rail 128, and is engaged with pinion gears 134 attached to both ends of a shaft 133 penetrating the base 129 in the horizontal direction. The stack tray lifting motor M13 is attached to the stack tray base 129 by the motor base 135, and the gear 1
Drive is input to the penetrating shaft 133 by 36 and 137. An encoder 138 is attached to the other end of the motor M13 and is read by the sensor S15 to control the amount of lowering of the stack tray.

Next, the drive configuration of the transport system will be described (FIG. 25). FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram of the drive configuration, in which the hatched side of each roller pair is the drive input shaft, and the other side is the driven side. The drive system is roughly divided into three systems.

First, the transport motor M14 receives the drive on the side closer to the main body of the copying machine, and transmits it to the vertical modules and the non-sort path after branching. The corresponding roller pairs are 7 pairs of 8a to 8c and 8h to k.

Next, the carry motor M15 takes charge of the horizontal path of the upper module path and supplies the drive to the four roller pairs 8d to 8g.

Further, the carry motor M16 takes charge of the horizontal path of the lower module path and the vertical path to the final exit.
5 roller pairs of ~ p are driven.

Further, since the portion surrounded by the broken line in FIG. 25 is a portion which is pulled out to the front side at the time of JAM processing or the like which will be described later, the couplings 139 and 140 are provided to separate the drive. There is.

Further, in the system driven by the motor M16, the lower sides of the horizontal paths 81 to 8n are on the driving side, whereas the vertical paths 8o and 8p are on the right side or the upper side. 141 is bitten to reverse the direction of rotation.

As shown in FIG. 25, it is divided into three conveying systems so that when a part of the sheet remains in the main body of the copying machine, the speed of the main body of the copying machine is adjusted as much as possible and the sheet is not damaged. When the entire sheet reaches the post-processing device side, the sheet conveying speed is increased to discharge the gap between the sheet and the next sheet, specifically, the trailing edge of the previous sheet, and then the leading edge of the next sheet arrives. This is because the time until the sheet falls in the bin and the time for alignment are increased by increasing the time until the sheet falls. Therefore, the speed of the motor M14 is almost the same as that of the main body, and
For 5, and M16, the normal setting is to increase the transport speed except for the deceleration at the time of discharging. If the most upstream roller pair 8d and 8e controlled by the motors M15 and M16, for example, are the roller pairs 8a and 8j, the trailing edge of the sheet having the maximum length in the transport direction when the leading edge of the sheet is bitten. If a one-way clutch is inserted in the four roller pairs 8b, 8a, 8k, 8j, the leading ends of the rollers 8d, 8e will be bitten, and the pull-out load when speeding up can be reduced.

[0113]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to prevent the sheet bundle from swirling (tilting) during the bundle transfer.

Further, by making the moving aligning means and the driving means of the regulating means the same, it is possible to downsize and simplify the apparatus.

Further, when the sheet bundle is being transferred by the first-out gripper, the distance between the aligning means and the regulating means and the reference means is set to be smaller than the sheet width dimension by a predetermined amount (pushing amount), so that the bin is actually loaded on the bin. Even if the width dimension of the formed sheet becomes slightly small due to factors such as curl and dimensional variation, it is possible to reliably regulate the edges.

Further, the aligning means or the regulating means urges the spring member so as to expand and contract with a stroke equal to or larger than the pushing amount in the direction of the reference rod, so that a sheet having a target width dimension is temporarily obtained. Even when loaded on the bin, the amount of pushing is absorbed by the spring member, so that the regulation can be performed without causing damage such as bending of the sheet.

Furthermore, by changing the pushing amount according to the number of sheets stacked on the bin, the bundle can be regulated by a proper pushing pressure that meets each condition, and more reliable regulation can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a sheet material output device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the sheet material post-processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bin module.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the bin module.

FIG. 5 (a) is a front view of the bin module. (B) Front view of a bin module (comparative example).

FIG. 6 is a state diagram of a bottle.

FIG. 7 is a state diagram of a bottle.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the matching unit.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a matching unit.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the bin standing drive unit.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the bin standing drive unit.

FIG. 12 is a top view of the grip / staple unit.

FIG. 13 is a front view of a grip / staple unit.

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram of a gripper unit.

FIG. 15 is a top view of the first-out gripper drive.

FIG. 16 is a front view of the first-out gripper drive.

FIG. 17 is a top view of driving the transport gripper.

FIG. 18 is a front sectional view of driving the transport gripper.

FIG. 19 is a left view of driving the stapler unit.

FIG. 20 is a top view of the stapler unit drive.

FIG. 21 is a top view of the stack unit.

FIG. 22 is a front view of a stack tray.

FIG. 23 is a front view of a stack unit.

FIG. 24 is a left side view of driving the stack unit.

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram of the drive configuration of the transport system.

FIG. 26 is a state diagram showing the operation of the bin.

FIG. 27 is a state diagram showing the operation of the bin.

FIG. 28 is a state diagram showing the operation of the bin.

FIG. 29 is a state diagram showing the operation of the bin.

FIG. 30 is a state diagram showing the operation of the first-out gripper.

FIG. 31 is a state diagram showing the effect of the stack pressing member.

FIG. 32 is a state diagram showing the effect of the stack pressing member.

FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

B _1, B ₂ bin module 2 under module path 7 on module path 8a~p conveying roller pairs 9 grip / stapling Units - 10 first-out gripper 11 stapler 12 transport gripper 13 staff unit 150 restricting member

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A tray for storing discharged sheet material, a bundle transfer means for gripping and transferring one end of the sheet bundle stored in the tray, and a sheet bundle on the opposite side of the transfer means. A sheet material processing device, comprising: a bundle guide means for guiding the other end of the sheet material. 2. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bundle guide means is provided integrally with the aligning means for aligning the sheets on the tray. 3. A sheet material tray for accommodating discharged sheet material, an aligning means for sandwiching and aligning the sheet material on the tray, and a sheet for transferring the aligned sheet material to the outside of the tray. The bundle transfer means and the aligning means are disposed downstream of the aligning means. When the sheet bundle is transferred, the bundle moving means moves a predetermined amount together with the aligning means according to the sheet size.
A sheet material processing apparatus having: a regulation unit that regulates a sheet bundle. 4. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a drive source for moving the regulating member is shared with the aligning means. 5. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the alignment means has a reference wall and an alignment wall, and the reference wall is configured to be movable in the alignment direction. 6. The aligning means has a reference wall and an aligning wall, the regulating means moves together with the aligning wall, and while the sheet bundle is being transported by the bundle transporting means, the aligning wall and the regulating means, and the reference wall. 4. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the distance from the sheet width is smaller than the sheet width dimension by a predetermined pushing amount. 7. The aligning wall or the regulating means is urged toward the reference wall side by a spring member so as to have a stroke equal to or larger than the pushing amount and to be expandable and contractible.
The sheet material processing device described. 8. The variable amount according to the number of sheets stacked on the tray as the predetermined amount.
The sheet material processing device described. 9. A sheet material output device including the sheet processing device according to claim 1. 10. An image forming apparatus comprising the device according to claim 1.