The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus which are configured to bind sheets with use of a binding unit of different types.
Hitherto, in image forming apparatus such as copying machines, laser beam printers, fax machines and multifunctional peripherals have included a sheet processing apparatus configured to bind sheets. In such a sheet processing apparatus, a sheet bundle, including a plurality of sheets, is bound using a metal staple. Such a stapling process can reliably bind a plurality of output sheets at a position specified by a user, and hence this process is adopted in many sheet processing apparatus.
Further, in conventional sheet processing apparatus, there has been proposed an apparatus including, in addition to the binding unit using a staple, a binding unit configured to simply bind the sheets without using a staple, on the presumption that “unbinding” of the sheet bundle is to be performed after the binding (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-318918). This apparatus includes, in addition to the staple binding unit configured to fasten a maximum of 50 sheets by a staple, a binding unit, as an example of staple-less binding unit, configured to perform simple binding of up to about 10 sheets by forming a half-blanking shaped fastening portion in a sheet bundle. When binding is to be performed in such a sheet processing apparatus, a selective moving mechanism selectively moves each of the binding unit arranged to be movable forward and backward to a binding position of the sheet bundle.
Such a conventional sheet processing apparatus includes the selective moving mechanism for selectively moving each binding unit to the binding position, and hence the configuration of the apparatus becomes complicated. In order to prevent this, the following configurations may be considered. For example, at least the staple-less binding unit is fixed to eliminate the selective moving mechanism.
By the way, when the maximum number of bindable sheets differs between the respective binding units as described above, generally, the height (width in an up-down direction) of a sheet receiving portion (hereinafter referred to as “opening”) opened in the thickness direction of the sheet bundle also differs depending on the maximum number of bindable sheets. Therefore, depending on the fixing positions at which the respective binding units are fixed and depending on the thickness of the sheet bundle when the binding is performed with, for example, the staple binding unit having a larger opening height (a larger maximum number of bindable sheets), the sheet bundle interferes with the staple-less binding unit having a smaller opening height (a smaller maximum number of bindable sheets).
The present invention has been made in view of such an actual situation, and has an object to provide a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus which are capable of performing a binding process without requiring the upsizing of the apparatus and the lowering of the binding process efficiency, even when binding units are used that differ in receiving portion height.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a sheet processing apparatus, including: a sheet stacking portion arranged to receive sheets; a sheet discharging portion configured to discharge the sheets onto the sheet stacking portion; a first binding unit including a first receiving portion having a gap in a thickness direction of the sheets and being configured to receive the sheets discharged onto the sheet stacking portion by the sheet discharging portion, the first binding unit being arranged to perform a binding process, using a staple, on a sheet bundle including a plurality of the sheets received in the gap of the first receiving portion; a second binding unit including a second receiving portion having a gap in a thickness direction of the sheets, the gap being smaller than the gap of the first receiving portion, the second binding unit being arranged to perform a binding process, without using a staple, on a sheet bundle including a plurality of the sheets received in the gap of the second receiving portion; and a moving unit configured to move a sheet, discharged onto the sheet stacking portion, wherein, in the case that a sheet is moved into the first receiving portion, the second binding unit is arranged in a position in which the sheets moved into the first receiving portion by the moving unit do not enter the second receiving portion.
As in the one embodiment of the present invention, by arranging the second binding unit in the position at which the sheets, moved into the first receiving portion of the first binding unit, do not enter the second receiving portion of the second binding unit, even when the binding unit which differ in height of the receiving portion are used, the binding process may be performed without upsizing the apparatus and lowering the binding process efficiency.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Now, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Each of the embodiments of the present invention described below can be implemented solely or as a combination of a plurality of the embodiments or features thereof where necessary or where the combination of elements or features from individual embodiments in a single embodiment is beneficial.
In this case, the image forming portion 900B includes photosensitive drums “a” to “d” configured to form toner images of four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, and an exposure device 906 configured to form electrostatic latent images on the photosensitive drums by emitting laser beams based on image information. Note that, the photosensitive drums “a” to “d” are respectively driven by motors (not shown), and are respectively provided with primary charging devices (not shown), developing devices (not shown), and transfer charging devices 902a to 902d arranged so as to surround the respective photosensitive drums. Those members are incorporated into process cartridges 901a to 901d as units.
An intermediate transfer belt 902 is driven to rotate in a direction indicated by an arrow. By the transfer charging devices 902a applying transfer biases to 902d to the intermediate transfer belt 902, the toner images of respective colors, which are formed on the photosensitive drums, are sequentially transferred on the intermediate transfer belt 902 in a multilayered manner. With this, a full color image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt.
A secondary transfer portion 903 transfers the full color image sequentially formed on the intermediate transfer belt 902 onto a sheet P. The secondary transfer portion 903 includes a secondary transfer opposing roller 903b configured to support the intermediate transfer belt 902, and a secondary transfer roller 903a which abuts against the secondary transfer opposing roller 903b across the intermediate transfer belt 902. Further, there are provided registration rollers 909, a sheet feeding cassette 904, and a pick-up roller 908 configure to feed the sheet P received in the sheet feeding cassette 904. A CPU circuit portion 200 serving as a control portion controls the apparatus main body 900A and the finisher 100.
Next, an image forming operation of the image forming apparatus 900 configured as described above will be described. When the image forming operation is started, first, the exposure device 906 emits laser light based on the image information from a personal computer (not shown) or the like, to thereby sequentially expose the surfaces of the photosensitive drums “a” to “d”, which have been uniformly charged at a predetermined polarity and potential. Thus, electrostatic latent images are formed on the photosensitive drums “a” to “d”. After that, the electrostatic latent images are developed with toner to be visualized.
For example, first, the photosensitive drum “a” is irradiated with laser light via a polygon mirror and the like of the exposure device 906 based on the image signal for yellow component color of the document, to thereby form an electrostatic latent image for yellow on the photosensitive drum “a”. Then, the electrostatic latent image for yellow is developed with yellow toner supplied from the developing device to be visualized as a yellow toner image. After that, along with the rotation of the photosensitive drum “a”, the toner image arrives at a primary transfer portion at which the photosensitive drum “a” and the intermediate transfer belt 902 abut against each other. In this case, when the toner image arrives at the primary transfer portion as described above, due to a primary transfer bias applied to the transfer charging device 902a, the yellow toner image on the photosensitive drum “a” is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 902 (primary transfer).
Next, when a part of the intermediate transfer belt 902 bearing the yellow toner image moves, a magenta toner image which has been formed by this time on the photosensitive drum “b” by a method similar to the above is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 902 from above the yellow toner image. Similarly, as the intermediate transfer belt 902 moves, a cyan toner image and a black toner image are transferred onto the yellow toner image and the magenta toner image in an overlapped manner at the respective primary transfer portions. With this, a full color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 902.
Further, in parallel with the toner image forming operation, the sheets P contained in the sheet feeding cassette 904 are sent one by one by the pick-up roller 908. Then, the sheet P arrives at the registration rollers 909, and after the timing is adjusted by the registration rollers 909, the sheet P is conveyed to the secondary transfer portion 903. After that, at the secondary transfer portion 903, due to a secondary transfer bias to be applied to the secondary transfer roller 903a serving as a transfer portion, the toner images of four colors, which are formed on the intermediate transfer belt 902, are collectively transferred onto the sheet P (secondary transfer).
Next, the sheet P having the toner images transferred thereon is guided by a conveyance guide 920 from the secondary transfer portion 903 to be conveyed to a fixing portion 905. When the sheet P passes through the fixing portion 905, the sheet P receives heat and pressure so that the toner image is fixed to the sheet P. After that, the sheet P having the image fixed thereto as described above passes through a discharge path 921 provided on the downstream of the fixing portion 905. Then, the sheet P is discharged by a discharge roller pair 918, and conveyed to the finisher 100.
In this case, the finisher 100 performs a process of sequentially taking in the sheets discharged from the apparatus main body 900A and aligning the plurality of sheets thus taken-in to bundle the plurality of sheets into one sheet bundle. In addition, the finisher 100 performs a binding process of binding an end of the sheet bundle on upstream in the sheet discharge direction (hereinafter referred to as “trailing end”). As illustrated in
Further, the intermediate processing tray 107 is provided with a near side aligning plate 109a and a far side aligning plate 109b which are illustrated in
Further, the near side aligning plate 109a and the far side aligning plate 109b are generally moved by the aligning motor M253 driven based on a detection signal of an aligning HP sensor (not shown) to a receiving position at which the sheets are received. Then, when the positions of both the side edges of the sheets stacked on the intermediate processing tray 107 are to be restricted, the aligning motor M253 is driven to move the near side aligning plate 109a and the far side aligning plate 109b in the width direction so that the near side aligning plate 109a and the far side aligning plate 109b abut against both the side edges of the sheets stacked on the intermediate processing tray.
Further, as illustrated in
Further, after the sheets are discharged onto the intermediate processing tray 107, the pull-in paddle 106 is moved downward due to the reverse drive of the paddle raising and lowering motor M252, and is rotated in a counterclockwise direction at an appropriate timing by a paddle motor (not shown). With this rotation, the pull-in paddle 106 pulls in the sheets so that trailing edges of the sheets are hit against a trailing edge stopper 108. In this embodiment, the pull-in paddle 106, the trailing edge stopper 108, the near side aligning plate 109a, and the far side aligning plate 109b constitute an aligning portion 130 configured to align the sheets stacked on the intermediate processing tray 107. Note that, for example, when the intermediate processing tray 107 is steep, the sheets can abut against the trailing edge stopper 108 without using the pull-in paddle 106 or a knurled belt 117 to be described later.
Note that, in
Further, the finisher 100 includes an inlet roller pair 101 configured to introduce the sheets inside the apparatus, and delivery rollers 103. The sheets discharged from the apparatus main body 900A are passed to the inlet roller pair 101. Note that, at this time, the passing timing of the sheet is simultaneously detected by an inlet sensor S240. Then, the sheets passed to the inlet roller pair 101 are sequentially discharged onto the intermediate processing tray 107 by the delivery rollers 103 serving as a sheet discharging portion. After that, by a moving unit such as the pull-in paddle 106 and the knurled belt 117, the sheets are hit against the trailing edge stopper 108. With this, the sheets are aligned in the sheet conveyance direction, and the sheet bundle that has undergone the aligning process is formed.
Note that, a trailing end dropper 105 is pushed upward by the sheet passing through the delivery rollers 103 as illustrated in
Further, a static charge eliminator 104 and a sheet bundle presser 115 are provided. The sheet bundle presser 115 is rotated by a sheet bundle presser motor M255 illustrated in
Further, as illustrated in
Note that, the staple support 150 is moved by a STP moving motor M258 illustrated in
Note that, in
In this case, as illustrated in
Further, when the sheet bundle to be subjected to staple binding is received, in other words, when a driving operation is not performed, the driving portion 1101 and the anvil portion 1102 wait while maintaining a gap L1 therebetween so as to enable entrance of sheets between the driving portion 1101 and the anvil portion 1102. As an example of the size of the gap L1, when the number of sheets to be subjected to binding is 50, the gap L1 is set to 20 mm to enable the reception of the sheets. This is set considering air layers or the like formed between the sheets when the sheets are stacked, while the thickness of a sheet bundle of 50 sheets each being 64 g/m2 is about 5 mm. In other words, in this embodiment, the stapler 110 has an opening 140 serving as a first receiving portion whose width (gap) in a thickness direction for receiving the sheet bundle discharged onto the intermediate processing tray 107 is 20 mm.
As illustrated in
In this case, the gear 1025 is mounted to a rotational shaft 1026. As illustrated in
When the cam 1027 is rotated as described above, a cam-side end portion of the upper arm 1029 which has been brought into pressure-contact with the cam 1027 by the biasing member (not shown) via a roller 1028 by then as illustrated in
With this, when the cam-side end portion of the upper arm 1029 is raised, the end portion of the upper arm 1029 on the side opposite to the cam 1027 is lowered. Accordingly, the upper tooth 10210 is lowered to mesh with the lower tooth 10214, to thereby pressurize the sheets. When the sheets are pressurized as described above, the sheets P are stretched so that the fibers on the surfaces are exposed. With further pressurization, the fibers of the sheets tangle with each other, and thus the sheets are fastened. In other words, when the sheets are subjected to the binding process, the upper arm 1029 is swung, and thus the upper tooth 10210 of the upper arm 1029 and the lower tooth 10214 of the lower arm 10212 mesh with each other to pressurize the sheets. In this manner, the sheets are fastened.
Further, in
Then, the image signal control portion 206 outputs the data to a printer control portion 207, and the printer control portion 207 outputs the data from the image signal control portion 206 to an exposure control portion (not shown). Note that, image data of a document read by an image sensor (not shown) provided in the image reading apparatus 950 is output from an image reader control portion 205 to the image signal control portion 206, and the image signal control portion 206 outputs the image data to the printer control portion 207.
Further, an operating portion 210 includes a display portion configured to display the setting state and a plurality of keys configured to set various functions relating to image formation. The operating portion 210 outputs, to the CPU circuit portion 200, a key signal corresponding to the operation of each key performed by a user, and displays, on the display portion, corresponding information based on the signal from the CPU circuit portion 200.
The CPU circuit portion 200 controls the image signal control portion 206 in accordance with the control program stored in the ROM 202 and the setting obtained through the operating portion 210, and controls the document feeder 950A (see
Note that, in this embodiment, the finisher control portion 220 is mounted to the finisher 100, and performs control to drive the finisher 100 by exchanging information with the CPU circuit portion 200. Alternatively, the finisher control portion 220 may be provided integrally with the CPU circuit portion 200 on the apparatus main body side, to thereby control the finisher 100 directly from the apparatus main body side.
Further, the finisher control portion 220 drives, via a driver 225, a conveyance motor M250, the tray raising and lowering motor M251, the paddle raising and lowering motor M252, the aligning motor M253, the assist motor M254, and the sheet bundle presser motor M255. Further, the finisher control portion 220 drives, via the driver 225, the STP motor M256, the staple-less binding motor M257, and the like.
Further, the finisher control portion is connected to the inlet sensor S240, a sheet discharge sensor S246, the tray HP sensor S241, the tray lower limit sensor S242, the paddle HP sensor S243, and the assist HP sensor S244. Further, the finisher control portion 220 is connected to the sheet bundle presser HP sensor S245 and the STP HP sensor S247. The finisher control portion 220 drives the aligning motor M253, the STP moving motor M258, the staple-less binding motor M257, and the like based on the detection signals from the respective sensors.
By the way, when the sheets are subjected to staple-less binding, the finisher control portion 220 configured to control such an operation of the staple-less binding unit 102 first detects the cam position by a sensor (not shown). Then, at the time of reception of the sheets before the staple-less binding, the finisher control portion 220 controls the rotation of the staple-less binding motor M257 so that the cam 1027 is located at a bottom dead center as illustrated in
Note that, when the cam 1027 is located at the bottom dead center, a gap L2 is generated between the upper tooth 10210 and the lower tooth 10214, to thereby allow entrance of a plurality of sheets to be subjected to staple-less binding.
At this time, the gap L2 between the upper tooth 10210 and the lower tooth 10214 is provided to be slightly wider than the number of sheets to be fastened. As an example, when the number of sheets to be fastened is 5, the gap L2 between the upper tooth 10210 and the lower tooth 10214 is 3 mm, which allows the entrance of the sheets. This is set considering air layers or the like formed between the sheets when the sheets are stacked, while the thickness of a sheet bundle of 5 sheets each being 64 g/m2 is about 0.5 mm. In other words, in this embodiment, as illustrated in
Further, during the binding operation, the staple-less binding motor M257 is rotated, and the upper arm 1029 is swung by the cam 1027 clockwise about the shaft 10211. Then, when the cam 1027 is located at a top dead center as illustrated in
Note that, when the cam 1027 is further rotated after the cam 1027 is located at the top dead center, a flexure portion 1029a provided in the upper arm 1029 may warp so that the roller 1028 can climb over the top dead center of the cam 1027. Further, after that, when the cam 1027 is further rotated to arrive at the bottom dead center again, a sensor (not shown) detects the cam 1027, and thus the finisher control portion 220 stops the rotation of the staple-less binding motor M257.
Next, a sheet binding process operation of the finisher 100 according to the embodiment will be described. As illustrated in
Next, the sheet P passed to the inlet roller pair 101 is passed from the inlet roller pair 101 to the delivery rollers 103. The sheet P is conveyed while the leading edge of the sheet P raises the trailing end dropper 105, and simultaneously, the static charge is eliminated by the static charge eliminator 104. In this state, the sheet P is discharged onto the intermediate processing tray 107. The sheet P discharged onto the intermediate processing tray 107 by the delivery rollers 103 is pressed from above by the trailing end dropper 105 with its own weight. In this manner, the time for dropping the trailing end of the sheet P onto the intermediate processing tray 107 is reduced.
Next, based on the signal of a trailing edge of the sheet P detected by the sheet discharge sensor S246, the finisher control portion 220 performs control in the intermediate processing tray 107. That is, as illustrated in
The knurled belt 117, served as a moving unit, conveys the sheet P which has been conveyed by the pull-in paddle 106 to the trailing edge stopper 108, and then rotates while slipping with respect to the sheet P, to thereby constantly bias the sheet P against the trailing edge stopper 108. With this slipping rotation, the sheet P can be hit against the trailing edge stopper 108, and thus the skew of the sheet P can be corrected. Next, after the sheet P abuts against the trailing edge stopper 108 as described above, the finisher control portion 220 drives the aligning motor M253 to move the aligning plates 109 in the width direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction, to thereby align the sheet P in the width direction. This series of operations is repeated with respect to a predetermined number of sheets to be subjected to the binding process. In this manner, as illustrated in
Next, after such an aligning operation is performed, when a binding mode is selected, the binding portion performs the binding process. After that, as illustrated in
Note that, after that, as illustrated in
Note that, during operation, when the stacking tray 114 is lowered to shield the tray lower limit sensor S242 from light, a full stacking state of the stacking tray 114 is noted from the finisher control portion 220 to the CPU circuit portion 200 of the image forming apparatus 900, to thereby suspend the image formation. After the sheaves of sheets on the stacking tray 114 are removed, the stacking tray 114 is raised until the stacking tray 114 shields the tray HP sensor S241 from light. Then, the stacking tray 114 is lowered so that the tray HP sensor S241 becomes a transmissive state to determine the position of the surface of the stacking tray 114 again. With this, the image formation of the image forming apparatus 900 is restarted.
By the way, in this embodiment, as described above and illustrated in
Then, for example, when the user selects the staple job, the finisher control portion 220 drives the STP moving motor M258 to move the stapler 110 from the HP illustrated in
After the trailing edge of the sheet P is returned back to the trailing edge stopper 108, the near side aligning plate 109a and the far side aligning plate 109b correct the sheet P in the width direction. After that, the knurled belt 117 performs returning in the sheet conveyance direction. This aligning operation is performed correspondingly to the number of sheets to be subjected to the binding process, and then the stapler 110 performs the binding process with a staple with respect to a staple position 1104 of the sheets P. After that, the sheet bundle subjected to the binding process on the intermediate processing tray 107 is discharged onto the stacking tray 114 by the trailing edge assist 112.
Note that, in this embodiment, the case where the sheet P is subjected to near side binding will be described, but when the stapler 110 is caused to wait on the far side of the apparatus main body as illustrated in
On the other hand, when the user selects the staple-less binding job, first, the far side aligning plate 109b serving as a first aligning plate moves from an initial position illustrated in
Next, after the sheet trailing edge is returned back to the trailing edge stopper 108 as described above, the near side aligning plate 109a serving as a second aligning plate is moved in the width direction so that the sheet is hit against the far side aligning plate 109b. In this manner, the sheet is subjected to the aligning operation in the width direction. With this, at the time of the staple-less binding job, the sheet bundle can be aligned at an alignment position (second alignment position) on the staple-less binding unit side with respect to an alignment position (first alignment position) when the stapler 110 performs the binding process illustrated in
By the way, in this embodiment, as illustrated in
Therefore, in this embodiment, the staple-less binding unit 102 is arranged outside a region in which sheets having the maximum width, which are to be subjected to the binding process by the stapler 110, are to be stacked (see
With this, when the stapler 110 performs the binding of the sheet bundle, it is possible to prevent the staple-less binding unit 102 having the opening 141 with a gap in the sheet thickness direction, which is smaller than that of the opening 140 of the stapler 110, from interfering with the sheet bundle to be bound by the stapler 110. As a result, even when the stapler 110 and the staple-less binding unit 102 which differ in opening height are used, the finisher 100 can perform the binding process without using a selective moving mechanism and without limiting the number of sheets to be bound to be smaller than the ability of the binding unit. In other words, the finisher 100 can perform the binding process without upsizing the apparatus and lowering the binding process efficiency.
By the way, in the description above, the HP of the stapler 110 is set on the near side of the apparatus main body 900A, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The HP of the stapler 110 may be set on the far side of the apparatus main body 900A.
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described, in which the HP of the stapler 110 is set on the far side of the apparatus main body 900A.
Then, when user selects the staple job, the finisher control portion 220 drives the STP moving motor M258 to move the stapler 110 from the HP illustrated in FIG. 14 to the near side binding position with respect to the sheet P illustrated in
On the other hand, when the user selects the staple-less binding job, first, the far side aligning plate 109b moves from the initial position illustrated in
Next, after the sheet trailing edge is returned back to the trailing edge stopper 108 as described above, the near side aligning plate 109a is moved in the width direction so that the sheet is hit against the far side aligning plate 109b. In this manner, the sheet is subjected to the aligning operation in the width direction. After that, the knurled belt 117 performs returning in the sheet conveyance direction. Then, the aligning operation is performed with respect to a predetermined number of sheets to be subjected to the binding process. After that, the staple-less binding unit 102 performs the binding operation to the sheet bundle, and thus the staple-less binding process is performed at a predetermined binding position.
Note that, also in this embodiment, the staple-less binding unit 102 is arranged outside a region in which sheets having the maximum width, which are to be subjected to the binding process by the stapler 110, are to be stacked. When the staple-less binding unit 102 is arranged at such a position, it is possible to prevent the sheet bundle to be bound by the stapler 110 from entering the opening of the staple-less binding unit 102.
By the way, in the case where the stapler 110 is located at the HP in the vicinity of the staple-less binding unit 102 as in this embodiment, when the staple-less binding is performed, the jaw portion 1103 of the stapler 110 interferes with the sheets to be subjected to the staple-less binding, and hence the sheets cannot be aligned. Therefore, when the staple-less binding is performed, the stapler 110 is moved to a position at which the jaw portion 1103 does not interfere with the sheets to be subjected to the staple-less binding. Specifically, when the staple-less binding is performed, before the sheets are conveyed, the stapler 110 is moved from the HP illustrated in
Then, when the staple-less binding is performed, by moving the stapler 110 to positions described above, the staple-less binding unit 102 can align the sheets without being interfered with the stapler 110. Note that, the retracting position of the stapler 110 is not limited to such positions, and may be any position as long as the jaw portion 1103 does not interfere with the sheets to be subjected to the staple-less binding, in other words, the binding process of the staple-less binding unit 102 is not inhibited.
Note that,
Next, after the stapler 110 is moved to the waiting position as described above (Step S201), at the processing portion 139, a predetermined number of sheets to be subjected to the binding process are stacked and aligned (Step S202). Then, after the alignment of the last sheet as the final sheet is completed (YES in Step S203), the stapler 110 performs the staple operation (Step S204). With this, the sheet bundle is subjected to the staple process. Note that, after that, it is determined whether or not the job has been completed with this process (Step S205), and until the job is completed (NO in Step S205), Steps S200 to S204 are repeated. When the job is completed (YES in Step S205), the binding operation is ended.
On the other hand, when the job is an eco staple, that is, when the job is the staple-less binding job (NO in Step S200), the stapler 110 is moved from the HP illustrated in
Then, after the alignment of the last sheet as the final sheet is completed (YES in Step S211), the staple-less binding unit 102 performs the eco staple operation (Step S212). With this, the sheet bundle is subjected to the staple-less binding process. Then, it is determined whether or not the job has been completed with this process (Step S205), and until the job is completed (NO in Step S205), Steps S200 and S209 to S212 are repeated. When the job is completed (YES in Step S205), the binding operation is ended.
In the case where the HP of the stapler 110 is set on the far side of the apparatus main body 900A as described above, when the staple-less binding job is performed, the stapler 110 is moved to a position at which the stapler 110 does not interfere with the sheets to be subjected to staple-less binding. In other words, in the case of the staple-less binding job, the stapler 110 is moved to such a position in which the stapler 110 does not inhibit the staple-less binding of the staple-less binding unit 102. With this, even when the stapler 110 and the staple-less binding unit 102 which differ in opening height are used, the finisher 100 can perform the binding process without upsizing the apparatus and lowering the binding process efficiency.
Note that, in the above, there is described a case in which, when the job is the eco staple, the near side aligning plate 109a is moved for each sheet so that the sheet abuts against the far side aligning plate 109b to form the sheet bundle, and the binding is performed at the position at which the sheet bundle is formed. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the sheet bundle may be formed at a position in which the sheet bundle does not enter the opening 141 in the eco staple, and then the near side aligning plate 109a and the far side aligning plate 109b may be moved while maintaining a gap of a sheet width, to thereby introduce the sheets into the opening 141.
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
When the job is started, the CPU circuit portion 200 of the image forming apparatus 900 sends, to the finisher control portion 220, information on any one of a job of performing binding of sheets with the staple and a job of performing binding of sheets by staple-less binding. In this case, when the job is a staple job (YES in Step S300), the stapler 110 is moved by the STP moving motor M258 to the near side binding position, the far side binding position, or the two-binding position illustrated in
Next, after the stapler 110 is moved to the waiting position as described above (Step S301), at the processing portion 139, a predetermined number of sheets to be subjected to the binding process are stacked and aligned (Step S302). Then, after the alignment of the last sheet as the final sheet is completed (YES in Step S303), the stapler 110 performs the staple operation (Step S304). With this, the sheet bundle is subjected to the staple process. Note that, after that, it is determined whether or not the job has been completed with this process (Step S305), and until the job is completed (NO in Step S305), Steps S300 to S304 are repeated. When the job is completed (YES in Step S305), the binding operation is ended.
On the other hand, when the job is an eco staple, that is, when the job is the staple-less binding job (NO in Step S300), the stapler 110 is moved from the HP illustrated in
Then, after the alignment of the last sheet as the final sheet is completed (YES in Step S311), as illustrated in
Note that, in the above, there is described a case in which the staple-less binding unit 102 has a tooth shape to form irregularities in the sheet, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, as long as the staple-less binding unit has an opening with a gap in the sheet thickness direction, which is smaller than that of the opening of the stapler, the staple-less binding unit may form a half-blanking shape in the sheets P as illustrated in
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention 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.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-207101, filed Sep. 20, 2012, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-165554, filed Aug. 8, 2013, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012-207101 | Sep 2012 | JP | national |
2013-165554 | Aug 2013 | JP | national |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15874219 | Jan 2018 | US |
Child | 16025013 | US | |
Parent | 14727039 | Jun 2015 | US |
Child | 15874219 | US | |
Parent | 14031116 | Sep 2013 | US |
Child | 14727039 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16025013 | Jul 2018 | US |
Child | 16677944 | US |