Patent Application
20140291922
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-063259, filed Mar. 26, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus having the same.
A sheet processing apparatus is generally attached to an image forming apparatus and carries out a processing of a sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus. One type of the sheet processing apparatus performs predetermined post-processing such as sorting and stapling of one or more sheets. When a new sheet is conveyed from the image forming apparatus while the sheet processing apparatus is carrying out the post-processing on the one or more sheets, the new sheet needs to be put aside until the post-processing is completed. The sheet processing apparatus employs a large mechanism for putting aside the new sheet until the post-processing on the one or more sheets is completed.
According to an embodiment, a sheet processing apparatus includes a sheet tray, a processing unit configured to process one or more sheets that are placed on the sheet tray, a supporting member that is movable into and out of a conveying path of a sheet to be placed on the sheet tray, and a driving unit configured to move the supporting member into and out of the conveying path of the sheet. The supporting member includes a sheet support section that supports the sheet when the supporting member is moved into the conveying path.
Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present exemplary embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.
The controller 210 includes a processor 212 formed by a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or a Micro Processing Unit (MPU), a memory 214, and a storing device 220. The memory 214 is, for example, a semiconductor memory, and includes a Read Only Memory (ROM) 216 for storing various control programs and a Random Access Memory (RAM) 218 for providing a temporary working space to the processor 212. The storing device 220 is, for example, a hard disk drive and the other semiconductor storing device such as a magnetic storing device, an optical storing device, or a flash memory, or it may be a combination thereof. The controller 210 communicates with a main controller 110 of an image forming device 100. The controller 210 controls the sheet processor 200, based on the information received from the main controller 110 or various programs stored in the ROM 216 or the storing device 220.
The sensor 230 transmits inputs from respective sensors to the controller 210. The driving unit 235 controls respectively corresponding driving mechanisms depending on an instruction from the controller 210.
The inlet roller pair 240 receives a sheet on which an image is formed by an image forming unit of the image forming device 100, and conveys the sheet to the branching unit 242. The branching unit 242 guides the sheet to the first sheet discharge roller pair 244 or the outlet roller pair 246, according to an instruction of the controller 210 based on the type of the processing on the input sheet. The first sheet discharge roller pair 244 discharges a sheet to the fixed tray 248. The fixed tray 248 stores a sheet on which an image is formed by, for example, a copy function of the image forming device 100. The outlet roller pair 246 conveys a sheet towards the processing tray 250. The paddle 270 guides a sheet buffered on a supporting member to the processing tray 250.
The processing tray 250 receives sheets conveyed from the outlet roller pair 246. The sheets received by the processing tray 250 are, for example, sorted and stapled. The stapling process is performed by a stapler 280 provided upstream in the sheet conveying direction of the processing tray 250 (hereinafter, referred to as upstream), at a predetermined position of the sheets. The processed sheets are discharged to the sheet discharge tray 290.
The sheet discharge tray 290 stores the sheets discharged from the processing tray 250. The sheet discharge tray 290 in this embodiment is a movable tray which moves vertically depending on a sheet discharge from the processing tray 250 or the loaded amount of sheets. The sheet discharge tray 290 moves vertically when, for example, a sheet detection sensor detects the upper surface of a sheet that is discharged in the sheet discharge tray 290.
Here, the fixed tray 248, the processing tray 250, and the sheet discharge tray 290 are inclined in a way in which the downstream side thereof in the sheet conveying direction (hereinafter, referred to as downstream) is disposed higher.
Further, the processing tray 250 includes a pair of second sheet discharge rollers 258, ejectors 260, a belt 262, and a claw 264, in order to discharge the sheets to the sheet discharge tray 290. The second sheet discharge rollers 258 are provided in a front end portion in the sheet conveying direction on the sheet supporting surface (hereinafter, referred to as the front end portion). The second sheet discharge roller 258 of the embodiment includes, for example, four driving rollers. The ejector 260 protrudes upstream in the sheet conveying direction from the middle portion in the rear end of the processing tray 250. In the embodiment, two ejectors 260 are provided between the longitudinal alignment rollers 254 and be driven back and forth in the sheet conveying direction by a driving mechanism. The ejectors 260 convey stapled sheets so as to be caught by the claw 264. The claw 264 is attached to the belt 262. The belt 262 is conveyed around a driving roller and a driven roller (not illustrated) provided in the processing tray 250. The claw 264 moves along the sheet conveying direction, according to the movement of the belt 262 that is caused by the rotation of the driving roller. The claw 264 conveys the sheets passed from the ejectors 260 from the processing tray 250 to the sheet discharge tray 290, in cooperation with the second sheet discharge rollers 258.
The processing tray 250 further includes a supporting member 266 formed in an L-shape in order to “buffer” (i.e., temporarily support) a sheet. The supporting members 266 are respectively provided on the both sides in the width direction outside the movement range of the lateral alignment plates 252 on the processing tray 250. The supporting members 266 are connected to the processing tray 250 and driven between a first position and a second position around a connection portion connected to the processing tray 250 as a rotational axis. The driving mechanism is, for example, a motor or a solenoid. The above-described position of the supporting members 266 is only one example. That is, the supporting members 266 may be arranged at any position as long as it does not interrupt the moving of the lateral alignment plates 252 on the processing tray 250.
The first position of the supporting members 266 is in a state where the supporting members 266 are open upwardly (refer to
Hereinafter, the operation of the supporting members 266 will be described. When a sheet is conveyed to the processing tray 250, the controller 210 controls the supporting members 266 to be in the first position. In other words, when no processing is performed on a sheet on the processing tray 250, the controller 210 controls the supporting members 266 to be at the first position. On the other hand, when some processing is performed on a sheet on the processing tray 250, the controller 210 controls the supporting members 266 to be at the second position. In other words, when a sheet is buffered, the supporting members 266 are at the second position. The processing in this case means, for example, longitudinal alignment, lateral alignment, stapling, or sheet discharge processing of the stapled sheets to the sheet discharge tray 290. Further, by moving the supporting members 266 from the second position to the first position, the sheet placed on the supporting members 266 falls down to the processing tray 250. The supporting members 266 maybe urged toward one of the first and second positions by an elastic mechanism such as a spring and rotated to the other position by a driving mechanism for driving in one direction.
The respective members of the paddle 270 perform the following operations. The receiving portion 272 supports the rear end portion of a sheet in a state where the sheet is placed on the supporting members 266 (shown in
Hereinafter, referring to
At first, a request to execute the post-processing such as stapling on sheets is input, for example, to the image forming device 100 connected with the sheet processor 200 and the request is transferred to the controller 210 of the sheet processor 200. Then, a sheet on which an image is formed is discharged from the image forming device 100 and received by the inlet roller pair 240 of the sheet processor 200 shown in
During the stapling processing for the sheet bundle Pa, a third sheet P3 is conveyed by the outlet roller pair 246 (shown in
When the stapling processing is performed on the first sheet bundle Pa, the sheet bundle Pa is discharged from the processing tray 250 to the sheet discharge tray 290, according to the operations of the ejector 260, the claw 264 attached to the belt 262, the longitudinal alignment rollers 254, and the second sheet discharge rollers 258 (refer to
According to the first embodiment, by providing the supporting members that supports sheets above the processing tray, a mechanism for buffering a sheet can be downsized. By buffering a sheet following a sheet that is subject to a processing, more time can be secured for the processing. Further, as the sheet conveying time and the post-processing time of a sheet are overlapped, the productivity of the sheet processing apparatus does not need to be compromised. Further, even when the front end portions of the sheet bundle on the processing tray and the sheet bundle buffered on the supporting members are in touch with each other, the buffered sheet bundle is prevented from going out when the sheet bundle on the processing tray is discharged as the rear end chuck holds the buffered sheet bundle.
A sheet processor according to the second embodiment is different from the sheet processor 200 according to the first embodiment in that supporting members 266a are provided on the upper portions of the lateral alignment plates 252.
The lateral alignment plates 252 slide in the width direction during the sorting processing. When the supporting member 266a is short in the width direction, a buffered sheet may drop down during the sliding of the plates 252. Therefore, it is preferable that the length in the width direction of the supporting member 266a is formed longer at least than the sliding distance of the lateral alignment plate 252.
According to the second embodiment, the same effect as the first embodiment can be achieved. Further, since the supporting members are integrally formed with the lateral alignment plates, any sheet may be buffered regardless of the size of a sheet.
According to at least one embodiment described above, as the supporting members that support a sheet are provided above the processing tray, it possible to downsize a mechanism for buffering the sheet. By buffering a sheet that follows a sheet to be processed, more time may be secured for the processing. Further, as the sheet conveying time and the sheet post-processing time are overlapped, the productivity of the sheet processor does not need to be compromised.
The disclosure is not restricted to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible.
Further, the number of the sheets to be buffered is not limited to two as in the above embodiment. It may be properly changed depending on the sheet conveying speed and the processing time.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein maybe made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-063259 | Mar 2013 | JP | national |
