1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus having a function of stacking a plurality of sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus and of stapling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A sheet post-processing apparatus generally includes a stacking unit for stacking a plurality of sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine while conveying the sheets along a pair of guide members and a stapling unit for stapling the stacked sheets.
There are sheet post-processing apparatuses including a stapling unit provided with a plurality of staplers which are linearly and rotatably movable so that stapling such as front-stapling, rear-stapling, two-point stapling and corner stapling is performed with respect to the stack of sheets (for example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. 2000-185868, 2001-139214, 10-181987 and 8-310716, hereinafter referred to as patent documents 1-4).
However, since the sheet post-processing apparatuses disclosed in the patent documents 1-4 require individual drive power sources for linear movement and rotational movement of the stapler, the number of components increases to thereby cause a cost to rise and a drive control of each drive power source to be complex.
Therefore, in view of the circumstance described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus capable of reducing the number of components, reducing the cost in accordance with the reduction in the number of components, and simplifying the control of the drive power source.
For the purpose of achieving the object, a sheet post-processing apparatus in accordance with an aspect of the present invention includes a stack tray on which a plurality of sheets is stacked, a first stapler and a second stapler for stapling the stack of sheets on the stack tray, a first moving frame member on which the first stapler is mounted rotatably, a second moving frame member on which the second stapler is mounted, an interlocking mechanism for interlocking the first moving frame member and the second moving frame member to allow the first moving frame member and the second moving frame member to move linearly in opposite directions from each other, a fixed frame member for supporting the first moving frame member and the second moving frame member in such a manner that the first moving frame member and the second moving frame member can undergo the linear movement, a rotating member rotatably mounted on the first moving frame member, the rotating member so held in engagement with the first moving frame member as to move linearly the first moving frame member by rotation of the rotating member and also rotating the first stapler by rotation of the rotating member, and a single drive power source for driving the rotating member.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description along with the accompanied drawings.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
An image forming apparatus 100 includes an apparatus main body 110 such as a copying machine. An automatic document feeder (ADF) 101 and an image reading unit 102 are provided on top of the apparatus main body 110. The apparatus main body 110 accommodates a sheet-feeding section for feeding sheets, an image forming section including a photosensitive drum and a developing device for forming a toner image on the photosensitive drum, a transferring section for transferring the toner image onto the sheet, a fixing section for fixing the toner image on the sheet, and a sheet-discharging section for discharging the sheet bearing the fixed toner image to outside of the apparatus main body 110.
The image forming apparatus 100 further includes a sheet post-processing apparatus 1 arranged on the side of the apparatus main body 110. The sheet post-processing apparatus 1 performs stacking and stapling with respect to sheets sequentially conveyed from the apparatus main body 110. An inserter 2 connected to the apparatus main body 110 is arranged on top of the sheet post-processing apparatus 1. On the other hand, the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 accommodates a stapling unit including a stack tray 61 on which the sheets conveyed from the apparatus main body 110 are stacked and a stapling unit having a pair of staplers 4 and 5 for stapling the stacked sheets on the stack tray 61. The sheet post-processing apparatus 1 also includes a first conveying passage for directly guiding the sheets discharged from the apparatus main body 110 to a sheet-discharging tray 3 and a second conveying passage for guiding the sheets to the stapling unit. In the present embodiment, two staplers 4 and 5 are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the sheet of
Next, details of the configuration of the stapling unit of the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 in accordance with the present invention will be described with reference to
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The stapling unit further includes a stapler 4 mounted on a surface of the rotating frame member 18 opposite to the surface from which the rotational shaft 19 of the rotating frame member 18 projects and a stapler 5 mounted on the member 11B of the second moving frame member 11.
Further, the stapling unit includes a gear (rotating member) 20 provided in the first moving frame member 10 i.e. provided between the members 10A and 10B. The gear 20 is supported rotatably by the rotational shaft 19 extending in the first moving frame member 10. The gear 20 is in mesh with a small-diameter idle gear (a gear which transmits rotation of an output shaft of the motor 16 to the gear 20) 21 which is mounted to the output shaft of the motor 16. As shown in
As shown in
The first arcuate groove 22a of the engagement groove 22 is so formed as to begin at the vicinity of a rotation center of the gear 20 (in other words, the rotational shaft 19) and extend over a first angle range θ1 (180 degrees in the present embodiment) with respect to the rotation center of the gear 20. Further, a distance “r” between the first arcuate groove 22a and the rotation center (rotational shaft 19) of the gear 20 is so set as to become gradually larger over the first angle range θ1 as a rotation angle θ of the gear 20 becomes larger. The first arcuate groove 22a thus extends in a spiral curve (or clothoid curve). The second arcuate groove 22b is so formed as to continue from the first arcuate groove 22a and extend over a second angle range θ2 (45 degrees in the present embodiment) with respect to the rotation center of the gear 20. Further, a distance r0 between the second arcuate groove 22b and the rotation center of the gear 20 is so set as to be constant over the second angle range θ2. The second arcuate groove 22b thus extends in an arcuate curve. The maximum value of the distance “r” within the first angle range θ1 is equal to the distance r0.
Next, an operation of the stapling unit so configured as described above will be described with reference to
In an initial state shown in
When the controller 105 activates the motor 16 for performing the stapling, rotation of the output shaft of the motor 16 is transmitted to the gear 20 through the drive gear 21 so that the gear 20 is rotated in the direction (clockwise direction) shown by arrow shown in
The first moving frame member 10 and the second moving frame member 11 are connected by the rack-and-pinion structure 15 as described above. Accordingly, when the first moving frame member 10 moves toward the left side in
As described above, when the gear 20 rotates within the first angle range θ1, the stapler 4 and the stapler 5 move in the opposite direction from one another linearly by the same distance, and then stop at an appropriate position in accordance with the size of the stacked sheets to perform stapling such as front-stapling, rear-stapling, and two-point stapling.
In the case of performing the corner stapling with respect to the stacked sheets, the controller 105 allows the gear 20 to be further rotated. At a time when the rotation angle θ of the gear 20 reaches θ1, the engagement shaft 17 engages in a start point 22d of the arcuate groove 22b of the engagement groove 22, as shown in
When the gear 20 is further rotated in the clockwise direction, the rotating frame member 18 and the stapler 4 are rotated in the same direction (clockwise direction) about the rotational shaft 19 together with the gear 20. Specifically, as shown in
As shown in
The stack of sheets which are stapled is conveyed to the sheet-discharging tray 7 by the conveying belt 6 shown in
As described above, according to the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 in accordance with the present invention, the rotation of the gear 20 by the motor 16 as a single drive power source allows the pair of stapler 4 and 5 to move linearly in the opposite directions from each other and also allows only one stapler 4 to be rotated. Accordingly, stapling processing including the corner stapling can be performed by the single motor 16. As a result, reduction in the number of components, reduction in the cost in accordance with the reduction in the number of components, and simplification of the control of the drive power source 16 can be achieved.
In the present embodiment, the rotating member is constituted by the gear 20. However, the rotating member may be constituted by a member other than the gear 20, for example, a pulley.
The embodiment described above mainly includes the invention having the following configuration.
A sheet post-processing apparatus in accordance with the present embodiment includes a stack tray on which a plurality of sheets is stacked, a first stapler and a second stapler for stapling the stack of sheets on the stack tray, a first moving frame member on which the first stapler is mounted rotatably, a second moving frame member on which the second stapler is mounted, an interlocking mechanism for interlocking the first moving frame member and the second moving frame member to allow the first moving frame member and the second moving frame member to move linearly in opposite directions from each other, a fixed frame member for supporting the first moving frame member and the second moving frame member in such a manner that the first moving frame member and the second moving frame member can undergo the linear movement, a rotating member rotatably mounted on the first moving frame member, the rotating member so held in engagement with the first moving frame member as to move linearly the first moving frame member by rotation of the rotating member, and also rotating the first stapler by rotation of the rotating member, and a single drive power source for driving the rotating member.
In the configuration above, it is preferable that the rotating member is so configured as to be rotatable about its rotation center over a first angle range and a second angle range continuing from the first angle range with respect to the rotation center and that the first moving frame member is linearly moved by the rotation of the rotating member when the rotating member is rotated by the drive power source over the first angle range, and the first stapler is rotated by the rotation of the rotating member when the rotating member is rotated beyond the first angle range and over the second angle range.
In the configuration above, it is preferable that the rotating member has an engagement groove engaging with an engagement shaft supported by the fixed frame member and also that the engagement groove has a first arcuate groove extending over an angle range corresponding to the first angle range and a second arcuate groove extending over an angle range corresponding to the second angle range.
In the configuration above, it is preferable that the first arcuate groove is formed to be a spiral-like groove that extends from the vicinity of the rotation center of the rotating member with a distance between the rotation center of the rotating member and the first arcuate groove increasing gradually over the first angle range and also that the second arcuate groove is so formed that a distance between the rotation center of the rotating member and the second arcuate groove is constant over the second angle range.
In the configuration above, it is preferable that the distance between the rotation center of the rotating member and the first arcuate groove becomes larger over the first angle range as the rotation angle of the rotating member becomes larger.
In the configuration above, it is preferable that the rotating member is in the form of a gear having an end face formed with the engagement groove.
In the configuration above, it is preferable that the gear has a first abutment portion, and the first stapler has a second abutment portion and also that when the gear rotates within the second angle range, the first abutment portion comes in abutment with the second abutment portion to rotate the first stapler.
In the configuration above, it is preferable that the interlocking mechanism is in the form of a rack-and-pinion mechanism having racks mounted respectively on the first moving frame member and the second moving frame member and a pinion in mesh with the lacks.
In the configuration above, it is preferable that the sheet post-processing apparatus further includes a rotating frame member on which the first stapler is mounted and which is mounted rotatably on the first moving frame member and that the first stapler is rotated by the rotation of the rotating member through the rotating frame member.
This application is based on Japanese Patent application serial No. 2007-128773 filed in Japan Patent Office on May 15, 2007 the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Although the present invention has been fully described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, unless otherwise such changes and modifications depart from the scope of the present invention hereinafter defined, they should be construed as being included therein.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-128773 | May 2007 | JP | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20080286022 A1 | Nov 2008 | US |