JPS63247266A - Recording sheet after-treating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the efficiency of loading sheets on a tray, by a method wherein the presence of sheets on an assorting tray is detected, if a subsequent sheet processing form is the same, copying is continued, and when it is different, copying is continued after the sheets are removed. CONSTITUTION:Lowering of a tray 515 during loading of ordinary sheets P is effected through detection of the lowering by an upper limit sensor 522, and in the case of a fold sheet, the tray is lowered by a specified amount each time the specified number of sheets are loaded on the tray 515, and abutment between the sheets is prevented from occurring. When copying is started, the presence of the sheet P on the assorting tray 515 is detected by a sensor 523, and when the sheets on the tray are absent, copying is continued. When the sheet is present, the processing form of the sheet, e.g. an ordinary sheet, a halt-fold sheet, a Z-fold sheet, is compared with that of a subsequent sheet. When the processing form is the same, copying is continued, and when it is different, it is displayed on a duplicator body and copying is stopped. After the sheets on the tray 515 are removed, copying is started. This constitution enables the sheets to be stably loaded on the tray.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a recorded paper post-processing device, and particularly to a device for aligning a large amount of paper sheets sent out from a recording device such as a biplane or a printing machine. Sorting is done using a tray or a stapling function where a U-shaped staple called a staple is pushed into the sheet bundle to stop the sheets.
The present invention relates to a recorded paper post-processing device that has a character shape and a paper folding function that folds the paper in half.

[Conventional technology]

In a sheet post-processing device that has this type of folding device, it is possible to fold a sheet in half, Z-fold, etc. whether the sheet is folded or not folded or not, or only in the case of folding. When discharging sheets with different folding shapes, it is more convenient to change the discharging conditions so that a large amount of paper can be stacked in a consistent manner after discharging. That is, changes in the discharge speed to the tray, the initial position of the tray, the method of lowering the tray, etc., or a combination thereof can be considered. If a sheet already exists in the tray at this moment, when discharging a sheet with a different processing format in the next compound sheet, conventional equipment has the same discharge conditions, so it is difficult to load and maintain consistency. In the worst case, sheets would fall from the tray, paper would get jammed in the sheets, and other damage would occur.

〔the purpose〕

The purpose of the present invention is to always satisfy good stacking performance and consistency of a tray that loads a large amount of sheets. Specifically, it is a purpose of the present invention to always satisfy good loading performance and consistency of a tray that loads a large amount of sheets.
Regardless of the sheet processing mode, control is performed to maintain good stacking.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows the internal structure of an embodiment of the image recording apparatus of the present invention. In this figure, 100 is a main body that has multiple image reading functions and image recording functions, 300 is a circulation type document feeding device (hereinafter referred to as R and DF) that automatically feeds the document, and 400 is a main body that holds the paper at a predetermined position. There is a paper folding device for folding, and a finisher (post-processing device) that has a sorting function and a stapling function.
Can be used in any combination with 00.

A1 main body (1,00) In the main body 100, 101 is an original platen glass on which an original is placed, 103 is an illumination lamp (exposure lamp) that illuminates the original, and 105, 107° and 109 are respectively used to change the optical path of the reflected light of the original. Scanning reflective mirror (scanning mirror), 11
Reference numeral 1 indicates a lens having focusing and variable magnification functions, and reference numeral 113 indicates a fourth reflection mirror (scanning mirror) that changes the optical path. 1
15 is an optical system motor that drives the optical system, 117, 119
, 121 are sensors, respectively.

131 is a photosensitive drum, 133 is a main motor that drives the photosensitive drum 131, 135 is a high voltage unit, 137 is a blank exposure unit, 139 is a developing device, 141 is a transfer charger, 143 is a separation charger, and 145 is a cleaning device It is.

151 is the upper cassette, 153 is the lower cassette, 155
157 is a paper feed roller, and 159 is a registration roller. Further, 161 is a conveyor belt that conveys the recording paper on which an image has been recorded to the fixing side, 163 is a fixing device that fixes the conveyed recording paper by thermocompression bonding, and 167 is a sensor used for double-sided recording.

The surface of the photosensitive drum 1310 described above is composed of a seamless photoconductor using a photoconductor and an electric conductor, and this drum 131 is rotatably supported by a main shaft that is activated in response to pressing of a duplication start key, which will be described later. The motor 133 starts rotating in the direction of the arrow in the figure. Next, when the predetermined rotational control and potential control processing (preprocessing) of the drum 131 are completed, the original placed on the original platen glass 101 is illuminated by the illumination lamp 103 that is integrated with the first scanning mirror 105. The reflected light from the original is transmitted to the first scanning mirror 105 and the second scanning mirror 105.
Scanning mirror 107, third scanning mirror 109, lens 11
1 and a fourth scanning mirror 113 to form an image on the drum 131.

The drum 131 is corona charged by a high pressure unit 135. After that, the image illuminated by the illumination lamp 103 (
The original image) is exposed to slit light, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the drum 131 using a known NP method.

Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 131 is transferred to a developing device 139.
The toner image is developed by the developing port 140 and visualized as a toner image, and the toner image is transferred onto a rolling paper by a transfer charger 141 as described later.

That is, the upper cassette 151 or the lower cassette 1
The roller paper in 53 is fed into the main unit by paper feed rollers 155 or 157, and is sent toward the photosensitive drum 131 with accurate timing by registration rollers 159, so that the leading edge of the latent image and the leading edge of the roller paper are aligned. are matched. Thereafter, the transfer paper passes between the transfer thread charger 141 and the drum 131, so that the toner image on the drum 131 is transferred onto the transfer paper. After this turning is completed, the turning paper is moved to drum 13.
1 by the separation charger 143, and the conveyor belt 1
61 to the fixing device 163, where it is fixed by pressure and heating, and then discharged by the discharge roller 165.
ejected out of o.

After being rotated, the drum 131 continues to rotate, and its surface is cleaned by a cleaning device 145 composed of a cleaning roller and an elastic blade.

C, RDF (circulating document feeder) (300) RDF
In 300, 301 is a stacking tray on which originals are set. Document size detection sensors 302 and 303 are provided at a predetermined interval in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of the document. The size of the document in the width direction depends on whether both sensors 302 and 303 are detecting the document, or only one sensor 303 (assuming that sensor 303 is located on the back side of the paper) is detecting the document. This can be determined by checking whether there are any. Note that by increasing the number of sensors of this type, a more accurate size can be determined. Further, the lengthwise size can be determined based on the time period during which the sensor 303 (muff 'v' is 302) detects the document.

However, in the RDF 300, the document sent from the stacking tray 301 to the exposure surface through the sheet path 304 is transferred to the stacking tray 30 again by feeding it through the sheet path 305.
1 can be loaded. A sensor 307 detects a single value of the original.

The detailed operation of the RDF 300 is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 59-206619 filed by the present applicant, but since it is not directly related to the present invention, it will be omitted here.

91 Paper folding device (400) The paper folding device 400 folds a recorded paper in half at approximately the center of the paper, and folds the paper in half at two predetermined positions.
Perform a Z-fold, which is folding it into three shapes. This paper folding device 400
In the figure, 401 is a flapper that guides the rolling paper downward during paper folding, 403 and 405 are paths (conveyance paths), and 407 and 409 are folding rollers.

In the paper folding device 400, when two-folding is specified by the Z-fold key described later, the flapper 401 is turned on to guide the recorded paper to the lower path 403, and the leading edge of the paper is folded at the end of the path 403. Once stopped, K passes through the roller 407.
The folded portion of the paper hits the end of the path 405, and the paper is further folded and passed from roller 407 to roller 4 again.
09 to the finisher 500. Also,
When υ half-folding is specified using the half-fold key described later, the recorded paper is folded into % at pass 403, and then folded at pass 405.
The paper does not go to the finisher 500 and is directly discharged from the roller 409 to the finisher 500. When the one-way folding key is not specified and there is no paper folding, the flapper 401 is turned off and the recorded paper is directly ejected to the finisher 500 as it is.

E. Finisher (500) In the finisher 500 that performs sorting or stable processing of recorded paper, 501 is a path switching paper discharge flapper that selectively switches between the sorting bus 503 and the stable path 505. , 507 is a stable tray that temporarily stores recorded paper before being stabilized, 509 is a width regulating plate provided on the stable tray 507, and 511 is a plurality of width regulating plates 509. A stapler (8
513 is a stacker tray that stores stable recorded paper, and the width baffle plate 509 is driven and controlled in a stable mode (not shown). Reference numeral 515 indicates a tray for sorting recording paper that is not stapled.

The recorded paper ejected from the main body 100 or the pedestal 200 is folded in half or Z-folded by the paper folding device 400 according to the specification of the key, and then sent to the finisher 500.
The oscillating type sorting is discharged to the tray 515 or to the staple tray 507, and the printed sheets discharged to the stable tray 507 are separated by width baffle plate 509 for each part of the specified number of sheets. The sheets are regulated, bound with a stapler 511, and dropped onto a stacker tray 513.

That is, in the finisher 500, when the staple mode is selected using the stable key described below, the paper ejection flapper 501 is turned on and the recorded paper is ejected to the staple tray 507 via the path 505, and the specified number of sheets is reached. When this is reached, the width baffle plate 509 and the stapler 511 are turned on according to an instruction from the main body 100, and the recorded paper is stapled. Thereafter, the stapled paper is dropped onto the stacker tray 513. By repeating this operation, a plurality of recorded documents that are collated and stapled are completed. A sensor 517 detects the presence or absence of staples, and for example, a reflective sensor is used.

Further, when stapling processing is not selected, the paper ejection flapper 501 is turned off, the sorting is switched to the side, and the recorded paper passes through the path 503 and is ejected to the sorting tray 515.

At this time, according to an instruction from the main body 100, recorded sheets can be stacked by shifting 39 mm to the left and right in units of a good number of sheets. FIG. 2 shows an example of the arrangement of the operation panel provided on the main body 100 described above. The operation panel has a key group 600 and a display group 700 as described below.

602 is an all reset key, which is pressed to return to the standard mode.

604 is a vehicle inspection start key (copy start key),
Press to start vehicle inspection.

Reference numeral 605 is a clear/stop key, which functions as a clear key during standby and as a stop key during vehicle inspection recording. This clear key is pressed to cancel the set number of copies. Still press the stop key to interrupt continuous compound truth. After the vehicle inspection is completed at the time the button is pressed, the vehicle inspection operation stops.

Numeric keypad 606 is pressed to set the number of inspection vehicles.

Numerals 608 and 609 are compound density keys, which are pressed when manually adjusting the compound density. 610 is an AE key,
Press this button to automatically adjust the inspection density according to the density of the original, or to cancel AE (automatic density adjustment) and switch density adjustment to manual. A cassette selection key 611 is pressed to select the upper cassette 151 or the suspended cassette 153.

Further, when a document is placed on the RDF 300, 9APS (automatic paper cassette selection) can be selected using this key 611. When APS is selected, a cassette of the same size as the original is automatically selected.

612 is the same-size key, and is pressed when inspecting a car at the same size (original size). Reference numeral 613 is an auto-magnification key, which is pressed to automatically reduce or enlarge the original image according to the specified size of paper. Zoom keys 614 and 615 are pressed to specify any magnification between 64 and 142%. 616 and 617 are fixed size scaling keys, which are pressed when specifying reduction or enlargement of the fixed size.

625 is a staple key, which is pressed to staple the recorded paper. 626 is a Z-fold key, A
Press when folding 3 or B4 size recorded paper into a Z-shaped cross section.

627 is a half-fold key, which is pressed to fold A3 or B4 size recorded paper in half.

628 is a sort key, and sorting is done by tray (sorter) 5.
If 15 is connected, it is lit in standard mode. At this time, press this key 628 to cancel the sort mode or to switch to the sort mode. Reference numeral 629 is a group key, which takes a plurality of sheets from one document at a time, and if the tray 515 is connected, the sorting is stored in the tray 515 for each bin.

G. Display group (700) In Fig. 2, 701 is an LCD (liquid crystal) type message display, for example, 5 x 7 dots.
It can display a 40-character message.

Further, 705 is a vehicle inspection number display, which displays a self-diagnosis code in addition to the number of vehicles inspected. Reference numeral 706 is a used cassette display, which displays which of the upper cassette 151 and the suspended cassette 153 is selected.

708 is an AE display, and the AE key 610
Lights up when (automatic density adjustment) is selected. Reference numeral 710 denotes a ready/wait indicator, which is a two-color LED of green and orange, which lights green when ready (copy possible) and lights orange when wait (copy not possible).

H6 Control Device (SOO) FIG. 3 shows an example of the circuit configuration of the control device 800 of the embodiment shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, 801 is a central processing unit (CPU) that performs arithmetic control for executing the present invention, and uses, for example, a microcomputer μC0M87AD manufactured by NEC (NEC Corporation). Reference numeral 803 is a read-only memory (ROM) in which a control procedure (control program) as shown in FIG. control each configured device.

Reference numeral 805 denotes a random access memory (RAM) which is a main storage device used for storing input data and as a working storage area.

807 is an interface (Ilo) that outputs a CPU 801 control signal to a load such as the main motor 133;
9 inputs input signals from the image tip sensor 121 and the like to the CPU 8.
Reference numeral 811 is an interface for controlling input/output between the key group 6oo and the display group 700. These interfaces 807.809
, 811 is, for example, NEC's input/output circuit board μPD82.
55 is used.

Note that the display group 700 is each display device shown in FIG. 3, and uses LEDs and LCDs. Further, the key group 600 includes each of the keys shown in FIG. 2, and the CPU 801 can determine which key has been pressed using a known key matrix.

In addition, the CPU 801 includes the RDF 300, the paper folding device 400,
It is connected to the finisher 500 via a pass line to operate each device.

The present invention will be explained in detail based on the embodiment shown in FIG. Fourth
In Figure 1, the sage 527 is a drive motor for transporting sheets in the finisher 500, and the sheets are transferred to the paper bus 5.
03, a discharge sensor 521, a pair of discharge rollers 525 and 526 on which the belt is run, and the sorting is carried out on a tray 515.
is discharged. The roller pair 525° and 526 are the drive motor 5.
27 via a clutch 528, and the speed of the pair of rollers can be varied by energizing the clutch 528. That is, when the clutch is energized, the speed of sorting and discharging sheets to the tray is controlled to be high, and when the clutch is not energized, the discharge speed is controlled to be slow.

Speed timing control is controlled by detection by the ejection sensor 521, thereby preventing sheets from flying too far and maintaining good alignment on the tray without impairing copy speed.

Figure 4-1 shows the normal stacking state of sheets.
The discharge roller pair 526 is configured to be able to move up and down a certain distance around the roller pair 525, and the upper limit position is detected by an upper limit sensor 522. That is, as normal sheets are sequentially sorted and discharged onto the tray 515, the roller pair 526 is gradually pushed upward by the thickness of the sheet, and is finally detected by the upper limit sensor 522. At this time, the vertical movement motor 52
4 is driven, and the sorting tray is moved downward for a certain period of time using a rack and pinion as shown in the figure, and the same operation is repeated thereafter to realize a large amount of loading. Furthermore, the upper limit sensor 52
2, sorting at the start of vehicle inspection is also used to detect the initial position of the tray. Further, the loading detection sensor 523 detects the presence or absence of sheets on the tray.

FIG. 4-2 is a diagram showing a stacking state of folded sheets. Compared to a normal sheet, the bulge at the end is larger, and it is difficult to realize a large amount of stacking with the above-mentioned normal sheet stacking control. Therefore, in the case of folded sheets, an effective control method is to lower the initial position in advance using the vertical motor 524 (for example, 40 mm below the home position of normal sheets) and then lower the tray for sorting a certain amount every certain number of stacked sheets. This is because, as shown in Figure 4-3, if Z-origami P is stacked on a tray and discharged at the same height as a normal sheet, damage will occur such as the next sheet entering between folds. It is.

The method of lowering the tray while normal sheets are stacked is performed by detection by the upper limit sensor 522 as described above, but in the case of folded sheets, it is desirable to lower the tray by a fixed amount every time a fixed number of sheets are discharged to the tray. For example, when discharging Z-fold sheets, do you do this every time you discharge 3 sheets to a tray? lower my level,
In the case of half-folded sheets, it is conceivable that the height will drop approximately 2 mm every time five sheets are ejected.

It is also advantageous to make the speed at which Z-folded and half-folded sheets are discharged onto the tray a little faster than the speed at which normal sheets are discharged. This is because folded sheets have greater air resistance and friction between sheets, but in order to increase the discharge speed, in the case of folded sheets, the rotation speed of the drive motor 527 is controlled to be increased.

According to the present invention, when copying is started, if there are no sheets on the tray, copying is performed as normal. If there are sheets on the tray for sorting, copying will continue if the next copy job has the same processing mode as the previous sheet, but if the processing mode is different, control will be performed to prohibit copying.

The operation will be explained below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when the copy button is pressed, in step 1, the tray sheet detection sensor 523 on the tray determines whether there is a sheet or not, and if there is paper, the process goes to step 2 and processes the sheets of the previous job and this job. Determine whether the shapes are the same.

If not, the process moves to step 4, and a message to that effect is displayed on the display section of the vehicle inspection machine main body. For example, the LCD 701 in the display group 700 displays a message asking you to pick up the sheets on the tray for 6 sorting, and the tray sheet detection sensor 523 indicates that the paper on the tray has been removed.
Please check before starting the job.

If there is no paper on the tray in step 1, step 3
Go to step 3 and perform copy processing according to the mode, and even if there is paper on the tray, if step 2 determines that the sheet processing mode is the same as last time, go to step 3 and perform copy processing. continue.

According to the embodiment described above, since the speed at which sheets are discharged onto the tray and the vertical movement of the tray are controlled depending on the type of sheet and the type of processing method, stable stacking performance and consistency are always obtained. and when starting sheet processing,
We check the presence or absence of sheets on the tray and the way the sheets are processed on the tray to determine whether vehicle inspection is possible.
It is possible to always perform stable sheet processing without disturbing the operator.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the presence or absence of paper on the tray is checked and the operation or non-operation of the inspection vehicle is determined after comparing it with the previous sheet processing mode, so the system is always stable. This allows for easy loading and consistency on the tray.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of a recording paper post-processing device and an image recording apparatus main body in which the present invention is implemented, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the operation panel of the image recording device main body, and FIG. Control block diagrams of the recording paper post-processing device and the image recording device main body, Figures 4-1 and 4-2
4-3 are structural diagrams of main parts of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a control flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention. 400...Paper folding device 500...Finisher 507...Stable tray 511...Stapler 515...The sorting is carried out by the paper tray lanterns of Miyako P.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A sheet folding means capable of processing sheets created by an image forming apparatus in a plurality of processing modes, and one of the processing modes.
a selection means that can be driven to select one of the folding means; a storage means that is driven by the selection means and stores the processing form that has been completed; In an image forming apparatus equipped with a sheet post-processing device having a sheet stacking tray having a detection means for detecting a sheet, when the presence of a sheet is detected by the detection means at the start of image formation, the contents of the storage means and the sheet to be processed from now on are stored. A recording paper post-processing device characterized in that it compares the contents of selection means to determine whether or not to start an image forming operation. (2) The recording paper post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is operable only when the contents of the storage means and the selection means match. (3) The plurality of processing modes include a normal unfolded sheet discharging mode.
Recording paper post-processing device described in Section 1.