SHEET PROCESSING APPARATUS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-250989, filed Dec. 24, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate generally to a sheet processing apparatus for carrying out a post processing on a sheet on which an image is formed.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, a sheet processing apparatus is known which executes a post processing such as a stapling processing on sheets loaded on a processing tray. In order to adjust deviation between the sheets loaded on the processing tray which are subjected to the post processing, the sheet processing apparatus includes a member for adjusting (horizontally aligning) the deviation in a width direction of the sheet and a member for adjusting (vertically aligning) the deviation in a direction orthogonal to the width direction of the sheet. Particularly, with respect to the deviation in the direction orthogonal to the width direction of the sheet, the deviation of the sheets loaded on the processing tray is aligned by using a vertical alignment member that rotates around an axis of rotation extending in the width direction of the sheet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an image forming system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an electrical block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus and a sheet processing apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating details of the configuration of each section of the sheet processing apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating a relation between a standby tray and a paddle section according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the paddle section according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating standby positions of a first paddle and a second paddle according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a sheet moving processing (first operation) by the first paddle according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a vertical alignment processing (second operation) by the first paddle according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating stop positions of the first paddle and the second paddle according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a vertical alignment processing (third operation) by the second paddle according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state after the vertical alignment processing is completed by the first paddle and the second paddle according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the standby positions of the first paddle and the second paddle after the vertical alignment processing according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a processing for controlling rotation of the paddle section according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a timing chart illustrating a relation between time and speed of the paddle section according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a table illustrating a relation between the speed of the paddle section and the type of a sheet according to another embodiment; and

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a setting processing of the speed of the paddle section according to sheet type information according to the present embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with the present embodiment, a sheet processing apparatus comprises a standby section configured to buffer a sheet; a processing section configured to receive sheets supplied from the standby section and execute a post processing on the sheets; a rotational shaft configured to rotate around an axis of rotation; a paddle arranged in the rotational shaft and configured to contact the sheet and move the sheets by rotating with the rotational shaft, the paddle being configured to slide the sheets on the processing section to a stopper for aligning the sheets; and a controller configured to control a rotational speed of the rotational shaft to rotate the paddle at a first speed, and control the rotational speed of the rotational shaft to rotate the paddle at a second speed slower than the first speed while the paddle contacts the sheets on the processing section for aligning.

In accordance with another embodiment, a sheet processing method involves receiving a plurality of sheets on a processing section; rotating a paddle around an axis of rotation at a first speed; and rotating the paddle at a second speed slower than the first speed while the paddle contacts the sheets on the processing section for aligning by rotating with the axis of rotation.

Hereinafter, the sheet processing apparatus of the embodiment is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, in the following description, the same numerals are applied to configurations having identical or similar functions. Further, there is a case in which the repeated description of these configurations is omitted.

The sheet processing apparatus of a first embodiment is described with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 14. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the entire configuration of an image forming system. FIG. 2 is an electrical block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus and a sheet processing apparatus. The image forming system contains an image forming apparatus 1 and a sheet processing apparatus 2. The image forming apparatus 1 forms an image on a sheet-like medium (hereinafter, referred to as a “sheet”) such as a paper. The sheet processing apparatus 2 carries out a post processing on a sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus 1.

The image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a control panel 11, a scanner section 12, a printer section 13, a sheet feed section 14, a sheet discharge section 15 and an controller 16.

The control panel 11 has interface including various keys for receiving operations of a user. For example, the control panel 11 receives an input relating to a type of the post processing of the sheet. The control panel 11 sends information relating to the input type of the post processing to the sheet processing apparatus 2.

The scanner section 12 includes a reading section for reading image information of a copy object. The scanner section 12 sends the read image information to the printer section 13.

The printer section 13 forms an image (hereinafter, referred to as a “toner image”) with a developing agent such as toner on the basis of the image information sent from the scanner section 12 or an external device. The printer section 13 transfers the toner image onto a surface of the sheet. The printer section 13 fixes the toner image by applying heat and pressure to the toner image transferred onto the sheet.

The sheet feed section 14 supplies the sheets one by one to the printer section 13. The sheet discharge section 15 conveys the sheet from the printer section 13 to the sheet processing apparatus 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the controller 16 controls all operations of the image forming apparatus 1. In other words, the controller 16 controls the control panel 11, the scanner section 12, the printer section 13, the sheet feed section 14 and the sheet discharge section 15. The controller 16 is formed by a control circuit containing a CPU, a ROM and a RAM that are not shown.

Next, the configuration of the sheet processing apparatus 2 is described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet processing apparatus 2 is arranged adjacent to the image forming apparatus 1. The sheet processing apparatus 2 executes a post processing designated through the control panel 11 or the external device such as the client PC on the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus 1. For example, the post processing includes a stapling processing or a sorting processing.

The sheet processing apparatus 2 includes a standby section 21, a processing section 22, a discharge section 23 and a controller 24. The standby section 21 temporarily buffers a sheet S (refer to FIG. 3) conveyed from the image forming apparatus 1. For example, the standby section 21 enables a plurality of succeeding sheets S to stand by while the post processing on the preceding sheet S is carried out by the processing section 22. The standby section 21 is arranged above the processing section 22. The standby section 21 enables the buffered sheet S to drop towards the processing section 22 if the sheet in the processing section 22 is discharged to the discharge section 23.

The processing section 22 carries out the post processing on the sheet S. For example, the processing section 22 carries out the stapling processing on a plurality of the aligned sheets S. In this way, a plurality of the sheets S is bound together by staples. The processing section 22 discharges the sheet S to which the post processing is carried out to the discharge section 23.

The discharge section 23 includes a fixed tray 23a and a movable tray 23b. The fixed tray 23a is arranged on the upper part of the sheet processing apparatus 2. The movable tray 23b is arranged on the side of the sheet processing apparatus 2. The sheet S to which the stapling processing or the sorting processing is carried out is discharged to the movable tray 23b.

As shown in FIG. 2, the controller 24 controls all operations of the sheet processing apparatus 2. In other words, the controller 24 controls the standby section 21, the processing section 22 and the discharge section 23. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the controller 24 controls an inlet roller 32a, an exit roller 33a, a paddle section 25 (or paddle) and a paddle motor 28. The controller 24 includes a control circuit containing a CPU, a ROM and a RAM that are not shown.

FIG. 3 illustrates a configuration of each section of the sheet processing apparatus 2. Furthermore, a “sheet conveyance direction” described in the present embodiment refers to a conveyance direction D of the sheet S to the standby tray 211 of the standby section 21 (an approach direction of the sheet S to a standby tray 211) or a direction in which the sheet S is conveyed from a processing tray 221 to the movable tray 23b.

Further, an “upstream side” and a “downstream side” described in the present embodiment respectively refer to the upstream side and the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction D. Further, a “front end part” and a “back end part” described in the present embodiment respectively refer to “the end part of the downstream side” and “the end part of the upstream side” in the sheet conveyance direction D. In the present embodiment, a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction D is referred to as a sheet width direction W.

Hereinafter, the details of the configuration of each section of the sheet processing apparatus 2 are described based on FIG. 3. A conveyance path 31 is a conveyance path from a sheet supply port 31p to a sheet discharge port 31d. The sheet supply port 31p is arranged at a position facing the image forming apparatus 1. The sheet S is supplied from the image forming apparatus 1 to the sheet supply port 31p. On the other hand, the sheet discharge port 31d is located in the vicinity of the standby section 21. The sheet S discharged from the image forming apparatus 1 is discharged to the standby section 21 via the conveyance path 31.

The inlet rollers 32a and 32b are arranged in the vicinity of the sheet supply port 31p. The inlet rollers 32a and 32b convey the sheet S supplied to the sheet supply port 31p towards the downstream side of the conveyance path 31. For example, the inlet rollers 32a and 32b convey the sheet S supplied to the sheet supply port 31p to the exit rollers 33a and 33b.

The exit rollers 33a and 33b are arranged in the vicinity of the sheet discharge port 31d. The exit rollers 33a and 33b receive the sheet S conveyed by the inlet rollers 32a and 32b. The exit rollers 33a and 33b convey the sheet S from the sheet discharge port 31d to the standby section 21.

The standby section 21 includes the standby tray (buffer tray) 211, a conveyance guide 212, discharge rollers 213a and 213b and an opening and closing driving section (not shown).

The back end part of the standby tray 211 is located in the vicinity of the exit rollers 33a and 33b. The back end part of the standby tray 211 is located slightly below the sheet discharge port 31d of the conveyance path 31. The standby tray 211 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction in such a way as to gradually rise towards the downstream side of the sheet conveyance direction D. The standby tray 211 stacks a plurality of the sheets S to enable them to stand by while the post processing is carried out by the processing section 22.

FIG. 4 illustrates a relation between the standby tray 211 and the paddle section 25 described later. As shown in FIG. 4, the standby tray 211 includes a first tray member 211a and a second tray member 211b. The first tray member 211a and the second tray member 211b are separated from each other in a sheet width direction W. The first tray member 211a and the second tray member 211b is driven by the opening and closing driving section and move in a mutually approaching direction and in a mutually separating direction.

The first tray member 211a and the second tray member 211b support the sheet S conveyed from the exit rollers 33a and 33b in a state in which the first tray member 211a and the second tray member 211b approach each other. On the other hand, the first tray member 211a and the second tray member 211b are separated in the mutually separating direction in the sheet width direction W to enable the sheet S to move from the standby tray 211 towards the processing tray 221. In this way, the sheet S supported by the standby tray 211 drops from a space between the first tray member 211a and the second tray member 211b towards the processing tray 221. In other words, the sheet S moves from the standby tray 211 to the processing tray 221.

An assist arm 41 shown in FIG. 3 is arranged above the standby tray 211. For example, the length of the assist arm 41 is approximately half or more of that of the standby tray 211 in the sheet conveyance direction D. In the present embodiment, the assist arm 41 has the approximately same length as the standby tray 211 in the sheet conveyance direction D. The assist arm 41 is a plate-like member extending upwards the standby tray 211. The sheet S discharged from the exit rollers 33a and 33b enters into the space between the assist arm 41 and the standby tray 211.

The processing section 22 shown in FIG. 3 includes the processing tray 221, a stapler 222, conveyance rollers 223a and 223b, and a conveyance belt 224, a stopper 225 and a horizontal alignment plate 51.

The processing tray 221 is arranged below the standby tray 211. The processing tray 221 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction in such a way as to gradually rise towards the downstream side of the sheet conveyance direction D. The processing tray 221 is inclined approximately parallel to the standby tray 211. As for a plurality of sheets S moved to the processing tray 221, deviation between the sheets S in the sheet width direction W is aligned by the horizontal alignment plate 51.

The stapler 222 is arranged at an end part of the processing tray 221. The stapler 222 carries out a stapling (binding) processing on a bundle of the predetermined number of sheets S located on the processing tray 221.

The conveyance rollers 223a and 223b are arranged at a predetermined interval in the sheet conveyance direction D. The conveyance belt 224 is stretched over the conveyance rollers 223a and 223b. The conveyance belt 224 is rotated in synchronization with the conveyance rollers 223a and 223b. The conveyance belt 224 conveys the sheet S between the stapler 222 and the discharge section 23.

The stopper 225 is arranged at the upstream side of the sheet conveyance direction when viewed from the conveyance roller 223b. The stopper 225 is a member for receiving an end of the sheets S moved from the standby tray 211 to the processing tray 221 to align them in the sheet conveyance direction. In other words, the stopper 225 is a member serving as a sheet reference position when an alignment processing in the sheet conveyance direction is executed. In other words, the sheets S moved towards the upstream side of the sheet conveyance direction through a first paddle 25a and a second paddle 25b described later are struck against the stopper 225 to be aligned in the sheet conveyance direction. Hereinafter, aligning the sheets in the sheet conveyance direction is referred to as a vertical alignment processing.

The paddle section 25 shown in FIG. 3 includes the first paddle 25a, the second paddle 25b, an rotational shaft 26 and a rotating body 27.

The rotational shaft 26 is a rotation center of the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b described later. The rotational shaft 26 is located below the standby tray 211. The rotational shaft 26 extends in the sheet width direction W. The rotational shaft 26 receives driving force from the paddle motor 28 to rotate in an arrow A direction (in a counter-clockwise direction) in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the detailed configuration of the paddle section 25. The paddle section 25 includes the first paddle 25a, the second paddle 25b and the rotating body 27.

The rotating body 27 is a cylindrical shape with a part of region missed. The rotating body 27 includes a protrusion 271. The protrusion 271 is fitted into a groove preset in the rotational shaft 26 to be detachably mounted in the rotational shaft 26. If the rotational shaft 26 is rotated in the rotation direction A (in the counter-clockwise direction) in FIG. 3, the rotating body 27 is also rotated integrally in the same direction. Further, as the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b are mounted in the rotating body 27, if the rotational shaft 26 is rotated in the arrow A direction in FIG. 3, the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b are rotated in the counter-clockwise direction together with the rotating body 27.

The first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b are formed with an elastic material such as rubber or resin. The first paddle 25a protrudes to the diameter direction of the rotating body 27 to be mounted in the rotating body 27. The first paddle 25a has a length L1 in the diameter direction of the rotating body 27. The first paddle 25a has a shape in which a thickness d1 at the mounting position to the rotating body 27 is different from a thickness d2 of the front end of the paddle. In detail, the first paddle 25a has the thickness d1 in a region from the mounting position x0 to the rotating body 27 to a position x1 protruding in the diameter direction of the rotating body 27. The first paddle 25a has a shape in which the thickness d1 is gradually decreased towards the position x2 in the region from the position x1 to the position x2. The first paddle 25a has the thickness d2 (<d1) in the region from the position x2 to the position x3. The first paddle 25a ensures the strength thereof due to the thickness d1 between the position X0 and the position X1. By contrast, a noise generated by contact of the first paddle 25a against the sheet supported by the stand-by tray 211 (as shown in FIG. 7) is reduced due to the thickness d2 thinner than d1 between the position X2 and the position X3. Furthermore, a noise generated by contact of the first paddle 25a against the sheet supported by the processing tray 221 (as shown in FIG. 8) is reduced due to the thickness d2 thinner than d1 between the position X2 and the position X3.

As shown in FIG. 5, the second paddle 25b is arranged to have a predetermined angle with respect to the first paddle 25a. In other words, the second paddle 25b is arranged to have a predetermined distance away from the rear of the first paddle 25a in the rotation direction A in FIG. 3.

The second paddle 25b protrudes to the diameter direction of the rotating body 27 to be amounted in the rotating body 27. The second paddle 25b has a length L2 shorter than the length L1 of the first paddle 25a in the diameter direction of the rotating body 27. Further, the second paddle 25b has a shape in which the thickness d1 at the mounting position to the rotating body 27 is thicker than the thickness d2 of the front end of the paddle, which is identical to the first paddle 25a. The shape of the second paddle 25b is identical to that of the first paddle 25a, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

A series of operations of the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b is described with reference to FIG. 6 to FIG. 12.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating standby positions before the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b are driven to rotate. The “standby positions” refer to positions at which the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b stand by when the sheet S is conveyed from the exit rollers 33a and 33b towards the standby tray 211 to be stacked or the sheet S is directly conveyed from the exit rollers 33a and 33b to the processing tray 221. In other words, the “standby positions” refer to the positions where the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b wait when the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b do not carry out the vertical alignment processing on the sheets.

In FIG. 6, the first paddle 25a is arranged at a position at which the first paddle 25a does not protrude towards the downstream side of the sheet conveyance direction D with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the exit roller 33b when viewed from an axis 33c of the exit roller 33b. From a different point of view, when viewed from the standby tray 211, the first paddle 25a is located at the upstream side of the conveyance direction with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the exit roller 33b located in the vicinity of the standby tray 211 and is arranged at a position at which the conveyance of the sheet S conveyed from the exit roller 33b to the standby tray 211 is not disturbed. The second paddle 25b is arranged at a position at which the front end part thereof is apart from the sheets S on the processing tray 221 at only a predetermined distance.

FIG. 7 illustrates a state in which the first paddle 25a contacts with the sheet S to be moved from the standby tray 211 to the processing tray 221. If the predetermined number of sheets S is stacked on the standby tray 211, the controller 24 drives a pair of the standby tray members 211a and 211b in the mutually separating direction in the sheet width direction W to move the buffered sheets S to the processing tray 221.

The controller 24 drives the paddle motor 28 to rotate the rotational shaft 26. The first paddle 25a is rotated with the rotation of the rotational shaft 26 and contact with the sheet S dropped from the standby tray 211 at a speed V1. Then the first paddle 25a forces the sheets S towards the processing tray 221. An operation, that is, the first paddle 25a contacts with the sheet S to move the sheet S from the standby tray 211 to the processing tray 221, is referred to as a first operation.

FIG. 8 illustrates an operation of the vertical alignment processing to the sheets S on the processing tray 221 by the first paddle 25a through the further rotation of the first paddle 25a in the arrow A direction (in the counter-clockwise direction).

The first paddle 25a is further rotated in the arrow A direction to guide the sheet S onto the processing tray 221 and contacts with the processing tray 221 across the sheet S to become a bent state (refer to FIG. 8) from the state shown in FIG. 7. The first paddle 25a is rotated in the arrow A direction at a speed V2 to be kept in the bent state and moves the sheet S towards the stopper 225 located at the upstream side of the sheet conveyance direction from the processing tray 221. In other words, the first paddle 25a sandwiches a plurality of the sheets S together with the processing tray 221 and draws the sheets S into the stopper 225 to carry out the vertical alignment processing. The operation of carrying out the vertical alignment processing on the sheets S by the first paddle 25a is referred to as a second operation.

FIG. 9 illustrates states of the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b after the vertical alignment processing on the sheets S by the first paddle 25a shown in FIG. 8.

The controller 24 controls rotation of the rotational shaft 26 to suspend the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b after the first paddle 25a separates from the sheets and before the second paddle 25b contacts with the sheets. The controller 24 controls the paddle motor 28 to stop the rotation of the rotational shaft 26 if the first paddle 25a arrives at a position away from the sheets S on the processing tray 221 after the first paddle 25a executes the vertical alignment processing on the sheets S. In this way, the rotation of the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b is stopped. The second paddle 25b is stopped in such a way as to be positioned at the position away from the sheets S on the processing tray 221 at only the predetermined distance. In other words, after the vertical alignment processing on the sheets S is carried out by the first paddle 25a, the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b are controlled to stop the rotation operation thereof in such a way as to be mutually positioned at the positions away from the sheets S on the processing tray 221 at only the predetermined distance.

The reason why the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b are stopped at the positions away from the sheets S on the processing tray 221 at only the predetermined distance is described as follows. After the vertical alignment processing is carried out on the sheets S by the first paddle 25a, a processing (horizontal alignment processing) of aligning the end parts of the width direction of the sheets in the sheet width direction W is executed by the horizontal alignment plate 51. At the time of the horizontal alignment processing, if the first paddle 25a or the second paddle 25b contacts with the sheet S, the processing (horizontal alignment processing) of aligning the end parts of the width direction of the sheets is disturbed, and thus the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b are separated from the sheet S.

FIG. 10 illustrates the operation of the vertical alignment processing of the sheets S by the second paddle 25b. The controller 24 controls the drive of the paddle motor 28 to rotate the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b again in the arrow A direction at a speed V3. The first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b receive the drive force of the paddle motor 28 to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction.

Hereinafter, the second paddle 25b is concentratedly described. The second paddle 25b contacts with the sheet S in the bent state to carry out a drawing-in operation towards the stopper 225. The operation of carrying out the vertical alignment processing on the sheet S by the second paddle 25b is referred to as a third operation.

The reason why the vertical alignment processing is further carried out through the second paddle 25b is described as follows. When the first paddle 25a draws the sheet S into the stopper 225, there is a case in which a drawing-in quantity of the sheets S becomes excessive. The drawing-in quantity of the sheets amounts to a force to slide a sheet on the processing tray 211 towards to the stopper 225 by the first paddle 25a or the second paddle 25b. In this case, the sheets S strike against the stopper 225 and move towards the sheet conveyance direction D through repulsive force, and there is a possibility that the alignment of the sheets S in the sheet conveyance direction cannot be executed with high accuracy. Thus, after the first paddle 25a carries out the drawing-in operation of the sheet S, the second paddle 25b carries out the drawing-in operation again to execute the vertical alignment processing again on the sheets S to which the vertical alignment processing cannot be sufficiently carried out by the first paddle 25a, and it is possible to improve the aligning state in the sheet conveyance direction. While the first paddle 25a makes one rotation, it is possible to execute the vertical alignment processing twice by the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b, which contributes to the high speed of the sheet processing without the need of rotating the paddle section for many times.

Furthermore, the drawing-in quantity of the sheets S by the second paddle 25b may be smaller than that by the first paddle 25a because the first paddle 25a has already executed the vertical alignment processing before the second paddle 25b contact with the sheet on the processing tray 221. For example, the length L2 of the second paddle 25b may be shorter than the length L1 of the first paddle 25a as stated above. Hereby, the area where the sheets S and the second paddle 25b contact with each other is smaller than the area where the sheets S and the first paddle 25a contact with each other. Therefore, it is possible that the drawing-in quantity of the sheets S by the second paddle 25b is smaller than that of the sheets S by the first paddle 25a.

Furthermore, in one embodiment the Young's modulus of materials of the second paddle 25b may be smaller than that of the first paddle 25a so that the stress generated due to the bend of the second paddle 25b is smaller than that generated due to the bend of the first paddle 25a. Also, as for the hardness of the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b, in one embodiment the second paddle 25b may be softer than the first paddle 25a. Further, as for the relation between the thicknesses of the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b, in one embodiment the second paddle 25b may be thinner than the first paddle 25a. Particularly, it is preferable that apart of second paddle 25b where the second paddle 25b contact with the sheet on the processing tray 221 is thinner than a part of the first paddle 25a where the first paddle 25a contact with the sheet on the processing tray 221.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state after the vertical alignment processing is completed by the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b.

After the vertical alignment processing is executed by the second paddle 25b, the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b stop after rotating to the positions indicated by solid lines in FIG. 11. Dotted lines shown in FIG. 11 indicate the standby positions (refer to FIG. 6) of the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b. The controller 24 rotates the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b to the positions (positions indicated by the solid lines) exceeding the standby positions after the vertical alignment processing by the second paddle 25b to certainly separate the second paddle 25b after the vertical alignment processing from the sheets S on the processing tray 221. In this way, the second paddle 25b stops in a state where it contacts with the sheets S on the processing tray 221, and it is suppressed that a negative influence is applied to sheet aligning properties at the time succeeding sheets are conveyed to the processing tray.

Then, the controller 24 controls the paddle motor 28 to rotate in a direction (in a clockwise direction) opposite to the arrow A direction and positions the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b at the standby positions.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a state where the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b return to the standby positions. The first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b wait for that the succeeding sheets are received by the standby tray 211 in a state where they are located at the standby positions.

Next, the concrete control of the speed at the time of a series of operations of the paddle section shown in FIG. 13 to FIG. 14 is described.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a processing for controlling the paddle section 25 (the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b) by the controller 24. FIG. 14 is a timing chart in which the horizontal axis indicates time and the vertical axis indicates the speed of the paddle section 25 (the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b). Furthermore, in the following description, there is also a case in which the paddle section 25 (the first paddle 25a and the second paddle 25b) is simply referred to as the paddle section 25.

The controller 24 forward rotates the paddle motor 28 to control the paddle section 25 to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotational shaft 26. Further, the controller 24 backward rotates the paddle motor 28 to control the paddle section 25 to rotate in the clockwise direction with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotational shaft 26.

Firstly, if a plurality of sheets is buffered on the standby tray 211, the controller 24 drives the paddle motor 28 to forward rotate (Act 101) to rotate the paddle section 25 in the counter-clockwise direction at the speed V1 (Act 102). The paddle section 25 receives the driving force of the paddle motor 28 to be accelerated, and after the speed thereof reaches the speed V1, maintains the speed V1 to rotate until reaching a preset angle (for a period from time 0 to time t1 shown in FIG. 14). The first paddle 25a contacts with the sheet to be moved from the standby tray 211 to the processing tray 221 at the speed V1 to give assistance in order to accelerate the movement of the sheet to the processing tray (refer to FIG. 7). In other words, the first paddle 25a of the paddle section 25 executes the first operation at the speed V1.

Next, the controller 24 determines whether or not the paddle section 25 is rotated at a preset angle θ1 from the standby position (refer to FIG. 6) in the counter-clockwise direction (Act 103). If it is determined that the paddle section 25 is rotated at the preset angle θ1 (Yes in Act 103), the controller 24 controls the drive of the paddle motor 28 while the speed of the paddle section 25 becomes the speed V2 slower than the speed V1 (Act 104). In other words, the paddle section 25 is gradually decelerated from the speed V1 to the speed V2, and if the speed reaches the V2, continuously rotates at the speed V2 until reaching a preset angle θ2 (for a period from the time t1 to time t2 shown in FIG. 14). At this time, the first paddle 25a carries out the vertical alignment processing serving as the second operation on the sheets S moved to the processing tray 221 at the speed V2 (refer to FIG. 8). The controller 24 enables the first paddle 25a to contact with the sheets on the processing tray 221 at the speed V2 slower than the speed V1 to execute the vertical alignment processing to suppress slipping at the time the first paddle 25a contacts with the surface of the sheet and align the end parts of the sheets in the sheet conveyance direction with high accuracy.

The controller 24 determines whether or not the paddle section 25 is rotated at the preset angle θ2 (>θ1) from the standby position (refer to FIG. 6) (Act 105). If it is determined that the paddle section 25 is rotated at the preset angle 92 (Yes in Act 105), the controller 24 controls the drive of the paddle motor 28 to stop the rotation of the paddle section 25. In this way, the paddle section 25 temporarily stops the rotation (Act 106). In other words, the paddle section 25 is gradually decelerated to the speed 0 from the speed V2 (for a period from the time t2 to time 3 shown in FIG. 14).

After that, the paddle section 25 is positioned at a position away from the sheets on the processing tray to be stopped as shown in FIG. 9 (for a period from the time t3 to time t4 shown in FIG. 14).

After the rotation of the paddle section 25 is temporarily stopped, the controller 24 determines whether or not a predetermined time elapses (Act 107). If it is determined that the predetermined time elapses (Yes in Act 107), the controller 24 drives the paddle motor 28 to forward rotate again (Act 108), the paddle section 25 is rotated at the speed V3 slower than the speed V2 in the counter-clockwise direction (Act 109). The paddle section 25 is gradually accelerated to the speed V3 from the stop state, and if the speed reaches the V3, continuously rotates at the speed V3 until reaching a preset angle θ3 (>θ2). The second paddle 25b of the paddle section 25 carries out the vertical alignment processing serving as the third operation on the sheets moved to the processing tray 221 at the speed V3 as shown in FIG. 10 (for a period from the time t4 to time t5 shown in FIG. 14). Next, the controller 24 determines whether or not the paddle section 25 is rotated at the preset angle 53 from the standby position (refer to FIG. 6) in the counter-clockwise direction (Act 110). If it is determined that the paddle section 25 is rotated at the preset angle θ3 (Yes in Act 110), the controller 24 controls the drive of the paddle motor 28 to stop the rotation of the paddle section 25 (Act 111). In other words, the paddle section 25 is gradually decelerated to the speed 0 from the speed V3 (for a period from the time t5 to time t6 shown in FIG. 14).

The controller 24 stops the rotation of the paddle section 25 (ACT 111). The paddle section 25 is positioned at a position only for a predetermined time where the paddle section 25 moves at a predetermined angle from the standby position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 11 in the counter-clockwise direction (for a period from the time t6 to time t7 shown in FIG. 14). The paddle section 25 often moves at the predetermined angle to prevent that the paddle section 25 is maintained on the processing tray 221 in the bent state and prevent that the influence is applied to the sheet S aligning properties on the processing tray 221.

The controller 24 drives the paddle motor 28 to backward rotate to rotate the paddle section 25 at an angle θ0 in the clockwise direction (Act 112). If it is determined that the paddle section 25 is rotated at an angle θ0 (Yes in Act 113), the controller 24 stops the paddle section 25. The paddle section 25 is rotated at a speed—V4 from the stop state (for a period from the time t7 to time t8 shown in FIG. 14).

If it is determined that the paddle section 25 is rotated at an angle θ0 in the clockwise direction (Yes in Act 113), the controller 24 stops the backward rotation to stop a series of operations (Act 114).

Furthermore, in the foregoing description, it is described that the controller 24 switches the speed of the paddle section 25 based on the angle at which the paddle section 25 is rotated; however, the reference of the change of the speed is not limited to this. For example, the speed of the paddle section 25 may be changed based on the number of steps of the paddle motor 28.

According to the present embodiment, it is possible that the speed V1 at the time of the first operation of moving the sheet S from the standby tray 211 to the processing tray 221 is set to a speed quicker than the speed V2 at the time of the second operation of carrying out the vertical alignment processing on the sheets S placed on the processing tray 221 to shorten the processing time when the sheet S is moved from the standby tray 211 to the processing tray 221.

Further, from another point of view, by setting the speed V2 at the time of the second operation to the speed slower than the speed V1 at the time of the first operation, it is possible to suppress the slipping at the time the first paddle 25a contacts with the surface of the sheet S and execute the vertical alignment processing with high accuracy.

According to the present embodiment, by setting the speed V3 at the time of the third operation of carrying out the vertical alignment processing on the sheets S placed on the processing tray 221 after the second operation to the speed slower than the speed V1 at the time of the first operation and the speed V2 at the time of the second operation, it is possible to certainly contact the paddle section 25 with the sheets S to execute the vertical alignment processing of the sheets S.

Second Embodiment

A sheet processing apparatus 2 of the second embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the sheet processing apparatus 2 of the first embodiment, includes a function of setting a rotational speed of the paddle section 25 according to the type of the sheet by the controller 24.

If the paddle section 25 carries out the vertical alignment processing on the sheets at the same speed regardless of the types of the sheets (size, grammage and the like), there is a case in which the force applied by the paddle section is not sufficient according to the types of the sheets, and a case of leading to misalignment is also considered.

According to the sheet processing apparatus 2 of the second embodiment, the speed of the paddle section 25 is changed according to the types of the sheets such as the size or the grammage of the sheet, and thus the paddle section 25 is possible to execute the vertical alignment processing with high accuracy.

FIG. 15 is a table 150 illustrating a relation between the types of the sheets and the speeds of the paddle section 25. Information shown in the table 150 of FIG. 15 is stored in, for example, the RAM in the controller 24 in advance.

The middle row 1501 of the table 150 indicates that the paddle section 25 respectively executes the first operation at the speed V1, the second operation at the speed V2 and the third operation at the speed V3 correspondingly in a case in which the sheet serving as an object processed by the sheet processing apparatus 2 is a plain paper. On the other hand, the lower row 1502 of the table 150 indicates that the paddle section 25 respectively executes the first operation at a speed V1′, the second operation at a speed V2′ and the third operation at a speed V3′ correspondingly in a case in which the sheet serving as an object processed by the sheet processing apparatus 2 is a thick paper.

The relation between the speed of the paddle section 25 in the case of the plain paper and that in the case of the thick paper is set to the following relation: V1>V1′, V2>V2′ and V3>V3′. In other words, even in any operation of the first operation, the second operation and the third operation carried out by the paddle section 25, it is set that the speed when the paddle section 25 carries out the operation on the thick paper is slower than that the paddle section 25 carries out the operation on the plain paper. In other words, the larger the grammage of the sheet is, the slower the rotational speed of the paddle section 25 is.

The reason why the speed is set in this way is as follows. The grammage of the thick paper is larger than that of the plain paper, and thus the paddle section 25 needs larger force to move the thick paper towards the stopper compared with the case of the plain paper. Therefore, by setting the speed of the paddle section 25 in the case of the thick paper to be slower than that in the case of the plain paper, it is possible to transfer the force acting on the sheet by certainly contacting the paddle section 25 with the sheet.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a setting processing of the speed of the paddle section 25 corresponding to sheet type information, which is executed by the controller 24. The controller 24 determines whether or not the sheet type information of the thick paper is received from the image forming apparatus 1 (Act 201). If the sheet type information of the thick paper is received (Yes in Act 201), the controller 24 respectively sets the speed at the time of the first operation of the paddle section 25 to the V1′, the speed at the time of the second operation thereof to the V2′ and the speed at the time of the third operation thereof to the V3′ according to the table in FIG. 15 (Act 202).

On the other hand, if the sheet type information of the thick paper is not received (No in Act 201), the controller 24 respectively sets the speed at the time of the first operation of the paddle section 25 to the V1, the speed at the time of the second operation thereof to the V2 and the speed at the time of the third operation thereof to the V3 according to the table in FIG. 15 (Act 203). The setting processing of the speed of the paddle section 25 is completed through the foregoing processing in Act 201-Act 203. Furthermore, the speed in the case of the plain paper may be set to a default value in advance.

After that, the controller 24 enables the paddle section 25 to operate according to the control shown in FIG. 13 at the speed set in the setting processing in FIG. 16. For example, if the controller 24 receives the information set as the thick paper, the speed is set as the speed V1′ in ACT 102, the speed is set as the speed V2′ in ACT 104 and the speed is set as the speed V3′ in ACT 109 in FIG. 13, and the paddle section 25 executes the corresponding operation at the corresponding speed.

According to the second embodiment, in a case in which the grammage of the sheet is larger than a preset grammage, by setting the speed of the paddle section 25 to be slower, it is possible to suppress the slipping of the paddle section 25 contacting with the sheet at the time of the vertical alignment processing serving as the second operation of the paddle section 25 and obtain a fine alignment state.

Furthermore, in the foregoing description, it is exemplified that the speed of the paddle section 25 is set according to the grammage of the sheet; however, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present embodiment may be an embodiment in which the speed of the paddle section 25 is set according to the size of the sheet. In this case, if the size of the sheet is larger than a preset size of the sheet, the speed of the paddle section 25 is set to be slower than the preset speed.

In this way, by setting the speed of the paddle section 25 to a speed slower than the speed set according to the preset size of the sheet, the paddle section 25 and the sheet can certainly contact with each other, and the force acting on the sheet can be transferred.

Through the above, according to the second embodiment, as the speed of the paddle section is changed according to the type of the sheet, it is possible to suppress the slipping of the paddle section contacting with the sheet S. Further, the proper alignment quantity can be obtained according to the type of the sheet.

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 invention. 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 may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the invention.

SHEET PROCESSING APPARATUS

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CPC

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Priority Claims (1)