Patent Grant
11958709
The present disclosure relates to a recording material processing apparatus that executes a stapling process for a recording material or an image forming system that includes an image forming apparatus that execute image formation for a recording material and a post processing apparatus that executes a stapling process for a recording material conveyed from the image forming apparatus.
Among post processing apparatuses that receive a recording material discharged from an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine and a printer and execute post-processing, there is one that executes a stapling process for the received recording material (hereinafter, this function is referred to as automatic stapling). Moreover, among the other post processing apparatuses, there is one that executes a stapling process for a recording material inserted from the outside of a main body of an apparatus by a user (hereinafter, this function is referred to as manual stapling).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-206298 discloses a post processing apparatus that realizes two functions by one stapling unit without providing a stapling unit that performs the automatic stapling and a stapling unit that performs the manual stapling, separately. In this post processing apparatus, when a user inserts a recording material into a processing tray to perform the automatic stapling from a discharging port of the post processing apparatus and pushes an execution button for the manual stapling, a stapling process is executed for the inserted recording material.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-81521 discloses a post processing apparatus that, in the case of performing the automatic stapling, aligns the position of sheets placed in a processing tray with a guide member. In this post processing apparatus, in the case of performing the manual stapling, a guide member is moved to a position corresponding to the maximum sheet size so that the guide member does not interfere with sheets to be inserted from the outside of a main body of the apparatus.
However, a position where a stapling process is executed by the manual stapling is not necessarily fixed. For example, a configuration is also considered in which a user can switch a position of a stapler such that a stapling process may be executed not only at a corner of a sheet, but also at a central end of a sheet. Furthermore, at the time of executing the manual stapling, a case where a user inserts a sheet with a size smaller than the maximum size in a processing tray, may be also considered.
According to the configuration disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-81521, in the case of executing the manual stapling, since a guide member is moved to a position corresponding to the maximum size, at the time of inserting a sheet with a size smaller than the maximum size, a degree of freedom is created for a setting position of a sheet. At this time, in the case where a sheet is not set at a position corresponding to the position of a stapler, a stapling process will be executed at a position that a user does not intend, or it will cause air shot, and then, the staple of a stapler will be consumed wastefully. In this connection, the above-described issues are applied also to a post processing apparatus that executes only the manual stapling with one stapling unit.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a recording material processing apparatus includes a processing tray in which a recording material is to be placed, a detecting unit configured to detect the recording material placed in the processing tray, a stapling unit configured to execute a stapling process for the recording material placed in the processing tray, an instructing unit configured to output an execution instruction of the stapling process by the stapling unit, a control unit configured to, upon receipt of the execution instruction from the instructing unit in a state in which the detecting unit has detected a recording material inserted in the processing tray from an outside of a main body of a main body apparatus, cause the stapling process to be executed, a switching unit configured to switch a position of the stapling unit among a plurality of positions, and a notifying unit configured to provide notification of a placement position of the recording material in the processing tray corresponding to each of the plurality of positions.
Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings).
In the present example, description is given to a configuration in which as a unit that notifies a user of a position where a bundle of sheet for manual stapling is to be set, a seal pasted on a main body of an apparatus or an engraved mark formed on a main body of an apparatus, has been adopted.
Upon start of a printing operation, the photoconductive drum 5 is rotated in the counterclockwise rotation direction (in the direction of an arrow in the drawing) by a not-illustrated drive motor. The charge device 7 includes a charging sleeve 7S (7YS, 7MS, 7CS, 7KS) in order to charge the photoconductive drum 5. The surface of the photoconductive drum 5 charged by the charging sleeve 7S is exposed by the laser scanner 10. The laser scanner 10 exposes the photoconductive drum 5 based on input image data and forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive drum 5. The developing device 8 includes a developing sleeve 8S (8YS, 8MS, 8CS, 8CK) in order to visualize the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductive drum 5. The developing sleeve 8S visualizes an electrostatic latent image as a toner image by supplying toner to the photoconductive drum 5.
The intermediate transfer belt 12 is an endless belt stretched by a driving roller 18a and driven rollers 18b and 18c. The intermediate transfer belt 12 rotates in the clockwise rotation direction (the direction of an arrow, in the drawing) by the driving roller 18a while being in contact with the photoconductive drum 5. Then, onto the intermediate transfer belt 12, toner images are transferred sequentially by a primary transfer roller 6 (hereinafter, referred to as “primary transfer”). A toner image of each of colors is transferred so as to be superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 12, whereby a color image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 12.
In a sheet feeding cassette 2 or a multi-tray 3, a sheet P (recording material) is placed. A sheet feeding roller 4 feeds a sheet P to a conveyance path 25 from the sheet feeding cassette 2 or the multi-tray 3. The sheet P fed to the conveyance path 25 is conveyed towards a registration sensor 19 by a conveying roller 24. Upon detection of a leading edge of the sheet P by the registration sensor 19, the sheet P is conveyed further by a certain amount and is made to butt against a registration roller 23 being stopped. With this, flexion (also referred to as a loop) is formed on the sheet P. The registration roller 23 re-conveys the sheet P being stopped to the secondary transfer roller 9 so as to match a timing with a toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 12. The sheet P is nipped and conveyed by the intermediate transfer belt 12 and the secondary transfer roller 9, and toner images formed on the intermediate transfer belt 12 are transferred collectively onto the sheet P (hereinafter, referred to as secondary transfer). In the case of performing the secondary transfer, the secondary transfer roller 9 moves to a position indicated with a solid line and comes in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 12. However, in the case of not performing the secondary transfer, the secondary transfer roller 9 moves to a position indicated with a broken line and is separated from the intermediate transfer belt 12.
The fixing device 13 fixes the transferred toner image onto the sheet P while conveying the sheet P. The fixing device 13 includes a fixing roller 14 that heats the sheet P and a pressing roller 15 that makes the sheet P come in pressure contact with the fixing roller 14. The fixing roller 14 and the pressing roller 15 are formed in the shape of hollow and include heaters 16 and 17 in the inside, respectively. A cleaning device 21 cleans toner which has remained on the intermediate transfer belt 12. The cleaned toner is stored in a cleaner container included in the cleaning device 21.
The post processing apparatus 29 receives the sheets P discharged from the image forming apparatus 101 and performs post-processing for the received sheets P. For example, the post processing apparatus 29 has a function that classifies the received sheet P into a plurality of sheet discharge trays 30 and 31 (discharge tray), a function to collect a plurality of sheets P by performing a stapling process (binding process), and the like. In the case of classifying the sheet P into the sheet discharge trays 30 and 31, the sheet discharge trays 30 and 31 are moved upward and downward by a motor (not shown) for raising and lowering the sheet discharge trays 30 and 31.
A configuration with regard to the stapling process will be described in detail. A stapling unit 33 executes the stapling process for a plurality of sheets P stacked in a stapling tray 32 (processing tray). Furthermore, the stapling unit 33 includes a staple cartridge 34. In the staple cartridge 34, needles used for the stapling process are collected.
Next, with reference to
At a time point when a trailing edge of a sheet P conveyed from the image forming apparatus 101 to the post processing apparatus 29 passes a conveyance roller pair 35 and reaches a discharge roller pair 36, the discharge roller pair 36 and a drawing-in roller 37 are made to rotate in a reverse rotation direction so as to draw in and stack the sheet P into the stapling tray 32. After the previously designated number of sheets P have been stacked in the stapling tray 32, the discharge roller pair 36 and the drawing-in roller 37 are made to move to a position indicated with a broken line. Then, sheet guides 43 and 44 that are movable in a direction (width direction) orthogonal to a sheet discharge direction described in
Successively, the sheet guides 43 and 44 (aligning member) are made to stop at the positions corresponding to the sheet width, and a stapling process is performed by the stapling unit 33. The stapling unit 33 can move along an end of a sheet as shown in
Successively, with reference to
As described in
Moreover, the post processing apparatus 29 includes a sheet detection sensor 204 (recording material detecting unit) that detects a bundle of sheets 203 inserted in the stapling tray 32. The post processing apparatus 29 in the present example is configured such that the manual stapling is executed by inserting a bundle of sheets 203 into the stapling tray 32 from the discharging port 41 by a user. Here, the discharging port 41 is an opening portion through which a bundle of sheets having been subjected to the stapling process in the automatic stapling passes when being discharged to the sheet discharge tray 30 or 31, and through which a bundle of sheets 203 can be inserted from the outside.
In the case of executing the manual stapling, by depressing the shift button 201 by a user, the post processing apparatus 29 shifts to the manual stapling mode. In response to the number of times that the user has depressed the shift button 201, the user can switch a stapling position such as corner binding shown in
A user inserts the bundle of sheets 203 through the discharging port 41 from the outside of the main body of the apparatus 42. At this time, the user needs to insert the bundle of sheets 203 at a setting position (placement position) corresponding to a selected stapling position. In the case of the corner binding shown in
A seal 51 illustrated in
Between
Accordingly, a state corresponding to
A broken line in
With above, according to the present example, by pasting the seals 51 to 53 on the main body of the apparatus 42, it becomes possible for a user to grasp easily a position at which the bundle of sheets 203 is to be set. Therefore, the usability at the time of executing the manual stapling can be improved, and it is possible to cause the stapling process to be executed at a position intended by a user.
In this connection, in the present example explained, the description has been given to the configuration in which the seals 51 to 53 are pasted on the main body of the apparatus 42. However, an engraved mark of the similar designs may be formed on the main body of the apparatus 42. Moreover, on the seals 51 to 53, not only an image but also a character and a symbol may be described. Moreover, the position on which the seals 51 to 53 are pasted is not restricted to the space 50 shown in
In the present example, description is given to a configuration in which an LED is provided to the main body of the apparatus as a unit that notifies a user of a position at which a bundle of sheets is to be set for the manual stapling. The description for the main portion is similar to that in Example 1. Accordingly, in here, only a portion different from Example 1 will be described.
The post processing control unit 303 performs sheet conveyance in response to a command signal from the controller 301. Moreover, the post processing control unit 303 can control switching between the automatic stapling and the manual stapling.
Furthermore, in the case of performing the automatic stapling, the post processing control unit 303 performs the stapling process for a bundle of sheets P discharged from the image forming apparatus 101 by controlling the stapling unit 33. Moreover, in the case of performing the manual stapling, the post processing control unit 303 controls the LEDs 391 and 392 and the sheet guides 43 and 44 on the basis of the number of times that a shift button 201 has been depressed. Successively, the post processing control unit 303 performs the stapling process by controlling the stapling unit 33 based on the execution button 202 and the input signal of the sheet detection sensor 204.
To the output ports of the CPU 400, motor drivers 410 and 411 are connected. The motor driver 410 drives a sheet discharge motor 401. By rotating the sheet discharge motor 401 in the normal rotation direction or the reverse rotation direction, it is possible to make the discharge roller pair 36 and the drawing-in roller 37 rotate in the normal rotation direction or the reverse rotation direction. By rotating the discharge roller pair 36 and the drawing-in roller 37 in the normal rotation direction, it is possible to discharge a sheet P to the sheet discharge tray 30 or 31, and by rotating the discharge roller pair 36 and the drawing-in roller 37 in the reverse rotation direction, it is possible to draw in a sheet P into the stapling tray 32. The motor driver 411 drives a separation motor 402. By rotating the separation motor 402 in the normal rotation direction or the reverse rotation direction, it is possible to move the discharge roller pair 36 and the drawing-in roller 37 to a contact position or a separated position. The contact position is a position at which the discharge roller pair 36 and the drawing-in roller 37 come in contact with a sheet P placed in the stapling tray 32, and the separated position is a position at which the discharge roller pair 36 and the drawing-in roller 37 are separated from a sheet P placed in the stapling tray 32. The sheet detection sensor 204 uses a pull-up 413 and inputs a sensor state (ON signal, or OFF signal) into the CPU 400 through a buffer 414. The shift button 201 and the execution button 202 input a depressed state (ON signal, or OFF signal) of a button into the CPU 400.
To the output ports of the CPU 400, a jogger drive signal 450 of the sheet guide 43 and the sheet guide 44 is connected, and to the input ports, a jogger home position sensor signal 451 of the sheet guide 43 and the sheet guide 44 is connected. At the time of performing a stapling operation, the CPU 400 controls a jogger motor (not shown) that drives the sheet guide 43 and the sheet guide 44, through a jogger drive signal 450 and makes a jogger open and close. Then, in response to an input value of a jogger home position sensor (not shown), the CPU 400 makes the jogger motor stop through the jogger drive signal 415. Moreover, to the output ports of the CPU 400, a staple motor drive signal 415 of the stapling unit 33 is connected, and to the input ports, a home position sensor signal 416 of the stapling unit 33 is connected. Here, the home position sensor signal 416 is a signal that shows whether the stapler is located at a home position. At the time of performing a stapling operation, the CPU 400 performs the stapling process by driving the staple motor in the stapling unit 33 through the staple motor drive signal 415. Successively, in response to the input value of the home position sensor signal 416, the CPU 400 stops the staple motor through the staple motor drive signal 415. Moreover, to the output ports of the CPU 400, an LED 391 and an LED 392 are connected. The CPU 400 switches the lighting states of the LED 391 and the LED 392 correspondingly to a plurality of manual stapling modes to be set correspondingly to the number of times that the shift button 201 has been depressed, or the OFF state of the manual stapling mode.
The present flowchart is started by the depression of the shift button 201 by a user. Upon starting the flowchart, first, the post processing control unit 303 determines whether the mode has shifted to which mode of the plurality of the manual stapling modes (S501). In the case where the mode has shifted to Mode 1 shown in
Mode 1 to Mode 3 and Mode OFF are switched sequentially for each time when the shift button 201 has been depressed. Moreover, in the case of Model to Mode 3, the post processing control unit 303 makes each the discharge roller pair 36 and the drawing-in roller 37 separate. Then, the jogger drive signal 450 is made ON, and the jogger drive signal 450 is made OFF a predetermined time after the jogger home position sensor signal 451 detects a home position, thereby widening the sheet guides 43 and 44 to the maximum width (S506). With this, preparation has been made against the insertion of the bundle of sheets 203 to the discharging port 41 by a user. In the case of Mode OFF, the post processing control unit 303 makes the discharge roller pair 36 and the drawing-in roller 37 come in contact (S508) and ends the manual stapling mode.
In the case where the insertion of the bundle of sheets 203 by a user has been detected in S507, the post processing control unit 303 waits for the depression of the execution button 202 by the user (S509). In the case where the depression of the execution button 202 by the user has been detected in S509, the post processing control unit 303 makes the stapling unit 33 execute the manual stapling (S510). Successively, the post processing control unit 303 makes the discharge roller pair 36 and the drawing-in roller 37 come in contact (S511) and makes the discharge roller pair 36 and the drawing-in roller 37 rotate, thereby discharging the bundle of sheets 203 having been subjected to the manual stapling process into the sheet discharge tray 30 or 31 (S512). With the above, the control of the present flowchart is ended.
With the above, according to the present example, the lighting situations of the LEDs disposed in the vicinity of in the sheet guides are changed in response to a manual stapling mode selected by a user, whereby it is possible for the user to determine that a bundle of sheets is to be inserted along which sheet guide. Therefore, the usability at the time of executing the manual stapling can be improved, and it is possible to cause the stapling process to be executed at a position intended by a user.
In this connection, in the present example, in order to indicate a sheet guide becoming a reference, the LED has been used. However, a light emitting body other than the LED may be used. Moreover, a configuration may be employed in which light is irradiated a reference sheet guide itself. Moreover, the light emitting part may be made not only to turn on, but also to blink.
Moreover, by displaying a specific illustration on an image panel (not shown) as a display unit attached to the image forming apparatus 101, a reference guide along which a bundle of sheets is to be set may be indicated in response to a manual stapling mode selected by a user.
In the present example, description is given to a method in which, as a unit that notifies a user of a position at which a bundle of sheets for the manual stapling is to be set, a sheet guide itself is made to move in a sheet discharge direction (discharge direction). The description for the main portion is similar to that in Example 1 and Example 2. Accordingly, in here, only a portion different from Example 1 and Example 2 will be described.
In the case where the manual stapling mode selected by the user is Mode 1 shown in
With the above, according to the present example, in response to a manual stapling mode selected by a user, the position of the sheet guide itself is made to move in the direction toward the outside of the apparatus or in the direction toward the inside of the apparatus independently, whereby it is possible for the user to determine that a bundle of sheets is to be inserted along which sheet guide. Therefore, the usability at the time of executing the manual stapling can be improved, and it is possible to cause the stapling process to be executed at a position intended by a user.
In this connection, in the present example, the description has been given to the configuration as an example in which each of the sheet guide 43 and the sheet guide 44 can move in the direction (sheet discharge direction) toward the outside of the apparatus. The configuration is not limited to this. The configuration may be made such that each of the sheet guide 43 and the sheet guide 44 can move in the direction toward the inside of the apparatus. In this case, the other guide that is not a noticeable reference guide, is made to move in the direction toward the inside of the apparatus. Moreover, the configuration may be made such the sheet guide can move both in the direction toward the outside of the apparatus and in the direction toward the inside of the apparatus.
Moreover, in the above-described Examples 1 to 3, the description has been given to a configuration in which the manual stapling modes are switched by repeatedly depress the shift button 201. However, the configuration is not limited to this. In addition to the shift button 201, another button for switching the manual stapling modes may be prepared separately.
Moreover, in the above-described Examples 1 to 3, the shift button 201 and the execution button 202 may not be provided to the post processing apparatus 29 and may be provided to the image forming apparatus 101. Moreover, the shift button 201 and the execution button 202 need not to be a physical button as described in
Moreover, in the above-described Examples 1 to 3, there is no need to provide a unit to switch the operating mode of the post processing apparatus 29, such as the shift button 201, to the post processing apparatus 29. For example, the configuration may be made such that the operating mode of the post processing apparatus 29 can be switched from the external device 300.
Moreover, in the above-described Examples 1 to 3, the example of the laser-beam printer has been shown. However, the image forming apparatus to which the present disclosure is applied, is not restricted to this, and may be printers of other printing methods, such as ink-jet printers, or copying machines.
According to the present disclosure, it becomes possible to improve the usability at the time of executing the manual stapling and to cause the stapling process to be executed at a position intended by a user.
Embodiment(s) of the present disclosure can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). The computer may include one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions. The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-224155 | Nov 2018 | JP | national |
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/823,425, filed on Aug. 30, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/348,628, filed on Jun. 15, 2021 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,472,659 on Oct. 18, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/688,940, filed on Nov. 19, 2019 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,066,267 on Jul. 20, 2021, which claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-224155, filed Nov. 29, 2018, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4878656 | Honjo | Nov 1989 | A |
| 4917366 | Murakami | Apr 1990 | A |
| 8146908 | Terao | Apr 2012 | B2 |
| 8226079 | Ozawa | Jul 2012 | B2 |
| 9139397 | Sato | Sep 2015 | B2 |
| 9586429 | Nakagomi | Mar 2017 | B2 |
| 9586783 | Obuchi | Mar 2017 | B2 |
| 10071876 | Komiyama | Sep 2018 | B2 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20230331508 A1 | Oct 2023 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17823425 | Aug 2022 | US |
| Child | 18331872 | US | |
| Parent | 17348628 | Jun 2021 | US |
| Child | 17823425 | US | |
| Parent | 16688940 | Nov 2019 | US |
| Child | 17348628 | US |
