Patent Application
20120076618
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application NO. 2010-216677 filed on Sep. 28, 2010 in Japanese Patent Office, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a post-processing apparatus and an image forming system.
Various types of post-processing apparatuses, in which a plurality of sheets on which images have been formed are bundled into a sheet bundle and then the sheet bundle and a cover sheet are bonded using an adhesive to produce a booklet (i.e., bookbinding), have been proposed. For example, an image forming apparatus such as a copier or a printer is connected to a post-processing apparatus and then a plurality of sheets on which images have been formed by the image forming apparatus are automatically bundled into a sheet bundle in the post-processing apparatus. Thereafter, the sheet bundle and a cover sheer are bonded using an adhesive to produce a booklet.
Common procedures to produce a booklet in such a post-processing apparatus are described below. Initially, a plurality of sheets on which images have been formed are stacked/aligned to produce a sheet bundle. Subsequently, the back portion of the thus-stacked/aligned sheet bundle is coated with an adhesive. Then, a cover sheet is conveyed and stopped at a predetermined position to bond the cover sheet to the back portion of the sheet bundle. Via such procedures, a plurality of sheets and a cover sheet are unified to produce a booklet.
a and 9b show one example of a booklet constituted of a sheet bundle and a cover sheet.
a shows the state where a cover sheet K is not folded and
With regard to a post-processing apparatus to produce a booklet as shown in
In the technique described in JP-A No. 2010-12619, an adhesive accommodated in the adhesive accommodating section is heated by the heating section. However, when the adhesive accommodated in the adhesive accommodating section remains unused for a long time and heated by the heating section over a long time, the adhesive may be degraded and discolored by heat.
When by use of the thus-discolored adhesive, a sheet bundle and a cove sheet are bonded, in the state of a finished booklet, the color of the discolored adhesive is seen through the cover sheet, resulting in poor appearance of the finished booklet.
Further, when the adhesive is degraded by heat, the adhesion power of the adhesive is decreased and thereby sheets may be dropped from a finished booklet or the cover sheet may be peeled off.
In view of the above, objects of the present invention are to prevent the production of a booklet having poor appearance and to provide a post-processing apparatus and an image forming system to prevent the production of a booklet having weak adhesion power between a sheet bundle and a cover sheet.
To achieve at least one of the above mentioned objects, a sheet finisher binding a booklet by adhering a cover sheet to a sheet bundle composed of plurality of sheets with adhesive, comprises: a coating section which coats adhesive to a spine of the sheet bundle; an adhesive container which stores the adhesive to be supplied to the coating section; a heating section which heats the adhesive stored in the adhesive container to melt the adhesive; and a deterioration judging section which judges whether the adhesive stored in the adhesive container is degraded by the heating of the heating section or not.
a, 3b, 3c, and 3d are illustrative views showing steps to coat a bundle of sheets with an adhesive;
a and 4b are illustrative views showing the coating operation of an adhesive by an adhesive coating section;
a, 6b, and 6c are illustrative views showing bonding steps of a cover sheet;
a and 9b are illustrative views showing the amount of an adhesive having been coated on a sheet bundle.
[Brief Description of an Image Forming System]
The image forming system according to the present invention has an image forming apparatus A and a post-processing apparatus B.
The image forming apparatus A forms an image on a sheet S1 using an electrophotographic system, and has an image forming section A1, a document conveyance section A2, an image reading section A3, and a communication section A4. In the image forming section A1, in the periphery of a drum-shaped photoreceptor 1, a charging section 2, an exposing section 3, a developing section 4, a transfer section 5A, a separating section 5B, and a cleaning section 6 are arranged, and processes including charging, exposure, development, and transfer each are carried out to form a toner image on a sheet S1.
Sheets S1 are stored in sheet feeding trays 7A. Various sheets S1 having different size and characteristics each are stored in the sheet feeding trays 7A. Sheets S1 are discharged one by one from the sheet feeding strays 7A and conveyed to the image forming apparatus A1.
A sheet S1 to which a toner image has been transferred is passed through the fixing section 8 to be fixed. The sheet S1 having been subjected to fixing is discharged from the sheet discharging roller 7B to the exterior of the image forming apparatus 7B or conveyed to the sheet re-feeding path 7C.
[Brief Description of the Post-Processing Apparatus]
The post-processing apparatus B is an apparatus in which a plurality of sheets S1 having been sent in from the image forming apparatus A are bundled into a sheet bundle and a cover sheet S2 is bonded to the back portion of the sheet bundle to cover the sheet bundle with the cover sheet S2 in the shape of the Japanese katakana character “ko” for production of a booklet S3 (hereinafter, the production processing of a booklet S3 is referred to as “bookbinding processing” and the production job of a booklet S3 is referred to as a “bookbinding job”). The post-processing apparatus B has a sheet reversing section 40, a stacking section 50, an adhesive coating section 60, and a bonding section 70 to bond a cover sheet to a sheet bundle, as well as a conveyance section 10, a sheet discharging tray 20, a cover sheet storage section 80, and a booklet discharging section 90.
A sheet S1 having been conveyed from the image forming apparatus A to the post-processing apparatus B is discharged to the sheet discharging tray 20 through the discharging path 12 via the switching gate 11 provided in the conveyance section 10 or conveyed to the sheet reversing section 40. In the case of no execution of bookbinding processing in the post-processing apparatus B, the sheet S1 is discharged to the sheet discharging tray 20. In the case of carrying out bookbinding processing in the post-processing apparatus B, the sheet S1 is conveyed to the sheet reversing section 40 via the conveyance path 13 and switched back in the sheet reversing section 40 to be thereafter conveyed to the stacking section 50. When a set number of sheets S1 are stacked in the stacking section 50, the stacking section 50 is rotated to hold a bundle of sheets S1 nearly vertically. Then, the lower surface, being the back portion of the bundle of sheets S1 is coated with an adhesive using the adhesive coating section 60. Then, in the bonding section 70, the bundle of sheets S1 is bonded to a cover sheet S2. A booklet S3 produced by aligning the cover sheet with the bundle of sheets S1 is discharged onto the booklet discharging section 90.
Incidentally, although not shown in
Sheets S1 conveyed in the conveyance path 13 are temporarily discharged, via the sheet discharging roller 14 and the conveyance roller 401, onto the reversing guide 402. The sheets S1 having been discharged on the reversing guide 402 are aligned by the alignment member 403 in the direction at right angles to the conveyance direction and then temporarily stacked by the operation of the stopper 404. The stopper 404 can be operated between the solid line position and the dotted line position.
While a preceding bundle of sheets S1 remains in the stacking section 50, the stopper 404 is moved to the dotted line position to temporarily stack following sheets S1 on the reversing guide 402. The preceding bundle of sheets S1 is taken out from the stacking section 50 and thereafter the stopper 404 is moved to the solid line position to drop the sheets S1 having been temporarily stacked down to the stacking section 50.
The stacking section 50 has a first nipping member 502 and a receiving plate 506. Sheets S1 are obliquely supported by the first nipping member 502 and the receiving plate 506. Sheets S1 obliquely supported are prevented from floating by the pressing member 504 to be aligned by the alignment plate 505. Then, a second nipping member 503 is operated to hold a bundle of sheets S1 and then in the state of holding the bundle of sheets S1, the stacking section 50 is rotated around the shaft 501 to allow the bundle of sheets S1 to be in the vertical state from the oblique state.
a, 3b, 3c, and 3d are illustrative views showing steps to coat a bundle of sheets S1 with an adhesive.
By a motor M4, the second nipping member 503 is moved toward sheets S1. When the second nipping member 503 presses the sheets S1 at a certain pressure, then a drive torque sensor (not shown) detects the increase of the drive torque of the motor M4 to terminate the movement of the second nipping member 503. Such a constitution makes it possible to tightly nip a bundle of sheets by the first nipping member 502 and the second nipping member 503.
The symbol X shown in
In the stage where a bundle of sheets S1 has been nipped by the first nipping member 502 and the second nipping member 503, the receiving plate 506 is rotated by 90 degrees by a drive mechanism (not shown) to be withdrawn as shown in
Subsequently, as shown in
Incidentally, description will be made on an adhesive coating method using a roller, which is, however, replaceable, for example, with a belt or a brush unless the spirit of the present invention is not inhibited. As the coating member, a roller is preferable due to an advantage in feeding a uniformly melted adhesive to the sheet end, from the viewpoint of adhesive coatability and large heat transferability to allow an adhesive immediately before coating to be adequately melted.
The coating operation of an adhesive 63 using the adhesive coating section 60 will now be described with reference to
The adhesive coating section 60 has a coating roller (coating section) 62 to coat the back portion of a sheet bundle with an adhesive 63, an adhesive 63, an adhesive accommodating section 64 to accommodate the adhesive 63, and a heater (not shown) to melt a solid adhesive.
A solid adhesive is accommodated in an adhesive container 66. When the remaining amount of an adhesive 63 accommodated in the adhesive accommodating section 64 of the adhesive coating section 60 is detected to be small, the movable member 65 is moved to replenish the solid adhesive inside the adhesive container 66 into the adhesive accommodating section 64 (in the present embodiment, the amount of such a solid adhesive replenished via one replenishment operation is 19 g). Then, the solid adhesive is heated by the heater and melted in the adhesive accommodating section 64.
At the initial stage of bookbinding processing, the adhesive coating section 60 is located in the right end position, the initial position, as shown in
When bookbinding processing is initiated, the adhesive coating section 60 is moved from the right end position to the left end position (the front direction of the post-processing apparatus B). This movement is carried out via the drive of the belt 67 driven by a motor M3. In the period when the adhesive coating section 60 is moved to the left end position, the coating roller 62 remains separated from the lower surface SA of a bundle of sheets S1.
Then, in the stage of
An adhesive 63 accommodated in the adhesive accommodating section 64 is in the melted state by heating using a heater (heating section) 61 placed in the lower portion. Namely, the adhesive 63 is a hot-melt adhesive. In the interior of the coating roller 62, a roller heater 621 is placed to prevent the adhesive 63 from becoming solidified in the periphery of the coating roller 62.
The temperature of the adhesive 63 is detected by a temperature sensor 631 placed in the adhesive accommodating section 64. On the basis of the detection result of the temperature sensor 631, the heater is on/off controlled to appropriately maintain the temperature of the adhesive 63.
Further, using the temperature sensor 631, the remaining amount in the adhesive accommodating section 64 is detected. When an appropriate amount of an adhesive 63 is present in the adhesive accommodating section 64 and the melted adhesive 63 is in contact with the temperature sensor 631, due to a high temperature of the adhesive 63, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 631 is relatively high. In contrast, when the remaining amount of the adhesive 63 decreases and then the melted adhesive 63 is in no contact with the temperature sensor 631, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 631 is decreased. This change is detected and thereby the remaining amount of the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is detected. Herein, in the present embodiment, the amount of an adhesive 63 accommodated in the adhesive accommodating section 64 is 150 g.
The adhesive coating section 60 is elevated in the Y direction by the motor M2 (refer to
a, 6b, and 6c are the bonding steps of a cover sheet S2.
As shown in
a shows the state of completion of coating using an adhesive 63. In the state of
Subsequently, the cover sheet supporting member 701 is driven and elevated by belts 79A and 79B (refer to
The cover sheet supporting member 701 is further elevated by several mm from the position of
[Block Diagram of the Image Forming System]
The image forming apparatus A is connected to a PC being a terminal such as a personal computer and the post-processing apparatus B.
The control section 101 controls the entire operation of the image forming apparatus A. Specifically, the control section 101 reads out various kinds of programs stored in the storage section 102 and controls the image forming section A1 and the image reading section A3 to carry out an image forming operation.
In the operation display section 103, a job setting is carried out by the user and also various pieces of information such as information in which the remaining amounts of a toner and an adhesive are small are displayed. The user sees information displayed in the operation display section 103 and then the user responds to carry out an appropriate job.
The control section 201 controls the entire operation of the post-processing apparatus B. Specifically, the control section 201 reads out various kinds of programs stored in the storage section 202 to carry out operations such as a bookbinding job. Herein, in the present embodiment, the control section 201 functions as a degradation determination section and a warning section of the present invention.
The timer 203 measures the time elapsed after the temperature of an adhesive 63 has reached predetermined temperature by switching the power of the post-processing apparatus B on. As described later, based on the time having been measured by the timer 203 (the time to heat the adhesive 63 by the heater 61), the control section 201 determines adhesive degradation.
As detailed above with reference to
[Determination Operation of Adhesive Degradation]
Next, the operation to determine degradation of an adhesive used for bookbinding processing in the post-processing apparatus B will be described.
As described above, an adhesive 63 accommodated in the adhesive accommodating section 64 of the adhesive coating section 60 is heated by the heater 61 to be in the melted state. When the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 remains unused for a long time and heated by the heater 61 over a long time, the adhesive 63 may be degraded and discolored by heat.
When bookbinding processing is carried out using a discolored adhesive, in the state of a finished booklet S3, the color of the discolored adhesive 63 is seen through the cover sheet S2, resulting in poor appearance of the finished booklet S3. Further, when the adhesive 63 is degraded by heat, the adhesion power of the adhesive 63 is decreased and thereby sheets S1 may be dropped from the finished booklet S3 or the cover sheet S2 may be peeled off.
Therefor, in the post-processing apparatus B, a determination is made whether an adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is degraded and then a selection is made by the user not to carry out bookbinding processing using the degraded adhesive 63. This matter will be described with reference to
Initially, when the image forming system containing the image forming apparatus A and the post-processing apparatus B is powered on (step S101), the heater 61 of the adhesive coating section 60 is powered on to carry out the warming-up operation to heat an adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 (step S 102). When the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is melted and then the temperature of the adhesive 63 reaches predetermined temperature, the warming-up operation is completed and thereby a job such as a bookbinding job becomes ready to be carried out. Thereafter, on the basis of the detection result of the temperature sensor 631 (refer to
Subsequently, the control section 201 in the post-processing apparatus B is operated based on a predetermined program to determine whether the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is degraded (step S103). To determine whether the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is degraded, various methods are employable. In the present embodiment, the determination is made based on the time to heat an adhesive 63 using the heater 61 and the consumption amount of the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64.
A specific method to determine whether an adhesive 63 is degraded will now be described. Initially, referring to the time to heat an adhesive 63 using the heater 61 being measured by the timer 203, a determination is made whether the heating time has gone over 48 hours being the determination criterion (experiments confirmed that when the heating time was at most 48 hours, the degree of degradation of the adhesive 63 was small). When the heating time is less than 48 hours, in step S103, the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is determined not to degrade.
On the other hand, when the heating time is more than 48 hours, subsequently, based on the consumption amount of the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64, degradation of the adhesive 63 is determined. When the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 has been used and then an adhesive replenishment operation (an operation corresponding to replenishment of about half the capacity of the adhesive accommodating section 64) has been carried out at least 4 times within 48 hours before the moment when adhesive degradation is determined, it can be determined that at least a half amount of the adhesive 63 accommodated in the adhesive accommodating section 64 has not been heated over at least 48 hours and thereby the entire adhesive inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 has been prevented from being discolored and decreased in adhesion power, whereby the adhesive inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is determined not to degrade (the timing of the adhesive replenishment operation is memorized in the storage section 202).
When an adhesive replenishment operation has been carried out less than 4 times within 48 hours before the moment when adhesive degradation is determined, it can be determined that at least a half amount of the adhesive 63 accommodated in the adhesive accommodating section 64 has been heated over at least 48 hours and thereby the entire adhesive inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 has been discolored and decreased in adhesion power, whereby the adhesive inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is determined to degrade.
In this manner, in step S103, a determination is made whether the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is degraded.
When in step S103, the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 has been determined not to degrade (step S103: No), a progress to step S108 is made, and when any job (e.g., a bookbinding job) to be carried out exists, the job is executed (step S109).
On the other hand, when in step S103, the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 has been determined to degrade (step S103: Yes), the control section 201 of the post-processing apparatus B transmits a piece of warning information that the adhesive has degraded toward the control section 101 of the image forming apparatus A and then in the operation display section 103 of the image forming apparatus A (refer to
The warning displayed in the operation display section 103 includes, for example, the display that “due to degradation, replace the adhesive for bookbinding.” Herein, the warning that the adhesive has degraded may be displayed in the operation display section 103 or the warning that the adhesive has degraded may be issued, for example, via an audio warning.
After the warning display of adhesive degradation has been carried out in step S104, the user determines whether the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is replaced. Then, a determination is made whether the adhesive replacement mode to replace the degraded adhesive has been selected by the user via the operation display section 103 (step S105).
When in step S105, the adhesive replacement mode has not been selected (step S105: No), namely, when the user has determined that degradation of the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is non-problematic, with no operation to replace the adhesive 63, a progress to step S108 is made.
On the other hand, when in step S105, the adhesive replacement mode has been selected (step S105: Yes), the adhesive replacement mode is executed to carry out an operation to replace the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 (step S106). The adhesive replacement mode executed in step S106 is an operation to carry out dummy bookbinding processing in a predetermined number of times to forcedly use a degraded adhesive.
Via dummy bookbinding processing, the degraded adhesive is forcedly used and a fresh adhesive is fed from the adhesive container 66 to the adhesive accommodating section 64, and thereby in the adhesive accommodating section 64, the fresh adhesive 63 is accommodated. Then, after the adhesive replacement mode in step S106 has been executed, the measurement time of the timer 203 is reset (step S107) and then time measuring by the timer 203 is restarted.
Then, in step S108, a determination is made whether any job to be carried out exists, and when a job to be carried out exists, the job is executed (step S109). Then, if the image forming system is not powered off, a return to step S103 is made and then a determination is made whether the adhesive 63 inside the adhesive accommodating section 64 is degraded.
As described above with reference to the flowchart of
As described above, with reference to
In the determination operation of adhesive degradation described in step S103 of
With regard to information on the number of sheets S1, in the case where the number of sheets S1 in one booklet is large, when the user has a booklet S3, sheets S1 tend to drop from the booklet S3 due to the weight. Therefore, when the number of sheets S1 is less than a predetermined value (e.g., 200 sheets), on the basis of the determination criteria (the determination criteria of “48 hours” and “a replenishment operation of 4 times”) described in
Further, with regard to information on the types of sheets S1 and a cover sheet S2, when sheets S1 and a cover sheet S2 are not plain paper but coated paper, sheets S1 tend to drop from a booklet S3 and a cover sheet S2 tends to peel off. Therefor, when the types of sheets S1 and a cover sheet S2 are plain paper, on the basis of the determination criteria (the determination criteria of “48 hours” and “a replenishment operation of 4 times”) described in
With regard to the adhesive replacement mode described in step S105 of
The post-processing apparatus and the image forming system according to the present embodiment make it possible to prevent the production of a booklet having poor appearance and a booklet having weak adhesion power between a sheet bundle and a cover sheet.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2010-216677 | Sep 2010 | JP | national |
