JP2023004092A - Sheet processing device and image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a sheet processing device that prevents a transportation failure caused by the hooking of a sheet to a rotor pair.SOLUTION: A sheet processing device comprises: a projecting member projecting a sheet in the projecting direction from a space between a first transportation guide and a first loading guide; a rotor pair for folding the sheet by holding the sheet projected by the projecting member with a nip part and rotating; guide means provided in a first direction between the first transportation guide and the first loading guide, and guiding the sheet in the first direction, or a second direction inverse to the first direction, at a space between the first transportation guide and the first loading guide; and pressing means pressing a folded sheet in the pressing direction of bringing one side sheet facing via a fold close to the other side sheet at a space between the first loading guide and the first transportation guide, when moving the folded sheet to the second direction by setting the fold at a leading side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 35

Description

The present invention relates to, for example, a sheet processing apparatus for folding sheets sent from an image forming apparatus and an image forming system having the same.

Conventionally, there has been provided a sheet processing apparatus for processing a sheet sent from an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a combination of these machines. For example, a sheet processing apparatus is known in which a sheet sent from an image forming apparatus is protruded by a thrust plate and pushed into a nip portion of a pair of folding rollers, and the sheet is nipped and conveyed by the pair of folding rollers to fold the sheet in half. there is

In this sheet processing apparatus, the pair of folding rollers and the veneer are arranged to face each other with a stacking guide on which sheets sent from the image forming apparatus are stacked. , and the above-described folding process is performed on the sheet. During this process, in order to prevent the sheet passing between the stacking guide and the folding roller pair from being caught by the folding roller pair, the guide member is brought into contact with the peripheral surface of the folding roller to guide the sheet. A configuration has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2017-114648

2. Description of the Related Art Among sheet processing apparatuses that fold a sheet, there is a sheet processing apparatus that performs a tri-folding process in which a folded sheet is further folded at different portions. In this sheet processing apparatus, when the folded sheet is fed again between the pair of folding rollers and the stacking tray, it is conceivable that the sheet is transported in a direction opposite to the transport direction in the first folding process. In that case, with the configuration described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200000, the sheet may be caught by the pair of folding rollers when it is fed again between the pair of folding rollers and the stacking tray.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming system having the same that can prevent a sheet from being caught by a pair of folding rollers.

A typical configuration according to the present invention for achieving the above object includes a first conveying guide that guides a sheet, and a second conveying guide that is arranged opposite the first conveying guide and guides the sheet. a conveying guide pair that guides the sheet conveyed between the first conveying guide and the second conveying guide in a first direction; a first stacking guide arranged at a predetermined distance from the first conveying guide for guiding sheets; a second stacking guide arranged opposite to the first stacking guide for guiding sheets; a pair of stacking guides for guiding in the first direction a sheet transported between the first stacking guide and the second stacking guide through the pair of transporting guides; a sheet moving means for moving the sheet in the first direction or in a second direction opposite to the first direction; a projecting member configured to be movable in a projecting direction toward the side of the first transport guide and a return direction that is the reverse direction thereof, and projects the sheet in the projecting direction from between the first transport guide and the first stacking guide; a pair of rotating bodies arranged downstream of the first conveying guide in the projecting direction, and nipping and rotating the sheet projected by the projecting member at a nip portion to perform folding processing on the sheet; provided between the first conveying guide and the first stacking guide in the direction of , and between the rotating body pair and the second conveying guide in the projecting direction; Guide means for guiding the sheet in a first direction or a second direction between the first stacking guide and the sheet moving means with the folded sheet that has been subjected to the folding process with the crease due to the folding process leading. When moving in the second direction, pressing between the first stacking guide and the first conveying guide to bring the sheet on one side facing the folded sheet closer to the sheet on the other side through the fold line of the folded sheet. and pressing means for pressing the folded sheet in the direction.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the sheet from being caught by the pair of rotating bodies.

1 is an explanatory diagram of the overall configuration of an image forming system according to the present embodiment; FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the overall configuration of a sheet processing apparatus in an image forming system; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a folding device of the sheet processing device; FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the sheet folding device; (a) and (b) are cross-sectional explanatory diagrams of an operation of folding a sheet into three. (a) and (b) are cross-sectional explanatory diagrams of an operation of folding a sheet into three. (a) and (b) are cross-sectional explanatory diagrams of an operation of folding a sheet into three. (a) and (b) are cross-sectional explanatory diagrams of an operation of folding a sheet into three. (a) and (b) are cross-sectional explanatory diagrams of an operation of folding a sheet into three. (a) and (b) are cross-sectional explanatory diagrams of an operation of folding a sheet into three. (a) and (b) are cross-sectional explanatory diagrams of an operation of folding a sheet into three. FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the sheet folding device; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of a pair of folding rollers, a folding blade, and a pressing guide member; (a), (b), and (c) diagrams for explaining the operation of the pressing guide member (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of the operation of the folding blade and the blade guide member. (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of the operation of the folding blade and the blade guide member. (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of the operation of the folding blade and the blade guide member. (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of the operation of the folding blade and the blade guide member. (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of the operation of the folding blade and the blade guide member. FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the folding operation in the sheet folding processing apparatus; 6 is a flowchart of folding operation in the sheet folding processing apparatus; 6 is a flowchart of folding operation in the sheet folding processing apparatus; 4 is a perspective view of a blade guide member; FIG. (a), (b), and (c) are top explanatory views of the operation of the folding blade and the blade guide member. Cross-sectional explanatory drawing of the operation|movement of a folding blade and a blade guide member. Cross-sectional explanatory drawing of the operation|movement of a folding blade and a blade guide member. Cross-sectional explanatory drawing of the operation|movement of a folding blade and a blade guide member. Cross-sectional explanatory drawing of the operation|movement of a folding blade and a blade guide member. Cross-sectional explanatory drawing of the operation|movement of a folding blade and a blade guide member. (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of a deflection guide member. (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of a deflection guide member. (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of a deflection guide member. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the sheet folding device; (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of the operation of the deflection guide. (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of the operation of the deflection guide. (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of the operation of the deflection guide. (a) and (b) are sectional explanatory views of the operation of the deflection guide.

Next, a sheet processing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention and an image forming system having the same will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall configuration of an image forming system equipped with a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system 100 has an image forming apparatus A that forms an image on a sheet, and a sheet processing apparatus B that processes the sheet sent from the image forming apparatus A. As shown in FIG.

<Overall Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus>
The image forming apparatus A is composed of an image forming unit A1, a scanner unit A2 and a feeder unit A3. The image forming unit A1 includes a paper feeding section 2, an image forming section 3, a paper discharging section 4, and a data processing section 5 inside an apparatus housing 1. As shown in FIG.

The paper feeding unit 2 is composed of a plurality of cassette mechanisms 2a, 2b, and 2c for accommodating image forming sheets of different sizes, and feeds sheets of a size designated by a main control unit (not shown) to a paper feeding path 2f. Each of the cassette mechanisms 2a, 2b, and 2c is installed detachably from the paper feeding unit 2, and incorporates a separating mechanism for separating sheets one by one and a paper feeding mechanism for feeding out the sheets. The paper feed path 2f is provided with transport rollers for feeding the sheets supplied from the cassette mechanisms 2a, 2b, and 2c to the downstream side, and a pair of registration rollers for aligning the leading edges of the sheets at the end of the path. ing.

A large-capacity cassette 2d and a manual feed tray 2e are connected to the paper feed path 2f. The large-capacity cassette 2d is composed of an option unit that stores sheets of a size that are consumed in large quantities. The manual feed tray 2e is configured to be able to supply special sheets such as thick paper sheets, coating sheets, and film sheets that are difficult to separate and feed.

The image forming unit 3 is configured using an electrophotographic method in this embodiment, and includes a rotating photosensitive drum 3a, a light emitting device 3b for emitting an optical beam, a developing device 3c, and a cleaner ( not shown). The illustrated one is a monochrome printing mechanism, in which a photosensitive drum 3a whose circumferential surface is uniformly charged is irradiated with light according to an image signal from a light emitting device 3b to optically form a latent image, which is then developed. A toner image is formed by depositing toner with the device 3c.

The sheet is sent to the image forming section 3 from the paper feed path 2f in synchronization with the timing of image formation on the photosensitive drum 3a, and the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 3a is transferred onto the sheet by applying a transfer bias from the transfer charger 3d. to be transcribed. The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred is heated and pressurized when passing through the fixing device 6 to fix the toner image, discharged from the discharge port 4b by the discharge roller 4a, and sent to the sheet processing apparatus B, which will be described later. be transported.

The scanner unit A2 includes a platen 7a on which an image original is placed, a carriage 7b that reciprocates along the platen 7a, photoelectric conversion means 7c, and a reduction optical system 7d. The reduction optical system 7d guides the reflected light from the document on the platen 7a by the carriage 7b to the photoelectric conversion means 7c. The photoelectric conversion means 7c photoelectrically converts the optical output from the reduction optical system 7d into image data, and outputs the image data to the image forming section 3 as an electric signal.

The scanner unit A2 also has a traveling platen 7e for reading the sheet fed from the feeder unit A3. The feeder unit A3 has a paper feed tray 8a for stacking document sheets, a paper feed path 8b for guiding the document sheets fed from the paper feed tray 8a to the traveling platen 7e, and stores the document sheets passing through the traveling platen 7e. It is composed of the discharge tray 8c. A document sheet from the paper feed tray 8a is read by the carriage 7b and the reduction optical system 7d when passing the traveling platen 7e.

<Overall Configuration of Sheet Processing Apparatus>
Next, the overall configuration of the sheet processing apparatus B that processes sheets sent from the image forming apparatus A will be described.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the sheet processing apparatus B according to this embodiment. The sheet processing apparatus B includes an apparatus housing 11 provided with a transport port 10 for introducing sheets from the image forming apparatus A. As shown in FIG. The apparatus housing 11 is arranged in alignment with the apparatus housing 1 of the image forming apparatus A so that the transport opening 10 communicates with the sheet ejection opening 4b of the image forming apparatus A. As shown in FIG.

The sheet processing apparatus B includes a sheet transport path 12 for transporting sheets introduced from a transport port 10, and first, second and third discharge paths branched from the sheet transport path 12. 13c, first path switching means 14a, and second path switching means 14b. The first path switching means 14a and the second path switching means 14b are each composed of a flapper guide for changing the conveying direction of the sheet conveyed on the sheet conveying path 12. As shown in FIG.

The first path switching means 14a has a mode in which a driving means (not shown) guides the sheet from the transport port 10 in the direction of the first discharge path 13a that conveys the sheet in the horizontal direction and the second discharge path 13b that conveys it downward. , and a mode for guiding the sheet to the third discharge path 13c for upward conveyance. The first paper discharge path 13a and the second paper discharge path 13b can reverse the conveying direction of the sheet once introduced to the first paper discharge path 13a and switch back and convey it to the second paper discharge path 13b. It communicates like

The second path switching means 14b is arranged downstream of the first path switching means 14a with respect to the conveying direction of the sheet conveyed on the sheet conveying path 12. As shown in FIG. The second path switching means 14b has a mode in which the sheet that has passed through the first path switching means 14a is introduced into the first discharge path 13a by a drive means (not shown), and a mode in which the sheet once introduced into the first discharge path 13a is introduced into the first discharge path 13a. The mode is switched back to the second discharge path 13b.

The sheet processing apparatus B includes a first processing section B1, a second processing section B2, and a third processing section B3 that perform different processes. Further, a punch unit 15 for punching holes in the conveyed sheet is arranged on the sheet conveying path 12 .

The first processing unit B1 is a binding processing unit that aligns and binds. The first processing section B1 accumulates and collates a plurality of sheets conveyed from the sheet discharge port 16a at the downstream end of the first sheet discharge path 13a in the conveying direction of the sheets conveyed on the sheet conveying path 12. After binding, the sheets are discharged onto a stacking tray 16b provided outside the apparatus housing 11. FIG. The first processing section B1 also includes a sheet conveying device 16c that conveys sheets or a sheet bundle, and a binding processing unit 16d that binds the sheet bundle. A discharge roller pair 16e is provided at the downstream end of the first discharge path 13a to discharge the sheet from the discharge port 16a and to switch back and convey the sheet from the first discharge path 13a to the second discharge path 13b. It is

The second processing unit B2 is a folding processing unit that folds the sheets that are switchback-conveyed from the second discharge path 13b into a sheet bundle of a plurality of sheets, binds the sheet bundle, and then folds the sheet bundle. . The second processing section B2 includes a folding processing device F that folds the conveyed sheet or sheet bundle, and a folding processing device F immediately upstream of the folding processing device F along the sheet conveying direction of the sheet conveyed to the second discharge path 13b. and a binding processing unit 17a arranged on the side to bind the sheet bundle. The folded sheet bundle is discharged onto a stacking tray 17c provided outside the apparatus housing 11 by a discharge roller 17b.

The third processing section B3 divides the sheets sent from the third discharge path 13c into a group in which the sheets are stacked with a predetermined amount of offset in the sheet width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, and a group in which the sheets are stacked without being offset. Perform jog sorting. The jog-sorted sheets are discharged to a stacking tray 18 provided outside the device housing 11, and offset sheet bundles and non-offset sheet bundles are stacked.

FIG. 3 schematically shows the overall configuration of the second processing section B2. As described above, the second processing section B2 includes the folding processing device F that folds the sheet bundle conveyed from the second sheet discharge path 13b, and the stacked and collated sheet bundle into two, and the sheet bundle that has not yet been folded. and a binding unit 17a for binding. The illustrated binding processing unit 17a is a stapler device that binds a sheet bundle by driving staples.

A sheet conveying path 20 is connected to the second discharge path 13b to convey the sheet to the folding device F. As shown in FIG. With respect to the conveying direction of the sheet conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21 from the second discharge path 13b, the sheet stacking tray 21 forming a part of the sheet conveying path 20 performs folding processing on the downstream side of the sheet conveying path 20. It is provided for positioning and stacking sheets. Immediately upstream of the sheet stacking tray 21, the binding processing unit 17a and its staple receiving portion 17d are provided at opposite positions with the sheet conveying path 20 interposed therebetween.

On one side of the sheet stacking tray 21, a pair of folding rollers 22 as a pair of folding rollers are arranged so as to face one surface of the sheets or sheet bundles stacked on the sheet stacking tray 21. . The folding roller pair 22 is composed of a pair of folding rollers 22a and 22b whose roller surfaces are brought into pressure contact with each other, and a nip portion 22c, which is a pressure contact portion, is arranged facing the sheet stacking tray 21. As shown in FIG. The folding rollers 22a and 22b are spaced substantially equally between the sheet stacking tray 21 and the sheet stacking tray 21 along the conveying direction of the sheet conveyed from the upper upstream side to the lower downstream side. are arranged side by side. In the present invention, the rotating portion of the pair of folding rotating members is not limited to the folding rollers 22a and 22b of the present embodiment, and can be configured by a rotating belt or the like. Further, the folding roller pair 22 can be configured by continuously arranging a plurality of folding rollers (rotating bodies) in series along the axial direction of each of the folding rollers 22a and 22b.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the folding rollers 22a and 22b of the folding roller pair 22 of this embodiment has first roller surfaces 22a2 and 22b2 and second roller surfaces 22a3 and 22b3. The first roller surfaces 22a2 and 22b2 have a constant radius R1 around the rotation axes of the rotation shafts 22a1 and 22b1, respectively. The second roller surfaces 22a3 and 22b3 have distances from the rotation axes of the rotation shafts 22a1 and 22b1 that are smaller than the radius R1 of the first roller surfaces. The first roller surfaces 22a2 and 22b2 are made of a rubber material or the like having a relatively high coefficient of friction, like normal roller surfaces. On the other hand, the second roller surfaces 22a3 and 22b3 are made of a plastic resin material or the like whose coefficient of friction is smaller than that of the first roller surfaces 22a2 and 22b2.

The rotating shafts 22a1 and 22b1 of the folding rollers 22a and 22b are rotationally driven by a common driving means such as a driving motor. Thereby, the rotational positions of the first roller surfaces 22a2, 22b2 and the second roller surfaces 22a3, 22b3 can always be synchronized with each other.

A folding blade 23 as a protruding member is arranged on the opposite side of the folding roller pair 22 with the sheet stacking tray 21 interposed therebetween. The folding blade 23 is carried by the blade carrier 24 with its tip facing the nip portion 22 c of the folding roller pair 22 . The blade carrier 24 is traversed substantially perpendicularly across the sheet stacking tray 21 by a moving means composed of a cam member or the like, that is, crosses the conveying direction of the sheet conveyed from the second discharge path 13b to the sheet stacking tray 21. It is provided so that it can run in the direction.

3, i.e., in the axial direction of the folding roller, on both sides of the blade carrier 24, cam members 25 each comprising a pair of mirror-symmetrical eccentric cams (only one of them is shown in the figure). are provided at opposing positions. The cam member 25 is rotated around a rotating shaft 25a provided at an eccentric position thereof by driving means such as a driving motor. A cam groove 25b is formed in the cam member 25 along its outer peripheral edge.

The blade carrier 24 is provided with a cam pin 24c as a cam follower, which is slidably fitted into the cam groove 25b.

The blade carrier 24 reciprocates toward or away from the sheet stacking tray 21 when the cam member 25 is rotated by the drive motor. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the blade carrier 24 linearly moves the folding blade 23 between the initial position and the maximum protruding position along the protruding path connecting the two positions. be able to. The initial position is a position where the tip of the folding blade 23 has not entered the sheet conveying path formed by the sheet stacking tray 21 . The maximum protruding position is the position where the folding roller pair 22 is sandwiched between the nip portions 22c.

At the lower end of the sheet stacking tray 21, a regulating stopper 26 is arranged to abut and regulate the leading edge of the conveyed sheet in the conveying direction. The regulation stopper 26 is provided so as to be vertically movable along the sheet stacking tray 21 by a sheet lifting mechanism 27 .

The sheet lifting mechanism 27 of this embodiment is a conveyor belt comprising a pair of pulleys 27a and 27b arranged near the upper and lower ends along the sheet stacking tray 21, and a transmission belt 27c wound around the both pulleys. mechanism. The sheet lifting mechanism 27 is arranged below the blade carrier 24 at the initial position. The initial position of the blade carrier 24 is a position on the back side of the sheet stacking tray 21 where the tip of the folding blade 23 does not enter the sheet conveying path formed by the sheet stacking tray 21 . The regulation stopper 26 is fixed on the transmission belt 27c. The pulley 27a or 27b on the drive side is rotated by a drive means such as a drive motor to move the transmission belt 27c stretched over both pulleys. As a result, the regulation stopper 26 fixed to the transmission belt 27c moves up and down between the lower end position shown in FIG. 3 and a desired height position. A sheet or a bundle of sheets can be moved along the sheet stacking tray 21 by raising and lowering the regulation stopper 26 .

The regulation stopper 26 and the sheet lifting mechanism 27 constitute sheet moving means for moving the sheet in the conveying direction (first direction) or in the moving direction (second direction) opposite to the conveying direction. Here, as the moving means, a configuration is exemplified in which the tip of the sheet conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21 in the conveying direction (end portion on the downstream side in the first direction) is supported by the regulation stopper 26 and moved. However, it is not limited to this. For example, if the sheet moving means is configured to move the sheet in the conveying direction or the moving direction opposite to the conveying direction (second direction), the sheet is moved by a pair of rollers, or by gripping the side surface of the sheet. Other configurations, such as a configuration to move, may be used.

The folding device F of the present embodiment further includes a sheet side aligning mechanism for aligning and aligning the side edges of the sheets conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21 . As shown in FIG. 4, the sheet side aligning mechanism includes a pair of sheet side aligning members 28a and 28b symmetrically arranged on both sides of the sheet stacking tray 21 in the sheet width direction (direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction). have 4 is a schematic plan view of the folding device F viewed from above. The sheet side aligning members 28a and 28b are movably held so as to move toward and away from each other in the sheet width direction. By moving the sheet side aligning members 28a and 28b, the sheet is aligned in the width direction with respect to the sheet conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21 and the leading edge of the sheet abutting the regulation stopper 26. FIG.

<Inner tri-fold processing>
The sheet processing apparatus B of the present embodiment can fold the sheet conveyed by the folding processing apparatus F onto the sheet stacking tray 21 serving as the sheet conveying path into three inwards. In the inner three-folding process, the sheet is folded in two by the first folding process, and the second folding process is performed on the sheet at a position different from the first folding position. In addition, the in-three-folding process is performed so that when the second folding process is performed, one end of the sheet folded in the first folding process is folded inside the sheet folded in the second folding process. and fold it in three. 5 to 11, a schematic operation of the fold processing apparatus F according to the present embodiment when performing the inner three-fold processing will be described. 5 to 11 are cross-sectional schematic diagrams showing the movement of each part along the flow of the sheet S when the inward three-folding process is executed.

The sheet stacking tray 21 of this embodiment is formed to be inclined with respect to the vertical direction. The sheet S is conveyed so that one surface thereof is guided by a guide surface 21a forming the sheet stacking tray 21 and dropped with the sheet leading edge S1 downward and the sheet trailing edge S2 upward, and the sheet leading edge S1 reaches the regulation stopper. 26 and stops (Fig. 5(a)). At this time, the position of the regulation stopper 26 is arranged so that the first folding position of the sheet S against which the leading end S1 of the sheet abuts is the position facing the folding blade 23 . The folding blade 23 is arranged at a position to project the sheet S toward the folding roller pair 22 from the side of the guide surface 21 a of the sheet stacking tray 21 . In other words, the guide surface 21a of the sheet stacking tray 21 and the pair of folding rollers 22 are arranged at corresponding positions with the sheet S interposed therebetween.

In this state, after the position in the sheet width direction is aligned by the sheet side alignment members 28 a and 28 b described above, the folding blade 23 is operated to fold the sheet S in two, and the folded portion is nipped by the folding roller pair 22 . It sticks out to the portion 22c (FIG. 5(b)). In synchronism with the thrusting operation of the folding blade 23, the pair of folding rollers 22 and the discharge roller 17b are driven to rotate forward, and the sheet S is drawn into the pair of folding rollers 22 and the discharge roller 17b. As a result, the sheet S is pressed by the nip portion of the folding roller pair 22 and subjected to the first folding process (FIG. 6A).

Next, in order to perform the second folding process, the sheet conveyance is stopped when the trailing edge S2 of the sheet that has undergone the first folding process reaches a predetermined position (FIG. 6B), and the folding roller pair 22 And the discharge roller 17b is reversely driven to execute the switchback conveying process. The trailing edge S2 of the sheet becomes an edge portion (hereinafter referred to as a "folding edge portion") that is folded inside the sheet that is folded in the second folding process when the sheet is folded in three. When the switchback conveying process is performed, the folded end portion S2 is pushed downward (toward the sheet stacking tray 21 where the sheet leading edge S1 is located) by the L-shaped pressing guide member 30 (FIG. 7A). In addition, the pressing guide member 30 again guides the sheet S conveyed in the direction in which the regulation stopper 26 of the sheet stacking tray 21 is arranged (FIG. 7B). The configuration and operation of this pressing guide member 30 will be described later in detail.

Due to the switchback conveyance, the leading edge of the sheet S reaches the regulation stopper 26 that has been moved to the sheet receiving position in advance (FIG. 8A). Then, after the pressing guide member 30 is returned to the retracted position, it is moved to the reverse conveying guide position (FIG. 8(b)), and the regulating stopper 26 is moved so that the second folding position faces the folding blade 23. (Fig. 9(a)). After the movement is completed, the pressing guide member 30 is moved to a guide position parallel to the guide surface 21a of the sheet stacking tray 21 (FIG. 9B).

Next, the folding blade 23 is operated again to push the sheet S into the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22 (FIG. 10(a)). At this time, a blade guide member 40, which is a protruding guide member arranged above the folding blade 23, protrudes so that the folded edge S2 of the sheet is guided to be pushed into the nip portion 22c (FIG. 10(b)). )). The configuration and operation of this blade guide member 40 will also be described in detail later.

The sheet S sent to the pair of folding rollers 22 by the protrusion of the folding blade 23 is subjected to a second folding process by passing through the nip portion 22c (FIG. 11(a)), and the sheet S folded in three is folded inward. It is discharged by the discharge roller 17b (FIG. 11(b)).

<Press guide member>
Next, the pressing guide member 30, which is the pressing member described above, will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the folding device F with the pressure guide member 30 exposed, and FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between the rotation trajectory of the pressure guide member 30 and other members. 14A and 14B are diagrams for explaining the operation of the pressing guide member 30. FIG.

(Shape of pressing guide member)
The pressing guide member 30 presses the folding end S2 of the sheet downward and guides the sheet to be conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21 when the sheet that has undergone the first folding process is conveyed by switchback. is. In other words, the pressing guide member 30 changes the orientation of the folded edge S2 of the sheet to the direction of the leading edge S1 of the sheet on the sheet stacking tray 21 when switchback-conveying the sheet that has undergone the first folding process. It is also a redirection member that

As shown in FIG. 12 (and see FIG. 4), the pressing guide member 30 sandwiches the sheet S guided by the guide surface 21a of the sheet stacking tray 21 and is located on the side opposite to the side on which the folding roller pair 22 is arranged. are placed in In the present embodiment, three of them are attached to the rotating shaft 31, which is a support member arranged in the seat width direction, side by side at substantially equal intervals. The two on both sides are arranged at positions where they can come into contact with both ends of the sheet S conveyed on the sheet stacking tray 21, and the central one is arranged at a position where they can come into contact with the conveyed sheet at substantially the center in the width direction. It is

The pressing guide member 30 is movable by moving means. In this embodiment, the rotating shaft 31 is connected to the pressing guide motor 33 via a drive transmission member 32 such as a drive belt, and the rotating shaft 31 is rotated by the driving of the pressing guide motor 33, and integrated therewith. Generally, three pressing guide members 30 are configured to be rotatable.

As shown in FIG. 13, the pressing guide member 30 includes a rotating portion 30a that can rotate about a rotating shaft 31, and a guide portion 30b that serves as a first guide surface for guiding the sheet S conveyed in a switchback manner. have. The pressing guide member 30 is composed of a member having an L-shaped cross section in which a guide portion 30b is connected substantially perpendicularly to a rotating portion 30a. A pressing portion 30c that presses the sheet S is formed between the rotating portion 30a and the guide portion 30b, that is, the L-shaped corner portion that is the tip of the rotating portion 30a.

The pressing guide member 30 is provided so as to form a notch in the guide surface 21a and be exposed therefrom. When the sheet S is conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21, it is retracted to the retracted position (see FIG. 5A). When in this retracted position, the rotating portion 30a is provided so as to be substantially flush with the guide surface 21a. Therefore, the rotating portion 30 a functions as a part of the guide surface 21 a and acts as a guide surface (second guide surface) that guides the sheets conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21 . When the pressure guide member 30 is at the retracted position, the guide portion 30b is prevented from protruding from the guide surface 21a. Therefore, the accommodation space for the pressure guide member 30 can be reduced in the retracted state.

(Rotating center position)
As shown in FIG. 13, the rotation shaft 31, which is the center of rotation of the pressing guide member 30, is positioned so that the sheet S is positioned closer to the sheet S than the nip line L1 connecting the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22 and the leading edge of the folding blade 23, as shown in FIG. It is arranged on the upstream side in the conveying direction in which the sheet is conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21 . Further, the rotating shaft 31 of the pressing guide member 30 is arranged on the side opposite to the side on which the folding roller pair 22 is arranged with the guide surface 21a of the sheet stacking tray 21 interposed therebetween. Further, the rotating shaft 31 of the pressing guide member 30 passes through the rotating shaft 22a1 of the folding roller 22a, which is closer to the rotating shaft 31 of the folding rollers 22a and 22b, than the axis line L2 parallel to the nip line L1. are also arranged on the downstream side in the conveying direction. Of the folding rollers 22a and 22b, the folding roller closer to the rotating shaft 31 is the folding roller arranged upstream of the nip line L1 in the sheet conveying direction.

The rotating portion 30a is set so as to rotate in a direction in which the pressing portion 30c presses the sheet S to the switchback conveying side.

Therefore, when the sheet S that has undergone the first folding process is conveyed in a switchback, the pressing guide member 30 in the retracted position rotates as shown in FIG. 14(a). Then, as shown in FIG. 14B, the pressing portion 30c of the pressing guide member 30 presses down the folded edge S2 of the sheet from above the folded edge S2. As a result, the folded end portion S2 is guided downstream (downward) in the sheet conveying direction in which the sheet S is received by the sheet stacking tray 21 before the sheet stacking tray 21 is subjected to the first folding process while being switchback-conveyed. be. In other words, the pressing portion 30c changes the orientation of the folded end portion S2 of the sheet to the direction in which the leading edge S1 of the sheet on the sheet stacking tray 21 is located. After changing the orientation of the folded edge S2, the pressing guide member 30 remains at that position to convey the sheet S received on the sheet stacking tray 21 before performing the first folding process on the folded edge S2. It can be guided to the downstream side of the direction.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14(c), the pressing portion 30c rotates to the guide position where it rotates to the position of the guide surface 21a. Then, the pressing portion 30c abuts on the sheet and pushes down the folded edge S2 of the sheet from the nip portion 22c side to the guide surface 21a side, and pushes the sheet stacking tray 21 in the direction in which the regulating stopper 26 of the sheet stacking tray 21 is arranged. Guide to guide. Therefore, even if the folded edge S2 of the sheet is curled upward, the sheet is reliably conveyed downward without advancing upward on the sheet stacking tray 21 .

(Rotating area of rotating part)
As shown in FIG. 13, the length of the rotating portion 30a of the pressing guide member 30 is longer than the shortest distance to the first roller surface 22a2 of the folding roller 22a on the side closer to the rotating shaft 31, and is longer than the second roller surface. It is set to be shorter than the shortest distance to 22a3. The length of the rotating portion 30a of the pressing guide member 30 is the length from the rotating shaft 31, which is the fulcrum of rotation, to the pressing portion 30c. The folding roller 22a is the folding roller closer to the rotating shaft 31 of the two folding rollers 22a and 22b.

The folding roller pair 22 is stopped so that the second roller surfaces 22a3 and 22b3 face the rotating portion 30a when the sheet is switched back. As a result, even if the length of the rotating portion 30a is set longer than the shortest distance to the first roller surface 22a2, the rotating portion 30a does not interfere with the folding roller pair 22 even when the rotating portion 30a is rotated. Further, the rotating portion 30a can be set longer than the shortest distance to the first roller surface 22a2, which is the large-diameter portion of the folding roller 22a. Therefore, the pressing portion 30c presses the sheet that is conveyed in the switchback at a position closer to the nip portion 22c, so that the sheet can be guided to the sheet stacking tray 21 more reliably.

When the rotating portion 30a is lengthened, the rotating shaft 31 must be arranged away from the folding blade 23 in the sheet conveying direction in order to prevent the rotated pressing guide member 30 from interfering with the folding blade 23. I have to. As a result, the rotating shaft 31 must be arranged at a position away from the folding roller pair 22 as well. In this regard, in this embodiment, as described above, the rotary shaft 31 is arranged between the nip line L1 and the axis L2 in the sheet conveying direction. Therefore, the position where the pressing portion 30c presses the sheet conveyed in the switchback can be brought closer to the nip portion 22c without increasing the length of the rotating portion 30a unnecessarily.

Here, as the folding roller pair, in addition to using different diameter rollers having the first roller surfaces 22a2 and 22b2 and the second roller surfaces 22a3 and 22b3 with different diameters, it is also possible to use a roller pair with a constant roller diameter. be. However, in that case, the length of the rotating portion 30a must be shorter than the shortest distance to the outer circumference of the folding roller on the side closer to the rotating shaft.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the pressing guide member 30 of the present embodiment has a shape in which the guide portion 30b is located inside the rotation locus L3 of the rotation portion 30a and does not protrude outside the region. As a result, the guide portion 30b does not interfere with the folding roller pair 22 even when the long rotating portion 30a is rotated as described above.

When the sheet that has undergone the first folding process as described above is conveyed in a switchback manner, it is returned to the sheet stacking tray 21 while being guided by the pressing guide member 30 . After the sheet abuts against the regulation stopper 26 and the switchback conveyance is completed, the pressing guide member 30 is returned to the retracted position. At this time, the rotating portion 30a serving as the second guide surface of the pressing guide member 30 protrudes a little further toward the sheet conveying path than the guide surface 21a so as to guide the sheet S conveyed on the sheet stacking tray 21 in the opposite direction. It is moved to the reverse transport guide position (see FIG. 8(b)).

After the pressing guide member 30 moves to the reverse conveying guide position, the regulating stopper 26 is lifted and the sheet is reversely conveyed so that the second folding position faces the folding blade 23 . At this time, since the sheet S is guided by the rotating portion 30a of the pressing guide member 30, the sheet S is conveyed without being caught by the notch for attaching the pressing guide member formed in the guide surface 21a (see FIG. 9A). ).

<Blade guide member>
After the second folding position of the sheet that has been switchback-conveyed as described above moves to a position facing the folding blade 23, the pressing guide member 30 is moved to the retracted position, and the folding blade 23 is operated to perform the second fold. fold operation. At this time, the blade guide member 40 provided above the folding blade 23 guides the folded edge S2 of the sheet (see FIG. 10B).

Next, the configuration and operation of the blade guide member 40 will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 15 to 19. FIG. 15A and 15B are diagrams for explaining the rotation of the blade guide member 40, and FIGS. 16 to 19 are diagrams showing the operations of the folding blade 23 and the blade guide member 40 when the sheet is folded for the second time. is.

(Structure of blade guide member)
The blade guide member 40 moves in the projecting direction of the folding blade 23 when performing the second folding process on the sheet S, and moves the folding blade 23 along the fold side of the sheet formed by the first folding process. The end portion, ie, the sheet folding end portion S2 is guided in the projecting direction to the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22. As shown in FIG. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15, the blade guide member 40 has a contact portion 40a that contacts the trailing edge of the sheet. A fitting hole portion 40b having a partial notch is formed in one end portion of the contact portion 40a, and this fitting hole portion 40b is rotatably fitted to a shaft portion 40f formed in a base portion 40e. ing. An arm portion 40c is integrally provided at the other end of the contact portion 40a, and an engaging projection 40d is formed at the end of the arm portion 40c. The engaging protrusion 40d is slidably engaged with an elongated hole 50 formed in the frame of the sheet processing apparatus B. As shown in FIG. The elongated hole 50 is formed substantially parallel to the guide surface 21 a of the sheet stacking tray 21 in the vicinity of the upper portion of the blade carrier 24 .

The base portion 40e is attached to the blade carrier 24 so as to be slidable in a direction parallel to the moving direction of the blade carrier 24. As shown in FIG. A tension spring 51 is attached between a locking portion 40e1 formed on the base portion 40e and a locking portion 24a formed on the blade carrier 24. As shown in FIG.

The blade carrier 24 is provided with a pressing protrusion 24b capable of contacting and pressing against the base portion 40e. The pressing protrusion 24b is rotatably provided on the blade carrier 24 and is urged counterclockwise in FIG. 15 by a coil spring 52 attached to a rotating shaft. As a result, when the blade carrier 24 moves in the blade projecting direction, the pressing projection 24b abuts against the base portion 40e to press the base portion 40e, and the blade guide member 40 moves integrally with the blade carrier 24. As shown in FIG. The coil spring 52 provided on the pressing protrusion 24b acts as a so-called torque limiter, and rotates clockwise when a predetermined clockwise force is applied to the pressing protrusion 24b. there is

(Angle change of the contact portion with respect to the moving direction of the folding blade)
15(a), when the blade carrier 24 is at the home position, the contact portion 40a of the blade guide member 40 is pulled by the tension spring 51 so that the pressing guide member 30 rotates. It is in a position in contact with the rotating shaft 31 that serves as a fulcrum. This state is the home position of the blade guide member 40 . At this time, the abutting portion 40a stands up so as to be substantially flush with the guide surface 21a. When the blade carrier 24 moves in the blade projecting direction, the blade guide member 40 is pressed by the pressing protrusion 24b and moves together with the blade carrier 24 from the home position. The blade guide member 40 moves from the home position until the abutting portion 40e2 formed upright at the rear end of the base portion 40e comes into contact with the rotating shaft 31, as shown in FIG. 15(b).

As described above, when the blade guide member 40 moves in the blade projecting direction, the engaging protrusion 40d is guided by the long hole 50 and slides downward, and the contact portion 40a rotates about the shaft portion 40f. The shaft portion 40f is provided at one end of the contact portion 40a closer to the folding blade 23. As shown in FIG. The one end refers to a region between the center of the contact portion 40 a and the end closer to the folding blade 23 . In other words, the shaft portion 40f is provided in any region closer to the folding blade 23 than the center of the contact portion 40a. Therefore, in the state shown in FIG. 15A where the blade guide member 40 is at the home position, the contact portion 40a is substantially perpendicular to the moving direction of the blade carrier 24, that is, the moving direction of the folding blade 23, and is in an upright state. . As the blade carrier 24 moves in the direction in which the folding blade 23 protrudes, the contact portion 40a is arranged so that the angle of the contact portion 40a with respect to the movement direction changes to an acute angle (the angle on the upstream side in the protrusion direction becomes smaller). is configured so that As the blade carrier 24 moves in the direction in which the folding blade 23 protrudes, as shown in FIG. to move. That is, the contact portion 40a rotates so as to fall toward the upstream side in the direction in which the folding blade 23 protrudes. As described above, one end of the contact portion 40a is configured to be rotatable about the shaft portion, and the end portion of the arm portion 40c extending from the other end of the contact portion 40a extends into the long hole 50. configured to be slidable along the As a result, the angle of the blade guide member 40 can be changed in conjunction with the movement of the blade guide member 40 without providing a special driving means.

Further, as shown in FIG. 15A, a protrusion 40f1 is formed on the shaft portion 40f that serves as the rotation shaft of the contact portion 40a. On the other hand, the notch formed in the fitting hole portion 40b to be fitted with the shaft portion 40f is formed wider than the width of the protrusion 40f1, and the blade guide member 40 is rotatable within the range of the notch. .

In the above configuration, when the blade carrier 24 moves to the home position, the base portion 40e is pulled by the tension spring 51. At this time, the cutout surface of the fitting hole portion 40b abuts on the protrusion 40f1 and the abutment portion 40a. further rotation is restricted. Therefore, further movement of the blade guide member 40 is restricted while the contact portion 40a is in contact with the rotating shaft 31, and the contact portion 40a maintains the upright state at the home position.

Further, in the blade guide member 40 of the present embodiment, the contact portion 40a and the arm portion 40c are composed of linear members when viewed in cross section, and the arm portion 40c has a predetermined angle with respect to the contact portion 40a. formed. As a result, even when the blade guide member 40 is at the home position, the engaging protrusion 40d of the arm portion 40c is provided even when the contact portion 40a is substantially flush with the guide surface 21a. The side end is located farther from the guide surface 21a on the side opposite to the side on which the folding roller pair 22 is located. That is, the folding blade 23 is located on the side of the guide surface 21a in the direction in which the folding blade 23 is returned from the nip portion 22c side to the home position. Therefore, the elongated hole 50 with which the engaging protrusion 40d engages can be arranged away from the guide surface 21a on the side opposite to the folding roller pair 22, and arranged at a position where it does not interfere with the guide surface 21a. can. Therefore, when the blade guide member 40 is at the home position, the contact portion 40a can be configured to function as a guide portion for the sheet conveyed on the sheet stacking tray 21. FIG.

(Operation of Folding Blade and Blade Guide Member)
Next, the operation of the blade guide member 40 when the folding blade 23 is operated to fold the sheet for the second time will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 to 19. FIG.

FIG. 16(a) shows the state where the blade carrier 24 is at the home position, and at this time the blade guide member 40 is also at the home position. In the following description, the direction in which the blade carrier 24 projects the folding blade 23 from the position of the home position to the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22 is the "extrusion direction", and the direction in which the folding blade 23 is returned from the nip portion 22c side to the home position. It is called "return direction".

When it is at the home position, the tip of the folding blade 23 is on the same plane as the guide surface 21a or on the returning direction side of the guide surface 21a (first position), and is separated from the sheet S on the sheet stacking tray 21. ing. Therefore, the sheet conveyed on the sheet stacking tray 21 while being guided by the guide surface 21a will not be caught by the leading edge of the blade. Even when the tip of the folding blade 23 protrudes toward the folding roller 22a from the guide surface 21a, the tip of the blade does not convey the sheet unless a sheet conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21 by another guide member is caught by the tip of the blade. It can be said that it is evacuating from the road. Therefore, that state may be the first position. When the blade guide member 40 is at the home position, the contact portion 40a of the blade guide member 40 is in contact with the rotating shaft 31. As shown in FIG. At this time, the pressing protrusion 24b is separated from the base portion 40e.

Next, in order to project the folding blade 23, when the cam drive motor is driven, the cam member 25 rotates to move the blade carrier 24 in the projecting direction. Then, the pressing protrusion 24b comes into contact with the base portion 40e, and the blade guide member 40 moves integrally with the blade carrier 24 and the folding blade 23 in the projecting direction (FIG. 16(b)). At this time, the tip of the folding blade 23 is configured to protrude further in the protrusion direction than the tip of the blade guide member 40 .

When the blade carrier 24 moves further in the protruding direction, the tip of the folding blade 23 protrudes by a predetermined amount, and as shown in FIG. 17A, contacts the sheet S stopped on the sheet stacking tray 21 (second position). . At this time, the sheet S is folded for the first time, and is stopped on the sheet stacking tray 21 with the second folding position facing the folding blade 23 . At this time, since the tip of the folding blade 23 protrudes further than the blade guide member 40 in the projecting direction as described above, the folding blade 23 comes into contact with the folding position of the sheet S earlier than the blade guide member 40. . For this reason, due to the protrusion of the folding blade 23, the leading edge of the folding blade facing the folding position of the sheet is accurately brought into contact with the folding position without deviation from the folding position of the sheet, and the folding process is executed at the accurate folding position.

Even if the tip of the folding blade does not necessarily protrude from the blade guide member 40, if the tip of the folding blade is positioned at the same position as the blade guide member 40 in the direction of protrusion, the tip of the folding blade can be prevented from being misaligned with the folding position of the sheet. can be suppressed.

When the blade carrier 24 moves in the projecting direction in the above state, the folding blade 23 projects the second folding position of the sheet S toward the nip portion 22 c of the folding roller pair 22 . At the same time, the contact portion 40a of the blade guide member 40 contacts the folded edge S2 of the first folded sheet and guides the folded edge S2 to the nip portion 22c (see FIG. 3). 17(b)).

As described above, since the blade guide member 40 guides the folded edge S2 of the sheet to the nip portion 22c, the folded edge S2 of the sheet moves toward the nip portion 22c without being turned over. Also, when approaching the nip portion 22c, the protruding blade guide member 40 may interfere with the outer circumferences of the folding rollers 22a and 22b. At this time, as the blade guide member 40 of this embodiment moves in the projecting direction as described above, the angle of the contact portion 40a with respect to the projecting direction changes to an acute angle (from the state in FIG. 17(a) to the state in FIG. 17( change to the state of b)). Therefore, the contact portion 40a can enter closer to the nip portion 22c, and the folded end portion S2 of the sheet can be reliably guided to the nip portion.

When the blade carrier 24 moves further in the projecting direction and the abutting portion 40e2 comes into contact with the rotating shaft 31 as shown in FIG. 17(b), the blade guide member 40 is restricted from moving further in the projecting direction. . Note that when the blade guide member 40 moves most in the projecting direction, the tip of the blade guide member 40 (the end on the side of the pair of folding rollers 22 with respect to the projecting direction) is positioned at the sheet loading tray of the folding rollers 22a and 22b. It protrudes toward the nip portion 22c from the tangent line (of the two folding rollers 22a and 22b) connecting the outer peripheries on the 21 side. On the other hand, when the blade carrier 24 is pushed out in the projecting direction by the rotation of the cam member 25, as shown in FIG. It rotates clockwise against the urging force and slips under the base portion 40e. As a result, the pressing projection 24b no longer presses the blade guide member 40, and while the blade guide member 40 remains stationary, only the folding blade 23 moves in the projecting direction, and the tip of the blade protrudes to the maximum to push the sheet S into the nip portion 22c. move to a position (third position) where it protrudes toward At this time, the tip of the folding blade 23 projects farther than the tip of the contact portion 40 a of the blade guide member 40 . That is, the distance from the tip of the blade to the tip of the contact portion at the third position is greater than the distance from the tip of the blade to the tip of the contact portion at the second position. As a result, the sheet is reliably pulled into the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22 while being folded at the second folding position, and the leading edge S1 of the sheet is also pulled into the nip portion 22c to be folded in three. Become.

When the folding blade 23 protrudes the sheet, that is, when a large load is applied to the blade guide member 40 in the returning direction while the tip of the folding blade is moving from the second position to the third position, for example, a plurality of sheets In the case where the sheets are folded in a state of being stacked and the rigidity of the sheets is high, a large load is applied to the blade guide member 40 during the folding process. In this case, when a load exceeding a certain level is applied, the blade guide member 40 moves against the folding blade 23 against the frictional force of the pressing protrusion 24b which is pressed against the bottom surface of the base portion 40e by the biasing force of the coil spring 52. It is relatively movable in the return direction. As a result, the blade guide member 40 is not damaged when a large load is applied to the blade guide member 40 during the sheet folding process.

When the cam member 25 rotates after the leading edge of the folding blade reaches the third position, the blade carrier 24 moves in the return direction together with the folding blade 23 (FIG. 18(b)). At this time, the pressing protrusion 24b is pressed against the base portion 40e of the blade guide member 40 by the biasing force of the coil spring 52 as described above. Therefore, the blade guide member 40 also moves in the returning direction integrally with the blade carrier 24, that is, at the same time as the folding blade 23, due to the frictional force between the pressing protrusion 24b and the bottom surface of the base portion 40e.

When the cam member 25 further rotates and the blade carrier 24 moves in the return direction, the contact portion 40a of the blade guide member 40 contacts the rotating shaft 31, and the blade guide member 40 returns to the home position. Further movement of the blade guide member 40 in the return direction is restricted (FIG. 19(a)). When the cam member 25 rotates further, only the folding blade 23 moves in the return direction and returns to the home position while the blade guide member 40 does not move (FIG. 19(b)).

As described above, when the blade carrier 24 moves in the return direction, the folding blade 23 and the blade guide member 40 simultaneously move in the return direction, and the blade guide member 40 causes the blade carrier 24 and the folding blade 23 to return to their home positions. Return to home position before. That is, the blade guide member 40 retreats earlier than the folding blade 23 from the sheet pulled in by the folding roller pair 22 and the discharge roller 17b. Therefore, the conveying load of the blade guide member 40 on the sheet S drawn by the discharge roller 17b or the like is reduced.

(Layout relationship between blade guide member and pressing guide member)
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, which is a schematic plan view of the folding device F, two blade guide members 40 are arranged at predetermined positions in the sheet width direction. The folding blade 23 of the present embodiment has six projecting tip portions 23a at approximately equal intervals in the sheet width direction on the projecting side. When the pushing end portion 23a pushes the sheet, the sheet is pushed out to the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22, and the folding process is executed. The blade guide member 40 is arranged above the tip end portion 23a1 of the six tip end portions 23a, that is, on the upstream side in the conveying direction of the sheet conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the sheet S pushed out by the folding blade 23 is guided by the blade guide members 40 at the folded ends S2 on both sides in the width direction.

The blade guide member 40 is desirably arranged above all of the six piercing tip portions 23a (23a1) in order to guide the folded end portion S2 of the sheet to the nip portion 22c. Then, the number of parts will increase. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as described above, the blade guide members 40 are arranged at the positions of the two thrust end portions 23a1 formed at both end portions in the sheet width direction, so that the number of parts can be reduced. . The folded edge S2 of the sheet pushed out by the folding blade 23 during the second folding process is more likely to be turned over near the edge than at the center in the sheet width direction. Therefore, by guiding this portion toward the nip portion by means of the blade guide member 40, it is possible to effectively prevent the turning-up.

Note that the two blade guide members 40 are not positioned at both ends in the sheet width direction of the sheet of the minimum width that can be conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21, but above the tip end portion 23a1 which is formed slightly closer to the center. are placed. This is because it is more effective to thrust the sheet slightly closer to the center than to the widthwise end of the sheet when thrusting the sheet with the thrusting tip 23a, and the blade guide member 40 corresponds to the position of the thrusting tip 23a1. This is because the

With respect to the position of the blade guide member 40, the pressing guide member 30 of the present embodiment is arranged outside the two blade guide members 40 in the sheet width direction. Specifically, the two pressing guide members 30 are arranged at intervals substantially equal to the width of the minimum size sheet that can be processed by the folding device F, and when folding the minimum size sheet, the width of the sheet is reduced. It is placed at a position where both ends can be pressed and guided. In this embodiment, in addition to the two pressing guide members 30 capable of pressing and guiding both ends of the sheet, a pressing guide member 30 capable of pressing and guiding the center in the width direction of the sheet is provided. Three pressing guide members 30 are provided. More specifically, the minimum size sheet that can be processed by the folding device F in this embodiment is A4, and the width of a general A4 size sheet in the lateral direction is 210 mm. The two pressing guide members 30 capable of pressing and guiding both ends of the sheet in the width direction are formed to have a length of 18 mm in the width direction of the sheet. The length obtained by connecting the outer ends of the two pressing guide members 30 with a straight line is 226 mm, which is longer than the width of the A4 size sheet. 10 mm on each side near the center in the width direction of the surface of The maximum size sheet that can be processed by the folding device F is A3, and the width of a general A3 size sheet in the width direction is 297 mm. By setting the length obtained by connecting the outer ends of two pressing guide members 30 that can press and guide both ends of the sheet in the width direction with a straight line longer than the width of the minimum size sheet, the maximum size sheet can be obtained. It is possible to give the guide effect also to the end of the .

When feedback-conveying a sheet that has undergone the first folding process, the pressing guide member 30 presses the folding end S2 of the sheet and guides it back to the sheet stacking tray 21 as described above. It is effective to prevent turning-up by pressing and guiding both ends in the direction. Therefore, the two pressing guide members 30 are arranged outside the blade guide member 40 in the sheet width direction. In the present embodiment, the pressure guide members 30 arranged on both sides in the sheet width direction are arranged at intervals substantially equal to the width of the minimum size sheet, and the blade guide members 40 are positioned inside the width of the minimum size sheet. are also spaced at short intervals.

In addition, in this embodiment, the thrust tip portions 23 a 2 are arranged outside the pressing guide member 30 . The poke leading edge 23a2 is for preventing the sheet from being wrinkled when poked in the sheet width direction, and is arranged inside the both ends of the sheet of the maximum size. The piercing tip 23a2 does not need to be provided in the apparatus in which the sheets to be handled are limited to the above-described minimum size. In other words, it is desirable to arrange the pressing guide member 30 and the blade guide member 40 according to the minimum size of the sheet, but the thrust tip 23a2 may be separately arranged outside the pressing guide member 30 if necessary. In other words, the blade guide member 40 is arranged inside the two pressure guide members 30 in the sheet width direction, and the thrusting tip portion 23a1 is arranged corresponding to the position of the blade guide member 40, and the two pressure guide members A thrust tip portion 23a2 may be further arranged on the outer side of 30 according to the size of the sheet to be handled.

Further, when the difference between the minimum size and the maximum size handled by the device is large, the blade guide member 40 corresponding to the minimum size, the thrust tip portion 23a1 provided with the blade guide member 40, the two pressing guide members 30, and the maximum A blade guide member 40 corresponding to the size, a thrust tip portion 23a2 provided with the blade guide member 40, and two pressing guide members 30 may be provided. In the present embodiment, two tip end portions 23a1 provided with the blade guide member 40 are provided across the center of the sheet S, but one tip end portion 23a1 and one blade guide member are provided. 40.

In the present embodiment, the pressing guide member 30 is arranged between the thrust tip portions 23a1 and 23a2 so as not to interfere with the thrust tip portions 23a1 and 23a2 when the pressing guide member 30 moves to the guide position. It is Therefore, each member can be arranged in a space-saving manner.

<Drive control>
Next, the control configuration of the drive system when folding the sheet will be described. As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 20, the control unit 60 controls the folding roller motor 61 that drives and rotates the folding roller pair 22 and the discharge roller 17b that drives and rotates the discharge roller 17b in accordance with the procedures of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. The motor 62 controls driving of the regulation stopper motor 63 that operates the sheet lifting mechanism 27 for raising and lowering the regulation stopper 26 . Similarly, the control unit 60 drives and controls the cam motor 64 that drives the cam member 25 for operating the blade carrier 24 and the pressing guide motor 33 that rotates the pressing guide member 30 .

FIGS. 21 and 22 show a state in which the sheet S is conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 21, the leading edge of the sheet abuts the regulation stopper 26 stopped at a predetermined position, and the first folding position is opposed to the folding blade 23. 4 is a flowchart showing a drive control procedure when executing folding processing;

When the folding process is executed, the cam motor 64 is driven to move the blade carrier 24 in the projecting direction, and the folding blade 23 contacts the first folding position of the sheet S and projects to the nip portion 22c (S1). At the same time, the folding roller motor 61 and the discharge roller motor 62 are driven to rotate the folding roller pair 22 and the discharge roller 17b forward (S2). Each motor is a pulse motor, and when the motor is driven, the number of driving pulses is counted.

When the cam member 25 rotates, the folding blade 23 protrudes the first folding portion of the sheet S to the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22 by a predetermined amount. and return (S3).

The sheet S projected into the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22 by the protrusion of the folding blade 23 is folded while it is nipped and transported by the folding roller pair 22, and together with the folding roller pair 22, constitutes the sheet transporting means. It is conveyed by the discharge roller 17b. When the sheet is nipped and conveyed by the discharge roller 17b (S4), the folding roller motor 61 stops when the second roller surfaces 22a3 and 22b3 of the folding rollers 22a and 22b face each other (S4 and S5). As a result, the folding roller pair 22 no longer nips the sheet, and the sheet is conveyed by the discharge roller 17b. At this time, the sheet is conveyed by the discharge roller 17b while being guided by the second roller surfaces 22a3 and 22b3 having a small coefficient of friction. In this embodiment, whether the sheet is conveyed to the discharge roller 17b or whether the second roller surfaces 22a3 and 22b3 of the folding roller pair 22 face each other is determined by the pulse count of the motor, but the present invention is limited to this. not a thing Another configuration may be used, for example, the sheet S may be detected by a sensor, and the driving of the motor may be controlled according to the detection result.

Then, when the position of the folded edge S2 of the conveyed sheet S reaches the predetermined area (S7), the drive of the discharge roller motor 62 is stopped to stop the sheet conveying (S8). This predetermined area is an area between the folded end portion S2 of the sheet and the guide surface 21a of the sheet stacking tray 21 and the rotation locus L3 of the pressing guide member 30 (see FIG. 14A). The sheet is stopped so that the folded edge S2 is within the area. As a result, when the pressing guide member 30 is rotated, the pressing portion 30c can reliably press the sheet S in the switchback conveying direction (see FIG. 14B). Furthermore, the folding end S2 that is switchback-conveyed can be guided by the guide portion 30b (see FIG. 14(c)).

After the folding end portion S2 of the sheet S is stopped in the region, the pressing guide motor 33 is driven to move the guide portion 30b of the pressing guide member 30 to a position where the sheet S to be switchback-conveyed can be guided (FIG. 14 ( The pressing guide member 30 is rotated so as to reach the position shown in c) (S9). Further, along with the rotation of the pressing guide member 30, the regulation stopper motor 63 is driven to move the regulation stopper 26 to a position where it can receive the sheet S to be switchback-conveyed.

After the pressing guide member 30 rotates as described above, the discharge roller motor 62 and the folding roller motor 61 are reversely driven (S10). As a result, the discharge roller 17b and the pair of folding rollers 22 rotate in the reverse direction, and the sheet S is conveyed in a switchback manner. At this time, since the sheet is guided by the pressing guide member 30 as described above, the sheet is switchback-conveyed in the direction in which the regulation stopper 26 of the sheet stacking tray 21 is arranged without any conveyance failure.

The discharge roller motor 62 and the folding roller motor 61 are driven to switchback convey the sheet S, and the sheet S that has passed through the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22 falls until it contacts the regulation stopper 26, completing the switchback conveyance. (S11). When the switchback conveyance is completed, the driving of the discharge roller motor 62 and folding roller motor 61 is stopped (S12). Here, the completion of the switchback conveyance of the sheet S may be determined by counting the number of driving pulses of the discharge roller motor 62 and the folding roller motor 61 and conveying the sheet S by a predetermined amount.

Next, the pressing guide motor 33 is driven to return the pressing guide member 30 to the retracted position. At this time, the speed at which the pressure guide member 30 is returned from the guide position (see FIG. 14(c)) to the retracted position (see FIG. 14(a)) is faster than when the pressure guide member 30 is moved from the retracted position to the guide position. set to fast speed. When the pressing guide member 30 is moved from the retracted position to the guide position, it is rotated at a reduced speed in order to press and turn the stopped sheet S for switchback conveying, whereas it is rotated at the guide position. When moving from to the retracted position, the timing of executing the next operation can be advanced by returning quickly.

Then, after the pressing guide member 30 is moved to the reverse conveyance guide position (see FIG. 9A) (S13), the regulation stopper motor 63 is driven so that the second folding position of the sheet S faces the folding blade 23. It is moved to the position (S14). In this state, the cam motor 64, folding roller motor 61, and discharge roller motor 62 are driven to perform the second folding operation (S15-S17).

In this embodiment, motors for driving each member are separately provided, but it is also possible to drive each member by using a common motor and switching driving by means of a clutch or the like.

<Other embodiments>
In the above-described embodiment, when the folding blade 23 and the blade guide member 40 are moved relative to each other, the engagement projection 40d of the blade guide member 40 slides through the elongated hole 50 to form a contact portion with the base portion 40e. An example in which the angle of 40a is changed is shown. However, the angle of the contact portion 40a with respect to the base portion 40e may be fixed so as not to change without providing the link mechanism. Even in this way, the folding blade 23 is configured to be relatively movable with respect to the blade guide member 40, and even after the movement of the blade guide member 40 is stopped at the time of protrusion, the folding blade 23 is protruded to hold the sheet at the nip portion 22c. The sheet can be reliably protruded to the nip portion 22 c without causing the blade guide member 40 to interfere with the folding roller pair 22 . Further, the configuration can be simplified by not providing an angle changing mechanism.

In the above-described embodiment, the folding rollers 22a and 22b are rollers having circular outer peripheral first roller surfaces 22a2 and 22b2 with a constant outer diameter and second roller surfaces 22a3 and 22b3 with smaller outer diameters. A configured example is shown. However, the folding rollers 22a and 22b may be configured by rollers having a constant outer diameter, such as circular rubber rollers. In this case, while the sheet is passing through the pair of folding rollers, the sheet is always nipped by the nip portion of the pair of folding rollers, so the sheet conveying amount can be controlled by the rotation of the pair of folding rollers. Therefore, when the folding end portion of the sheet is stopped at a predetermined position (see FIG. 7A), it can be controlled by the driving amount of the folding roller.

In the above-described embodiment, the folding blade 23 and the blade guide member 40 start moving in the returning direction at the same time when the tip of the folding blade is at the third position. However, for example, the folding blade 23 and the blade guide member 40 are configured to be operated by separate drive systems, and in the movement in the return direction, the folding blade 23 starts moving first, and the blade guide member 40 begins to move later. You may make it start the movement in a return direction.

Even when the leading edge of the folding blade protrudes to the third position and the sheet folding portion is nipped by the pair of folding rollers 22, the folding end portion S2 is not yet nipped by the nip portion 22c (see FIG. 18A). Nipped late. Even in that case, by returning the blade guide member 40 later than the folding blade 23, even if the folding blade 23 starts to move in the returning direction, the folding end S2 is guided by the blade guide member 40, so that the folded end portion S2 can be reliably folded. It comes to be drawn into the nip portion 22c.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the amount of conveying the sheet and the amount of rotation of the pressing guide member 30 are controlled by counting the number of pulses of the motor has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. In addition to the motor pulse, for example, a photosensor for detecting the sheet or a photosensor for detecting the pressure guide member 30 is provided, and this sensor detects when the sheet is conveyed to a predetermined position or when the pressure guide member 30 rotates to a predetermined angle. detected. By detecting the amount of conveyance and the amount of rotation in this manner, sheet conveyance or rotation of the pressing guide member may be controlled.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the regulation stopper 26 is arranged at the lower end of the sheet stacking tray 21 to regulate the tip of the conveyed sheet in the conveying direction by contacting the regulation stopper 26 . shows an example in which it is provided so as to be able to move up and down along the sheet stacking tray 21 . In another embodiment, roller pairs for conveying sheets may be arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction with the folding blade 23 and the folding roller pair 22 of the sheet stacking tray 21 interposed therebetween. In this case, when the sheet S that has been subjected to the first folding process is conveyed in a switchback manner, the folding blade 23 and the pair of folding rollers 22 of the sheet stacking tray 21 are sandwiched between the upstream side and the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction. can also be returned to

<Modification>
23 to 29 show modifications of the blade guide member 40 and blade carrier 24 (blade guide member 140 and blade carrier 124). The function of the blade guide member 140 is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, and members common to those of the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted. FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing a state in which the blade guide member 140 has moved in the projecting direction. Although the pressing guide member 30 is provided on the right side of the blade guide member 140 in FIG. 23, its illustration is omitted for the sake of convenience.

The blade guide member 140 is composed of a contact portion 140a, an arm portion 140c, an engaging projection 140d, a locking portion 140e, a pivot 140f, a pressed portion 140g, and a locking projection 140h. The contact portion 140a is a member that contacts and guides the sheet. A pivot point 140f is provided at one end of the contact portion 140a. The other end of the abutting portion 140a is an arm portion 140c, an engaging protrusion 140d slidably engaged with an elongated hole 50 formed in the frame of the sheet processing apparatus B, and an engaging protrusion 140d formed in the frame of the sheet processing apparatus B. A locking portion 140e is provided for tensioning the tension spring 151 between the locking portion 124a and the locking portion 124a. The blade guide member 140 is biased upward in FIG. 25 by a tension spring 151 . Further, in FIG. 25, a pressed portion 140g is provided on the back side of the contact portion 140a (on the upstream side in the projecting direction) with which a pressing protrusion 124b1, which will be described later, abuts. The contact portion 140a is configured to rotate clockwise in FIG. 25 about the rotation fulcrum 140f when the pressed portion 140g is pushed out in the projecting direction by the pressing protrusion 124b1. In other words, as shown in FIG. 25, the contact portion 140a is in a substantially vertical standing posture with respect to the folding blade 23, and as shown in FIG. It is configured so that the angle can be changed so as to tilt toward the upstream side in the projecting direction around the pivot point 140f. The locking protrusion 140h bent from the pivot 140f serves as a stopper for preventing the pressed portion 140g from coming off the pressing protrusion 124b1 when the pressing protrusion 124b1 presses the pressed portion 140g. is.

The blade carrier 124 holds the folding blade 23 and the slide rail 124c, and is configured to be integrally movable in the projecting direction and the returning direction by the cam member 25 (similar to the above-described embodiment). The slide rail 124c holds the pressing member 124b slidably in the projecting direction and the returning direction. The pressing member 124b includes a pressing projection 124b1 formed at the downstream end in the projecting direction of the pressing member 124b, a locking portion 124b2 formed at the upstream end in the projecting direction and locked by the spring 124e, and a pressing projection 124b1. and a contact portion 124d formed between the locking portion 124b2.

FIG. 24 is a top view of the blade guide member 140 and the blade carrier 124. FIG. FIG. 24(a) shows a state in which the blade carrier 124 is in the home position (the thrust tip 23a1 is in the first position). FIG. 24(b) shows a state in which the cam member 25 moves the blade carrier 124 by a predetermined amount in the projecting direction (the projecting tip portion 23a1 is at the second position). FIG. 24(c) shows a state in which the blade carrier 124 moves further in the projecting direction and the thrusting tip 23a1 protrudes to the maximum to project the sheet S into the nip portion 22c (the thrusting tip 23a1 is at the third position). there is

The blade carrier 124 is provided with a locking portion 124f to which one end of a spring 124e is attached. The other end of the spring 124e is attached to the engaging portion 124b2 of the pressing member 124b, and the pressing member 124b is biased in the projecting direction (downward in FIG. 24) on the slide rail 124c by the spring 124e.

Referring now to FIG. 25, the pressing member 124b and the slide rail 124c are provided with protrusions 124b3 and 124c1, respectively. The engagement of the projection 124b3 and the projection 124c1 restricts the movement of the pressing member 124b in the projecting direction even if the spring 124e urges the pressing member 124b in the projecting direction at the home position. When the blade carrier 124 moves in the projecting direction in this state, the slide rail 124c moves in the projecting direction, and the protrusion 124c1 provided on the slide rail 124c also moves in the projecting direction. As the protrusion 124c1 moves, the pressing member 124b biased by the spring 124e also moves in the projecting direction at the same time.

By moving the pressing member 124b in the projecting direction from the state shown in FIG. 25, the pressing protrusion 124b1 presses the pressed portion 140g of the blade guide member 140 to move the contact portion 140a of the blade guide member 140 in the projecting direction. . At this time, the blade guide member 140 rotates clockwise about the rotation fulcrum 140f while the engaging protrusion 140d slides downward in the elongated hole 50 against the biasing force of the tension spring 151. .

When the blade carrier 124 moves to the state shown in FIG. 26 (the thrusting tip 23a1 is at the second position), the contacting portion 124d of the pressing member 124b abuts against the rotating shaft 31 of the pressing guide member 30, and the pressing member 124b protrudes. movement is restricted. As a result, even if the pressing member 124b is urged in the projecting direction by the spring 124e, it cannot move further in the projecting direction. At this position, the contact portion 140a of the blade guide member 140 guides the sheet toward the folding roller pair 22 side, and the thrust tip portion 23a contacts the sheet to fold the sheet and push the sheet toward the roller pair side.

Further, when the blade carrier 124 moves in the projecting direction, the state shown in FIG. 27 is obtained. In FIG. 27, while the blade guide member 140 is stopped at the position shown in FIG. 26, only the blade carrier 124, the folding blade 23 (thrusting tip 23a) and the slide rail 124c move in the projecting direction, and the thrusting tip 23a1 protrudes to the maximum. to move the sheet S to the position (third position) where the sheet S protrudes into the nip portion 22c. At this time, the tip end portion 23 a 1 of the folding blade 23 protrudes more than the tip end of the contact portion 140 a of the blade guide member 140 . That is, the distance from the tip of the blade to the tip of the contact portion at the third position is greater than the distance from the tip of the blade to the tip of the contact portion at the second position. As a result, the sheet is reliably pulled into the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22 while being folded at the second folding position, and the leading edge S1 of the sheet is also pulled into the nip portion 22c to be folded in three. Become.

The blade carrier 124 then moves in the return direction. At this time as well, the pressing member 124b is stopped at the position shown in FIG. FIG. 28 shows a state in which the thrust tip 23a1 has returned to the second position. Here, the protrusion 124c1 provided on the slide rail 124c engages with the protrusion 124b3 provided on the pressing member 124b. When the blade carrier 124 is further moved in the return direction in this state, the slide rail 124c and the pressing member 124b simultaneously move in the return direction while resisting the biasing force of the spring 124e. When the pressing member 124b moves in the return direction from the position shown in FIG. The angle is changed to the standing posture shown in FIG.

When the folding blade 23 protrudes the sheet, that is, when a large load is applied to the blade guide member 140 in the returning direction while the protruding tip portion 23a1 is moving from the second position to the third position, for example, a plurality of In the case where the sheet is folded in a state where the sheets are stacked and the rigidity of the sheet is high, a large load is applied to the blade guide member 140 during the folding process. In this case, the blade guide member 140 can move in the returning direction relative to the folding blade 23 against the spring 124e when a load exceeding a certain level is applied. As described above, the blade guide member 140 is biased in the projecting direction by the spring 124e via the pressing member 124b. Therefore, when a load greater than the biasing force of the spring 124e is applied to the blade guide member 140, the blade guide member 140 is configured to move in the return direction along the slide rail 124c. This prevents the blade guide member 140 from being damaged when a large load is applied to the blade guide member 140 during the sheet folding process.

<Deflection guide>
The sheet processing apparatus further includes a deflection guide 170 as a guide means for guiding the sheets and a pressing means for pressing the folded sheets through the creases between the first conveying guide member 181 and the first stacking guide member 184. And prepare. The deflection guide 170 and the pressing means will be described below with reference to FIGS. 30 to 33. FIG.

In the following description, a configuration in which the deflection guide 170 as the guide means also serves as the pressing means, that is, a configuration in which the guiding means and the pressing means are the same member will be described as an example, but the present invention is limited to this. not a thing In addition to the deflection guide 170 as the guide means, a configuration may be adopted in which a pressing means is provided.

30 to 33 are diagrams for explaining the deflection guide 170 provided between the folding roller 22a and the guide surface 21a of the sheet stacking tray 21. FIG. The deflection guide 170 has a flexible guide member 170 a (such as Mylar) that contacts and guides the sheet S, and one end of the guide member 170 a is fixed to a bracket 172 . The bracket 172 has an engaging piece 171 projecting toward the folding roller 22a, and this engaging piece 171 is positioned by engaging with the engaging portion 22d (see FIG. 33) of the folding roller 22a. The engaging portion 22d of the folding roller 22a includes a first roller surface 22a2 having a constant radius R1 around the rotation axis of the rotation shaft 22a1, and a first roller surface 22a2 having a distance from the rotation axis of the rotation shaft 22a1. and a second roller surface 22a3 smaller than the radius R1 of By rotating the folding roller 22a with the engaging piece 171 engaged with the engaging portion 22d, the bracket 172 holding the guide member 170a can rotate about the rotating shaft 173. there is The surface of the engaging portion 22d with which the engaging piece 171 engages is made of a plastic resin material or the like having a small coefficient of friction.

In this embodiment, the guide member 170a is provided with a guide area capable of guiding the conveyed sheet S. The lower end of the guide area in FIG. call. If the bracket 172 can also guide the sheet S, the sheet guide area of the bracket 172 is also considered part of the guide member 170a, and the second end 170a2 is the upper end of the bracket 172 in the guide area.

Further, in the present embodiment, a space sandwiched between the first transport guide member 181 and the second transport guide member 182 that constitute the sheet transport path 20 is called a guide space 180 . A space sandwiched between the first stacking guide member 184 and the second stacking guide member 185 forming the sheet stacking tray 21 is called a storage space 183 .

The first conveying guide member 181 guides the sheet. The second conveying guide member 182 is arranged to face the first conveying guide member 181 and guides the sheet. The first conveying guide member 181 and the second conveying guide member 182 form a conveying guide pair, and guide the sheet conveyed between the first conveying guide member 181 and the second conveying guide member 182 in the first direction. do. Also, the first conveying guide member 181 and the second conveying guide member 182 guide the sheet in the second direction opposite to the first direction. Here, the first direction is the arrow y1 direction shown in FIG. 30(a), which is the first transport direction described later. The second direction is the arrow y2 direction shown in FIG. 31(a), which is the second transport direction described later.

The first stacking guide member 184 is arranged downstream of the first conveying guide member 181 in the first direction with a predetermined gap from the first conveying guide member 181 and guides the sheets. The second stacking guide member 185 is arranged to face the first stacking guide member 184 and guides the sheets. The first stacking guide member 184 and the second stacking guide member 185 form a stacking guide pair (storage section), and the sheet is transported between the first stacking guide member 184 and the second stacking guide member 185 via the transport guide pair. The sheet is guided in the first direction. Also, the first stacking guide member 184 and the second stacking guide member 185 guide the sheets in the second direction.

The second conveying guide member 182 and the second stacking guide member 185 are members corresponding to the sheet stacking tray 21 shown in FIG. 5 and the like. Here, the second conveying guide member 182 and the second stacking guide member 185 are configured as one sheet stacking tray 21, but the configuration is not limited to this. The second conveying guide member 182 and the second stacking guide member 185 may be separate guide members. That is, the sheet stacking tray 21 may be a single member in the conveying direction, or may be a plurality of guide members. may be configured.

A deflection guide 170 as a guide means is provided between the first conveying guide member 181 and the first stacking guide member 184 in the first direction. The deflection guide 170 is provided between the folding roller pair 22 and the second conveying guide member 182 in the projecting direction of the folding blade 23 .

The deflection guide 170 is positioned between the first guide position shown in FIG. 30 and the second guide position shown in FIG. It is provided so as to be movable between them.

FIG. 30 shows a state in which the engagement piece 171 is engaged with the first roller surface 22a2 and the guide member 170a is positioned at the first guide position, and the sheet S is directed from the guide space 180 to the storage space 183 (this direction is (referred to as the first conveying direction). FIG. 31 shows a state in which the engagement piece 171 is engaged with the second roller surface 22a3 and the guide member 170a is positioned at the second guide position, and the sheet S (in this figure, the sheet S that has been folded once) is accommodated. It shows how the sheet is conveyed from the space 183 toward the guide space 180 (this direction is called the second conveying direction).

FIG. 32(a) shows a state in which the guide member 170a is positioned at the first guide position, and FIG. 32(b) shows a state in which the guide member 170a is positioned at the second guide position. A dashed-dotted line 186 in the drawing indicates a transport guide end portion 181a, which is the downstream end portion of the first transport guide member 181 in the first transport direction, and a stacking guide end portion, which is the downstream end portion of the first stacking guide member 184 in the second transport direction. It is a line (hereinafter referred to as a virtual line 186) connecting the end portion 184a.

The first guide position shown in FIGS. 30 and 32(a) is a guide position where the deflection guide 170 guides the sheet in the first direction (arrow y1 direction shown in FIG. 30(a), first conveying direction). . A second guide position shown in FIGS. 31 and 32(b) is a guide position different from the first guide position, in which the deflection guide 170 deflects the sheet in a second direction opposite to the first direction. This is the guide position for guiding in the direction of the arrow y2 shown in FIG. The guide member 170a is positioned at the first guide position or the second guide position with the imaginary line 186 as a reference.

As shown in FIG. 32A, in the state where the guide member 170a is positioned at the first guide position, the first end 170a1 of the guide member 170a extends from the imaginary line 186 in the thickness direction of the sheet S to the folding roller 22a. (the side of the guide surface 21a). The second end portion 170a2 is located closer to the folding roller 22a than the imaginary line 186 in the thickness direction of the sheet S. As shown in FIG. As a result, when the sheet S is conveyed in the first conveying direction as shown in FIGS. 30A and 30B, the leading edge of the sheet S (the downstream end in the first conveying direction) is moved from the guide space 180 to the storage space. 183 can guide you.

That is, the deflection guide 170 receives the sheet conveyed from between the first conveying guide member 181 and the second conveying guide member 182 at the first guide position shown in FIG. and the second loading guide member 185 .

The first end 170a1 of the deflection guide 170 is the downstream end in the first transport direction. The second end 170a2 of the deflection guide 170 is the upstream end in the first transport direction.

On the other hand, when the guide member 170a is positioned at the second guide position as shown in FIG. It is positioned on the side of the roller 22a. The second end portion 170a2 is positioned on the side opposite to the folding roller 22a (on the side of the guide surface 21a) in the thickness direction of the sheet S relative to the imaginary line 186. As shown in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 31A and 31B, when the sheet S is conveyed in the second conveying direction, the leading edge of the sheet S (the downstream end portion in the second conveying direction) is moved from the storage space 183 to the guide space. 180 can guide you.

That is, the deflection guide 170 receives the sheet conveyed from between the first stacking guide member 184 and the second stacking guide member 185 at the second guide position shown in FIG. and the second transport guide member 182 .

In the first guide position shown in FIG. 32(a), the first end 170a1 of the guide member 170a is located closer to the guide surface 21a than the imaginary line 186, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if the leading edge of the sheet is guided between the first stacking guide member 184 and the second stacking guide member 185 when the sheet is transported in the first transport direction, the first stacking guide member 170a End 170 a 1 may be positioned on imaginary line 186 . In this case, when the deflection guide 170 is positioned at the first guide position, the second end portion 170a2 is positioned closer to the folding roller pair 22 than the first end portion 170a1 in the projecting direction. .

Similarly, in the second guide position shown in FIG. 32(b), the second end 170a2 of the guide member 170a is positioned closer to the guide surface 21a than the imaginary line 186, but it is not limited to this. . For example, when the sheet is conveyed in the second conveying direction, if the leading edge of the sheet is guided between the first conveying guide member 181 and the second conveying guide member 182, the second conveying guide member 170a End 170 a 2 may be positioned on phantom line 186 . In this case, when the deflection guide 170 is positioned at the second guide position, the first end portion 170a1 is positioned closer to the folding roller pair 22 than the second end portion 170a2 in the projecting direction. .

Also, in this example, the configuration in which the guide means is movably provided between the first guide position and the second guide position was exemplified, but the present invention is not limited to this. The guide means may be configured to be fixed to the sheet processing apparatus. For example, the guide means may be positioned so that the first end portion 170a1 and the second end portion 170a2 are positioned closer to the folding roller pair 22 than the imaginary line 186, and the intermediate portion between the first end portion 170a1 and the second end portion 170a2. is located closer to the guide surface 21a than the imaginary line 186 is. As long as the guide means has such a shape, it may be fixed to the sheet processing apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 33, a plurality of guide members 170a are provided in the width direction of the sheet S. As shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the two guide members 170a are arranged on both sides of the center of the sheet width inside the sheet width of the minimum size in the sheet width direction. Broken lines in FIG. 33 indicate the folding rollers 22a and 22b, and the engaging piece 171 is provided at a position corresponding to the engaging portion 22d of the folding roller 22a. Further, the guide member 170a is arranged at a position corresponding to the inner two thrusting tip portions 23a among the six thrusting tip portions 23a, 23a1, and 23a2.

The guide member 170a guides the sheet S not only when the sheet S is conveyed in the first conveying direction and the second conveying direction, but also when the folding blade 23 is pushed out. As described above, FIG. 25 shows a state in which the folding position of the sheet S is positioned at a position facing the folding blade 23 when the folding process is performed. In FIG. 25, the guide member 170a is positioned at the first guide position.

When the folding blade 23 is moved in the projecting direction in this state, the position of the sheet S is stabilized between the guide member 170a and the abutment portion 140a of the blade guide member 140, thereby suppressing positional deviation of the sheet during folding processing. can be done. As described above, since the guide member 170a is made of flexible Mylar or the like, the guide member 170a guides the sheet S in a state of bending in the projecting direction when the sheet S comes into contact with the guide member 170a.

When the tip end portion 23a1 of the folding blade 23 pushes the sheet S into the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22 and then rotates the folding roller pair 22 by a predetermined amount, the engaging piece 171 is engaged with the second roller surface 22a3. The guide member 170a is positioned at the second guide position (see FIG. 28). This is because if the guide member 170a continues to urge the sheet S in the returning direction even after the folding end portion S2 of the sheet S is folded into the nip portion 22c, the conveying load of the sheet S by the folding roller pair 22 increases. Therefore, when the folding position of the sheet S reaches the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22 and the folding process by the folding roller pair 22 is started, the guide member 170a is moved to the second guide position to direct the sheet S toward the nip portion 22c. This is because it is desirable to guide

As described above, the guide member 170a of the deflection guide 170 is positioned at the first guide position when conveying the sheet S in the first conveying direction (sheet conveying for receiving the sheet S on the sheet stacking tray 21). It is guided from the guide space 180 to the storage space 183. - 特許庁Further, the guide member 170a of the deflection guide 170 is set when the sheet S is conveyed in the second conveying direction (when the sheet S received on the sheet stacking tray 21 is conveyed to the binding processing unit 17a, or when the first folding processing is completed). In order to carry out the second folding process later, the sheet S is positioned at the second guide position, and the sheet S is moved from the storage space 183 to the guide space 180 when the second folding position of the sheet S is opposed to the folding blade 23 . Guide to guide.

Further, when performing the folding process, the guide member 170a is positioned at the first guide position until the folding blade 23 pushes the sheet S into the nip portion 22c of the folding roller pair 22, and folds the sheet S so as not to shift the folding position. guide. After the folding position of the sheet S reaches the nip portion 22c, the guide member 170a is positioned at the second guide position and guides the sheet S to the nip portion 22c while reducing the conveying load.

As described above, the deflection guide 170 is movable around the rotation shaft 173 between the first guide position shown in FIG. 32(a) and the second guide position shown in FIG. 32(b). is provided. The deflection guide 170 is urged by an urging member (not shown) in a direction in which the engaging piece 171 comes into contact with the engaging portion 22d (see FIG. 33) of the folding roller 22a. Therefore, the deflection guide 170 is moved between the first guide position and the second guide position according to the contact position with the engaging portion 22d of the folding roller 22a that rotates forward and backward.

As shown in FIGS. 34 to 37, the deflection guide 170 of this example is used when moving the folded sheet Sf, which has undergone the folding process, in the second conveying direction by the regulation stopper 26 with the fold line Sf1 formed by the folding process leading. In addition, it functions as a pressing means for pressing the folded sheet Sf. Between the first stacking guide member 184 and the first transport guide member 181, the deflection guide 170 presses the sheet Sf2 on one side facing the folded sheet Sf across the fold line Sf1 to bring the sheet Sf2 on the other side closer to the sheet Sf3 on the other side. The folded sheet Sf is pressed in the direction. That is, the deflection guide 170 also serves as the pressing means, and the deflection guide 170 and the pressing means are the same member.

34 to 37, the deflection guide 170 folds the folded sheet Sf, which has undergone the first folding process, between the first stacking guide member 184 and the first conveying guide member 181, and folds the folded sheet Sf for the second time. The operation of pressing in the pressing direction when moving to the folding position will be described. This pressing operation is performed during the operation shown in FIGS. 8B to 9A and the operation of step S14 in FIG. 22 described in the above embodiment.

The deflection guide 170 of this example has a first guide position shown in FIG. 32(a), a second guide position shown in FIG. 32(b), and a second guide position between the first guide position and the second guide position. 3 guide positions are movably provided.

As shown in FIGS. 30 and 31, the engaging portion 22d (see FIG. 33) of the folding roller 22a has the first roller surface 22a2, the second roller surface 22a3, and a third roller surface. 23a4. The third roller surface 23a4 is provided between the first roller surface 22a2 and the second roller surface 22a3 in the rotation direction of the folding roller 22a. The third distance (radius R3) from the axis of the rotating shaft 22a1 of the folding roller 22a to the third roller surface 23a4 is smaller than the first distance (radius R1) from the axis to the first roller surface 22a2. greater than the second distance (radius R2) to the second roller surface 22a3. Therefore, the deflection guide 170 is positioned at the third guide position between the first guide position and the second guide position by contacting the engaging piece 171 with the third roller surface 23a4 of the folding roller 22a. (See FIG. 35(b)).

In addition, although the configuration in which the deflection guide 170 can be moved to the third guide position between the first guide position and the second guide position is illustrated here, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when guiding a sheet that has undergone the first folding process in the second direction by the deflection guide 170, by moving the deflection guide 170 from the second guide position to the first guide position, the sheet can be folded in the same manner. It is also possible to press the sheet on one side of the sheet against the sheet on the other side.

In the case of the inner three-folding process described above, the folded sheet Sf subjected to the first folding process is moved between the first stacking guide member 184 and the second stacking guide member 185 . After that, the regulation stopper 26 is lifted so that the second folding position faces the folding blade 23, and the folded sheet Sf is folded in the second conveying direction (second direction) with the folding line Sf1 at the top. (see FIG. 34(a)). At this time, the deflection guide 170 is positioned at the second guide position with the engaging piece 171 engaging with the second roller surface 22a3 of the folding roller 22a.

The deflection guide 170 positioned at the second guide position receives the fold line Sf1 of the folded sheet Sf conveyed from between the first stacking guide members 184 and 185, and guides it in the second conveying direction (see FIG. 34). (b)). The deflection guide 170 positioned at the second guide position has a larger space between the first end 170a1 and the guide surface 21a than between the second end 170a2 and the guide surface 21a (Fig. 35 ( a) see). Therefore, in the space between the first end portion 170a1 and the guide surface 21a, the sheet Sf2 on one side of the folded sheet Sf may swell toward the folding roller 22a through the fold line Sf1 and buckle.

Therefore, the deflection guide 170 presses the folded sheet Sf.

First, in the second conveying direction, after the folding line Sf1 of the folded sheet Sf reaches the deflection guide 170 (see FIG. 34(b)) and before passing through the deflection guide 170, the regulation stopper 26 is once moved. Stop (see FIG. 35(a)). More specifically, after the fold line Sf1 of the folded sheet Sf reaches the first end portion 170a1 of the deflection guide 170 and before passing the second end portion 170a2, the movement of the regulation stopper 26 is temporarily stopped.

By rotating the folding roller 22a, the deflection guide 170, which also serves as the pressing means, is moved from the second guide position to the first guide position. More specifically, the folding roller 22a is rotated to bring the third roller surface 23a4 of the folding roller 22a into contact with the engaging piece 171 of the deflection guide 170 that has been in contact with the second roller surface 22a3 of the folding roller 22a. As a result, the deflection guide 170, which also serves as the pressing means, is moved from the second guide position to the third guide position.

Thereby, the deflection guide 170 functions as a pressing means. That is, the deflection guide 170 presses the folded sheet Sf in a pressing direction to bring the sheet Sf2 on one side closer to the sheet Sf3 on the other side through the folding line Sf1 between the first stacking guide member 184 and the first conveying guide member 181. do. As a result, swelling of the folded sheet Sf is suppressed between the first stacking guide member 184 and the first transport guide member 181 (see FIG. 35(b)).

After the bulging of the folded sheet Sf is suppressed by the deflection guide 170, the lifting of the regulation stopper 26 is resumed, and the conveyance (movement) of the folded sheet Sf in the second conveyance direction is resumed (see FIG. 36(a)). At this time, since swelling of the folded sheet Sf is suppressed, the folded sheet Sf is guided in the second conveying direction while being suppressed from buckling.

After pressing the folded sheet Sf in the pressing direction, the movement of the regulating stopper 26 is stopped before the folding line Sf1 of the folded sheet Sf reaches the first transport guide member 181 in the second transport direction (see FIG. 36 ( b) see).

After stopping the movement of the regulation stopper 26, the deflection guide 170 is returned to the second guide position by rotating the folding roller 22a (see FIG. 37(a)). More specifically, the folding roller 22a is rotated to bring the second roller surface 22a3 of the folding roller 22a into contact with the engaging piece 171 of the deflection guide 170 that has been in contact with the third roller surface 23a4 of the folding roller 22a. As a result, the deflection guide 170, which also serves as the pressing means, is returned from the third guide position to the second guide position.

Thereafter, the lifting of the regulation stopper 26 is resumed, and the conveyance (movement) of the folded sheet Sf in the second conveyance direction is resumed (see FIG. 37(b)). The folded sheet Sf is guided by the deflection guide 170 returned to the second guide position, and the folding line Sf1, which is the leading edge of the folded sheet Sf, is guided between the first conveying guide member 181 and the second conveying guide member 182. FIG.

Note that the sheet processing apparatus (folding apparatus) of this example feeds a plurality of sheets between the pair of conveying guides and the pair of stacking guides described above, and folds the sheet bundle composed of the plurality of sheets. It is possible to

FIGS. 34 to 37 show a state in which one sheet is fed between the conveying guide pair and the stacking guide pair described above. As a sheet, it also functions as a pressing means for a sheet bundle consisting of a plurality of sheets. That is, the deflection guide 170 functions as the pressing means when sending the sheet bundle composed of a plurality of sheets that have undergone the first folding process to the second folding position.

In the case of a single folded sheet, compared to a sheet bundle made up of two or more folded sheets, when being guided to the second folding position, the first conveying guide member 181 and the first stacking guide member 184 are The power to inflate is weak between Therefore, it is not necessary to press the folded sheet by the deflection guide 170 when sending the first folded sheet to the second folding position. In this case, productivity is improved.

Further, the deflection guide 170 functions as a pressing means for a sheet bundle including up to a predetermined number of sheets (for example, 4 sheets) as sheets that have been subjected to the first folding process, and then the second guide 170 return to position. However, for a sheet bundle consisting of sheets exceeding a predetermined number (here, five sheets or more), the deflection guide 170 does not need to be returned to the second guide position after functioning as the pressing means. Whether or not to return the deflection guide 170 to its original position can be set in the service mode.

As described above, according to this example, the sheet is guided by the deflection guide 170 between the first conveying guide member 181 and the first stacking guide member 184. Therefore, the sheet is prevented from being caught by the pair of folding rollers. can be prevented. In addition, when the folded sheet is sent to the second folding position, swelling is suppressed between the first conveying guide member 181 and the first stacking guide member 184, so that the sheet is not buckled or conveyed by the pair of folding rollers. Defects can be prevented.

In this embodiment, the guide member 170a is moved between the first guide position and the second guide position by bringing the engagement piece 171 into contact with the peripheral surface (engagement portion 22d) of the folding roller 22a having a different diameter. However, another driving source may be used for movement. Also, although the guide member 170a is arranged between the folding roller 22a and the guide surface 21a, it may be arranged between the folding roller 22b and the guide surface 21a, or may be arranged on both sides. .

Further, in this embodiment, the first guide position of the guide member 170a during sheet conveyance and the first guide position of the guide member 170a during folding processing are the same, but they need to be exactly the same. can be changed as appropriate. Further, it goes without saying that the second position can also be appropriately changed in the same manner.

Further, in all of the above-described embodiments, the sheet S is folded in two times and folded in three, but only one folding process (first folding in three, folding in two, folding in two) is performed. When the blade guide members 40 and 140 are provided, the sheet S can be properly guided during the folding process.

A... Image forming apparatus B... Sheet processing apparatus F... Folding apparatus S... Sheet Sf... Folded sheet Sf1... Fold line Sf2, Sf3... Sheet 21... Sheet stacking tray 21a... Guide surface 22... Folding roller pair 22a, 22b... Folding roller 22a1, 22b1 ... rotating shaft 22a2, 22b2 ... first roller surface 22a3, 22b3 ... second roller surface 22a4 ... third roller surface 22c ... nip portion 22d ... engaging portion 23 ... folding blade 24, 124 ... blade carrier 25 ... cam Member 26 regulating stopper 27 sheet lifting mechanism 30 pressing guide member 40, 140 blade guide member 60 control unit 61 folding roller motor 62 discharging roller motor 63 regulating stopper motor 64 cam motor 100 image forming system 170 ... deflection guide 170a ... guide member 170a1 ... first end 170a2 ... second end 171 ... engagement piece 172 ... bracket 173 ... rotation shaft 180 ... guide space 181 ... first conveying guide member 182 ... second conveying guide member 183 ... Storage space 184 ... First loading guide member 185 ... Second loading guide member 186 ... Virtual line

Claims (7)

A first conveying guide that guides a sheet and a second conveying guide that is arranged to face the first conveying guide and guides the sheet, and is between the first conveying guide and the second conveying guide. a conveying guide pair that guides the conveyed sheet in a first direction;
a first stacking guide arranged downstream of the first conveying guide in the first direction with a predetermined gap from the first conveying guide for guiding sheets; a second stacking guide that is arranged to face the sheet and guides the sheet; a loading guide pair that guides to
a sheet moving means for moving the sheet conveyed to the pair of stacking guides in the first direction or in a second direction opposite to the first direction;
In a direction intersecting the first direction, the first transport guide and the first transport guide are configured to be movable in a protruding direction from the side of the second transport guide toward the side of the first transport guide and in a return direction that is the reverse direction thereof. a projecting member for projecting the sheet in the projecting direction from between the first stacking guide;
a rotating body pair arranged downstream of the first conveying guide in the projecting direction, and rotating the sheet projected by the projecting member while nipping the sheet at a nip portion to perform folding processing on the sheet;
provided between the first conveying guide and the first stacking guide in the first direction, and between the rotating body pair and the second conveying guide in the projecting direction; guide means for guiding the sheet in a first direction or a second direction between the guide and the first stacking guide;
When the folded sheet that has been subjected to the folding process is moved in the second direction by the sheet moving means with the crease formed by the folding process as the leading edge, between the first stacking guide and the first conveying guide: pressing means for pressing the folded sheet in a pressing direction in which the sheet on one side facing the folded sheet through the fold line approaches the sheet on the other side;
comprising
A sheet processing apparatus characterized by: The pressing means presses the folded sheet in the pressing direction after the fold of the folded sheet reaches the guide means in the second direction and before passing through the guide means.
2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The guide means has a first guide position for guiding the sheet in a first direction between the first conveying guide and the first stacking guide, and a second guide position different from the first guide position. movably provided between a second guide position for guiding the sheet in a second direction;
The guide means is adapted to move the folded sheet in the second direction by the sheet moving means with the fold line as the leading edge, and the guide means is configured to move the folded sheet between the first stacking guide and the first conveying guide in the second direction. Also serves as the pressing means for pressing the folded sheet in the pressing direction by movement in the direction from the guide position toward the first guide position;
3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The guide means is provided movably about an axis to a third guide position between the first guide position and the second guide position, and moves from the second guide position to the third guide position. By pressing the folded sheet in the pressing direction,
4. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: The guide means presses the folded sheet in the pressing direction between the first stacking guide and the first transport guide, and then pushes the folded sheet along the fold in the second direction. returning to the second guide position before reaching the guide;
5. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: Based on a straight line connecting the downstream end of the first transport guide in the first direction and the downstream end of the first stacking guide in the second direction,
The guide means has a first end on the downstream side in the first direction positioned closer to the second transport guide than the straight line in the projecting direction, and a second end on the upstream side in the first direction. The first guide position is positioned on the side of the pair of rotors from the straight line, the first end is positioned on the side of the pair of rotors from the straight line in the projecting direction, and the second end is positioned on the side of the pair of rotors from the straight line. 2 movably provided between the second guide position located on the side of the loading guide,
6. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet;
a sheet processing device that processes a sheet sent from the image forming apparatus;
has
An image forming system, wherein the sheet processing apparatus is the sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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