Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US8220790?dq=5,579,517
Timestamp: 2014-07-10 19:32:48
Document Index: 612497125

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'art 122', 'art 122']

Patent US8220790 - Sheet processing apparatus and sheet processing method - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign in<nobr>Advanced Patent Search</nobr>PatentsThere is provided a technique in which in a case where a sheet folding process or a staple process is performed, even in the case where the size precision of a sheet used is not satisfactory, the high-precision staple process and folding process can be performed to the sheet. In a sheet processing method...http://www.google.com/patents/US8220790?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US8220790 - Sheet processing apparatus and sheet processing methodAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS8220790 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 13/089,254Publication dateJul 17, 2012Filing dateApr 18, 2011Priority dateJun 19, 2007Also published asUS7828276, US7832715, US7862017, US7946564, US7984899, US7997569, US8025280, US8047524, US8215626, US8226077, US20080315489, US20080315491, US20080315507, US20080315508, US20080315514, US20090072465, US20110031674, US20110057376, US20110057378, US20110079948, US20110193283, US20110260387, US20120018946Publication number089254, 13089254, US 8220790 B2, US 8220790B2, US-B2-8220790, US8220790 B2, US8220790B2InventorsKen Iguchi, Chiaki Ilzuka, Takahiro Kawaguchi, Shinichiro ManoOriginal AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki KaishaExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (12), Classifications (20) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetSheet processing apparatus and sheet processing methodUS 8220790 B2Abstract There is provided a technique in which in a case where a sheet folding process or a staple process is performed, even in the case where the size precision of a sheet used is not satisfactory, the high-precision staple process and folding process can be performed to the sheet. In a sheet processing method of a sheet processing apparatus to perform a specified process to a sheet, a relatively moved sheet is detected, the size of the sheet is calculated based on the detection result, and a position where the specified process is performed to a bundle of sheets as an object of the specified process is adjusted based on the calculated sheet size.
an information acquisition unit configured to acquire a sheet size of a relatively moved sheet;
a process position adjustment unit configured to adjust, based on the sheet size acquired by the information acquisition unit, a position where a specified process is performed to a bundle of sheets as an object of the specified process;
a stacker configured to hold the bundle of sheets as the object of the specified process and configured to move substantially parallel to a sheet surface direction at a time when the specified process is performed;
an alignment member configured to come into contact with the sheet as the sheet is being stacked in the stacker to cause the sheet to be struck against a reference position in the stacker and to be aligned, and come in contact with and separate from the bundle of sheets held by the stacker; and
a drive control unit configured to cause the alignment member to come in contact with the bundle of sheets held by the stacker based on the sheet size acquired by the information acquisition unit, and cause, if the sheet size acquired by the information acquisition unit is larger than a predetermined sheet size, the alignment member to come in contact with the bundle of sheets at an earlier timing compared to the timing at which the alignment member is caused to come in contact with the bundle of sheets when the sheet size acquired by the information acquisition unit is not larger than the predetermined sheet size.
2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specified process is at least one of a staple process to staple the bundle of sheets and a folding process to fold the bundle of sheets by a folding blade.
3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the alignment member includes an alignment roller.
4. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive control unit causes the alignment member to rotate, if the alignment member comes into contact with the bundle of sheets held by the stacker.
5. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the drive control unit causes the alignment member to continue to rotate, if the alignment member separates from the bundle of sheets held by the stacker.
6. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the drive control unit causes a moving speed of the alignment member to be faster than a moving speed of the stacker.
sheet size acquisition means for acquiring a sheet size of a relatively moved sheet;
process position adjustment means for adjusting, based on the sheet size acquired by the sheet size acquisition means, a position where a specified process is performed to a bundle of sheets as an object of the specified process;
hold means for holding the bundle of sheets as the object of the specified process, the hold means being configured to move substantially parallel to a sheet surface direction at a time when the specified process is performed;
alignment means for coming into contact with the sheet as the sheet is being stacked in the hold means to cause the sheet to be struck against a reference position in the hold means and to be aligned, and coming in contact with and separate from the bundle of sheets held by the hold means; and
drive control means for causing the alignment means to come in contact with the bundle of sheets held by the hold means based on the sheet size acquired by the sheet size acquisition means and causing, if the sheet size acquired by the sheet size acquisition means is larger than a predetermined sheet size, the alignment means to come in contact with the bundle of sheets at an earlier timing compared to the timing at which the alignment means is caused to come in contact with the bundle of sheets when the sheet size acquired by the sheet size acquisition means is not larger than the predetermined sheet size.
8. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the specified process is at least one of a staple process to staple the bundle of sheets and a folding process to fold the bundle of sheets by a folding blade.
9. A sheet processing method of a sheet processing apparatus to perform a specified process to a sheet, the sheet processing method comprising:
acquiring a sheet size of a relatively moved sheet;
adjusting, based on the acquired sheet size, a position where the specified process is performed to a bundle of sheets as an object of the specified process;
holding the bundle of sheets as the object of the specified process with a stacker that can move substantially parallel to a sheet surface direction at a time when the specified process is performed;
contacting the sheet with an alignment member as the sheet is being stacked to cause the sheet to be struck against a reference position in the stacker and to be aligned; and
causing the alignment member to contact with the bundle of sheets held by the stacker based on the acquired sheet size, and causing, if the acquired sheet size is larger than a predetermined sheet size, the alignment member to come in contact with the bundle of sheets at an earlier timing compared to the timing at which the alignment member is caused to come in contact with the bundle of sheets when the acquired sheet size is not larger than the predetermined sheet size.
10. The sheet processing method according to claim 9, wherein the specified process is at least one of a staple process to staple the bundle of sheets and a folding process to fold the bundle of sheets by a folding blade.
11. The sheet processing method according to claim 9, further comprising rotating the alignment member if the alignment member comes into contact with the bundle of sheets held by the stacker.
12. The sheet processing method according to claim 11, further comprising continuing to rotate the alignment member if the alignment member separates from the bundle of sheets held by the stacker
13. The sheet processing method according to claim 11, further comprising rotating the alignment member at a moving speed that is faster than a moving speed of the stacker.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/140,136, filed Jun. 16, 2008, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/944,828 filed Jun. 19, 2007, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/944,940 filed Jun. 19, 2007, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/944,966 filed Jun. 19, 2007, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/944,969 filed Jun. 19, 2007, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/945,372 filed Jun. 21, 2007, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/945,375 filed Jun. 21, 2007, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/968,860 filed Aug. 29, 2007 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/968,861 filed Aug. 29, 2007.
In general, in the case where a staple process or a folding process is performed to a bundle of sheets, the size of a sheet, in a transport direction, constituting the bundle of sheets as an object of the process is calculated based on the prescribed value (for example, A3, A4, B4, B5, etc.) of the sheet size, and in the case where it is determined that the sheet size deviates from the prescribed value, an error notification is made.
In a conventional sheet processing apparatus, in the case where a user supplies a sheet of a size outside of the regulation as the object of the staple process or the folding process, there is a case where these processes can not be executed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the invention has an object to provide a technique in which in a case where a sheet folding process or a staple process is performed, even in the case where the size precision of a sheet used is not satisfactory, the high-precision staple process and folding process can be performed to the sheet.
In order to achieve the object, according to another aspect of the invention, a sheet processing apparatus includes a pair of rollers that can perform sheet transport at a first transport speed and a second transport speed higher than the first transport speed, a folding blade that moves from a waiting position to a nip of the pair of rollers and presses a bundle of sheets as an object of a folding process into the nip of the pair of rollers driven at the first transport speed, and a transport control unit that changes a sheet transport speed of the pair of rollers from the first transport speed to the second transport speed at a specified timing between when the folding blade starts a return operation to the waiting position after completion of the pressing operation of the bundle of sheets and when a rear edge of the bundle of sheets pressed into the nip of the pair of rollers by the folding blade passes through the nip of the pair of rollers.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a rough structure of a sheet processing apparatus 1F of a first embodiment and an image processing apparatus M including the same.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the basic structure of the sheet processing apparatus 1F of the first embodiment of the invention. The sheet processing apparatus 1F of the embodiment has a folding process function to perform a folding process to a sheet supplied from the image forming apparatus 1P while the center position of the sheet in the transport direction is made a folding position, and a staple function to use a staple 5 to stitch a bundle of sheets moved to a specified position by a stacker (hold means) 2. Hereinafter, a unit to perform the folding process and a unit to perform the staple process are generically called a saddle unit.
A timing when the movement of the sheet is assisted by the assist roller 42 is decided based on a sheet detection timing of a discharge roller sensor (detector means; having a function as an optical sensor and a media sensor and capable of detecting reflectivity, surface roughness, thickness and the like of the sheet surface) 41 provided on the transport path A. In this way, a bundle of sheets temporarily loaded and contained in the stack tray 1 are held by a lateral alignment mechanism 3 at the positions of both ends thereof in the direction orthogonal to the sheet transport direction and are aligned.
In a transport mechanism for transporting the sheet ejected from the image forming apparatus 1P to the stack tray 1, a driving force from a transport motor 40 is transmitted through gear trains 401 a and 401 b to a gear/pulley 402 a. The driving force transmitted to the gear/pulley 402 a is transmitted to each transport roller by a timing belt 403 wound around the gear/pulley 402 a. Since the assist roller 42 strikes the sheet against the stacker pawl 21 as the reference stopper and performs alignment, a certain degree of elasticity and frictional force are required. Besides, it is desirable that the assist roller 42 is made of a material which absorbs an excessive force applied to the sheet to a certain degree and can suppress the occurrence of buckling of the sheet even in the case where the amount of rotation driving of the assist roller 42 exceeds a proper amount when the sheet striking operation against the stacker pawl 21 is performed in the state where the sheet is completely nipped by the assist roller 42. Then, in this embodiment, for example, a roller made of sponge is adopted as the assist roller 42. Of course, as the material of the assist roller 42, it is needless to say that another material may be used as long as it has the required characteristic.
The assist roller 42 is rotated in an arrow B direction which is the same rotation direction as the discharge roller 43 supported, together with the gear/pulley 402 b, by the support shaft. By this, in the state where the assist roller solenoid 422 is turned on and the assist roller 42 is in contact with the stack tray 1, the sheet transported in an arrow C direction shown in FIG. 3 is transported in such a way as to assist the sliding down of the sheet by its own weight toward an arrow D direction in the stack tray 1, and the edge of the sheet is struck against the stacker pawn 21 as the reference stopper and can be aligned.
The lateral alignment unit here has a function to align the edge of a bundle of sheets loaded on the stack tray 1 in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction. The lateral alignment unit is constructed of a drive unit including a lateral alignment motor 30 which is a stepping motor, a gear 301, a lack 302 a and a lack 302 b, a lateral alignment plate 31 a, a lateral alignment plate 31 b, and a frame 32 as a support frame body to support these.
The driving force from the lateral alignment motor 30 is transmitted to the gear 301. The gear 301 is engaged with the lacks 302 a and 302 b, and the lacks 302 a and 302 b are moved in an arrow direction shown in FIG. 4 in synchronization with the rotation of the gear 301. The lacks 302 a and 302 b are respectively attached to the lateral alignment plates 31 a and 32 b, and the lateral alignment plates 31 a and 31 b are moved in the direction orthogonal to the sheet transport direction by the movement of the lacks 302 a and 302 b. Besides, the positions of the lateral alignment plates 31 a and 31 b in the movement direction are managed by pulses of the lateral alignment motor 30 based on the detection result of a lateral alignment motor HP sensor 33 provided on the frame 32. Incidentally, the HP here denotes a home position.
The pair of folding rollers 89 includes a fixed folding roller (first roller) 89 a and a movable folding roller (second roller) 89 b. The movable folding roller 89 b is rotatably fixedly disposed to a not-shown apparatus frame. Besides, the movable folding roller 89 b is rotatably supported by one end 104 b of an arm 104 supported to the not-shown apparatus frame to be rotatable around a fulcrum point 104 a, and moves in the direction substantially orthogonal to the movement direction of the folding blade 100, so that it can contact with and separate from the fixed folding roller 89 a. A spring 106 is attached to the other end 104 c of the arm 104, and the movable folding roller 89 b urged by the arm 104 rotated around the fulcrum point 104 a comes in press contact with the fixed folding roller 89 a and forms the nip part. Besides, the one end 104 b of the arm 104 is provided with a first support hole 104 d to enable the movable folding roller 89 b to straightly move without drawing an arc when the arm 104 is rotated. Incidentally, the fixed folding roller 89 a and the movable folding roller 89 b are rotated and driven by a not-shown drive motor.
A driven member rotation shaft 128 is provided at one end of the driven member 124, and the driven member rotation shaft 128 is attached to a not-shown apparatus frame. Besides, the groove cam 122 is rotated and driven by a not-shown drive motor connected to one end of the cam shaft 120. When the roller 126 is guided along the groove part 122 a by the rotation of the groove cam 122, the driven member 124 repeats a reciprocal operation, like a pendulum, around the driven member rotation shaft 128 according to the eccentricity of the groove part 122 a. Next, a drive mechanism of the pair of folding rollers 89 and the folding blade 100 will be described in detail.
A folding mechanism unit includes a folding motor 800 which is a DC motor, a timing belt 801, a one-way clutch 802, gears 803 a, 803 b, 803 c, 803 d, 803 e, 803 f, 803 g, 901 a and 901 b, and an electromagnetic clutch 900 (see FIG. 8 and FIG. 9).
First, a driving force from the folding motor 800 is transmitted to the gear 803 a through the timing belt 801 extending to the gear 803 a. In accordance with the rotation of the gear 803 a, the electromagnetic clutch 900 and the gear 803 b are rotated and driven. The gear 803 b is provided with the one-way clutch 802, and when the folding motor 800 is rotated in the normal direction, the rotation driving force is transmitted from the gear 803 b to the folding roller 89 a through the gear 803 c, the gear 803 d and the gear 803 e. On the other hand, when the folding motor 800 is rotated in the reverse direction, the rotation driving force is transmitted from the gear 803 b to the folding roller 89 a through the gear 803 f, the gear 803 g, the gear 803 d, and the gear 803 e. In this embodiment, the driving force from the folding motor 800 is used also for the driving of the folding blade 100, and when the electromagnetic clutch 900 is turned on, the driving force is transmitted to the gear 901 a and the gear 901 b, and the driving means 118 connected to the gear 901 b in FIG. 7 is rotated, so that the folding blade 100 is driven.
The specified pulse to turn on the assist roller 42 in the period between S5 shown in FIG. 10 and S8 shown in FIG. 11 varies for each sheet size like the waiting position of the stacker 2 varies for each sheet size specified from the image forming apparatus.
In the structure as stated above, when the folding process is performed to a bundle of sheets, in the case where the number of sheets constituting the bundle of sheets to which the folding process is performed is large, or in the case where the folding process is performed to a sheet having a large mass such as a thick paper, even if the stacker performs positioning of the bundle of sheets at a prescribed position, there is a case where the bundle of sheets slides down during the folding process by the influence of gravidity or friction force, and an error occurs in the precision of the folding process.
FIG. 21 is a functional block diagram of the sheet processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention. The sheet processing apparatus 1F of this embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 1101 and a folding position adjustment unit 1102. Incidentally, the fold position adjustment unit 1102 may be hardware independent of a CPU 801, may be a combination of the CPU 801 and software, or may be a combination of a processor different from the CPU 801 and software. For example, although the fold position adjustment unit 1102 may be one realized such that the CPU 801 executes a program stored in a MEMORY 802, no limitation is made to this.
The CPU 801 has a role to perform various processes in the sheet processing apparatus 1F, and has a role to realize various functions by executing programs stored in the memory 802. The memory 802 includes, for example, a ROM and a RAM, and has a role to store various information and programs used in the sheet processing apparatus 1F.
A sheet processing apparatus 1Fb of the embodiment includes a drive control unit 2001 and an information acquisition unit 2002. Incidentally, the drive control unit 2001 may be hardware independent of the CPU 801, may be a combination of the CPU 801 and software, or may be a combination of a processor different from the CPU 801 and software. For example, although the drive control unit 2001 may be one realized such that the CPU 801 executes a program stored in the MEMORY 802, no limitation is made to this.
the sheet processing apparatus further includes a folding process unit which is positioned on a movement path of the stacker and performs a folding process to a bundle of sheets transported to a specified folding position, and when the bundle of sheets subjected to the staple process is moved by the stacker from the specified position to the specified folding position, the alignment roller is brought into contact with the bundle of sheets held by the stacker to assist the movement of the bundle of sheets.
The stapler 5 in the sheet processing apparatus of this embodiment includes a clincher (press unit) 5 b and a driver (reception unit) 5 a. The clincher 5 b has a role to press the sheet surface of a bundle of sheets to a sheet loading reference surface of the driver 5 a when the staple process is performed and to bend the leading edge of a needle stapled into the bundle of sheets by the driver 5 a. Besides, the driver 5 a is disposed to face the inside of the sheet transport path from a hole provided in the inner wall of the sheet transport path, and has a role to elastically receive the bundle of sheets pressed by the clincher 5 b and to supply a staple.
Besides, in the sheet processing apparatus of this embodiment, when the sheet transported in the transport path A is loaded on the stack tray 1, in order to prevent the leading edge of the sheet from interfering with the pair of folding rollers 89, a shutter 88 capable of covering the pair of folding rollers 89 is provided. The elastic sheet 51 fixed to the driver 5 a scoops the leading edge of the sheet having passed through the upper surface of the shutter 88 and guides the leading edge of the sheet to the sheet loading reference surface of the driver 5 a. The driver 5 a in this embodiment can be moved by 10 mm in the direction of retracting from the sheet transport path at the time of the staple process, and the elastic sheet 51 follows the movement of the driver 5 a without disturbing the loading state of the bundle of sheets positioned on the sheet loading reference surface of the driver 5 a, and deforms along the outer shape of the folding roller 89 b. As described above, according to the third embodiment of the invention, the pair of folding rollers 89 for the folding process and the stapler 5 for the staple process are disposed to be close to each other while the occurrence of a sheet jam is avoided, and a contribution can made to the improvement of productivity.
Fourth Embodiment Next, a fourth embodiment of the invention will be described.
The sheet processing apparatus 1Fc of the embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 4001, a transport control unit 4002, a CPU 801 and a memory 802. Incidentally, the transport control unit 4002 may be hardware independent of the CPU 801, may be a combination of the CPU 801 and software, or may be a combination of a processor different from the CPU 801 and software. For example, although the transport control unit 4002 may be one realized such that the CPU 801 executes a program stored in the MEMORY 802, no limitation is made to this.
The drive control of the folding motor 800 by the transport control unit 4002 as stated above is performed based on information of a data table, a timing chart, a function and the like held in, for example, the transport control unit 4002 or the memory 802.
For example, the folding motor 800 is rotated in an arrow E direction shown in FIG. 28. Then, the gear 803 b is rotated in an arrow H direction through a timing belt 801, a gear 803 a and an electromagnetic clutch 900. When the gear 803 b is rotated in the arrow H direction, the driving is transmitted to a gear 803 c, and a driving side folding roller 89 a is rotated and driven in an arrow J direction through a gear 803 d and a gear 803 e. As stated above, when the folding motor 800 is rotated in the arrow E direction, the driving force is transmitted through the gear train using the gear 803 c having a large speed reduction ratio, and the folding roller 89 can be rotated at low speed (first transport speed) and high torque.
On the other hand, in the case where the folding motor 800 is rotated in an arrow F direction shown in FIG. 29, the timing belt 801, the gear 803 a and the electromagnetic clutch 900 are driven in the direction opposite to the rotation direction shown in FIG. 28, and the gear 803 b is rotated in an arrow I direction through the gear 803 a and the electromagnetic clutch 900. When the gear 803 b is rotated in the arrow I direction, the driving is transmitted to a gear 803 f and a gear 803 g, and the driving side folding roller 89 a is rotated and driven in the arrow j direction through the gear 803 d and the gear 803 e. As stated above, when the folding motor 800 is driven in the arrow F direction, the transmission of the driving force is performed through the gear train using the gear 803 f and the gear 803 g having a small speed reduction ratio, and the folding roller 89 can be rotated at high speed (second transport speed).
Fifth Embodiment Next, a fifth embodiment of the invention will be described.
The sheet processing apparatus 1Fd of the embodiment includes a size calculation unit 5001 and a process position adjustment unit 5002. Incidentally, the processing position adjustment unit 5002 may be hardware independent of the CPU 801, may be a combination of the CPU 801 and software, or may be a combination of a processor different from the CPU 801 and software. For example, although the processing position adjustment unit 5002 may be one realized such that the CPU 801 executes a program stored in the MEMORY 802, no limitation is made to this.
When a sheet length (actually measured value) calculated by the size calculation unit 5001 is made L4, for example, in the case where the actually measured value L4 is �L4>L1�, the process position adjustment unit 5002 drives a stacker motor 20 by a distance of �(L1−L4)/2� and lowers the stacker pawl 21.
Sheets are stacked on the stack tray 1 till the final sheet at the above position, and after the staple process is performed to the stacked bundle of sheets, the stacker pawl 21 is driven by �L2�, the folding process is performed and the bundle of sheets are ejected.
On the other hand, for example, when the sheet length calculated by the size calculation unit 5001 is made L4, for example, in the case where the actually measured value L4 is �L4<L1�, the process position adjustment unit 5002 drives the stacker motor 20 by a distance of �(L1−L4)/2� and raises the stacker pawl 21.
L0=L1/2+(maximum sheet length−sheet length theoretical value) and L2=L1+(maximum sheet length−sheet length theoretical value),
sheet length=L2−the number of steps of sheet edge detection movement�movement distance of one step.
Sixth Embodiment Next, a sixth embodiment of the invention will be described.
However, even if the transport guide is opened in the sheet processing apparatus, it cannot be said that a sufficient space for sheet removal is obtained only by that, and there are many cases where the sheet removal is difficult.
Seventh Embodiment Next, a seventh embodiment of the invention will be described.
On the other hand, when the detection result of the additional folding position detection sensor 71 disposed at the downstream side of the pair of folding rollers 89 in the transport direction is used, it is possible to certainly determine whether the bundle of sheets is nipped by the pair of folding rollers.
As stated above, since the structure is made such that after the sheet is detected by the additional folding position detection sensor 71, the lateral alignment plates 31 a and 31 b and the stacker pawn 21 are moved to the home position, the bundle of sheets can be aligned at the suitable position by the lateral alignment plates 31 a and 31 b and the stacker pawl 21, and a contribution can be made to the improvement of precision of the folding position and the staple position.
Eighth Embodiment Next, an eighth embodiment of the invention will be described.
Thus, it is desirable that the timing when the lateral alignment plates 31 a and 31 b move from the home position or the stop position where the folding process is performed to the reception position of the bundle of sheets to be processed next is made the timing when the rear edge of the bundle of sheets subjected to the folding process passes through the vicinity of the center of the nip of the pair of folding rollers 89 (see a broken line shown in FIG. 40).
The respective steps in the process (sheet processing method) of the sheet processing apparatus are realized by causing the CPU 801 to execute a sheet processing program stored in the memory 802.
As described above in detail, according to the invention, it is possible to provide the technique in which in the case where the sheet folding process or the staple process is performed, even in the case where the size precision of the sheet used is not satisfactory, the high-precision staple process and folding process can be performed to the sheet.
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