Patent Application
20250074739
The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that performs a square back process on sheets and an image forming system including the sheet processing apparatus.
As a sheet processing apparatus, a configuration in which a process (hereinafter referred to as a square back process) of forming a corner on the spine of a sheet bundle by pressing, in a state in which the sheet bundle subjected to a half-folding process is clamped by a pair of clamp portions, a spine portion of the sheet bundle protruding more than the clamp portion by a roller is proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-112445).
Here, when performing the square back process successively on a plurality of sheet bundles, the conveyance of a sheet bundle needs to be stopped while the square back process is executed on another sheet bundle. Therefore, while the square back process is performed on a preceding sheet bundle, in the case where the fore edge side of the preceding sheet bundle is positioned upstream of the folding roller pair, the conveyance of sheets included in a succeeding sheet bundle has to be stopped. In this case, sheets included in the succeeding sheet bundle are accumulated after the square back process on the preceding sheet bundle is finished, and then the square back process is performed, which lowers the overall productivity of the apparatus.
The present invention provides a configuration capable of suppressing deterioration of the productivity caused by the execution of the square back process.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a sheet processing apparatus includes an inlet portion configured to receive a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus, an accumulation portion configured to accumulate sheets, a conveyance unit configured to convey the sheet received from the inlet portion to the accumulation portion, a saddle binding unit configured to perform a saddle binding process on a sheet bundle including a plurality of sheets accumulated in the accumulation portion, a half-folding processing unit including a folding roller pair and a pressing portion and configured to perform a half-folding process on the sheet bundle, the folding roller pair being configured to perform half-folding on the sheet bundle by conveying the sheet bundle while nipping the sheet bundle such that a spine of the sheet bundle is positioned downstream of a fore edge of the sheet bundle, the pressing portion being configured to press the sheet bundle, subjected to the saddle binding process by the saddle binding unit, toward a nip portion of the folding roller pair, a conveyance roller pair configured to nip and convey the sheet bundle subjected to the half-folding process by the half-folding processing unit, and, a square back processing unit including a pair of clamp portions configured to relatively move with respect to the sheet bundle conveyed by the conveyance roller pair and thus nip the sheet bundle or release nipping of the sheet bundle and a pressing roller provided downstream of the pair of clamp portions in a conveyance direction of the conveyance roller pair and configured to press the spine of the sheet bundle nipped by the pair of clamp portions toward the pair of clamp portions. The square back processing unit is configured to perform a square back process in which a corner is formed on the spine of the sheet bundle by pressing, by the pressing roller, the spine of the sheet bundle nipped by the pair of clamp portions such that the spine of the sheet bundle protrudes downstream in the conveyance direction with respect to the pair of clamp portions. A length of a conveyance path from the folding roller pair to the pair of clamp portions is larger than a half of a length of a long side of a sheet of a maximum size capable of being subjected to the square back process by the square back processing unit. In a state in which conveyance by the conveyance roller pair of a first sheet bundle to be subjected to the square back process is stopped, the conveyance unit is configured to convey at least one sheet included in a second sheet bundle subsequent to the first sheet bundle toward the accumulation portion.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
An embodiment will be described with reference to
In the present embodiment, a copier is used as an image forming apparatus, a sheet processing apparatus is connected to a sheet discharge port of the copier, and a saddle portion that performs a saddle binding process and a half-folding process is further provided in the sheet processing apparatus. The image forming system 1000 includes an image forming apparatus A and a sheet processing apparatus B. A sheet S on which an image has been formed by the image forming apparatus A is received by the sheet processing apparatus B provided on the downstream side, is subjected to the saddle binding process, the half-folding process, the square back process, and the like if necessary, and is discharged to a discharge portion provided on the downstream side. Examples of the image forming apparatus A include apparatuses of various structures such as printers, printing machines, facsimile machines, and multifunctional apparatuses having a plurality of functions of these. The image forming apparatus A and the sheet processing apparatus B will be described in detail below. To be noted, in the description below, regarding the image forming apparatus A and the sheet processing apparatus B, the side on which an operator such as a user operates the apparatus (for example, the side on which an operation panel, an operation button, and the like are provided) will be referred to as the front side (front side of the paper surface in
As illustrated in
The feeding portion 2 includes a plurality of cassettes 2a, 2b, and 2c, and in the cassettes 2a, 2b, and 2c are capable of accommodating, in a plurality of tiers, sheets S of different regular sizes that are selected in advance. The sheet S is, for example, a paper sheet, a plastic sheet, or the like. The cassettes 2a, 2b, and 2c each include a separation mechanism that separates the sheets S stored therein from each other, and a feeding mechanism that delivers out the sheet S. Regarding the sheet S accommodated in the feeding portion 2 configured in this manner, the sheet S of a size designated by a controller 310 (
A large capacity cassette 2d and a manual feed tray 2e are coupled to the image forming apparatus A. The large capacity cassette 2d is constituted by an optional unit that accommodates sheets of a size that is to be consumed by a large amount. The manual feed tray 2e is configured to be capable of supplying special sheets such as cardboard sheets, coated sheets, and film sheets that are difficult to convey while separating the sheets from each other.
It suffices as long as the image forming portion 3 is configured to form an image on the sheet S fed from the feeding portion 2, and various image forming mechanisms can be employed. In the illustrated embodiment, an electrostatic image forming mechanism is illustrated as the image forming portion 3. However, the image forming portion 3 is not limited to the electrostatic image forming mechanism that is illustrated, and an ink jet image forming mechanism, an offset image forming mechanism, and the like can be also employed.
The image forming portion 3 illustrated in
An image reading unit A2 that optically reads a document image is provided above the image forming unit A1 configured in this manner, and a document feeding unit A3 is further provided above the image reading unit A2.
The image reading unit A2 includes a first platen glass 17, a second platen glass 21, a reading carriage 18 including a light source, a photoelectric conversion element 19, and a reduction optical system 20 constituted by combining mirrors and lenses. Further, the reading carriage 18 is moved in a scanning manner along the first platen glass 17 to irradiate an image of a document placed on the first platen glass 17 with light from the light source, and reflection light from the image of the document is guided to the photoelectric conversion element 19 through the reduction optical system 20 to read the image. The photoelectric conversion element 19 converts image data into an electric signal and transfers the electric signal to the image forming portion 3, and thus the image read by the image reading unit A2 can be formed on a sheet by the image forming unit A1.
The document feeding unit A3 includes a feeding tray 22 and a discharge tray 24, conveys documents placed on the feeding tray 22 one by one through a space on the second platen glass 21, and discharges the document onto the discharge tray 24. To be noted, when reading the document fed by the document feeding unit A3 and passing through the space on the second platen glass 21, the reading carriage 18 is stopped at a position below the second platen glass 21 in advance, and image data is read from an image passing through the space on the second platen glass 21.
Next, an overall configuration of the sheet processing apparatus B that performs a process such as a stapling process, a folding process, and the like on sheets conveyed from the image forming apparatus A will be described next with reference to
In the illustrated apparatus, the sheet conveyed to the conveyance path 28 serving as a first conveyance path is discharged onto a first tray 49 after being processed by a processing portion B1 that will be described later, or the sheet conveyed in the conveyance path 28 is discharged onto the second tray 71, or is discharged to a saddle discharge unit 131 after being processed by a saddle portion B2 that will be described later. Each apparatus includes a controller, a communication portion, and the like as indicated by blocks representing the overall control configuration of the apparatus illustrated in
The processing portion B1 serving as an end binding processing portion is disposed below a path outlet (passing portion 35) of the conveyance path 28, and is capable of accumulating a plurality of sheets sequentially passed on thereto from the conveyance path 28 through the passing portion 35 for each copy to form a sheet bundle, and executing a binding process that is an example of a predetermined process on an end portion of the sheet bundle. The sheet bundle subjected to the binding process is stacked on the first tray 49 serving as a stacking portion. The trailing end (upstream end) of the sheet or sheet bundle stacked on the first tray 49 abuts a stacking wall 50 provided on the upstream side in the sheet discharge direction of the first tray 49, and is thus stacked along the stacking wall 50.
The first tray 49 is capable of moving up and down with respect to a processing tray 37 that will be described later, and supports thereon a sheet bundle subjected to the binding process by a binding processing mechanism 47 that will be described later. In the present embodiment, the first tray 49 and the second tray 71 are capable of moving up and down by an unillustrated lifting/lowering mechanism. That is, in the present embodiment, when delivering out the sheet onto the first tray 49 or the second tray 71 serving as a stacking tray, the first tray 49 or the second tray 71 is moved up or down to maintain the position of the uppermost sheet on the stacking surface of the tray constant with respect to the discharge roller pair 42 and a second discharge roller 207 such that the alignment of the stacked sheets is not degraded.
The saddle portion B2 is disposed below the passing portion of the saddle path 32 serving as a second conveyance path branching downward in the vertical direction from the conveyance path 28, accumulates a plurality of sheets sequentially passed on thereto from the conveyance path 28 through the saddle path 32 and the passing portion for each copy to form a sheet bundle, performs a folding process after executing a saddle binding process or without performing the saddle binding process, and discharges the sheet bundle to the saddle discharge unit 131. Detailed description of each configuration will be given below.
As illustrated in
The conveyance path 28 serving as a sheet introduction path is configured as an approximately linear path traversing the housing 27 in an approximately horizontal direction, and includes the inlet portion 26 continuous with the discharge port (body discharge port) 16 of the image forming apparatus A and the passing portion 35 positioned on the opposite side across the apparatus with respect to the inlet portion 26. In the conveyance path 28, an inlet roller 29, a first conveyance roller 201, a second conveyance roller 202, and a third conveyance roller 203 serving as conveyance rollers capable of conveying the sheet in a first direction from the inlet portion 26 toward a first discharge path 31 and capable of conveying the sheet in a second direction from the first discharge path 31 toward the inlet portion 26. That is, the inlet roller 29, the first conveyance roller 201, the second conveyance roller 202, and the third conveyance roller 203 are capable of conveying the sheet in the first direction and the second direction opposite to the first direction in the conveyance path, and are arranged in this order from the inlet portion 26 side in the first direction.
The first discharge path 31 is connected to the passing portion 35 of the conveyance path 28, and the first conveyance roller 36 is disposed at a connecting portion of these. The sheet passed on from the conveyance path 28 to the first discharge path 31 and discharged from the first discharge path 31 is stacked on the first tray 49 or guided to the processing portion B1. To be noted, each conveyance roller described above may be a different member capable of conveying a sheet such as a conveyance belt.
The saddle path 32 and the upper conveyance path 30 that are branch paths are connected to the conveyance path 28 as illustrated in
The upper conveyance path switching member 34 is constituted by a switching guide capable of moving to change the conveyance path of the sheet introduced from the inlet portion 26 to convey the sheet to the first discharge path 31 or the upper conveyance path 30, and is moved by a driving portion (not illustrated) such as an electromagnetic solenoid or a mini motor. That is, the upper conveyance path switching member 34 functioning as a conveyance path switching member is capable of switching a path in which the sheet is conveyed, between the conveyance path 28 and the upper conveyance path 30. Specifically, the upper conveyance path switching member 34 is movable to a straight guiding position where the sheet conveyed from a position upstream of the upper conveyance path 30 in the first direction in the conveyance path 28 is guided toward the first discharge path 31 along the conveyance path 28, and an upper conveyance guiding position where the sheet conveyed from a position upstream of the upper conveyance path 30 in the first direction in the conveyance path 28 is guided to the upper conveyance path 30.
The upper conveyance path 30 (print-out discharge path) in which a sheet other than a sheet to be discharged to the first discharge path 31 is conveyed branches from the conveyance path 28, and the upper conveyance path switching member 34 for guiding the sheet to the upper conveyance path 30 is provided at the path branching portion thereof. In addition, in the upper conveyance path 30, a fourth conveyance roller 204, a fifth conveyance roller 205, a sixth conveyance roller 206, and a second discharge roller 207 are provided in the upper conveyance path 30 as conveyance rollers that guide the sheet to the second tray 71. As a result of this, the sheet guided to the upper conveyance path 30 is discharged onto the second tray 71 (overflow tray) from an upper conveyance path discharge port 40.
The processing portion B1 is constituted by a processing tray 37 serving as a placement portion and a first accumulation portion (another accumulation portion) that places thereon a sheet conveyed through the first discharge path 31 provided downstream of the conveyance path 28 and accumulates a plurality of placed sheets for each copy, and a binding processing mechanism (end binding stapling unit) 47 serving as a first binding processing portion (end binding unit) that performs a binding process on the accumulated sheet bundle. Further, the processing portion B1 performs a binding process on the sheet bundle placed on the processing tray 37. The binding processing mechanism 47 is disposed below the conveyance path 28 in the vertical direction. As illustrated in
Specifically, in the first discharge path 31, an upper conveyance roller 41 and a lower conveyance roller 48 that nip and convey the sheet are provided. The upper conveyance roller 41 and the lower conveyance roller 48 constitute a discharge roller pair 42 serving as a discharge portion. The upper conveyance roller 41 is capable of coming into and out of contact with and from the lower conveyance roller 48, and the sheet can be conveyed in a direction toward the first tray 49 and a direction opposite to this direction in a state in which the sheet is nipped between the upper conveyance roller 41 and the lower conveyance roller 48. Further, the sheet can be conveyed toward the processing tray 37 through the first switchback path by the upper conveyance roller 41 and the lower conveyance roller 48.
In addition, the upper conveyance roller 41 and the lower conveyance roller 48 (that is, the discharge roller pair 42) discharge the sheet or sheet bundle on the processing tray 37 onto the first tray 49 serving as a stacking tray (stacking portion) through the discharge port 31a. The discharge port 31a is a portion opening at a position above the lower conveyance roller 48 in the housing 27. Further, the discharge roller pair 42 discharges the sheet conveyed to the first discharge path 31 without passing the processing tray 37 onto the first tray 49 through the discharge port 31a.
The binding processing mechanism 47 includes a trailing end regulating portion 47a that abuts an end portion (trailing end) of the sheet and positions the sheet. A reversing portion 38 that conveys the sheet conveyed to the processing tray 37 by the upper conveyance roller 41 and the lower conveyance roller 48 toward the trailing end regulating portion 47a is disposed on the processing tray 37. Further, the binding processing mechanism 47 performs a binding process on an end portion of a sheet bundle constituted by a plurality of sheets which are placed on the processing tray 37 and a position of an end portion of which is regulated by the trailing end regulating portion 47a. In addition, the binding processing mechanism 47 includes a sheet bundle discharge mechanism that discharges the sheet bundle onto the first tray 49 after performing the binding process on the end portion of the sheet bundle.
To be noted, the binding processing mechanism 47 illustrated in
The saddle path 32 for conveying the sheet to the saddle portion B2 described above is connected to the conveyance path 28, and the saddle path switching member 33 for guiding the sheet to the saddle path 32 is provided at the path branching portion thereof. That is, the saddle path switching member 33 serving as a switching member is capable of switching the path in which the sheet is conveyed, between the conveyance path 28 and the saddle path 32. Specifically, the saddle path switching member 33 is movable to a first guiding position where the sheet conveyed from a position upstream of the saddle path 32 in the first direction in the conveyance path 28 is guided in the first direction along the conveyance path 28, and a second guiding position where the sheet conveyed in a second direction from a position downstream of the saddle path 32 in the first direction is guided to the saddle path 32. The stacking path 400 serving as a third accumulation portion described above is positioned downstream of the saddle path switching member 33 in the first direction, and the saddle stacking tray 150 serving as a second accumulation portion that will be described later is positioned below the saddle path switching member 33 in the vertical direction.
The sheet guided to the saddle portion B2 through the saddle path 32 is accumulated on the saddle stacking tray 150, is subjected to the half-folding process, and after being subjected to the folding process, is discharged to the saddle discharge unit 131 via a post-folding path guide 114, a post-second roller path guide 116, a pre-clamp guide 119, and a saddle discharge guide 124. In the present embodiment, the saddle discharge guide 124 serving as a discharge guide portion is used as an auxiliary guide for appropriately stacking the sheet on the saddle discharge unit 131.
To be noted, in the present embodiment, a conveyance unit 410 serving as a conveyance portion that conveys a sheet from the stacking path 400 and the conveyance path 28 to the saddle stacking tray 150 is constituted by the second conveyance roller 202, the third conveyance roller 203, the fourth conveyance roller 204, the fifth conveyance roller 205, the sixth conveyance roller 206, and the saddle path roller 100 described above. The conveyance unit 410 can be divided into a conveyance roller group 411 serving as a first conveyance portion and the saddle path roller 100 serving as a second conveyance portion. The conveyance roller group 411 includes the second conveyance roller 202, the third conveyance roller 203, the fourth conveyance roller 204, the fifth conveyance roller 205, and the sixth conveyance roller 206, and conveys the sheet conveyed to the conveyance path 28 further toward the stacking path 400. The saddle path roller 100 conveys the sheet conveyed to the saddle path 32 further toward the saddle stacking tray 150.
In addition, the conveyance roller group 411 conveys the sheet received into the conveyance path 28 toward the stacking path 400 in the first direction in a state in which the saddle path switching member 33 is at the first guiding position, and in a state in which the saddle path switching member 33 is at the second guiding position, conveys the sheet or sheet bundle from the stacking path 400 toward the saddle path 32 in the second direction. The sheet or sheet bundle conveyed to the saddle path 32 is conveyed toward the saddle stacking tray 150 by the saddle path roller 100.
The outline of a control configuration of the image forming system 1000 will be described with reference to
The operation portion 302 is, for example, an operation panel provided in the image forming apparatus A and connected to the controller 310, and an operator operates the apparatus and performs various settings thereby. The conveyance controller 303 controls the various conveyance rollers that convey the sheet and the switching members that switch the conveyance path in the image forming apparatus A. The image processing portion 304 controls the image forming portion 3. The driving portion 305 controls various motors and the power source. The communication portion 306 communicably connects an external device 301 such as a personal computer and a communication portion 321 of the sheet processing apparatus B with the controller 310.
The sheet processing apparatus B includes a stacker controller 330, a conveyance controller 322, an end binding controller 323, a discharge process controller 324, and the communication portion 321. The stacker controller 330 includes a CPU 331, a ROM 332, and a RAM 333 similarly to the controller 310. The conveyance controller 322 controls the various conveyance rollers that convey the sheet and the switching members that switch the conveyance path in part of the sheet processing apparatus B other than the saddle portion B2. The end binding controller 323 controls the processing portion B1. The discharge process controller 324 controls various stacking trays onto which sheets are discharged and on which the discharged sheets are stacked. The communication portion 321 communicably connects the communication portion 306 of the image forming apparatus A and a communication portion 341 of the saddle portion B2 with the stacker controller 330. To be noted, the communication between the communication portion 306 and the communication portion 321 may be performed by wired communication or wireless communication.
The saddle portion B2 includes a saddle controller 350, a conveyance controller 342, a saddle binding controller 343, a half-folding controller 344, a square back process controller 345, and a communication portion 341. The saddle controller 350 includes a CPU 351, a ROM 352, and a RAM 353 similarly to the controller 310. The conveyance controller 342 controls the various conveyance rollers that convey the sheet and the switching members that switch the conveyance path in the saddle portion B2. The saddle binding controller 343 controls the saddle binding processing portion 104. The half-folding controller 344 controls a half-folding processing mechanism C1. The square back process controller 345 controls a square back processing portion C2. The communication portion 341 communicably connects the communication portion 321 of the sheet processing apparatus B with the saddle controller 350.
The saddle portion B2 will be described with reference to
The half-folding processing mechanism C1 includes a leading end regulating stopper 109, a saddle binding processing portion (saddle binding stapling unit) 104, and a half-folding processing portion 112 serving as a half-folding processing unit, accumulates sheets into a bundle shape, and performs the half-folding process and the saddle binding process. That is, the sheet conveyed from the conveyance path 28 to the saddle path 32 is conveyed to the saddle stacking tray 150 serving as an accumulation portion and a second accumulation portion by the saddle path roller 100 serving as a second conveyance portion. The saddle stacking tray 150 forms a sheet bundle by accumulating a plurality of sheets conveyed in the second conveyance direction by the saddle path roller 100 through the saddle path 32. The sheet bundle accumulated on the saddle stacking tray 150 is positioned at a predetermined position on the saddle stacking tray 150 by the leading end regulating stopper 109.
The saddle stacking tray 150 is provided with a saddle stacking sensor 106 serving as a sheet detection portion that detects the presence or absence of the sheet. The saddle stacking sensor 106 may be provided at any position as long as the presence or absence of the sheet on the saddle stacking tray 150 can be detected. In the present embodiment, the saddle stacking sensor 106 is disposed at a position not interfering with the operation of a folding plate 112a and in the vicinity of the folding roller pair 113. For example, the saddle stacking sensor 106 is preferably disposed between the saddle binding processing portion 104 and the folding plate 112a, and is more preferably disposed between a pull-in separation roller 105 and the folding plate 112a.
The saddle binding processing portion 104 serving as a second binding processing portion (saddle binding unit) performs the binding process (saddle binding process) on a center portion in the conveyance direction (middle portion in the second conveyance direction) of the sheet bundle positioned by the leading end regulating stopper 109. The half-folding processing portion 112 includes the folding plate 112a and the folding roller pair 113, and by conveying the sheet bundle by the folding roller pair 113 while poking the vicinity of the position subjected to the binding process by the saddle binding processing portion 104 (center portion in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle in the binding process) by the folding plate 112a, the sheet bundle is folded and conveyed such that the spine of the sheet bundle is on the downstream side in the conveyance direction.
The saddle binding processing portion 104 is a mechanism that performs the binding process of moving a head unit and an anvil unit along the sheet center portion (line) while nipping the sheet bundle between the head unit and the anvil unit. In addition, for the half-folding processing portion 112, as illustrated in
The square back processing portion C2 performs the square back process to make the folding line of the sheet bundle subjected to the half-folding process into a square back shape. The square back processing portion C2 includes a lower clamp unit 120 and an upper clamp unit 121 serving as a pair of clamp portions, and a square back processing unit 134 including a pressing roller 123. The lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121 relatively move along the thickness direction of the sheet bundle conveyed by a saddle third roller pair 118 that will be described later, and thus nip the sheet bundle and release the nipping of the sheet bundle. The pressing roller 123 moves along the width direction of the sheet bundle (direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle, front-rear direction of
Specifically, the square back processing portion C2 nips part of the sheet bundle from both sides in the vertical direction (thickness direction of the sheet bundle) in a state in which the spine of the sheet bundle subjected to the half-folding by the half-folding processing mechanism C1 protrudes downstream in the first conveyance direction. The pressing roller 123 presses the spine of the sheet bundle nipped between the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121, in the width direction of the sheet bundle orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle and to the thickness direction of the sheet bundle. In this manner, the square back processing portion C2 performs the square back process of forming a corner on the spine of the sheet bundle. The square back process is a process of forming two corners on the spine of the sheet bundle by forming two streaks on the spine of the sheet bundle as illustrated in
To be noted, a half-folding conveyance mechanism that conveys the sheet bundle subjected to the half-folding process by the half-folding processing mechanism C1 to the square back processing portion C2 positioned downstream and stops the conveyance is disposed between the half-folding processing mechanism C1 and the square back processing portion C2.
As described above, the processing portion B1 and the conveyance path 28 are arranged in approximately the horizontal direction, the saddle path 32 that guides the sheet to the saddle portion B2 is disposed in approximately the vertical direction, and the saddle stacking tray 150 that accumulates the sheets for each copy is disposed to approximately follow the vertical direction. As described above, by disposing the conveyance path 28 along a direction traversing the housing 27 and disposing the saddle path 32 and the saddle portion B2 along approximately the vertical direction, the apparatus can be made slimer, that is, the width of the apparatus in the horizontal direction can be reduced.
The saddle discharge unit 131 is disposed downstream of the saddle portion B2 in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle, and accommodates a sheet bundle folded into a magazine shape. The saddle discharge unit 131 that is illustrated is disposed below the first tray 49 in the vertical direction. This is because the apparatus has specifications set in consideration of the fact that the frequency of use of the first tray 49 is higher than the frequency of use of the saddle discharge unit 131 and the first tray 49 is set to a height where the sheet on the tray is easy to pick up.
Next, the configuration of each of the half-folding processing mechanism C1, the half-folding conveyance mechanism C3, and the square back processing portion C2 constituting the saddle portion B2 will be described in more detail.
As illustrated in
The saddle inlet roller 101 conveys the sheet passed on thereto from the saddle path 32 by the saddle path roller 100 further downward. The sorting portion 102 moves the sheet conveyed downward from the saddle inlet roller 101 to the right side in
The half-folding processing portion 112 includes a folding roller pair 113, the folding plate 112a serving as a pressing portion, and a roller guide 111. The folding roller pair 113 forms a folding line in the half-folding process. The folding plate 112a pushes the sheet into the nip portion of the folding roller pair 113. That is, the folding roller pair 113 performs half-folding on the sheet bundle by nipping and conveying the sheet bundle such that the spine of the sheet bundle is positioned downstream of the end portion of the sheet bundle on the fore edge side. The folding plate 112a presses the sheet bundle subjected to the saddle binding process by the saddle binding processing portion 104 toward the nip portion of the folding roller pair 113. The roller guide 111 covers the folding roller pair 113. The first alignment roller 107 and the second alignment roller 108 convey the sheet conveyed to the saddle stacking tray 150, and aligns the sheet in the height direction of the sheet. The leading end regulating stopper 109 abuts the leading end (lower end) of the sheet conveyed thereto, and determines the position of the leading end of the sheet in the height direction. The leading end gripper 110 presses the leading end (lower end) of the sheet stacked on the leading end regulating stopper 109.
The saddle inlet roller 101 and the pull-in separation roller 105 are driven by the same motor. The trailing end pressing guide 103 is at a position opposing the sorting portion 102 with the saddle stacking tray 150 therebetween. The saddle binding processing portion 104 is disposed downstream of the sorting portion 102 and the trailing end pressing guide 103 and upstream of the pull-in separation roller 105.
The sheet conveyed from the saddle path 32 to the saddle portion B2 is conveyed to the leading end regulating stopper 109 moved to a position corresponding to the size by the saddle inlet roller 101. The pull-in separation roller 105 has an auxiliary conveyance function for precisely conveying the conveyed sheet to the leading end regulating stopper 109 in the saddle stacking tray 150. The roller guide 111 covers the folding roller pair 113 so as to suppress the leading end of the sheet getting caught at the folding roller pair 113 at this time and efficiently convey the sheet.
The first alignment roller 107 and the second alignment roller 108 cause the conveyed sheet to precisely abut the leading end regulating stopper 109, and thus performs an alignment process in the sheet height direction.
The sorting portion 102 moves the sheet conveyed to the leading end regulating stopper 109 to the trailing end pressing guide 103, and by pressing the trailing end (upper end) of the moved sheet by the trailing end pressing guide 103, preparation for receiving the next sheet is performed. At this time, the trailing end pressing guide 103 has moved to a position corresponding to the size and is standing by.
The leading end (trailing end) of the sheet bundle formed by stacking a plurality of sheets on the saddle stacking tray 150 is fixed by being gripped by the leading end gripper 110. In this state, the binding process is performed on the center portion in the second conveyance direction of the sheet bundle by the saddle binding processing portion 104. After the binding process, the leading end regulating stopper 109 is moved down while the leading end (lower end) of the sheet bundle is still gripped by the leading end gripper 110. At this time, by moving down the leading end regulating stopper 109 such that the position in the sheet where the sheet is pushed into the folding roller pair 113 by the folding plate 112a is a position of ½ of the sheet size, the sheet bundle is moved down from the binding position.
When performing the half-folding process, the roller guide 111 is retracted, the fixation by the leading end gripper 110 is released, and then the center portion of the sheet bundle is pushed into the nip portion of the folding roller pair 113 by the folding plate 112a. As a result of this, the half-folding process is performed on the sheet bundle.
The saddle inlet roller 101, the pull-in separation roller 105, the sorting portion 102, and the trailing end pressing guide 103 are controlled by the conveyance controller 342 (
The configuration of the half-folding conveyance mechanism C3 will be described with reference to
Here, as illustrated in
The post-folding path guide 114 guides the conveyance of the sheet bundle, and guides the sheet bundle to a saddle second roller pair 115 positioned on the downstream side in the conveyance direction. A saddle second roller conveyance direction 115c that is a direction following a line βerpendicular to a straight line passing through the rotational center of each roller of the saddle second roller pair 115 is provided along a direction inclined downward in the vertical direction toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction. The saddle second roller pair 115 is driven by the half-folding controller 344 and conveys the sheet bundle.
The sheet bundle conveyed by the saddle second roller pair 115 is passed on to the post-second roller path guide 116 disposed on the downstream side in the conveyance direction and disposed parallel to the saddle second roller conveyance direction 115c (
The post-second roller path guide 116 guides the conveyance of the sheet, and guides the sheet to the saddle third roller pair 118 positioned downstream in the conveyance direction. A saddle third roller conveyance direction 118c (
The saddle third roller pair 118 serving as a conveyance roller pair is driven by the half-folding controller 344, and nips and conveys the sheet bundle subjected to the saddle binding process and the half-folding process such that the spine of the sheet bundle is positioned downstream of an end portion on the fore edge side in the conveyance direction. That is, the saddle third roller pair 118 conveys the sheet bundle such that the spine of the sheet bundle serves as the leading end. In the case where the direction in which the sheet bundle is conveyed by the saddle third roller pair 118 also serving as a first conveyance portion is set as the first conveyance direction (saddle third roller conveyance direction 118c), the saddle path roller 100 serving as a second conveyance portion that conveys the sheet to the half-folding processing mechanism C1 is positioned upstream of the saddle third roller pair 118 in the first conveyance direction. Further, the saddle path roller 100 conveys the sheet in a second conveyance direction different from the first conveyance direction at a position upstream of the saddle third roller pair 118 in the first conveyance direction. In the description below, the upstream side and the downstream side in the first conveyance direction (saddle third roller conveyance direction 118c) in which the sheet bundle is conveyed by the saddle third roller pair 118 may be sometimes simply referred to as the “upstream side” and the “downstream side”.
To be noted, the folding roller pair 113, the saddle second roller pair 115, and the saddle third roller pair 118 are driven by the same motor, and the half-folding controller 344 controls this motor to control the driving of each roller pair. The saddle third roller pair 118 nips the sheet bundle subjected to half-folding by the half-folding processing portion 112, conveys the sheet bundle toward the square back processing portion C2, and is positioned immediately upstream of the square back processing portion C2.
Here, as illustrated in
In other words, the saddle third roller pair 118 is disposed such that the second virtual line β2 is inclined downward in the vertical direction toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction with respect to the horizontal direction. That is, in the present embodiment, the second virtual line β2 is inclined with respect to the first virtual line α2. Further, the folding roller pair 113 conveys the sheet bundle in the horizontal direction or a direction (folding roller conveyance direction 113c) inclined upward in the vertical direction toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction with respect to the horizontal direction. In contrast, the saddle third roller pair 118 conveys the sheet bundle in a direction (saddle third roller conveyance direction 118c) inclined downward in the vertical direction toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction with respect to the horizontal direction.
Therefore, in the case of the present embodiment, the half-folding conveyance path C4 serving as a third conveyance path in which the sheet bundle is conveyed between the folding roller pair 113 and the saddle third roller pair 118 is bent such that the sheet bundle conveyed by the folding roller pair 113 is passed onto the saddle third roller pair 118. That is, the half-folding conveyance path C4 includes the post-folding path guide 114 and the post-second roller path guide 116, and the conveyance path between the post-folding path guide 114 and the post-second roller path guide 116 is bent. In other words, the direction in which the sheet bundle is guided by the post-second roller path guide 116 is inclined with respect to the direction in which the sheet bundle is guided by the post-folding path guide 114.
As described above, by making the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle by the folding roller pair 113 and the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle by the saddle third roller pair 118 different and bending the conveyance path between the post-folding path guide 114 and the post-second roller path guide 116, the width (length in the second conveyance direction, length in the left-right direction of
In addition, the first tray 49 is capable of moving up and down as described above. In the case of the present embodiment, as illustrated in
As a result of this, the saddle discharge unit 131 to which the sheet bundle processed by the saddle portion B2 is discharged can be disposed in a lower portion of the apparatus, and thus the amount by which the first tray 49 positioned above the saddle discharge unit 131 can be moved down can be increased. As a result of this, the sheet stacking amount of the first tray 49 can be increased while miniaturizing the sheet processing apparatus B. To be noted, in the case where “horizontal”, “vertical”, “parallel”, and the like are mentioned in the layout of the conveyance path guides for the sheet or sheet bundle and the conveyance direction of the sheet or sheet bundle, cases where an angle is formed with respect to the horizontal direction, the vertical direction, or the parallel direction due to the tolerance or the like are also included.
The square back processing portion C2 will be described by using
The pre-clamp guide 119 includes a pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a serving as a first guide portion that guides the upper surface of the sheet bundle, and a pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b serving as a second guide portion that guides the lower surface of the sheet bundle. The pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b are disposed at positions apart from a line centered on the saddle third roller conveyance direction 118c by a distance larger than a half of the maximum thickness of the sheet bundle that can be passed through the apparatus (the thickness of the sheet bundle after performing the half-folding process on the sheet bundle of the maximum thickness that can be conveyed in the apparatus). That is, the distance between the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b is larger than the maximum thickness of the sheet bundle that can be processed by the sheet processing apparatus B (maximum thickness of the sheet bundle that can be subjected to the half-folding process by the half-folding processing mechanism C1). To be noted, at least one of the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b may be omitted.
The lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121 are relatively movable to a first position where the sheet bundle conveyed from the saddle third roller pair 118 can be received and a second position where the sheet bundle is nipped. Further, the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121 move from the first position to the second position and thus nip part of the sheet bundle from both sides in the thickness direction of the sheet bundle.
In the case of the present embodiment, the upper clamp unit 121 serving as a first clamp portion is movable, and the lower clamp unit 120 serving as a second clamp portion is fixed. That is, the upper clamp unit 121 moves in a direction to approach the lower clamp unit 120, and thus the sheet bundle is nipped. To be noted, a configuration in which the upper clamp unit 121 is fixed and the lower clamp unit 120 is movable may be employed, and a configuration in which both of these are movable may be employed. In either case, an upper clamping surface (upper clamping pressing portion) 142 of the upper clamp unit 121 that is a surface opposing the lower clamp unit 120 and a lower clamping surface (lower clamping pressing portion) 143 of the lower clamp unit 120 that is a surface opposing the upper clamp unit 121 nip the sheet bundle (see
The lower clamping surface 143 of the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamping surface 142 of the upper clamp unit 121 are respectively parallel to the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b and are disposed downstream of the pre-clamp guide 119 in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle. Further, the sheet bundle conveyed while being guided by the pre-clamp guide 119 is conveyed by a predetermined amount while further being guided by the upper clamping surface 142 and the lower clamping surface 143. To be noted, the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b and the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a are respectively fixed to the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121. In the present embodiment, the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a moves approximately in the vertical direction (thickness direction of the sheet bundle) together with the upper clamp unit 121. The upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 are disposed at positions apart from a line centered on the saddle third roller conveyance direction 118c by a distance larger than a half of the maximum thickness of the sheet bundle that can be passed through the apparatus (the thickness of the sheet bundle after performing the half-folding process on the sheet bundle of the maximum thickness that can be conveyed in the apparatus) at the first position similarly to the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b.
Next, an inner configuration of the square back processing unit 134 will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
In the present embodiment, the rear side plate 147b, the upper side plate 147c, and the lower side plate 147d are formed integrally, and has an approximate C shape in section view as illustrated in
That is, the upper movement regulating portion 139 is provided at a distal end portion of a support shaft 139a fixed to the upper side plate 147c and provided to extend downward from the upper side plate 147c. In addition, the lower movement regulating portion 140 is provided at a distal end portion of a support shaft 140a fixed to the lower side plate 147d and provided to extend upward from the lower side plate 147d. In addition, the upper movement regulating portion 139 is a roller rotatably provided at the distal end portion of the support shaft 139a, and the lower movement regulating portion 140 is a roller rotatably provided at the distal end portion of the support shaft 140a. To be noted, although two lower movement regulating portions 140 are provided side by side in the present embodiment, the number of the lower movement regulating portions 140 may be one. In addition, two upper movement regulating portions 139 may be also provided. The upper movement regulating portion 139 and the lower movement regulating portion 140 are positioned on the respective sides of the pressing roller 123 in the rotational axis direction of the roller shaft 141.
The roller pressurizing portions 138a and 138b are each coupled to the roller shaft 141 from the outside in the roller thickness direction of the pressing roller 123 and from the downstream side in the conveyance direction. Pressurizing springs 145a and 145b are disposed between the roller pressurizing portions 138a and 138b and the rear side plate 147b of the unit frame 147, and the roller shaft 141 is urged by the pressurizing springs 145a and 145b. The roller shaft 141 is configured to be movable in the conveyance direction, and therefore the pressurizing force by which the pressing roller 123 pressurizes the spine of the sheet bundle by the urging force of the pressurizing springs 145a and 145b changes in accordance with the change in the protruding amount of the spine of the sheet bundle from the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121 that will be described later.
In addition, the pressing roller 123 is urged by the pressurizing springs 145a and 145b via the roller shaft 141, and is therefore pressurized by the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121. In contrast, the upper movement regulating portion 139 and the lower movement regulating portion 140 are disposed on the opposite side to the pressing roller 123 across the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121 so as to respectively oppose the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121 (
As illustrated in
The conveyance amount of the sheet bundle conveyed by the saddle third roller pair 118 is counted by the square back process controller 345 when the leading end of the sheet bundle is detected by the saddle conveyance sensor 117 described above, and the sheet bundle is stopped after being conveyed by a predetermined conveyance amount. Specifically, as illustrated in
The upper clamp unit 121 moves from a receiving position (first position) for receiving the sheet bundle to a clamp holding position (second position) for holding the sheet bundle, thus the sheet bundle is pressurized between the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120, and the sheet bundle is held by the upper clamping surface 142 and the lower clamping surface 143. At this time, the leading end of the sheet bundle protrudes by a predetermined protruding amount P1 from respective end surfaces 120c and 121b on the downstream side of the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121 after the clamp holding in the conveyance direction as illustrated in
The upper clamp unit 121 operates by driving a clamp driving motor 132 (
As illustrated in
During the square back process, the square back processing unit 134 is moved by operating a driving motor 135 (
In addition, in one square back process, the pressing roller 123 is moved in one direction from the front side to the rear side or from the rear side to the front side, but the pressing roller 123 may be reciprocated in one square back process. For example, whether the pressing roller 123 is moved in one direction or reciprocated may be set in accordance with the number of sheets included in the sheet bundle or the type of the sheet. This setting may be automatically performed by the controller, or may be performed by an operator such as a user or a service person. Further, whether the pressing roller 123 is moved in one direction or reciprocated may be arbitrarily settable by the operator in each square back process.
The lower clamp unit 120 includes the guide rail 120b formed along the width direction of the sheet bundle as illustrated in
After the square back process is completed, the square back processing unit 134 is moved in the width direction and is thus retracted from the conveyance path of the sheet bundle by operating the driving motor 135 (
As illustrated in
In addition, the saddle discharge guide 124 is formed such that the side surface thereof on the upstream side in the first conveyance direction is inclined upstream in the first conveyance direction from the first fulcrum 124b toward a middle portion 124a in the vertical direction. In addition, the side surface of the saddle discharge guide 124 on the upstream side in the first conveyance direction is inclined downstream in the first conveyance direction from the middle portion 124a toward the lower end in the vertical direction. That is, the side surface of the saddle discharge guide 124 on the upstream side in the first conveyance direction is formed such that the middle portion 124a in the vertical direction protrudes upstream in the first conveyance direction as compared with the other part. Further, in the side surface of the saddle discharge guide 124 on the upstream side in the first conveyance direction, a guide surface 124d is provided in a portion from the middle portion 124a to the lower end.
The guide surface 124d is positioned below an extension line obtained of the saddle third roller conveyance direction 118c, comes into contact with the sheet bundle conveyed by the saddle third roller pair 118, and guides the sheet bundle downward. The saddle discharge guide 124 is capable of pivoting about the first fulcrum 124b when the sheet bundle comes into contact with the guide surface 124d. To be noted, depending on the stiffness of the sheet bundle, there is a case where the sheet bundle does not come into contact with the guide surface 124d of the saddle discharge guide 124, and even in the case where the contact occurs, since the amount of the pivot changes depending on the stiffness, the saddle discharge guide 124 does not necessarily pivot.
In addition, a second fulcrum 124c is provided at a lower end portion of the saddle discharge guide 124, and a saddle discharge roller 125 that will be described later is coupled to the lower end portion of the saddle discharge guide 124 so as to be pivotable about the second fulcrum 124c. The second fulcrum 124c is positioned below the guide surface 124d, and includes a pivot shaft parallel to the pivot shaft of the first fulcrum 124b.
When the sheet bundle is continued to be conveyed by the saddle third roller pair 118, the sheet bundle is passed on to the saddle discharge unit 131 disposed at a position downstream of the square back processing unit 134 in the first conveyance direction and below the saddle discharge guide 124 in the vertical direction. The saddle discharge unit 131 includes a saddle discharge upstream belt 127, a saddle discharge upstream sensor 128, a saddle discharge downstream belt 129, and a saddle discharge downstream sensor 130.
The saddle discharge upstream belt 127 is positioned below the guide surface 124d of the saddle discharge guide 124, and guides and conveys the sheet bundle guided downward by the guide surface 124d further downstream. The saddle discharge upstream belt 127 is inclined downward in the vertical direction toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction. The saddle discharge downstream belt 129 serving as a sheet bundle discharge portion receives the sheet bundle conveyed from the saddle discharge upstream belt 127, and further guides and conveys the sheet bundle downstream. The saddle discharge downstream belt 129 is inclined upward in the vertical direction toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction. Therefore, the sheet bundle guided to the saddle discharge upstream belt 127 by the guide surface 124d is conveyed in a direction inclined downward in the vertical direction by the saddle discharge upstream belt 127, and is then conveyed in a direction inclined upward in the vertical direction by the saddle discharge downstream belt 129.
In addition, the saddle discharge upstream sensor 128 that detects the sheet bundle on the upstream side is disposed on the upstream side in a conveyable region of the saddle discharge upstream belt 127, and the saddle discharge downstream sensor 130 that detects the sheet bundle on the downstream side is disposed on the upstream side in a conveyable region of the saddle discharge downstream belt 129.
The sheet bundle passed on to the saddle discharge unit 131 is guided and conveyed by the saddle discharge upstream belt 127 and the saddle discharge downstream belt 129, and then the sheet bundle is stacked. The saddle discharge upstream belt 127 nips the sheet bundle at a nip point between the saddle discharge upstream belt 127 and the saddle discharge roller 125 described above on the downstream side in the conveyance direction. The sheet bundle present on the saddle discharge upstream belt 127 is configured to suppress opening on the opening side (for edge side) at this nip point. The position of this nip point can change about the second fulcrum 124c in accordance with the thickness of the sheet bundle.
While the succeeding sheet bundle is processed, the preceding sheet bundle is conveyed upstream in the conveyance direction by the saddle discharge upstream belt 127, and is stopped after a predetermined conveyance amount since being detected by the saddle discharge upstream sensor 128 or the saddle discharge downstream sensor 130. The position where the preceding sheet bundle stops corresponds to a position where the opening on the opening portion side of the preceding sheet bundle can be suppressed at the nip point between the saddle discharge upstream belt 127 and the saddle discharge roller 125, and to a position where the succeeding sheet comes into contact with the upper surface of the preceding sheet bundle when being discharged. That is, in the present embodiment, the succeeding sheet bundle is stacked on the preceding sheet bundle such that the sheet bundles partially overlap each other in the saddle discharge unit 131.
As described above, the saddle discharge unit 131 discharges the succeeding sheet bundle onto the upper surface of the preceding sheet bundle without entering the opening portion of the preceding sheet bundle, and thus the sheet bundles are stably stacked without occurrence of a failure such as getting caught by the preceding sheet bundle, getting curled against the preceding sheet bundle, or pushing out the preceding sheet bundle. That is, by appropriately changing the conveyance amount described above in accordance with the size of the sheet bundle, the succeeding sheet bundle can be stably stacked on the preceding sheet bundle.
The saddle discharge port 126 is disposed at a position downstream of the saddle discharge guide 124 in the first conveyance direction and between the saddle discharge upstream belt 127 and the saddle discharge downstream belt 129. The sheet bundle conveyed to the saddle discharge unit 131 passes through the saddle discharge port 126 to be discharged to the outside of the sheet processing apparatus B, and thus the user can easily access the discharged sheet bundle.
To be noted, in the case where another apparatus is present on the downstream side of the saddle discharge unit 131, the sheet bundle can be passed on to the downstream apparatus by continuing the conveyance without the stacking. In addition, in the present embodiment, a discharge cover 151 serving as a cover member is provided on the outside of the saddle discharge port 126. The discharge cover 151 is disposed so as not to interrupt discharge of the sheet bundle from the saddle discharge port 126 and such that an operator such as a user cannot access the inside of the apparatus through the saddle discharge port 126.
Next, the control of the square back process of the present embodiment will be described with reference to
In the square back process, the half-folding controller 344 conveys the sheet bundle Sb subjected to the half-folding to the gap between the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 in the separated state in response to detection of the leading end of the sheet bundle Sb by the saddle conveyance sensor 117. Then, as illustrated in
In this state, the square back process controller 345 drives the clamp driving motor 132 (
Next, the square back process controller 345 operates the driving motor 135 (
Next, the control for receiving the sheet bundle in the square back process in the present embodiment will be described with reference to
Here, the half-folding conveyance path C4 in which the sheet bundle subjected to the half-folding process is conveyed will be described with reference to
The half-folding conveyance path C4 is bent such that the sheet bundle conveyed by the folding roller pair 113 is passed on to the saddle third roller pair 118 as described above. Therefore, the length L of the conveyance path is a length along this bent path. For example, the maximum size of the sheet on which the half-folding process by the half-folding processing portion 112 can be performed is 13 inch×19 inch (330.2 mm×482.6 mm). In addition, in the present embodiment, the length L of the conveyance path from the folding roller pair 113 to the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121 is set to 254 mm. Therefore, the length L of the conveyance path is larger than 241.3 mm, which is a half of the length of the long side of the sheet of the maximum size.
Therefore, as will be described next, the sheet or sheet bundle included in the succeeding sheet bundle (second sheet bundle) can be accumulated on the saddle stacking tray 150 while the preceding sheet bundle (first sheet bundle) is in the half-folding conveyance path C4. That is, in the receiving control for the sheet bundle in the present embodiment, at least one sheet included in the second sheet bundle subsequent to the first sheet bundle is conveyed toward the saddle stacking tray 150 by the conveyance unit 410 in a state in which conveyance of the first sheet bundle, which is to be subjected to the square back process, by the saddle third roller pair 118 is stopped.
In the description below, the flow of the control of performing the square back process successively on a plurality of sheet bundles by using the sheet bundle receiving control of the present embodiment configured in this manner will be described with reference to a flowchart of
First, in S101 of
Further, as illustrated in
Next, the saddle path switching member 33 is switched from the second guiding position to the first guiding position, and as illustrated in
Next, in S102 of
Then, as illustrated in
At this time, as illustrated in
Next, as illustrated in
Next, as illustrated in
When the sheet bundle Sb1 is conveyed to a position to be nipped by the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121, the sheet is no longer detected by the saddle stacking sensor 106 in the saddle stacking tray 150 as illustrated in
That is, the conveyance unit 410 conveys at least one sheet included in the sheet bundle Sb2 accumulated in the stacking path 400 toward the saddle stacking tray 150 in a state in which the conveyance of the sheet bundle Sb1 by the saddle third roller pair 118 is stopped. In the present embodiment, the two sheets S21 and S22 are conveyed to the saddle stacking tray 150.
The relationship between the timing of the sheet absence detection by the saddle stacking sensor 106 and the timing of starting the conveyance of a sheet of the sheet bundle Sb2 is set on the basis of the position of the saddle stacking sensor 106 and the conveyance speed of the sheet bundle in the half-folding conveyance path C4. That is, the timing of start of the sheet conveyance of the sheet bundle Sb2 is set in consideration of the time from detection of the absence of sheet by the saddle stacking sensor 106 to a time point at which the trailing end of the sheet bundle Sb1 moves out of the saddle stacking tray 150 to the half-folding conveyance path C4.
To be noted, conveyance of at least one sheet included in the second sheet bundle Sb2 to the saddle stacking tray 150 may be performed at a timing at which the conveyance of the sheet bundle Sb1 by the saddle third roller pair 118 is stopped regardless of the detection of presence or absence of a sheet by the saddle stacking sensor 106. This is because at the timing at which the saddle third roller pair 118 is stopped, the sheet bundle Sb1 has been conveyed to a position to be nipped by the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121, and the trailing end of the sheet bundle Sb1 is not on the saddle stacking tray 150.
Therefore, the timing of start of the conveyance of at least one sheet included in the second sheet bundle Sb2 to the saddle stacking tray 150 may be, for example, before the saddle third roller pair 118 is stopped. Examples of this timing include a timing at which the half-folding process on the first sheet bundle Sb1 is started and timing after this timing. To be noted, it is preferable that the conveyance of the at least one sheet included in the second sheet bundle Sb2 to the saddle stacking tray 150 is completed before the square back process on the sheet bundle Sb1 is completed.
That is, (at least one) sheet constituting the succeeding sheet bundle may be accumulated on the saddle stacking tray 150 while the conveyance of the preceding sheet bundle by the saddle third roller pair 118 is stopped for performing the square back process. The period from the stop to the restart of the conveyance of the sheet bundle by the saddle third roller pair 118 is the period in which the square back process is performed, and the sheet of the succeeding sheet bundle is conveyed to the saddle stacking tray 150 in this period.
In addition, if the time taken to convey the first sheet bundle Sb1 accumulated on the saddle stacking tray 150 to a position to be nipped by the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121 after being subjected to the half-folding process is known in advance, the timing of start of conveyance of at least one sheet included in the sheet bundle Sb2 may be set on the basis of this time. Alternatively, the timing of the start of at least one sheet included in the sheet bundle Sb2 may be set in accordance with a time from arrival of the leading end of the sheet bundle Sb1 at the saddle conveyance sensor 117 to a time point when the sheet bundle Sb1 is conveyed to the position to be nipped by the lower clamp unit 120 and the upper clamp unit 121. In short, it suffices as long as the timing is such that the first sheet bundle Sb1 and a sheet included in the second sheet bundle Sb2 do not interfere with each other on the saddle stacking tray 150.
Next, as illustrated in
As described above, in the present embodiment, conveyance of at least one sheet included in the second sheet bundle Sb2 from the stacking path 400 is started while the conveyance of the first sheet bundle Sb1 by the saddle third roller pair 118 is stopped. Although the conveyance of the two sheets S21 and S22 included in the sheet bundle Sb2 is started in the present embodiment, the number of sheets conveyed at this timing varies depending on the sheet receiving timing of the second sheet bundle Sb2, the processing time in the saddle portion B2, and the like.
For example, one sheet included in the sheet bundle Sb2 may be conveyed, or three or more sheets may be conveyed. Further, in the case where the number of sheets in the sheet bundle Sb2 is small, all the sheets included in the sheet bundle Sb2 may be conveyed. That is, the number of sheets accumulated in the stacking path 400 in which the second sheet bundle and later sheet bundles are to be temporarily accumulated may be one, two, or more, and further may be the total sheet number of the sheet bundle. For example, in the case where the productivity of the image forming apparatus A is high and the processing time in the saddle portion B2 is long for improvement of the quality or the like, the number of sheets accumulated in the stacking path 400 may be increased in accordance with the processing performance of the apparatus (productivity of an upstream apparatus).
Next, as illustrated in
Next, as illustrated in
As described above, in the case of the present embodiment, at least one sheet included in the second sheet bundle Sb2 subsequent to the sheet bundle Sb1 is conveyed toward the saddle stacking tray 150 by the conveyance unit 410 in a state in which the conveyance of the first sheet bundle Sb1, which is to be subjected to the square back process, by the saddle third roller pair 118 is stopped. Therefore, deterioration of the productivity caused by execution of the square back process can be suppressed as compared with a case where the sheets included in the succeeding sheet bundle Sb2 are accumulated after the square back process on the sheet bundle Sb1 is finished and then the square back process is performed.
In addition, in the case of the present embodiment, a configuration in which the first sheet of the sheet bundle Sb2 is conveyed toward the stacking path 400 after the last sheet of the sheet bundle Sb1 is accumulated on the saddle stacking tray 150, and the plurality of sheets included in the sheet bundle Sb2 can be accumulated in the stacking path 400 while the saddle binding process, the folding process, and the like are performed on the sheet bundle Sb1. Therefore, when conveying a sheet included in the sheet bundle Sb2 to the saddle stacking tray 150 in the state in which the conveyance of the sheet bundle Sb1 by the saddle third roller pair 118 is stopped, more sheets can be conveyed, and deterioration of the productivity can be further suppressed.
Next, the positional relationship between the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 will be described with reference to
In the present embodiment, the saddle third roller pair 118 are provided such that, in the case where the straight line passing through the nip of the folding roller pair 113 is set as the first virtual line α2 and the straight line passing through the nip of the saddle third roller pair 118 is set as the second virtual line β2 as described above, the second virtual line β2 intersects with the first virtual line α2 and the second virtual line β2 is inclined downward in the vertical direction toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the folding roller pair 113 (see
Therefore, in the present embodiment, as illustrated in
First, the saddle third roller pair 118 will be described in detail with reference to
The holding mechanism 146 configured in this manner includes a first holding portion 148a, a first swing shaft 148b, a second holding portion 148c, a second swing shaft 148d, and an urging spring 149 serving as an urging portion. The first holding portion 148a holds the first roller 118a. The first swing shaft (saddle third upper roller fulcrum) 148b is disposed at a position displaced in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle with respect to a rotational axis 118d of the first roller 118a to be parallel to the rotational axis 118d, and swingably supports the first holding portion 148a. In the present embodiment, the first swing shaft 148b is disposed upstream of the rotational axis 118d in a first conveyance direction (saddle third roller conveyance direction 118c) of the saddle third roller pair 118.
The second holding portion 148c holds the second roller 118b. The second swing shaft (saddle third lower roller fulcrum) 148d is disposed at a position displaced in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle with respect to a rotational axis 118e of the second roller 118b to be parallel to the rotational axis 118e, and swingably supports the second holding portion 148c. In the present embodiment, the second swing shaft 148d is also disposed upstream of the rotational axis 118e in the first conveyance direction (saddle third roller conveyance direction 118c) of the saddle third roller pair 118. The urging spring 149 is connected to the first holding portion 148a and the second holding portion 148c, and urges the first roller 118a and the second roller 118b in a direction to approach each other.
As a result of the holding mechanism 146 configured in this manner, the first roller 118a and the second roller 118b are capable of moving in the thickness direction of the sheet bundle Sb respectively about the first swing shaft 148b and the second swing shaft 148d when the sheet bundle Sb passes through the gap between the first roller 118a and the second roller 118b. In addition, the first roller 118a and the second roller 118b are urged in a direction to approach each other by the urging spring 149. As a result of this, a nipping force acts on the sheet bundle Sb conveyed in the gap between the first roller 118a and the second roller 118b.
The first roller 118a and the second roller 118b are arranged such that the position where the nipping force acts is the same between the case where the sheet bundle Sb is present and the case where the sheet bundle Sb is not present. That is, the first roller 118a and the second roller 118b are arranged such that a nip line formed by the first roller 118a and the second roller 118b in the case where the sheet bundle Sb is not present approximately coincides with a line parallel to the first conveyance direction and passing through a middle point between the first roller 118a and the second roller 118b in the case where the sheet bundle Sb is present.
As described above, in the state in which the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 are positioned at the receiving position (first position), the upper clamp unit 121 is positioned above the second virtual line β2 in the vertical direction, and the lower clamp unit 120 is positioned below the second virtual line β2 in the vertical direction. Here, in the first conveyance direction, the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a serving as a first guide portion and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b serving as a second guide portion are disposed between the saddle third roller pair 118 and the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120.
As described above, the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a guides the sheet bundle Sb conveyed by the saddle third roller pair 118 to the gap between the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120, and relatively moves with respect to the lower clamp unit 120 together with the upper clamp unit 121. Similarly, the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b guides the sheet bundle Sb conveyed by the saddle third roller pair 118 to the gap between the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120, and relatively moves with respect to the upper clamp unit 121 together with the lower clamp unit 120. In the present embodiment, the upper clamp unit 121 and the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a move, and the lower clamp unit 120 and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b do not move. That is, the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 move from the first position to the second position as a result of the upper clamp unit 121 moving toward the lower clamp unit 120.
In the present embodiment, since the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b are disposed between the saddle third roller pair 118 and the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120, the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a is positioned above the second virtual line β2 in the vertical direction at the first position. Similarly, the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b is positioned below the second virtual line β2 in the vertical direction at the first position.
In addition, in the case of the present embodiment, in the state in which the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 are positioned at the first position, the distance D between the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 is larger than the thickness H of the sheet bundle that has been subjected to the half-folding process and that has the maximum thickness on which the square back process can be performed by the sheet processing apparatus B.
Similarly, in the state in which the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 are positioned at the first position, a distance E between the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b is also larger than the thickness H of the sheet bundle that has been subjected to the half-folding process and that has the maximum thickness on which the square back process can be performed by the sheet processing apparatus B.
Here, the sheet bundle on which the square back process can be performed is a sheet bundle on which the half-folding process can be performed, and is, for example, a sheet bundle of 30 sheets each having a grammage of 80 g/m2. To be noted, the maximum number of sheets of the sheet bundle on which the half-folding process can be performed varies depending on the grammage and type of the sheet, and for example, the maximum number of sheets in the sheet bundle decreases as the grammage increases. In addition, the thickness H of the sheet bundle that has been subjected to the half-folding process that has the maximum thickness on which the square back process can be performed is, for example, 5.7 mm (thickness of a sheet bundle of 30 sheets each having a grammage of 80 g/m2 subjected to the saddle binding process and the half-folding process). In addition, in the case of the present embodiment, the distance D between the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 is, for example, 15 mm at the first position that is the receiving position for the sheet bundle.
The distance D is the minimum distance between the upper clamping surface 142 and the lower clamping surface 143, which are surfaces where the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 face each other and which are surfaces for nipping the sheet bundle Sb, at the first position. The distance E is the minimum distance between the upper guide surface 119c and the lower guide surface 119d, which are surfaces where the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b face each other and which are surfaces for guiding the sheet bundle Sb, at the first position.
In the state in which the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 are at the first position, the sheet bundle Sb is conveyed to the gap between the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120. Then, in a state in which the spine Ssp of the sheet bundle Sb protrudes downstream more than the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 as illustrated in
In the case of the present embodiment, the upper clamp unit 121 has the upper clamping surface 142 that is a surface of the upper clamp unit 121 for nipping the sheet bundle, and the upper clamping surface 142 is positioned below the second virtual line β2 in the vertical direction at the second position as illustrated in
In the case of the present embodiment configured in this manner, at the first position, the upper clamp unit 121 and the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a are positioned above the second virtual line 32 in the vertical direction, and the lower clamp unit 120 and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b are positioned below the second virtual line β2 in the vertical direction. Further, at the first position, the distance D between the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 and the distance E between the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b are larger than the thickness H of the sheet bundle that has been subjected to the half-folding process and that has the maximum thickness on which the square back process can be performed by the sheet processing apparatus B. Therefore, even if the saddle third roller pair 118 is provided such that the second virtual line β2 intersects with the first virtual line α2 and is inclined downward in the vertical direction toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the folding roller pair 113, abutment of the sheet bundle conveyed by the saddle third roller pair 118 on the upper clamp unit 121 and the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a can be suppressed, or a load acting on the sheet bundle can be made small even if the abutment occurs. As a result of this, while realizing miniaturization of the sheet processing apparatus B, occurrence of a difference in the conveyance amount between a sheet on the upper side and a sheet on the lower side in the thickness direction of the sheet bundle can be suppressed, and deviation of the position of a spine center of the sheet bundle from a desired position for pressing the spine by a roller can be suppressed.
To be noted, the spine center of the sheet bundle is a position of a staple of the saddle binding processing portion (stapler) 104 used for the saddle binding process on the sheet bundle. Since the half-folding process is a process of folding the sheet bundle in half in the longitudinal direction, the position of the staple of the stapler in the saddle binding process is also the center of the sheet bundle in the longitudinal direction. A state in which the staple of the stapler is positioned at the center of a surface between corners formed on the spine of the sheet bundle is preferred for the product subjected to the square back process.
Although the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b are disposed between the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 and the saddle third roller pair 118 in the embodiment described above, at least one or both of the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a and the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b may be omitted. For example, in the case where both guides are omitted, it suffices as long as the upper clamp unit 121 and the lower clamp unit 120 satisfy the conditions described above. In this case, abutment of the sheet bundle conveyed by the saddle third roller pair 118 on the upper clamp unit 121 can be suppressed, or the load acting on the sheet bundle can be reduced even if the abutment occurs.
In addition, in the case where only the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b is omitted, the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a is positioned above the second virtual line β2 in the vertical direction at the first position. In this case, abutment of the sheet bundle conveyed by the saddle third roller pair 118 on the upper clamp unit 121 and the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a can be suppressed, or the load acting on the sheet bundle can be reduced even if the abutment occurs. In contrast, in the case where only the pre-clamp upper guide portion 119a is omitted, the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b is positioned below the second virtual line β2 in the vertical direction at the first position. In this case, abutment of the sheet bundle conveyed by the saddle third roller pair 118 on the pre-clamp lower guide portion 119b can be suppressed, or the load acting on the sheet bundle can be reduced even if the abutment occurs.
Although the stacking path 400 is described as a third accumulation portion where a sheet bundle subsequent to a preceding sheet bundle is temporarily accumulated in the control of performing the square back process successively on a plurality of sheet bundles in the embodiment described above, the third accumulation portion may be provided at a portion different from the stacking path 400. For example, a buffering path capable of temporarily accumulating a sheet conveyed to the conveyance path 28 may be additionally provided.
In addition, a sheet included in the succeeding sheet bundle may be directly conveyed from the conveyance path 28 to the saddle path 32 and the saddle stacking tray 150 without providing the third accumulation portion. Also in this case, at least one sheet included in the second sheet bundle subsequent to a first sheet bundle that is a preceding sheet bundle is conveyed to the saddle stacking tray 150 in the state in which the conveyance of the first sheet bundle by the saddle third roller pair 118 is stopped.
In addition, although the sheet processing apparatus B includes a controller and controls each component in the sheet processing apparatus B in the present embodiment, each component in the sheet processing apparatus B may be a component controlled by a controller included in the image processing apparatus.
In addition, although the image forming system 1000 in which the sheet processing apparatus B is directly connected to the image forming apparatus A has been described in the embodiment described above, a different system configuration may be employed. For example, a different processing apparatus, a conveyance apparatus, or the like may be connected between the image forming apparatus A and the sheet processing apparatus B. In addition, although description has been given in the above-described embodiment by using the image forming apparatus A that forms a monochromatic image by using a toner as an example, an image forming apparatus that forms a color image by using toner may be used, or an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet by using an ink may be used.
Further, although a roller pair has been described as an example of a conveyance portion that conveys a sheet in the sheet processing apparatus B in the embodiment described above, a configuration in which a sheet is conveyed by a belt may be employed. Specifically, any of a configuration in which a sheet is nipped and conveyed by a pair of belts, and a configuration in which a sheet is nipped by a belt and a roller may be employed, and the configuration for conveyance may be changed in accordance with the position and path at and through which the sheet is conveyed. For example, a configuration in which a sheet is conveyed by a pair of rollers at a certain position and the sheet is conveyed by a pair of belts at a different position may be employed.
Embodiment(s) of the present invention 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 comprise 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 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. 2023-140508, filed on Aug. 30, 2023 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-140507, filed on Aug. 30, 2023, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-140507 | Aug 2023 | JP | national |
| 2023-140508 | Aug 2023 | JP | national |
