JP3287118B2 - Post-processing device for image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper transporting device for a post-processing device such as a sorter connected to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, and more particularly to a special paper such as an OHP sheet. On the other hand, the present invention relates to a post-processing apparatus of an image forming apparatus which prevents an extra tension from being applied between conveyance roller devices in a sheet conveyance path and prevents a sheet or the like from being damaged by being rubbed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Image forming apparatuses such as electrophotographic copying machines include:
In addition to arranging a discharge tray in the recording paper discharge section and configuring a device for depositing recording paper on the discharge tray as it is, connecting a post-processing device such as a sorter to perform recording paper sorting processing. Has been generally performed conventionally. In an apparatus such as the sorter, a unit is used that sets the paper transport speed in the paper transport path of the sorter to be higher than that in the paper transport path of the image forming apparatus. Then, even if the interval between the subsequent recording sheets is narrow with respect to the recording sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus, the interval between the sheets is set large in the sheet conveying path of the sorter, and the switching operation of the sorting gate and the like can be easily performed. Means to be able to do so are used.

Further, as described above, by setting the transport speed of the paper in the paper transport path of the sorter to high speed, the recording paper is sequentially sorted and discharged to a large number of trays provided in the sorter. In addition, the interval between the recording sheets to be discharged can be increased. Therefore, by using the means for increasing the interval between the recording sheets as described above, it is possible to obtain a time for moving the sheet supply tray inside the sorter, and to perform the operation of discharging the recording sheets satisfactorily. . Also, in a device that arranges a conveyor belt and a sorting gate for a large number of trays provided on a sorter, the transfer speed of the recording paper must be increased to obtain time to move the sorting gate along the conveyor belt. Need to be done.

As described above, as a sorter connected to an image forming apparatus, for example, JP-A-63-185754
There is known an apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-19764. In the above conventional example, only when the paper is transferred between the electrophotographic copying machine and the sorter, the paper transport speed in the sorter is made to match the copying machine, and after the trailing edge of the paper exits the electrophotographic copying machine. Uses means for setting the paper transport speed of the sorter to high. Therefore, in the apparatus of the prior art, the sheet discharged from the electrophotographic copying machine is pulled by the sorter at the connection portion of the paper conveyance path between the electrophotographic copying machine and the sorter, thereby preventing the occurrence of a failure. Thus, problems such as generation of noise and acceleration of roller wear are prevented.

[0005]

However, as shown in the above-mentioned prior art, it is difficult to always change the paper transport speed in the sorter for the paper transported between the electrophotographic copying machine and the sorter. This places a heavy burden on the control device of the device. Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, for example, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 63-190248, when the paper transport speed is different between the two transport devices, Means for allowing the paper to slip in the transport device can be provided. Therefore, when the paper transport speed is different between a general electrophotographic copying machine and a sorter, a high-speed driven roller device is configured as a slippery roller device, so that a high-speed transport roller device is large. Means can be configured so as not to impose a burden, and wear of the roller is less likely to be a major problem.

[0006] Apart from the above-mentioned problem, in an apparatus in which the paper transport path of the sorter is configured to be long, only the speed of the discharge roller device is set to a high speed, and the paper transport speed in the paper transport path of the sorter is reduced. May be set to be the same as the speed of the paper transport device. In the sorter described above, the recording paper discharged from the fixing device of the image forming apparatus is
By sending out at a high speed only at the discharge section corresponding to the discharge tray, it is possible to provide a margin for the operation time of the sorting means. However, even when the sorter as described above is used, a great problem may occur when recording paper is formed using a plastic film member such as an OHP sheet. For example, if the temperature of special sheets such as plastic remains high,
When the sheet is conveyed in the sheet conveying path, the sheet may be strongly slid on the guide member or the roller may be scratched on the surface of the sheet by applying tension.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional paper transport device. When a recording paper is formed using an OHP sheet or the like, a transport roller device and a discharge roller device in a sorter are used. A means for setting the same paper conveyance speed between the two roller devices is provided to prevent occurrence of tension of the recording paper between the two roller devices and to prevent occurrence of trouble in the recording paper. The purpose is to provide a simple device.

[0008]

The present invention relates to an apparatus for connecting a paper post-processing device to a recording paper discharge section of an image forming apparatus and performing processing for discharging the recording paper. In the present invention, in the paper transport path of the post-processing device, an upstream transport roller device for setting a constant transport speed and a downstream discharge roller device for variably configuring the transport speed are disposed. The control device of the forming apparatus includes a means for inputting information of a sheet used for normal copying and a special plastic film member, and controls the speed of a downstream discharge roller device based on the information of the sheet. Control means for setting the speed of the discharge roller device to a high speed with respect to a normal sheet, and increasing the interval between the sheet to be discharged and the next sheet. For a special plastic film member, the operation of driving the discharge roller device to drive at the same speed as the transport roller device and discharging the film material is performed based on the input information. Post-processing apparatus of the image forming apparatus according to claim.

In the post-processing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, when recording paper is formed using ordinary paper, the recording sheet is directed toward the discharge tray while the speed of the discharge roller device is set to a high speed. Can be discharged. On the other hand, for a special plastic film member such as an OHP sheet, the driving speed of the discharge roller device is set to be substantially the same as the transport speed of the transport roller device, so that the two roller devices are used. It is possible to discharge the sheet without applying tension to the sheet.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A post-processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated example. The example shown in FIG.
A case is shown in which a post-processing device such as a sorter is connected to an image forming apparatus 1 such as an electrophotographic copying machine to process recording paper. In the image forming apparatus 1 described above, a fixing device 3 and a discharge roller device 4 are arranged at the end of the paper transport path 2 so that the recording paper is discharged toward the sorter. In the present invention, a plurality of transport roller devices 1 are arranged on a paper transport path 11 of a sorter device 10 as a post-processing device.
5 and 16 are arranged, and an upper discharge path 13 is provided as a direct discharge path to the upper discharge tray 25 from the middle of the sheet transport path 11 via the branching section 12. 17 are arranged. Conveyance roller devices 15 to 17 disposed on the paper conveyance path 11 and the conveyance path 13
Constitutes means for transmitting drive by using one drive motor 18 using a conduction belt or the like, and performs a sheet conveyance operation at a conveyance speed v2 similar to the conveyance speed v1 in the sheet conveyance path 2 of the image forming apparatus 1. It is configured to do.

A sheet conveying path 11 of the sorter device 10;
Discharge roller devices 20 and 21 are disposed at the respective discharge ends of the upper discharge path 13 to constitute means for discharging the recording paper toward the upper discharge tray 25 or the sorting discharge tray 26. The discharge roller device 20, 2
Reference numeral 1 denotes a mechanism driven by one drive motor 22, which drives each roller device via a driving force transmitting means such as a conduction belt. In the sheet conveying device of the sorter device 10, the sheet conveying speed v3 by the discharge roller device is set, and the sheet conveying speed 11 is set.
The speed v2 at which the sheet is transported by the transport roller device within
v3 ≧ 3 to 5v2 is set. Further, discharge roller devices 20 and 21 provided at the discharge end of the sheet conveying path of the sorter device.
Is provided with a control unit 28 for controlling the driving speed, based on the paper detection information of the sensors S1 to S4 arranged in the paper transport path and information such as the type of paper sent from the image forming apparatus. The transport speed of the discharge roller device is controlled.

The recording paper discharged by the transport roller device 17 toward the discharge tray is discharged from the image forming apparatus even if the recording paper is sent from the image forming apparatus in a state where the interval between the recording paper and the subsequent recording paper is narrow. By ejecting the recording paper at a higher speed, the interval with the subsequent recording paper is set to be large.
Therefore, in the case of sorting the recording paper by moving the sorting and discharging tray 26 up and down, or even in an apparatus provided with other branching means, the sorting and discharging tray 26 is moved up and down before the next sheet arrives. It is possible to take a sufficient time to perform the operation for inspiring the user. As the sorting / discharging tray 26 provided in the sorter device, as shown in the drawing, a sorter device having an arbitrary configuration is applied in addition to a device in which the tray moves up and down with respect to the discharge roller device 21. It is possible to

In the sorter apparatus 10 configured as described above, the operation of controlling the transport operation in the paper transport path of the sorter apparatus is shown in FIG.
A description will be given based on the flowchart of FIG. In the control operation shown in the flowchart of FIG.
When the copy forming operation in the image forming apparatus is started in 1, the paper transport device in the sorter device starts operating at the same time, and the recording paper is made to stand by in a state where it can be transported in the paper transport path. According to the copy mode set in the image forming apparatus, a sheet is selected in step a-2. Then, when the OHP sheet is selected in step a-3, based on the information, information for creating a recording sheet using the OHP sheet is sent from the control device of the image forming apparatus to the control unit of the sorter device. Is transmitted.

The transport path is set so that the recording paper sent from the image forming apparatus is guided from the paper transport path 11 of the sorter apparatus 10 to the upper discharge path 13 via the branching section 12. . Then, in a state where the sheet is conveyed by the conveying roller devices 15 to 17 at substantially the same speed as the discharge roller device 4 of the image forming apparatus, the sensor S2 in which the leading end of the recording sheet is disposed in the sheet conveying path 11 in step a-5. Detected,
When the information is input to the control unit 28, the drive speed for the discharge roller device 20 is reduced from v3 to v2 in step a-6 based on the detection information, and the control proceeds to steps a-7 and a-8. Therefore, an operation of discharging the recording paper toward the upper discharge tray 25 at a low speed is performed.

After that, when a predetermined time has elapsed since the trailing edge of the recording paper is detected by the sensor S4, the low-speed transport mode for the discharge roller device 20 is released to cope with the next recording paper discharge. I do. Further, when the copying operation using the OHP sheet is continued, the conveyance information of the next recording paper is input from the control device while the paper conveyance operation is being performed in the paper conveyance path of the sorter apparatus. The operation of steps a-3 to a-9 as a mode for transporting the roller device 20 at a low speed is continued as it is. If the sensor S4 cannot confirm the completion of the discharge of the recording paper in the step a-9, it means that the paper has jammed in the paper transport path, and therefore, it corresponds to the jam processing mode set in the sorter apparatus. Then, the operations of the image forming apparatus and the sorter apparatus are interrupted, and the jammed paper is processed.

OHP in a sorter device as described above
Apart from the sheet conveying operation, in the sorter apparatus of the present invention, if the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus is plain paper or the like used for normal copy creation, the step a
In step -3, the mode is set to the plain paper mode, and the process proceeds to step a-10 to perform a plain paper processing operation. The above a-10
When it is specified that the operation of the normal processing is performed in the step (a), the sort mode set in the image forming apparatus or the mode of making one copy is selected.
In step 11, the recording paper discharge mode is confirmed. When it is confirmed in step a-12 that the stack mode is not the sort mode, the process proceeds to step a-15. Then, in step a-15, the recording paper is discharged without being sorted, so that the branching unit 12 disposed in the paper transport path 11 is switched, and the recording paper is guided to the upper discharge path 13 and the upper discharge tray is guided. 25 is performed.
At this time, the paper is discharged at a high speed while the transport speed v3 of the discharge roller device 20 is set to a high speed.

Apart from the control operation, the step a
When the sort mode is selected at -12, the recording paper is conveyed along the paper conveyance path 11 and is conveyed toward the sorting discharge tray 26 via the discharge roller device 21. Then, steps a-13 and a-
While performing the operation of switching the tray of the sorting / discharging section at 14, the operation of sorting and discharging the recording paper to the tray is performed. When the recording paper is sorted and discharged to the sorting and discharging tray 26, the discharge roller device 21 is driven at a high speed so that the tray can be moved up and down between recording paper movements. I have.

In the post-processing apparatus of the present invention, the recording sheet conveyed at a low speed of v2 by the conveying roller device in the sheet conveying path 11 of the sorter device is driven by the discharging roller device of the discharging portion for the tray to the high speed v3. In the upper discharge path 13, the conveying roller device 1
A large tension is applied to the sheet between the discharge roller 7 and the discharge roller device 20. Further, when the recording paper is discharged toward the sorting discharge tray 26, the tension between the transport roller device 16 and the discharge roller device 21 in the paper transport path 11 in a state where the recording paper is pulled against the recording paper is similarly. Is given. However, when making a copy using ordinary plain paper or the like, even if tension is applied to the paper, the image surface of the recording paper will not be damaged.

As described above, when recording paper is formed using plain paper, the discharge roller device is driven at a high speed so that the recording paper discharged from the image forming apparatus has a narrow interval. Recording paper discharged to the tray at high speed,
A large interval can be set between subsequent recording sheets. Therefore, it is possible to satisfactorily perform the sorting operation on the sorting and discharging tray, and to sufficiently exert the performance of the sorter. On the other hand, OHP
When recording paper is created using special paper such as a sheet, the discharge speed of the discharge roller device is changed from v3 to v2.
, So that a state in which the recording paper is pulled between the transport roller device and the discharge roller device does not occur. Then, the sheet is heated through the fixing device of the image forming apparatus, and the sheet and the like in a state where the temperature is not sufficiently lowered are not subjected to extra tension, so that the sheet and the like slide strongly on a guide plate or the like of a paper conveyance path. The recording sheet is not rubbed by the high-speed roller, so that the quality of the recording paper can be favorably maintained without scratching the surface of the sheet.

The sorter device provided with the above-described transport speed control means is not limited to a device having the configuration shown in the drawing, but may be any other device such as a discharge roller device corresponding to a discharge tray. The present invention can be applied to any sorter device in which the driving speed is set to a high speed.
Also, the configuration of the paper transport path arranged inside the sorter, etc.
It can be arbitrarily configured separately from FIG. 1. In order to drive the transport roller device and the discharge roller device, the transport speed control means of the present invention is provided to a device provided with two drive motors. It can be easily applied.

Sorting and discharging tray 26 provided on the sorter
In addition to a device in which the tray moves up and down, a sorter provided with an arbitrary sorting mechanism can be used, and the timing of changing the drive speed of the discharge roller device, etc. Can be set in accordance with the configuration of. Further, as the sheets and papers which need to switch the conveyance speed by the roller device, in addition to the OHP sheets as shown in the embodiment, other arbitrary plastic sheets, special papers, etc. As described above, it is possible to control the transport speed in the sorter device even for papers of a type in which image quality is impaired if the copy surface is rubbed. If a special discharge speed needs to be set, an input means for processing the transport mode in the sorter device in the same manner as the OHP sheet is provided on the control panel of the image forming apparatus. The operation of the device can be controlled.

[0022]

The post-processing device of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
With the configuration described above, when recording paper is created using ordinary paper, it is possible to discharge paper toward the discharge tray while the speed of the discharge roller device is set to high speed. it can. On the other hand, for special papers such as OHP sheets, by setting the drive speed of the discharge roller device to be low and setting it to be substantially the same as the transport speed of the transport roller device in the paper transport path, Tension is not applied to the recording paper between the two roller devices. Then, by driving the discharge roller device at a low speed to discharge the sheets and papers on which scratches or the like are likely to be formed to the discharge tray, it is possible to maintain a good copy quality. Further, in order to control the driving speed of the sorter with respect to the discharge roller device,
In the image forming apparatus, it is possible to use information in which a mode for creating a recording sheet using special sheets is selected,
Control can be easily performed by the control device of the sorter controlling the rotational speed of the drive motor of each roller device with respect to the drive motor.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a sheet conveying device in the sorter device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus, 10 Sorter apparatus, 11
Paper transport path, 12 branch section, 13 upper discharge path,
15-17 transport roller device, 20/21 discharge roller device, 25 upper discharge tray, 26 sorting discharge tray, 28 control unit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus for connecting a paper post-processing device to a recording paper discharge unit of an image forming apparatus and performing a process of discharging recording paper, wherein a paper conveyance path of the post-processing device has a constant conveyance speed. An upstream conveying roller device to be set and a downstream discharging roller device configured to be variable in speed are arranged. The control device of the image forming apparatus includes a sheet used for normal copying and a special plastic sheet. Means for inputting information about the film member, and control means for controlling the speed of a downstream discharge roller device based on the information on the paper. An operation of setting the speed of the roller device to a high speed to increase the interval between the sheet to be discharged and the next sheet and discharging the sheet; and for a special plastic film member, the driving speed of the discharge roller device. Post-processing apparatus of the image forming apparatus, comprising an act of discharging driven to the conveying roller unit and the speed, and to implement based on the input information.