SHEET PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

Abstract

A sheet processing apparatus includes a stapler configured to staple a bundle of sheets by driving a staple into the sheet bundle; a cutting mechanism configured to cut off portions of staples driven into the sheet bundle; a storage portion configured to store cut-off portions of staples; a lid mounted on the storage portion capable of opening and closing; an open and closed state detecting portion configured to detect open and closed state of the lid; a collecting portion configured to collect cut-off portions of staples from the storage portion; and a lid opening and closing portion configured to open the lid when cut-off portions of staples are collected, wherein after the lid opening and closing portion has performed a lid opening and closing motions, if the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not closed, the lid opening and closing portion repeats a lid opening and closing operation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a structure of a copying machine as an example of an image forming apparatus including a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display on the operation display portion provided on the copying machine.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a cutting mechanism mounted on a binding unit of the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a structure for opening and closing the open-close lid mounted on the storage portion of the binding unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an opening motion of the open-close lid.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a closing motion of the open-close lid.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating relative positions of the binding unit and the staple waste box.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a structure for detecting the amount of cut-off staple portions in the storage portion and also for detecting if the staple waste box is set.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the sheet processing apparatus in a state where the staple waste box is not set.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state where the storage portion descends when cut-off staple portions are piled-up.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process of preventing cut-off staple portions from overflowing from the storage portion during the stapling job.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process of collecting cut-off staple portions from the storage portion into a staple waste box.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating another process of causing cut-off staple portions adhering to the open-close lid to fall into the staple waste box.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating another structure of a full-state sensor to detect the amount of cut-off staple portions stored in the storage portion.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a process of collecting cut-off staple portions using the full-state sensor.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a process of detecting closed-state of the open-close lid when the staple sort mode is selected in the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a process when the open-close lid opens while the sheet processing apparatus is carrying out a stapling job.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating another structure of the binding unit.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating storage and collection of cut-off end portions of staples in a conventional sheet processing apparatus.

Claims

1. A sheet processing apparatus, comprising: a stapler configured to staple a sheet bundle by driving a staple into the sheet bundle;a cutting mechanism configured to cut off end portions of staples driven into the sheet bundle;a storage portion storing cut-off end portions of staples;a lid mounted on the storage portion capable of opening and closing;an open and closed state detecting portion configured to detect open and closed states of the lid;a collecting portion configured to collect the cut-off end portions of staples from the storage portion; anda lid opening and closing portion configured to open the lid when the cut-off end portions of staples are collected from the storage portion to the collecting portion,wherein after the lid opening and closing portion has performed a lid opening and closing operation of a lid opening motion and then a lid closing motion, if the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not closed, the lid opening and closing portion repeats the lid opening and closing operation.

2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after the lid opening and closing portion has performed a lid opening and closing operation, if the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not closed, the lid opening and closing portion repeats the lid opening and closing operation plural times, such that after a certain period of time passes since performing the opening motion of the lid, and then the closing motion.

3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after the lid opening and closing portion has performed a lid opening and closing operation, if the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not closed, the lid opening and closing portion continuously repeats the lid opening and closing operation plural times.

4. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not closed, the stapler is prohibited from performing a stapling operation.

5. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display portion configured to display a state of the lid, wherein in a case in which after the lid opening and closing operation has been repeated and the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not yet closed, the display portion indicates that the lid is not closed.

6. A sheet processing apparatus, comprising: a binding unit including: a stapler configured to staple a bundle of sheets by driving a staple into the sheet bundle;a cutting mechanism configured to cut-off end portions of the staples driven into the sheet bundle;a storage portion which stores cut-off end portions of staples;a lid mounted on the storage portion capable of opening and closing;an open and closed state detecting portion configured to detect an open and closed state of the lid;a collecting portion configured to collect cut-off end portions of staples from the storage portion; anda lid opening and closing portion configured to open the lid when the cut-off end portions of staples are collected from the storage portion to the collecting portion,wherein after the lid opening and closing portion has performed a lid opening and closing operation of a lid opening motion and then a lid closing motion, if the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not closed, the lid opening and closing portion repeats the lid opening and closing operation.

7. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein after the lid opening and closing portion has performed a lid opening and closing operation, if the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not closed, the lid opening and closing portion repeats the lid opening and closing operation plural times, such that after a certain period of time passes since performing the opening operation of the lid, and then the lid closing motion.

8. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein after the lid opening and closing portion has performed a lid opening and closing operation, if the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not closed, the lid opening and closing portion continuously repeats the lid opening and closing operations plural times.

9. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is open, the stapler is prohibited from performing a stapling operation.

10. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a moving portion configured to move the binding unit to a position for stapling a sheet bundle and to a position for collecting the cut-off staple portions from the storage portion into the collecting portion, wherein when the binding unit performs the stapling operation, if the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not closed, the moving portion moves the binding unit to the position where the cut-off staple portions stored in the storage portion are to be collected into the collecting portion.

11. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein based on a capacity of the storage portion to store the cut-off staple portions, the moving unit moves the binding unit to the position where the cut-off staple portions stored in the storage portion are to be collected into the collecting portion, and wherein after the lid opening and closing portion has a lid opening and closing operation of a lid opening motion and then a lid closing motion, if the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not closed, the lid opening and closing portion repeats the lid opening and closing operation.

12. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the position, where the cut-off staple portions stored in the storage portion are collected into the collecting portion, is a home position of the binding unit.

13. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a display portion configured to display a status of the binding unit, wherein in a case where after the lid opening and closing operation have been repeated, if the open and closed state detecting portion detects that the lid is not yet closed, the display portion performs display such that the lid is in the open state.

14. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming portion configured to form an image on a sheet; andthe sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, the sheet processing apparatus configured to process a sheet having an image formed thereon by the image forming portion.

15. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming portion configured to form an image on a sheet; andthe sheet processing apparatus according to claim 6, the sheet processing apparatus configured to process a sheet having an image formed thereon by the image forming portion.