JP4730025B2 - Paper stacking apparatus, bookbinding apparatus, and image forming system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet stacking apparatus that stacks sheets to create a bundle of sheets, a bookbinding apparatus having such a sheet stacking apparatus, and an image forming system having such a bookbinding apparatus.

  Since an electrophotographic image forming apparatus has high-speed performance, its use as a light printing apparatus that prints a relatively small number of copies is expanding.

  When the image forming apparatus is used as a printing apparatus, it is possible to perform printing to bookbinding with a single apparatus by combining it with a bookbinding apparatus for bookbinding.

  In Patent Documents 1 and 2, a downsized bookbinding apparatus is proposed in order to enable the image forming apparatus and the printing apparatus to be combined.

  In the bookbinding apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, a sheet on which an image is formed in the image forming apparatus is stacked on a sheet stacking unit having an inclined sheet stacking surface to form a bundle of sheets constituting a book, and the bundle is bound. Then, the bundle is rotated in a vertical state, and an adhesive is applied and a cover is joined to the bundle set in the vertical state to create a book.

In Patent Document 2, a sheet bundle is created by holding and stacking sheets in a substantially vertical state.
JP 2004-209870 A JP 2004-305879 A

  In the method of stacking sheets on an inclined sheet stacking surface and creating a bundle of sheets, the sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking unit using gravity, so that the sheets are automatically aligned in the transport direction at the stacking stage. Therefore, the sheet alignment has an advantage that a bundle of sheets aligned in the conveyance direction and the conveyance width direction can be created only by providing an alignment unit in the conveyance width direction.

  However, the alignment performed only by the use of gravity is inconsistent due to the problem that sufficient alignment cannot be performed on paper having various properties and the curl of the paper generated by the environment such as humidity. There are problems such as sufficient cases.

  In the stacking method of Patent Document 2 in which the sheets are stacked in a vertical state, the alignment is improved, but there is a problem that the alignment is insufficient and the sheets are buckled. In the process, i.e., the binding process and the cover joining process, the quality of the book is deteriorated due to, for example, the end faces of the bundle of sheets aligned by the alignment at the time of stacking collapse and become irregular.

  The present invention solves such a problem in the conventional stacking apparatus, and can reliably supply and stack sheets of various sizes to the sheet stacking unit, a bookbinding apparatus having such a sheet stacking apparatus, and An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system having such an integrated device.

The object is achieved by the following invention.
1.
A paper stacking unit having an inclined paper stacking surface;
Nipping and conveying means for nipping and conveying the sheet to the sheet stacking unit;
Have a moving means for moving the conveying direction in accordance with the clamping transfer means to the paper size,
The paper stacking unit stacks the paper transported by the nipping and transporting means,
The moving means moves the nipping / conveying means so that a distance between a rear end of the paper accumulated in the paper accumulating unit and the nipping / conveying means is constant regardless of the paper size. apparatus.
2.
2. The apparatus according to 1, further comprising an alignment member that aligns the sheets stacked in the sheet stacking unit in a transport direction, wherein the moving unit moves the alignment member in the transport direction according to a sheet size. Paper stacking device.
3.
A paper supply unit for supplying paper to the paper stacking unit; the nipping and conveying means is provided in the paper supply unit; the paper supply unit has an inclined paper support surface; and the paper support surface is raised. 3. The paper stacking apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the paper stacking apparatus receives the traveling paper and then transports the paper by lowering and feeding the paper to the paper stacking unit.
4).
4. The paper stacking apparatus according to 3 above, wherein the paper supply unit includes a stopper for stacking paper.
5.
5. The paper stacking apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the paper supply unit includes an alignment member that aligns the paper in the conveyance width direction.
6).
The nipping / conveying means includes a pair of rollers that are separated from each other in a step of carrying the paper into the paper supply unit, and that sandwich the paper in a step of conveying the paper to the paper stacking unit. 6. The paper stacking apparatus according to any one of 5 above.
7).
7. A bookbinding apparatus comprising: the sheet stacking apparatus according to any one of 1 to 6 above; and a unit that binds a bundle of sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit and joins a cover.
8).
8. An image forming system comprising: an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet; and the bookbinding apparatus according to 7 that binds a bundle of sheets on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus.

  According to the first to eighth aspects of the present invention, the end face of the sheet bundle formed when a plurality of sheets are stacked is a flat surface, and a sheet bundle in which the sheets are sufficiently aligned is created. In addition, it is possible to smoothly carry in and accumulate various sizes of paper.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the alignment of the paper is further improved, and sufficient alignment can be performed for various sizes of paper.

  According to the invention of claim 3, it is possible to smoothly carry in the paper into the paper stacking unit.

  According to the invention of any one of claims 4 to 6, since the sheets are accumulated before the sheets are carried into the sheet accumulating section, the continuous sheet conveying process on the upstream side of the sheet accumulating section and on the downstream side of the sheet accumulating section. The batch processing for processing a plurality of sheets as a sheet bundle is smoothly combined, and for example, it is not necessary to temporarily stop the conveyance of the sheet on the upstream side of the sheet stacking unit for the processing on the downstream side of the sheet stacking unit. Thus, a paper stacking apparatus that operates with high efficiency is realized.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, a small-sized bookbinding apparatus that creates a high-quality book suitable for coupling to an image forming apparatus is realized.

  According to the eighth aspect of the invention, an image forming system that consistently processes from printing to bookbinding is realized.

Although the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment.
[Image forming system]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The image forming system includes an image forming apparatus A and a bookbinding apparatus B. After forming an image on a sheet in the image forming apparatus A, a sheet bundle is created in the bookbinding apparatus, and the sheet bundle is bound and processed. It is a system that performs up to bookbinding through a consistent process.

  The image forming apparatus A forms an image on a sheet by an electrophotographic method, and includes an image forming unit A1, a document conveying device A2, an image reading unit A3, and a communication unit A4.

  In the image forming unit A1, a charging device 2, an exposure device 3, a developing device 4, a transfer device 5A, a separating device 5B, and a cleaning device 6 are arranged around the drum-shaped photoconductor 1, and these electrophotographic process devices are used. Charging, exposure, development, and transfer are performed to form a toner image on the photoreceptor 1, and an image is formed on the sheet S1.

  The paper S1 is stored in three paper feed trays 7A. The paper S1 is fed one by one from these paper feed trays 7A, and the toner image on the photoreceptor 1 is transferred to the paper S1 by the transfer device 5A. Is done.

  The toner image transferred to the sheet S1 passes through the fixing device 8 and is fixed. The fixed sheet S1 is discharged from the discharge roller 7C or conveyed to the refeed path 7E.

  In face-down paper discharge in single-sided printing, face-up paper discharge in single-sided printing, or surface image formation in double-sided image formation, the switching gate 7D switches and guides the paper S1. That is, in face-up paper discharge, the switching gate 7D advances the paper S1 straight. In face-down paper discharge and double-sided image formation, the switching gate 7D guides the paper S1 downward.

  In face-down paper discharge, the paper S1 is guided downward, then switched back and conveyed upward, and discharged from the paper discharge roller 7C.

  In the double-sided image formation, the sheet S1 is guided downward, and after reversing the front and back by switchback, the sheet S1 is re-fed to the transfer unit where the transfer device 5A is arranged through the refeed path 7E, and the back image is transferred. .

  The document transport device A2 transports documents one by one to the reading position. The image reading unit A3 reads an image of the document conveyed by the document conveying device A2 or the document placed on the document table 9, and generates an image signal. The communication unit A4 communicates with the network device and generates an image signal in response to an image formation command transmitted from the network.

  The bookbinding apparatus B is an apparatus that forms a book by bundling a plurality of sheets fed from the image forming apparatus A and forming a book by joining a cover sheet to the sheet bundle. In the following description, a sheet on which an image is formed in the image forming apparatus A and supplied to the bookbinding apparatus B is referred to as a sheet S1, a cover sheet is referred to as a cover sheet S2, and a book in which a cover sheet is bonded to the sheet is referred to as a book S3. To tell.

  The bookbinding apparatus B serves as a sheet supply section that supplies the sheet S1 discharged from the image forming apparatus A to the sheet discharge tray 20 or the sheet reversing section 40, the sheet discharge tray 20, and the sheet stacking section 50. Sheet reversing section 40, sheet stacking section 50 for stacking sheets S1 fed one by one or several sheets, coating means 60, cover cover storing section 80 for storing cover S2, cover cover supporting section 90 for supporting the cover, and book A discharge unit 100 is provided.

  The sheet S1 discharged from the image forming apparatus A is discharged to the discharge tray 20 through the discharge path 12 by the switching gate 11 provided in the transfer unit 10 or is transferred to the sheet reversing unit 40. The sheet S1 is discharged to the discharge tray 20 when the bookbinding processing mode is not set.

  In the bookbinding mode, the paper S1 is transported to the paper reversing unit 40 through the transport path 13, and after being switched back in the paper reversing unit 40, is transported to the paper stacking unit 50. In the sheet stacking unit 50, a set number of sheets S1 are stacked, and the sheet stacking unit 50 rotates when the set number of sheets is stacked to hold the bundle of sheets S1 in a substantially vertical state.

  An adhesive is applied to the lower surface of the bundle of sheets S1 held by the sheet stacking unit 50 in the vertical state by the applying unit 60.

  The cover sheet S2 comes into contact with and adheres to the bundle of sheets S1 coated with the adhesive.

The book S3 created by bonding the cover sheet S2 to the bundle of sheets S1 is discharged to the book discharge unit 100.
[Bookbinding device]
Hereinafter, each part of the bookbinding apparatus will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of the bookbinding apparatus B.

The sheet S1 conveyed through the conveyance path 13 is conveyed by the carry-in roller 14, and after passing through the conveyance roller 401 and ascending the reverse guide plate 402 having an inclined sheet support surface for supporting and guiding the sheet S1, the conveyance roller 401 rotates. Thus, the sheet S1 is conveyed downward. An alignment member 403 aligns the sheet S1 on the reverse guide plate 402, and reciprocates in the conveyance width direction by driving a motor (not shown). Reference numeral 404 denotes a stopper used when stacking a plurality of sheets S1 on the sheet reversing unit 40, and can be set to a solid line retracted position and a dotted line sheet receiving position. The sheet S1 is not stacked on the reverse guide plate 402 at the position of the solid line, and the paper S1 is stacked on the reverse guide plate 402 when it is at the position of the dotted line. The aligning member 403 operates when stacking the sheets on the reverse guide plate 402 and aligns the sheets in the conveyance width direction. The reverse guide plate 402 and the stopper 404 constitute a buffer paper stacking unit that stacks the paper S1 in the previous stage of stacking the paper S1 on the paper stacking unit 50. The sheet S1 transported downward falls on the sheet stacking unit 50 and is collected. The sheet stacking unit 50 includes a support plate 502 and a receiving plate 506 that form an inclined sheet stacking surface, and the sheet S1 that has descended the sheet reversing unit 40 is supported in an inclined state by the support plate 502 and the receiving plate 506.
The sheets S1 sequentially discharged from the image forming apparatus A are stacked on the sheet stacking unit 50, and a bundle of sheets S1 is formed. The number of sheets S1 forming the bundle is set in a setting unit (not shown). Reference numeral 504 denotes a pressing member that suppresses the lifting of the stacked sheets S1 and moves up and down to hold the sheets S1. Reference numeral 505 denotes an alignment member that aligns the sheet S1 in the conveyance width direction.

  When the set number of sheets S1 are stacked, the holding plate 503 operates to hold the bundle of sheets S1.

  In a state where the bundle of sheets S1 is held, the sheet stacking unit 50 rotates about the shaft 501 to change the bundle of sheets S1 from the inclined state to the vertical state.

  FIG. 3 shows a process of holding a bundle of sheets S1 in a vertical state on the sheet stacking unit 50 and applying an adhesive.

  Prior to the coating step, the holding of the sheet by the holding plate 503 that constitutes a holding unit that holds the sheet S1 with the support plate 502 will be described.

  The holding plate 503 moves by driving the motor M4, presses the bundle of sheets S1, detects an increase in driving torque due to the pressing, and stops, whereby the bundle of sheets S1 is strengthened by the support plate 502 and the holding plate 503. Retained. As described above, the support plate 502 and the holding plate 503 constitute a sheet bundle supporting unit that supports the bundle of sheets S1. The stop position of the holding plate 503 is detected by the encoder 509 and stored in the storage device of the position detection unit 511.

  At the stage where the bundle of sheets S1 is held, the stopper 506 is rotated 90 ° by a motor (not shown) and retracted as shown in FIG.

  In the state of FIG. 3B, the lower surface SA (the lower surface in FIG. 3) of the bundle of sheets S <b> 1 is separated from the application roller 62 as illustrated in FIG.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (d), the application means 60 in which the hot melt adhesive 63 is accommodated rises, and the hot melt adhesive layer on the peripheral surface of the application roller 62 is in the bundle of sheets S1. The application means 60 moves in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 3 in contact with the lower surface SA, and applies the adhesive 63 to the lower surface SA of the bundle of sheets S1. The adhesive 63 is housed in a solid form in the adhesive container 66, heated by the heater 64, melted, and supplied to the coating means 60 (see FIG. 4). The coating means 60 has a container for storing the adhesive 63 and a coating roller 62, and moves in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIGS.

  FIG. 4 will be used to explain the application stage of FIG. 3 (d) from the pre-application stage of FIG. 3 (c).

  At the start of bookbinding, the application means 60 is at the right end position (first position) as the home position, as shown in FIG. The home position of the coating means 60 is the right end position shown in FIG. 4A and moves to the left from the home position at the start of the bookbinding process, but the movement from this home position to the left end position (second position) This is performed by driving a belt 67 (second moving means) driven by a motor M3, and is accumulated in the sheet accumulating unit 50 by a sheet sensor SE2 provided immediately downstream of the reverse guide plate 402 (shown in FIG. 2). This is performed based on a signal that detects the passage of the leading edge of the last sheet S1 of the sheet S1. In the process in which the application unit 60 moves to the left end position, the application roller 62 is separated from the lower surface SA of the bundle of sheets S1.

  Then, at the stage of FIG. 4B in which the application unit 60 moves from the left end position toward the right end position, the application roller 62 is raised by the drive of the motor M2 and comes into contact with the lower surface SA of the paper S1 to remove the adhesive 63. Apply. The start of the coating process in FIG. 4B is timing-controlled so as to start coating when the bundle of sheets S1 is set in a vertical coatable state, looking at a temporary stop after cutting the cover sheet. The

  By such timing control, the operation of each part is continuously executed, and the bookbinding processing effect is performed with high efficiency.

  After the coating means 60 moves to the home position, the cover sheet S2 is joined.

  FIG. 5 shows the joining process of the cover sheet S2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cover sheet S2 is stored in a sheet feed tray 801 of a cover sheet storage unit 80 provided at the lower part of the bookbinding apparatus B, and is conveyed by a feed roller 82, so that the front end of the cover sheet S2 reaches a predetermined position. When the cover sheet S2 is switched back by an amount based on the information on the sheet size and the information on the thickness of the bundle of sheets S1 stored in the position detection unit 511, the cover 81 is cut by the cutter 81 serving as a cutting unit. Is done. As a result, the cover sheet S2 is cut to a length corresponding to the sheet size and the thickness of the bundle of sheets. The cut cover sheet S2 again travels in the left direction in the figure by switchback conveyance, and is then placed on the cover sheet support unit 901 in a horizontal state. The cover support means 901 indicated by a chain line is composed of a plurality of members such as pressing members 91 and 92 and cams 93 and 94 for driving the pressing members 91 and 92.

  The cutter 81 cuts the cover sheet S2 to a length based on the information on the size of the cover sheet S2, the size information on the sheet S1, and the information on the thickness of the bundle of sheets S1 stored in the position detection unit 511. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 7, the spread-side end portions S1E and S2E of the sheet S1 and the cover sheet S2 in the book S3 are aligned. Further, the chips of the cover sheet S2 are accommodated in a waste container 83 (see FIG. 2).

  FIG. 5A shows a state where the application of the adhesive 63 is completed. In the state of FIG. 5A, the cover sheet support means 901 supports the cover sheet S2 at a lower position away from the lower surface of the bundle of sheets S1, as shown in FIG.

  Next, the cover supporting means 901 is driven and raised by belts 99A and 99B (first moving means, shown in FIG. 2) to be in the state shown in FIG. 5B, and the cover S2 is moved to the bottom surface SA of the bundle of sheets S1, That is, it is brought into contact with the adhesive application surface. The cover pressing members 95, 96, and 97 are raised together with the cover supporting means 901 and lowered.

  When the cover supporting means 901 starts to rise, the paper pressing members 95, 96, and 97 prevent the paper S1 from being displaced by pressing the paper S1 from above. Thereafter, until the display support unit 901 is stopped, the display pressing members 95 to 97 are slightly rotated around the respective support shafts and slightly separated from the cover sheet S1.

  The cover sheet supporting means 901 is further raised by several mm from the position shown in FIG. The position raised several mm is the position shown in FIG. After rising, the pressing members 91 and 92 as bending means press the cover S2 from the left and right sides, add corners to the boundary between the back cover and the front cover and the boundary between the back cover and the back cover, and the cover S2 to the sheet S1. The book is made by closely contacting and forming a square back.

  The joining process of the cover sheet S2 shown in FIG. 5 is started immediately after the coating means 60 returns to the home position in FIG. Therefore, since the joining process of the cover sheet S2 is started immediately after the application of the adhesive 63 is completed, the applied adhesive 63 is prevented from drying before joining, and poor adhesion due to drying is prevented. That is, when the adhesive 63 is applied to the lower surface SA of the bundle of sheets S1 in the process in which the application unit 60 moves from the first position to the second position, the application unit 60 is again applied after application due to space problems. Since it is necessary to join the cover sheet S2 after returning to the first position, it takes time from application to joining, and in addition to the problem of drying of the adhesive, the time required for the joining process becomes long.

  The cover support means 901 is raised and lowered as shown in FIG. 5 by belts 99A and 99B driven by a motor (not shown), and the movement of the pressing members 91 and 92 in the left and right directions is a motor (not shown). ) Are driven by cams 93 and 94 (the cam shape is shown in FIG. 8). However, in addition to the structure in which the pressing members 91 and 92 are moved by a cam, other mechanisms such as a structure in which a rack is provided on the pressing member and the pinion is engaged with the rack can be used.

  Further, the belts 98A and 98B are in the positions indicated by the solid lines in FIG. 8 which is a top view of the cover support means 901 in the state where the cover support means 901 shown in FIG. 2 is at the home position, and support the cover S2. However, as shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, when the cover supporting means 901 is raised and lowered, the cover supporting means 901 moves to the retracted position indicated by the chain line in FIG. 8, and covers S2 and the cover supporting means 901. Forms a space for ascending and descending.

  The processing of the cover sheet S2 after joining the cover sheet S2 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  When the joining of the cover sheet S2 is completed, as shown in FIG. 6, the cover sheet supporting means 901 is driven and dropped by the belts 99A and 99B, and returns to the home position.

  In the return step of FIG. 6 in which the cover sheet supporting means 901 returns to the home position, as shown by the arrows, the cover sheet pressing members 95 to 97 are further rotated about their support shafts and become substantially vertical. At the stage of returning to, the cover pressing members 95 to 97 rotate again to change from the vertical state to the horizontal state.

  Subsequently, the holding plate 503 moves to the retracted position, and the pressing members 91 and 92 move away from each other. As a result, the book S3 including the bundle of sheets S1 and the cover sheet S2 falls on the cover sheet support unit 901. FIG. 9A shows a state where the book S3 is thus supported by the cover sheet supporting means 901 and the cover pressing members 95 to 97 are positioned under the cover sheet S2.

  In the state shown in FIG. 9A, the belts 98A and 98B start moving as indicated by arrows, and the sheet pressing members 95 to 97 rotate to push up the cover sheet S2. The book S3 is conveyed leftward by the belts 98A and 98B, but the upper part is prevented from moving by the sheet pressing members 96 and 97, so that it falls to the right as shown in FIGS. 9B and 9C. By lying down on the belts 98A and 98B and further transported, the cover sheet S2 is pressed by the cover sheet pressing members 96 and 97 and closely contacts the sheet S1 as shown in FIG. 9C.

  The book S3 is conveyed by the belts 98A and 98B and is discharged to the book discharge unit 100 in FIG.

  The sheet discharge table 101 is moved up and down by belt driving, the sheet discharge table 101 on which the book S3 is placed is lowered, the book S3 is transferred to the belt 102, and the book S3 is conveyed by the belt 102 and discharged from the bookbinding apparatus B. The

  Note that the sheet stacking unit 50 is set to the inclined state illustrated in FIG. 2 when the sheet stacking unit 50 is in the state illustrated in FIG. 9A, that is, with the operation of moving the holding plate 503 to the retracted position. Is done.

  In the stage shown in FIG. 3A, that is, in the period from when the paper stacking unit 50 rotates from the tilted state to the vertical state, through the stage of FIG. 9A until the vertical state returns to the tilted state. As described above, the application of the adhesive and the bonding of the cover sheet S2 are performed by the application unit 60. During this period, the sheet S1 is continuously carried into the bookbinding apparatus B, whereby the bookbinding apparatus B is changed to the image forming apparatus. When used in combination with A, work efficiency can be increased.

In order to realize such an improvement in work efficiency, the sheet S1 carried into the bookbinding apparatus B from the image forming apparatus A is accumulated in the sheet reversing unit 40 during the period in which the adhesive is applied and the cover is bonded. Is done. That is, the stopper 404 is set at the dotted line position, a plurality of sheets S1 are stacked on the reverse guide plate 402 and aligned by the alignment member 403, and then the sheet stacking unit 50 is returned to the inclined state of FIG. The sheet S1 collected on the guide plate 402 is conveyed to the sheet collecting unit 50.
[Paper accumulation]
The accumulation of sheets in the bookbinding process described above will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet reversing unit 40 as a sheet supply unit that supplies sheets to the sheet stacking unit 50, FIG. 11 is a top view of the sheet reversing unit 40, and FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a moving mechanism of the nipping and conveying means. is there.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each component of the sheet reversing unit 40 provided at an inclination in the bookbinding apparatus B is attached to a reversing part frame 400 provided fixed to the bookbinding apparatus B.

  The driven roller of the conveying roller 401 composed of a pair of driving roller and driven roller is attached to the free ends of rotatable levers 401A and 401B, and is rotated by the action of a motor (not shown) and a compression spring SP2. When the cam 401C is driven, the cam roller is brought into contact with or separated from the driving roller. Specifically, when the sheet S1 is conveyed by the carry-in roller 14 and travels in the upper left direction in FIG. 10, the roller pair is separated, and immediately after the sheet S1 leaves the carry-in roller 14, the roller pair comes into contact. The sheet S1 is nipped and conveyed in the lower right direction, and the timing is controlled by the cam 401C so that the leading edge of the sheet S1 passes through the conveyance roller 401 and is separated immediately before reaching the conveyance roller 405. Separate. Such timing control is performed based on a sheet trailing edge detection signal by a sensor SE1 provided in the vicinity of the carry-in roller 14.

  Similarly, the conveying rollers 405 and 406 are composed of a pair of driving rollers and driven rollers, and the driven rollers are pressed against and separated from the driving rollers by driving of a driving means such as a solenoid.

  The position of the conveying roller 405 is fixed, but the conveying roller 406 as a nipping and conveying means for nipping and conveying the sheet S1 to the stacking unit can be moved in the conveying direction as described below.

  The movable members 408A and 408B, which are movable by being guided by the fixed guide members 409A and 409B, include a guide plate 420 having an inclined paper support surface that supports and guides the paper S1, the support arms 422A and 422B of the transport roller 406, and the paper. The alignment member 430 of the stacking unit 50 is fixed, and these constitute an integral moving unit.

  The moving unit moves according to the paper size information, and is driven by the motor M7 in accordance with the paper size setting operation in the operation unit (not shown) of the image forming apparatus A or the paper size designation information included in the image formation request from the external device. This is performed by moving the moving member 408A by the movement of the belts 410A and 410B, and moves to a position corresponding to the paper size. That is, the large size paper is set to the upper left position in FIG. 10, and the small size paper is set to the lower right position.

  The operation of the sheet reversing unit 40 is as follows.

  The sheets S1 discharged one by one from the image forming apparatus A travel on the reverse guide plate 402 having a sheet support surface inclined by the carry-in roller 14 in the upper left direction in FIG. During this travel of the paper S1, the transport roller 401 is in an open state, and the paper S1 travels between the transport rollers 401.

  The passage of the trailing edge of the sheet S1 at the carry-in roller 14 is detected by the sensor SE1, and the pair of rollers of the conveying roller 401 comes into contact with and rotates by the trailing edge detection signal of the sensor SE1 to convey the sheet S1 in the lower right direction in FIG. To do. Accordingly, the sheet S1 reverses the traveling direction immediately after passing through the carry-in roller 14, and travels on the reverse guide plate 402 in the lower right direction.

  The conveyance rollers 405 and 406 are in contact with each other during conveyance of the sheet S1, and convey the sheet S1 from the conveyance roller 401 and convey it to the sheet stacking unit 50. The transport roller 405 is connected to the motor M5 through a gear train, and the transport roller 406 is connected to the motor M5 through the gear train and belts 417A, 418A, 417B, and 418B. Reference numerals 414A, 416A, 414B, and 416B are link mechanisms that move the transport roller 406 while maintaining power transmission from the motor M5.

  The above operations are repeated to stack the sheets S1 on the sheet stacking unit 50.

  The operation described above is the operation of the paper reversing unit 40 when the loaded paper S1 is transported to the paper stacking unit 50 without being stacked in the paper reversing unit 40, and the paper S1 is stacked in the paper stacking unit. However, there is a mode in which the sheet reversing unit 40 performs an operation of stacking a plurality of sheets S1 and transporting the stacked sheets S1 to the sheet stacking unit 50. In this accumulation mode, as described above, the bookbinding process including application of adhesive to the bundle of sheets S1, bonding of the cover sheet S2, and discharge of the book S3 is being performed, and the sheet accumulation unit 50 receives the sheet S1. This is performed on the sheet S1 carried into the sheet reversing unit 40 while the sheet cannot be used.

  Next, sheet conveyance accompanied by accumulation in the sheet reversing unit 40 will be described.

  In the accumulation mode, the sheet S1 is conveyed by the carry-in roller 14 and is conveyed in the lower right direction in FIG. 10 by the conveyance roller 401, but is stopped by the stopper 404 set at the position of the one-dot chain line. In the stacking mode, the pair of transport rollers 405 and 406 are separated from each other and the sheet is not transported until the stacking of sheets in the sheet reversing unit 40 is completed.

  Each time the sheet S1 is carried onto the sheet guide plate 402, the alignment members 403A and 403B are operated to align the sheet S1 in the conveyance width direction.

  When the sheet processing on the downstream side from the sheet stacking unit 50 is completed and the sheet stacking unit 50 can accept the sheet, the bundle of sheets S1 stacked in the sheet reversing unit 40 is conveyed to the sheet stacking unit 50. Is called. That is, upon receipt of a paper accepting signal in the paper stacking unit 50, the stopper 404 is retracted to the solid line position, and the transport rollers 405 and 406 in FIG. 10 are moved from the one-dot chain line position to the solid line position, and the paper S1. Pinch a bunch of. After nipping, the motor M5 is activated, and the transport rollers 405 and 406 transport the bundle of sheets S1 to the sheet stacking unit 50.

  The sheet reversing unit 40 is inclined as shown in the figure, and has a gravitational action, and the bundle of sheets S1 is reliably conveyed to the sheet stacking unit by the conveying force of the conveying rollers 405 and 406. Due to the action of gravity and the conveying action of the conveying rollers 405 and 406, the sheet reversing unit 40 performs conveyance in a state where the alignment process is maintained.

  In the process of creating the first book, the sheet stacking unit 50 is shown in the stage where the sheet reversing unit 40 supplies the sheet S1 to the sheet stacking unit without stacking the sheets S1 and stacks the set number of sheets. As shown in FIG. 3, the paper is made vertical, and the paper supply to the paper stacking unit 50 is stopped and the paper S1 is stacked on the paper reversing unit 40.

  When the binding process of the sheet bundle constituting the first book and the joining of the cover sheet S2 are completed, the sheet stacking unit 50 returns to the inclined state shown in FIG. 2, and the sheet S1 can be received. The sheet bundle collected in the reversing unit 40 is conveyed to the sheet collecting unit 50. Further, the remaining sheets S1 are not collected by the sheet reversing unit 40, but the sheets S1 are supplied to the sheet stacking unit 50, and when the set number of sheets are stacked in the sheet stacking unit 50, the sheet stacking unit 50 Rotates to the vertical state of FIG.

As described above, the sheet is fed to the sheet stacking unit 50 without stacking the sheet S1 in the stacking mode in which the sheet stacking unit 50 transports the sheet bundle to the sheet stacking unit 50 after stacking the sheet S1 on the sheet reversing unit 40. By repeating the mode, a plurality of sheet bundles are created and a plurality of books are created.

  As described above, the conveyance roller 406 as the nipping and conveying means moves in the conveyance direction according to the paper size.

  In the case of the small size, the rear end (the upper left end in FIG. 10) of the paper S1 in the paper stacking unit 50 is positioned below as indicated by a one-dot chain line S1A, for example. Therefore, if the position of the transport roller 406 is constant regardless of the paper size, there is a wide space between the transport roller 406 and the end of the paper S1, and the paper S1 exists in the paper stacking unit 50. In the state, when the next sheet S1 is carried into the sheet stacking unit 50, the leading end of the succeeding sheet S1 hits the rear end of the sheet S1 in the sheet stacking unit 50, and the sheet S1 smoothly reaches the sheet stacking unit 50. It will not be brought in.

  Such a problem can be prevented by moving the transport roller 406 in accordance with the paper size and making the distance between the trailing edge of the paper S1 existing in the paper stacking unit 50 and the transport roller 406 constant regardless of the paper size. The

  Then, the alignment member 430 of the sheet stacking unit 50 also moves the transport roller 406 together, so that satisfactory alignment is performed for various sheet sizes.

  A moving mechanism of the conveying roller 406 is shown in FIG.

  A shaft 416C is attached to the rises 422A and 422B of the moving members 408A and 408B, and the conveyance roller 406 is pivotally supported on the shaft 416C. The moving members 408A and 408B move by driving the motor M7 depending on the paper size, and the moving rollers 408A and 408B move the transport roller 406 to the position of the solid line and the position of the dashed line in FIG. Although there are many types of paper sizes instead of two types, the conveyance roller 406 can be set at an intermediate position between the position of the solid line and the position of the alternate long and short dash line according to the paper size.

1 is a diagram illustrating an entire image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is front sectional drawing of the bookbinding apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the application | coating process of an adhesive agent. It is a figure which shows the movement of an application means. It is a figure which shows the process of joining a cover sheet to a paper. It is a figure which shows the process of joining a cover sheet to a paper. It is a side view of a book. It is a top view of a cover sheet support means. It is a figure explaining the process of the cover after joining. It is sectional drawing of a paper reversing part. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a sheet reversing unit. It is a figure which shows the moving mechanism of a clamping conveyance means.

Explanation of symbols

A Image forming apparatus B Bookbinding apparatus 40 Paper reversing section 50 Paper stacking section 402 Reverse guide plate 401, 405, 406 Conveying roller 430 Alignment member

Claims (8)

A paper stacking unit having an inclined paper stacking surface;
Nipping and conveying means for nipping and conveying the sheet to the sheet stacking unit;
Have a moving means for moving the transport direction according to the clamping transfer means to the paper size,
The paper stacking unit stacks the paper transported by the nipping and transporting means,
The moving means moves the nipping / conveying means so that a distance between a rear end of the paper accumulated in the paper accumulating unit and the nipping / conveying means is constant regardless of the paper size. apparatus. 2. The alignment member according to claim 1, further comprising: an alignment member configured to align the sheets stacked in the sheet stacking unit in a transport direction, wherein the moving unit moves the alignment member in the transport direction according to a sheet size. Paper stacking device. A paper supply unit for supplying paper to the paper stacking unit; the nipping and conveying means is provided in the paper supply unit; the paper supply unit has an inclined paper support surface; and the paper support surface is raised. 3. The paper stacking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after receiving the traveling paper, the paper is lowered and conveyed, and the paper is supplied to the paper stacking unit. 4. The paper stacking apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the paper supply unit has a stopper for stacking paper. 5. The sheet stacking apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the sheet supply unit includes an alignment member that aligns sheets in the conveyance width direction. 4. The nipping and conveying means includes a pair of rollers that are separated from each other in a step of carrying a paper into the paper supply unit, and that hold the paper in a step of conveying the paper to the paper stacking unit. The paper stacking apparatus according to claim 1. A bookbinding apparatus comprising: the sheet stacking apparatus according to claim 1, and means for binding a bundle of sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit and joining the cover sheets. An image forming system comprising: an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet; and a bookbinding apparatus according to claim 7 that binds a bundle of sheets on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus.

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