JP6268582B2 - Paper processing apparatus and image forming system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus and an image type Narushi stem.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet processing apparatus that performs a binding process on a bundle of sheets by fusing an adhesive toner image formed on a binding margin of a sheet by pressurizing and heating the adhesive toner image and bonding the sheets together. An image forming system provided is known.

  Patent Document 1 describes an image forming apparatus in which the height of an adhesive toner image formed at a binding margin of paper is increased to increase the adhesive force. Further, in the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1, waste toner is used as toner for forming an adhesive toner image.

  In Patent Document 2, when the smoothness of a sheet is measured and the smoothness of the sheet is less than a threshold value, image formation is performed after the sheet is passed through a smoothing processing member and the entire sheet is smoothed. An apparatus is described.

  By the way, in the configuration in which the sheets are bonded to each other with the toner, the adhesive force depends on the humidity of the sheet, and the lower the humidity, the lower the adhesive force. In the image forming means, the moisture contained in the paper is deprived by heating during fixing, and the humidity of the paper is lowered. For this reason, there is a problem that a good adhesive force cannot be obtained by the post-processing apparatus.

  As described in Patent Document 1, by increasing the height of the adhesive toner image and increasing the adhesive force, it is possible to bond the sheets satisfactorily even in a low-humidity sheet after fixing. . However, in the configuration described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to increase the height of the adhesive toner image, and there is a problem that the toner consumption is quick and the running cost is high. In Patent Document 1, waste toner that is not used for image formation but removed by a cleaning device or the like is used as toner for forming an adhesive toner image, thereby reducing running costs. However, by increasing the height of the adhesive toner image, the waste toner is quickly depleted. As a result, a toner image for adhesion is formed using toner other than waste toner, and the running cost cannot be sufficiently reduced.

  As a result of intensive studies by the applicant, the adhesive force increases by increasing the smoothness of at least one of the surface of the adhesive toner image and the surface of the binding margin facing the adhesive toner image. I understood. By performing a process for increasing the smoothness of the paper or the adhesive toner image, the adhesive force can be increased without increasing the toner height of the adhesive toner image, and toner consumption can be suppressed. The running cost can be reduced.

  Therefore, as in the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 2, it is conceivable to perform a process for increasing the smoothness of the paper before the image forming operation. However, if the processing for increasing the smoothness is performed on the paper before the image forming operation, the paper may return to the state before the smoothing processing after the fixing processing. As a result, when the post-processing apparatus pressurizes and heats the adhesive toner image to bond the sheets together, a sufficient adhesive force may not be obtained.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a purpose thereof is a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming system capable of suppressing the running cost of the image forming apparatus and improving the adhesive force of the adhesive toner image satisfactorily. Is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 comprises binding means for binding the sheets of paper by binding and heating the adhesive toner image formed on the binding margin of the sheets and binding the bundle of sheets. In the sheet processing apparatus, the surface of the bonding toner image and / or the bonding toner image at the binding margin of the sheet after the image forming process has a smooth surface and before binding the sheet bundle by the binding unit. A smoothing means is provided for smoothing the surface of the adhesive toner image and / or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image by bringing the smooth surface into contact with the surface of the opposing paper. It is.

  According to the present invention, the running cost of the image forming apparatus can be suppressed, and the adhesive force of the adhesive toner image can be improved satisfactorily.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the overall configuration of the multifunction machine. The figure which shows a paper post-processing apparatus. The schematic sectional drawing of a heating adhesion part. The schematic perspective view of a smoothing means. The figure explaining a mode that a smoothing means performs a smoothing process with respect to the binding margin part surface of a paper. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a sheet bundle in which the adhesive toner image forming surface of each sheet binding margin is smoothed. The perspective view which shows the paper bundle which smooth | blunted the back surface of each paper binding margin part. The perspective view which shows the paper bundle which smoothed both surfaces of each paper binding margin part. The perspective view which shows the paper bundle which smoothed both surfaces of the binding margin part of the even-numbered paper. The schematic perspective view of the smoothing means of the modification 1. FIG. The figure explaining a mode that the smoothing means of the modification 1 performs a smoothing process. The perspective view of the smoothing means of the modification 2. FIG. The figure explaining a mode that the smoothing means of the modification 2 performs a smoothing process. The graph which shows the result of having investigated the relationship between a smoothing process and adhesive force. Explanatory drawing of an adhesive force adjustment apparatus. The figure explaining a mode that an adhesive force adjustment process is performed with an adhesive force adjustment apparatus. The flowchart of an adhesive force adjustment process. The figure which shows the table with which the adhesive strength and the stamp member were linked | related. Explanatory drawing of the adhesive force adjustment apparatus of the modification A. FIG. The figure explaining a mode that the adhesive force adjustment process is performed by the adhesive force adjustment apparatus of the modification A. The schematic perspective view of the adhesive force adjustment apparatus of the modification B. The figure explaining a mode that the adhesive force adjustment process is performed with the adhesive force adjustment apparatus of the modification B. The figure which shows another embodiment of the adhesive force adjustment apparatus of the modification B. The figure which shows another embodiment of the adhesive force adjustment apparatus of the modification B.

  An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a sheet binding device included in a sheet post-processing apparatus of a color-compatible MFP (Multifunction Peripheral / Printer / Product) machine (hereinafter referred to as a multi-function machine 500), which is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. A form (hereinafter referred to as Embodiment 1) will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the overall configuration of a multifunction peripheral 500 that is an image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

  First, the configuration and operation of the MFP 500 according to the first embodiment common to the respective examples will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-function device 500 is mainly composed of the following. An image forming unit 100 that forms an image, a paper feed table 200 on which the image forming unit 100 is placed, a scanner 300 mounted on the image forming unit 100, and a document mounted on the scanner 300 This is an automatic transfer device (ADF) 400. The multi-function device 500 also includes a paper post-processing device 110 that performs predetermined post-processing on the paper P on which the image forming unit 100 has formed an image.

  The scanner 300 is placed on the contact glass 301 as the first traveling body 303 mounted with a light source for document illumination, a mirror, and the like and the second traveling body 304 mounted with a plurality of reflecting mirrors reciprocate. The scanned original is read and scanned. The scanning light sent out from the second traveling body 304 is condensed on the imaging surface of the reading sensor 306 installed behind the imaging lens 305, and then read as an image signal by the reading sensor 306. Further, an operation panel 310 (see FIG. 2) for displaying the state of the apparatus main body and for setting and operating the apparatus main body is disposed on the front side of the apparatus main body of the scanner 300.

  The image forming unit 100 is provided with photosensitive drums 40Y, 40M, 40C, and 40Bk corresponding to toners of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (Bk) as latent image carriers. It has been. Around the respective photosensitive drums 40, various units for performing an electrophotographic process such as a developing device 70, a charging device 85, and a photosensitive member cleaning device 86 are arranged, whereby an image forming unit 38 (Y, M, C, Bk) ) Is formed. Each image forming unit 38 can be attached to and detached from the printer main body, so that consumable parts can be replaced at a time. Four image forming units 38 are provided in parallel to form the tandem image forming unit 20. Here, the configuration of each image forming unit 38 is different only in the color of the toner to be used, and the configuration and operation thereof are the same. Therefore, in the following description, symbols Y, M, C, and Bk are omitted as appropriate. I will explain.

  In the developing device 70 of each image forming unit 38, the developer containing the above four color toners is used. In the developing device 70, a developing roller 71 that is a developer carrying member carries and conveys the developer, and develops a latent image on the photoconductive drum 40 at a position facing the photoconductive drum 40.

  Above the tandem-type image forming unit 20, an exposure device 31 is provided that forms a latent image by exposing the photosensitive drum 40 with laser light or LED light based on image information.

  In addition, an intermediate transfer belt 15 that is an intermediate transfer member made of an endless belt member is disposed at a lower position facing the photosensitive drum 40 of the tandem type image forming unit 20. The intermediate transfer belt 15 is supported by support rollers 34 and 35 and a secondary transfer backup roller 36. A primary transfer device 62 that transfers the toner images of the respective colors formed on the photosensitive drum 40 to the intermediate transfer belt 15 is disposed at a position adjacent to the photosensitive drum 40 via the intermediate transfer belt 15. .

  Below the intermediate transfer belt 15, a secondary transfer device 19 that collectively transfers a toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 15 onto the paper P conveyed from the paper feed cassette 44 of the paper feed table 200. Is arranged. The secondary transfer device 19 includes a secondary transfer roller 23 and a contact / separation mechanism (not shown) that supports the secondary transfer roller 23 so as to be able to contact and separate from the intermediate transfer belt 15. The secondary transfer device 19 presses the secondary transfer roller 23 against the secondary transfer backup roller 36 via the intermediate transfer belt 15 to transfer the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 15 onto the paper P.

  A belt cleaning unit 37 is provided to remove toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 15. The belt cleaning unit 37 causes a cleaning blade made of, for example, a fur brush or urethane rubber to contact the intermediate transfer belt 15 and scrapes off secondary transfer residual toner adhering to the intermediate transfer belt 15.

A fixing device 60 is provided adjacent to the secondary transfer device 19, and the fixing device 60 fixes an image on the paper P. The fixing device 60 mainly includes a heating roller 66 in which a heater as a heat source is incorporated, and a pressure roller 67 pressed against the heating roller 66.
A reversing device 28 for reversing the paper P is disposed below the secondary transfer device 19 and the fixing device 60. The reversing device 28 inverts the paper P to record images on both sides of the paper P.

  In the above description, the MFP machine forms toner images of four colors Y, M, C, and K. However, the number of image forming colors may be increased or decreased, or a monochrome MFP machine may be used. An MFP machine for transferring the image may be used.

Next, the operation of the multi-function device 500 configured as described above as a copier will be described.
The original document is set on the document table 30 of the automatic document feeder 400 shown in FIG. 1, or the automatic document feeder 400 is opened to set the document on the contact glass 301 of the scanner 300, and the automatic document feeder 400 is closed. . When a start switch (not shown) on the operation panel is pressed in this state, when the document is set on the automatic document feeder 400, the document is transported and moved onto the contact glass 301, and then the first traveling body. 303 and the second traveling body 304 are caused to travel. When the document is set on the contact glass 301, the scanner 300 is immediately driven to cause the first traveling body 303 and the second traveling body 304 to travel.

  The first traveling body 303 irradiates light from the light source and receives reflected light from the document surface. The reflected light is reflected toward the second traveling body 304, the reflected light is further reflected by the mirror of the second traveling body 304, is incident on the reading sensor 306 through the imaging lens 305, and the document content is read by the reading sensor 306. .

  Further, by pressing a start switch on the operation panel, a drive motor (not shown) is driven to rotate and drive the support roller 34 which is also a drive roller, and the other support roller 35 and the secondary transfer backup roller 36 are moved. Rotate following. By rotating in this way, the intermediate transfer belt 15 is rotated. At the same time, the photosensitive drum 40 is uniformly charged by the charging device 85 in each image forming unit 38. Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed on each charged photosensitive drum 40 by irradiating writing light from a laser, an LED, or the like from the exposure device 31 according to the content read by the scanner 300.

  Toner is supplied from the developing device 70 to the photosensitive drum 40 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized. On each photosensitive drum 40, yellow (Y), magenta (M), A single color image of cyan (C) and black (Bk) is formed. The monochromatic image is sequentially primary transferred by the primary transfer device so as to overlap the intermediate transfer belt 15, and a composite color image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 15. Residual toner is removed from the surface of the photosensitive drum 40 after the image transfer by the photosensitive member cleaning device 86, and the static electricity is removed by a static eliminator (not shown) to prepare for image formation again.

  By pressing the start switch on the operation panel, one of the paper feed rollers 42 of the paper feed table 200 is selected and rotated, and the paper P is fed from one of the paper feed cassettes 44 provided in the paper bank 43 in multiple stages. Pull out. The fed paper P is separated one by one by the separation roller 45 and inserted into the paper feed path 46, conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 47 and guided to the paper supply path 48 in the image forming unit 100, and to the registration roller pair 49. Stop it by hitting it. Next, the registration roller pair 49 is rotated in synchronization with the composite color image on the intermediate transfer belt 15, and the sheet P is fed between the intermediate transfer belt 15 and the secondary transfer device 19 and transferred by the secondary transfer device 19. Then, the color image is transferred onto the paper P.

  The paper P carrying the unfixed toner image that has passed through the secondary transfer roller 23 is conveyed to the fixing device 60, and heat and pressure are applied by the fixing device 60 to fix the transferred image. The paper P after image fixing is switched by the switching claw 55 and discharged from the image forming unit 100 by the discharge roller pair 56 via the discharge path 68 and introduced into the paper post-processing device 110 or switched by the switching claw 55. And introduced into the reversing device 28. The paper P introduced into the paper post-processing device 110 is subjected to predetermined post-processing or is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 136 of the paper post-processing device 110 without being subjected to post-processing.

  The paper P introduced into the reversing device 28 is reversed and guided again to the transfer position, and an image is also recorded on the back surface. After that, the paper P is switched by the switching claw 55 and formed by the discharge roller pair 56 via the discharge path 68. The paper is discharged from the image unit 100 and introduced into the paper post-processing device 110. The paper P introduced into the paper post-processing device 110 is subjected to predetermined post-processing or is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 136 of the paper post-processing device 110 without being subjected to post-processing. At this time, residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 15 after image transfer is removed by the belt cleaning unit 37 to prepare for re-image formation by the tandem type image forming unit 20.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the sheet post-processing device 110.
The sheet post-processing device 110 stacks and stacks a plurality of sheets P after image formation by stacking and stacking and discharging the sheets P onto the sheet discharge tray 136 for each sheet bundle. Binding processing for binding a bundle of sheets can be performed. These treatments can be performed in combination or independently. In addition, as a means for performing a binding process on a sheet bundle composed of a plurality of sheets P after image formation, a heating bonding unit 120 that is a sheet binding unit that uses toner (hereinafter referred to as an adhesive toner) as an adhesive medium is provided. ing.

  The paper discharged from the discharge roller pair of the image forming unit 100 of the multi-function device 500 is received by the receiving roller pair 132. When the binding process is not performed, the received paper is guided to the proof conveyance path 131 by the switching claw 133. Then, the paper is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 136 by a pair of conveying rollers 134 and a pair of paper discharge rollers 135. On the other hand, when the binding process is performed, the received paper is guided to the post-processing conveyance path 141 by the switching claw 133.

The sheets conveyed to the post-processing conveyance path 141 are stacked on the prestack unit 147. Specifically, the sheet conveyed to the post-processing conveyance path 141 is conveyed by pushing the second switching claw 146 biased toward the post-processing conveyance path 141 by a spring (not shown). The rear of the sheet, when passed through the second switching claw 146, the third conveying roller pair 144 is reversely rotated to switch back carrying the paper. The rear end of the switched-back sheet is guided by the second switching claw 146 and conveyed to the prestack unit 147. When the leading edge of the sheet passes through the second conveyance roller pair 143, the switchback conveyance of the sheet is stopped. As a result, the leading end of the sheet is stacked on the prestack unit 147 in a state where the leading end of the sheet abuts against the second conveying roller pair 143.

  Next, the second sheet is introduced into the post-processing conveyance path 141 and conveyed by pushing the second switching claw 146 in the same manner as described above. At the timing when the leading edge of the second sheet hits the second conveying roller pair 143, the second conveying roller pair 143 is driven to rotate, and the sheet that has passed through the second conveying roller pair 143 becomes a bundle of two sheets. Are transported. The two sheets are conveyed by the third conveyance roller pair 144 until the rear end of the two sheet bundles passes through the second switching claw 146. Then, the rotation direction of the second conveyance roller pair 143 and the third conveyance roller pair 144 is switched to the opposite direction, and the two sheets are conveyed to the prestack unit 147.

  When such a conveyance control is repeatedly performed and a predetermined number of sheets (three sheets in the first embodiment) are stacked on the prestack unit 147, the sheet bundle stacked on the prestack unit 147 is conveyed toward the stack unit 150. The sheet bundle conveyed to the stack unit 150 falls to an unillustrated end fence by its own weight, and the trailing edges of the sheets are aligned. Further, the position in the sheet width direction is aligned to a predetermined position by the jogger fence. Then, a heat bonding unit 120, which will be described later, applies heat and pressure to the bonding toner image formed at the binding margin of each sheet to melt the bonding toner image to bond the sheets to each other, and a predetermined number of sheets (this embodiment) In the first mode, three sheets are bound.

  A predetermined number (three) of sheet bundles stacked again in the prestack unit 147 is conveyed to the stack unit 150. Then, an additional predetermined number of sheets (3 sheets) are bound to the already bonded sheet bundle stacked on the stack unit 150 by the heat bonding unit 120. This operation is repeated to complete the sheet bundle. When the sheet bundle is completed, the sheet bundle is sandwiched between the two stack roller pairs 153 and sent to the fifth transport roller pair 154. The fed sheet bundle is nipped and conveyed by the fifth conveyance roller pair 154 and the discharge roller pair 135 and is discharged onto the discharge tray 136.

  In the first embodiment, by providing the prestack unit 147 upstream of the stack unit 150 in the sheet conveyance direction, the sheet P conveyed while the sheets are bonded to each other by the heat bonding unit 120 is prestacked. 147 can be stacked. Accordingly, the sheets can be bonded to each other by the heat bonding unit 120 without reducing the image forming speed in the image forming unit 100, and the productivity of the apparatus can be suppressed from being impaired.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the heat bonding part 120.
As shown in FIG. 3, the heat bonding part 120 includes a cradle 121 and a heating means 122. The cradle 121 includes an elastic portion 121a made of silicon rubber that generates an elastic force when the sheet bundle Pb is pressurized. The elastic portion 121a is provided on a base 121b made of aluminum. The heating means 122 includes a heater 122a, and a Teflon (registered trademark) for making it difficult for the heat conductive portion 122b made of a high heat conductive member such as aluminum and the adhesive toner image S to adhere to the surface of the heater 122a that contacts the paper P. ) Or the like is provided. The set temperature of the heater 122a can be adjusted in the range of 100 [° C.] to 260 [° C.] according to the type of the paper P and the number of the paper P in the paper bundle Pb. The heating unit 122 is provided to face the paper setting surface of the cradle 121 and is in contact with and separated from the paper setting surface of the cradle 121.

  When binding to the sheet bundle Pb stacked on the stack unit 150, the heating means 122 positioned at a separated position with respect to the sheet bundle Pb is moved toward the cradle 121 and brought into contact with the sheet bundle Pb. . Then, the binding margin portion on which the adhesive toner image S of each paper constituting the paper bundle Pb is formed is sandwiched between the heating means 122 and the cradle 121 and pressed, and is heated by the heating means 122 to be bonded to the adhesive toner image. Is melted to bond the sheets together. Thereby, the sheet bundle Pb is bound.

  In the configuration in which the sheets are bonded to each other with toner, the adhesive strength depends on the humidity of the paper, and the lower the humidity, the lower the adhesive strength. The lower the humidity of the paper, the stronger the fibers of the paper. In the paper, fibers are intertwined to form the paper, and when the surface is enlarged, there are concave portions and convex portions. In addition, the adhesive toner image is an aggregate that is solidified after the toner in the form of particles is semi-melted by fixing, and has an uneven surface. When the fibers of the paper become stiff, the fibers are not crushed by the pressure applied by the heating means 122, and there are places where a large gap is formed between the adhesive toner image. Specifically, this is a portion where the concave portion of the adhesive toner image and the concave portion of the paper overlap. It is considered that the melted toner cannot sufficiently enter the large gap and the adhesive strength is reduced.

  Therefore, it is conceivable to increase the pressure applied by the heating means 122. However, even if the pressing force of the heating means 122 is increased, the concave portions cannot be sufficiently crushed because the surfaces are in contact with each other, and the gap between the paper and the toner image cannot be sufficiently shortened. Therefore, by increasing the toner height of the adhesive toner image to be higher than that of the toner image formed on the image portion of the paper and increasing the amount of toner to be melted, the melted toner can be introduced into a large gap. Thereby, adhesive force can be raised. However, in this case, since a large amount of toner is consumed due to the adhesive toner, there is a problem that the running cost of the apparatus becomes high. Therefore, in the first exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a smoothing unit 160 that smoothes the binding margin portion of the paper is provided in the vicinity of the first transport roller pair 142 in the post-processing transport path 141.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the smoothing means 160.
As shown in FIG. 4, the smoothing means 160 has a stamp member 161 as a pressing member, a cradle 162, and the like. The stamp member 161 is made of a rigid body such as metal, and is provided so as to be able to contact and separate from the cradle 162 as indicated by an arrow Z1 in the drawing. The surface of the stamp member 161 that faces the cradle 162 (the surface that contacts the surface of the paper or the adhesive toner image) is a smooth surface.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the smoothing unit 160 performs the smoothing process on the surface of the binding margin of the paper.
As shown in FIG. 5, when the sheet is introduced into the post-processing conveyance path 141 and the sheet binding margin Pt reaches the smoothing means 160, the conveyance of the sheet is once stopped. Next, the stamp member 161 is moved toward the binding margin portion by driving means such as an actuator (not shown), and the binding margin portion Pt is pressurized by the receiving base 162 and the stamp member 161. Since the stamp member 161 is made of a rigid body, the smooth surface of the stamp member 161 can be transferred to the surface of the adhesive toner image by pressurization, and the surface of the adhesive toner image can be smoothed. Accordingly, the surface of the adhesive toner image S is crushed by the smooth surface of the stamp member 161, and the surface can be smoothed. When the surface of the adhesive toner image S is smoothed, the stamp member 161 is moved away from the cradle 162, and then the conveyance of the paper is resumed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a smoothed surface of the sheet bundle.
As shown by an arrow H in FIG. 6, the surface of the adhesive toner image on each sheet is smoothed and the binding margin portion Pt is bound by the heating means 122. As described above, the surface of the adhesive toner image on each sheet is smoothed by the smoothing means 160, so that the concave portion of the adhesive toner image is eliminated. Thus, unlike the case where the surface is not smoothed, there is no portion where the concave portion of the surface (hereinafter referred to as the back surface of the binding margin Pt) facing the adhesive toner image of the paper and the concave portion of the adhesive toner image are opposed. Therefore, compared with the case where smoothing is not performed, the melted toner can be sufficiently allowed to enter the concave portion on the back surface of the binding margin portion Pt, and a reduction in adhesive force can be suppressed. Further, even if the height of the adhesive toner image is not increased, the melted toner can sufficiently enter the concave portion on the back surface of the binding margin portion Pt, and an increase in the running cost of the apparatus can be suppressed.

  Further, the smoothing means 160 is configured so that the stamp member 161 is opposed to the back surface of the binding margin Pt and the receiving block 162 is opposed to the surface on which the adhesive toner image is formed, as shown in FIG. The back surface of the binding margin Pt of each sheet may be smoothed. Passing through the fixing device reduces the humidity of the paper, and even if the fiber of the paper is strong, the paper fiber can be crushed by pressing with the rigid stamp member 161, and the back surface of the binding margin Pt is Can be smoothed. By smoothing the back surface of the binding margin portion, the melted toner can enter the gap between the fibers on the back surface of the binding margin portion Pt without increasing the height of the adhesive toner image, and the adhesive strength is reduced. Can be suppressed.

  In addition, the surface of the cradle 162 that contacts the paper may be a smooth surface, and the back surface of the binding margin portion and the surface of the adhesive toner image may be smoothed. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the back surface of the binding margin portion of each sheet and the surface of the adhesive toner image may be smoothed, or as shown in FIG. The back surface of the binding margin of the paper and the surface of the adhesive toner image may be smoothed. As shown in FIG. 8, since the smooth surfaces can be bonded together by smoothing the back surface of the binding margin of each sheet and the surface of the adhesive toner image, when smoothing only one of them. In comparison, the adhesive force can be increased. On the other hand, in FIG. 9, it is not necessary to temporarily stop the conveyance of the odd-numbered sheets for the smoothing process. As a result, when the paper conveyance interval between the odd and even sheets is smoothed for each sheet, such as between the first and second sheets, the third and fourth sheets, etc. Compared to, it can be made narrower. Thereby, compared with the case where it smoothes with respect to each paper, the fall of productivity can be suppressed.

Next, a modified example of the smoothing unit 160 will be described.
[Modification 1]
FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of the smoothing means 160A of the first modification.
The smoothing unit 160A according to the first modification includes a strainer 163 and a receiving table 162, which are contact members provided so as to be movable in parallel with the paper conveyance direction. The contact portion that contacts the paper of the strainer 163 is a smooth surface. In addition, the strainer 163 can move in a direction in which the strainer 163 is in contact with or separated from the cradle 162.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining how smoothing processing is performed by the smoothing means 160A of the first modification.
The smoothing means 160 </ b> A of Modification 1 is also provided in the vicinity of the first transport roller pair 142 in the post-processing transport path 141. In the same manner as described above, when the sheet is introduced into the post-processing conveyance path 141 and the sheet binding margin reaches the smoothing means 160, the conveyance of the sheet is temporarily stopped. Next, the strainer 163 is moved toward the binding margin portion by driving means such as an actuator (not shown), and the binding margin portion Pt is pressurized by the receiving base 162 and the strainer 163. Next, as shown by the arrows in the figure, the strainer 163 is reciprocated a plurality of times in the paper transport direction, and the surface of the adhesive toner image on the paper is rubbed with the smooth surface of the strainer 163 to thereby remove the surface of the adhesive toner image. Is smoothed. Since the adhesive toner image is fixed on the sheet by the fixing device 60 of the image forming apparatus main body, the adhesive toner image is not disturbed by rubbing by the smooth surface of the strainer 163. When the smoothing process is completed, the strainer 163 is moved away from the cradle 162, and the conveyance of the paper is resumed.

  Thus, even with the configuration of the first modification, the surface of the adhesive toner image can be smoothed. Further, by widening the range of the smooth surface of the strainer 163 to be rubbed, it is possible to smooth the wide range of the adhesive toner image surface without increasing the smooth surface of the strainer 163. Thereby, compared with the case where it smoothes by transferring the smooth surface of the stamp member 161, the enlargement of a smoothing means can be suppressed. Further, it can be smoothed with a small pressure compared to the case of smoothing with a stamp member.

  By replacing the cradle 162 and the strainer 163 with respect to the configuration shown in FIG. 11, the back surface of the sheet binding margin portion can be smoothed as shown in FIG. Further, by using both as the strainer 163, the surface of the adhesive toner image and the back surface of the paper binding margin can be smoothed. Further, in this modification, the strainer 163 is reciprocated and smoothed, but the paper may be reciprocated and smoothed.

[Modification 2]
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the smoothing means 160B of the second modification.
The smoothing means 160B of Modification 2 is configured by a pair of calendar rollers 164a, 164b and the like. At least one surface of the pair of calendar rollers is smooth.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the smoothing process is performed by the smoothing unit 160B according to the second modification.
The smoothing means 160 </ b> B of the second modification is also provided in the vicinity of the first transport roller pair 142 in the post-processing transport path 141. The pair of calendar rollers 164a and 164b are driven to rotate at the same linear velocity as the paper. In the same manner as described above, when the sheet is conveyed to the post-processing conveyance path 141, the sheet binding margin Pt passes through the nip formed by the pair of calendar rollers 164a and 164b. When passing through the nip portion, the paper is conveyed by the pair of calendar rollers while being sandwiched between the pair of calendar rollers 164a and 164b with a strong force. Thereby, the binding margin part Pt is rolled and the surface is smoothed.

  Of the pair of calendar rollers 164a and 164b, when the surface of the calendar roller 164a that is in contact with the surface of the paper on which the toner image for adhesion is formed is smoothed, as shown in FIG. The surface of the adhesive toner image is smoothed. On the other hand, when the surface of the calendar roller in contact with the back surface of the paper is smoothed, the back surface of the binding margin portion Pt is smoothed as shown in FIG. Further, by smoothing the surfaces of both calendar rollers, the surface of the adhesive toner image and the back surface of the binding margin can be smoothed as shown in FIG.

  In the smoothing means 160B of the second modification, the paper can be smoothed without temporarily stopping. Thereby, smoothing can be achieved without impairing productivity. In addition, smoothing can be performed simply by rotating the pair of calendar rollers, and the structure of the smoothing means can be simplified and the cost of the apparatus can be suppressed compared to the case of using a stamp member or strainer. Can do.

FIG. 14 is a graph showing the results of examining the relationship between the smoothing treatment and the adhesive force. Note that the smoothing means 160B (a pair of calendar rollers) of Modification 2 was used for the paper smoothing process.
As shown in FIG. 14, it can be seen that by smoothing the binding margin portion Pt of the paper, the adhesive force is improved as compared with the case where the sheet is not yet processed. When the surface of the adhesive toner image at the binding margin Pt is smoothed (toner surface smoothing in FIG. 14) and when the back of the binding margin Pt is smoothed (paper surface smoothing in FIG. 14), both are unprocessed Compared to the case, the adhesive force was improved approximately 1.5 times. Also, by smoothing both the front surface of the adhesive toner image and the back surface of the binding margin portion, the adhesive force was improved more than twice as compared with the case of no treatment. As described above, by performing the smoothing process on the binding margin portion Pt of the paper, it is possible to obtain good adhesiveness without increasing the height of the adhesive toner image. As a result, toner consumption can be reduced, and the running cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

Further, the smoothing unit is disposed between the fixing device 60 and before the sheet being conveyed overlaps the sheet stacked in the prestack unit (in the first embodiment, up to the second switching claw 146). preferable. This is because if the smoothing means is provided upstream of the fixing device in the paper transport direction, the paper smoothed by the smoothing means may return to its original state after passing through the fixing device 60. In addition, when a smoothing unit is provided after overlapping the sheets stacked in the pre-stack unit (downstream of the second switching claw 146), the smoothing unit smoothes one sheet being conveyed. It is difficult to do so, which is not preferable.
Further, it is preferable to smooth the paper only at the binding margin Pt portion. If the entire paper is smoothed, the paper may be wavy. In addition, there is also a problem that an image formed on the image portion of the paper has an unnecessary gloss. Accordingly, the paper smoothing is performed only in the binding margin Pt portion, and thereby it is possible to suppress the paper wavy and the occurrence of unnecessary gloss on the image.

[Embodiment 2]
In an apparatus for adhering sheets with an adhesive toner image and binding a bundle of sheets, if the adhesive force is constant, the user's various needs cannot be answered, resulting in an inconvenient image forming system. Specifically, if you can only bond papers with strong adhesive strength, you can temporarily bind multiple papers and answer the user's request to bind them easily when using them. I can't. Also, if the adhesive strength is weak, it is impossible to answer the user's request for binding so that the bundle of sheets cannot be easily separated.

  In Patent Document 1, the adhesive force is adjusted by adjusting the height (adhesion amount) of the adhesive toner image. As a result, by lowering the height of the adhesive toner image and weakening the adhesive force, a plurality of sheets can be bound temporarily, and the sheets can be bound easily when used. On the other hand, by increasing the height of the adhesive toner image and increasing the adhesive force, it is possible to easily bind the sheets so that the sheet bundle does not come apart. Accordingly, it is impossible to answer various needs of the user, and a highly convenient image forming system can be constructed.

  However, even if the adhesive toner images have the same height, the adhesive force varies depending on the surface roughness of the paper and the humidity of the paper. That is, the paper having a rough surface has large unevenness, and the melted toner cannot fill the concave portion of the paper. As a result, the paper does not adhere to each other at the concave portion of the paper, and the adhesive strength is reduced. On the other hand, in a paper having a smooth surface, the entire surface that comes into contact with the adhesive toner image is adhered by the toner, so that the adhesive strength is increased. When the humidity of the paper is high, the fibers of the paper are weak, so that the fibers are crushed by the pressure applied when the papers are bonded together, the paper surface becomes smooth, and the adhesive strength increases. On the other hand, when the humidity of the paper is low, the fibers of the paper are strong, so that the fibers are not crushed by the pressure applied when the papers are bonded together. As a result, since adhesion is performed with the surface of the paper being uneven, the concave portions cannot be adhered by toner as described above, and the adhesive strength is reduced.

  As described above, since the adhesive strength varies depending on the surface roughness of the paper and the humidity of the paper, the desired adhesive strength may not be obtained even if the height of the toner image is the same. Accordingly, as in the image forming system described in Patent Document 1, the adjustment of the adhesive toner image by adjusting the height of the adhesive toner image is likely to be too easy to peel off or difficult to peel off. Occurs.

  The second embodiment has been made in view of the problems described above, and an object thereof is to provide a post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus that can bind a bundle of sheets with an adhesive force that appropriately meets various needs of a user. That is.

  The second embodiment will be specifically described below. Hereinafter, the description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is omitted. In the second embodiment, the adhesive force adjusting device 260 is provided at the place where the smoothing means 160 shown in FIG.

15A is a schematic perspective view of the adhesive force adjusting device 260, FIG. 15B is a view seen from the Y direction of FIG. 15A, and FIG. It is a figure explaining the stamp part of a member.
In FIG. 15A, the adhesive force adjusting device 260 includes a receiving table 262, a rotating table 261, and the like. The turntable 261 holds four stamp members 263a to 263d. As shown by an arrow X in the figure, the turntable 261 is provided so as to be able to contact and separate from the cradle 262.

  As shown in FIGS. 15B and 15C, the stamp portions of the stamp members 263a to 263d that are in contact with the paper are formed with uneven patterns having different shapes. The stamp portion of the first stamp member 263a has a smooth surface without unevenness. The stamp portion of the second stamp member 263b is formed with a lattice-shaped uneven pattern, and the stamp portion of the third stamp member 263c is formed with a striped uneven pattern. Further, the stamp portion of the fourth stamp member 263d is formed with an uneven pattern in which a plurality of dot-like convex portions are formed. The surface area of the convex portion of the stamp portion of the second stamp member is larger than the surface area of the convex portion of the third stamp member, and the surface area of the convex portion of the stamp portion of the third stamp member is the stamp of the fourth stamp member. It is larger than the surface area of the convex part. The top surface of each convex part is smoothed.

  The adhesive strength has a correlation with the smoothed area, and the larger the smoothed area, the stronger the adhesive force. That is, the larger the contact area of the stamp with the paper, the stronger the adhesive strength. As described above, when the stamp portion of the stamp member is pressed against the paper by forming the uneven pattern on the stamp portion, only the smooth top surface of the convex portion of the stamp portion presses the paper binding margin portion Pt, Only a part can be smoothed. Therefore, the larger the surface area of the convex portion of the stamp portion, the larger the contact area of the stamp member with the paper, the larger the area to be smoothed, and the stronger the adhesive strength. In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15C, the adhesive force can smooth the entire binding margin portion Pt by using the first stamp member having a smooth stamp portion. Can be the strongest. On the other hand, by using the fourth stamp member 263d on which the concave / convex pattern having the smallest surface area of the convex portion is used, the area to be smoothed in the binding margin portion Pt is small, and the adhesive strength can be made the weakest.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the adhesive force adjusting process is performed by the adhesive force adjusting device 260, and FIG. 17 is a flowchart of the adhesive force adjusting process.
As shown in FIG. 17, when the user operates the operation panel 310 as the instruction means shown in FIG. 2 and the binding process for binding the sheet bundle is selected (S1), the control unit (not shown) A selection screen for selecting the adhesive strength is displayed on panel 310. The user sets the adhesive strength based on the selection screen displayed on the operation panel 310 (S2). For example, there are four levels of adhesive strength: “strong”, “medium strength”, “medium weak”, and “weak”, and the user operates the operation panel 310 to select one of the five levels of adhesive strength. Set.

  When the user operates the operation panel 310 to set the adhesive strength, a control unit (not shown) selects a stamp member to be pressed against the paper binding margin Pt based on the set adhesive strength (S3). Specifically, the apparatus has a non-volatile memory in which a table in which an adhesive strength and a stamp member are associated is stored as shown in FIG. A control unit (not shown) reads the table from the nonvolatile memory, and determines a stamp member from the adhesive strength set by the user and the table.

  As shown in FIG. 18, when the user selects the adhesive strength “strong”, the first stamp member 263a having a smooth stamp portion is selected. When the adhesive strength “medium strength” is tipped, the second stamp member 263b is selected. When the adhesive strength is “medium / weak”, the third stamp member 263c is selected. When the adhesive strength is “weak”, the fourth stamp member 263d is selected.

  When the control unit (not shown) determines the stamp member to be used, the control unit controls the motor that rotates the turntable 261 so that the determined stamp member faces the receiving table 262. When the sheet is introduced into the post-processing conveyance path 141 and the sheet binding margin Pt reaches between the receiving table 262 and the stamp member, the conveyance of the sheet is temporarily stopped. Next, as shown in FIG. 16, the rotating table 261 is moved toward the binding margin Pt by a driving means such as an actuator (not shown), and the binding margin Pt is added by the receiving base 262 and the selected stamp member. Press.

  In the case where the first stamp member 263a having a smooth stamp portion is used, the entire surface of the adhesive toner image S is smoothed. On the other hand, when the second to fourth stamp members having a concavo-convex pattern formed on the stamp portion, only the convex portion of the stamp portion contacts the surface of the adhesive toner image S, and only that portion is smoothed. As described above, the surface area of the convex portion of the stamp portion of the second stamp member 263b is larger than the surface area of the convex portion of the third stamp member 263c. For this reason, the adhesive toner image S pressed by the stamp portion of the second stamp member 263b is smoother by the stamp member than the adhesive toner image S pressed by the stamp portion of the third stamp member 263c. Increased surface area. Further, the surface area of the convex portion of the stamp portion of the third stamp member 263c is larger than the surface area of the convex portion of the fourth stamp member 263d. Accordingly, the adhesive toner image S pressed at the stamp portion of the third stamp member 263c is smoothed by the stamp member more than the adhesive toner image S pressed at the stamp portion of the fourth stamp member 263d. Increased surface area.

  After smoothing a predetermined portion of the surface of the binding toner image S of the binding margin Pt, the rotating table 261 is moved in a direction away from the receiving table 262, and then the conveyance of the sheet is resumed, and the pre-stack unit 147 is transferred. Make it stack. When the smoothed sheets are collected in the three prestack unit 147, the three sheet bundles are conveyed to the stack unit 150, and the sheet bundles are heated and pressed by the heat bonding unit 120 to bind the sheet bundles ( S5).

  When the first stamp member 263a is used, the entire surface of the adhesive toner image S is smoothed. Therefore, the sheets can be strongly bonded to each other. On the other hand, when the second to fourth stamp members are used, a part of the surface of the adhesive toner image S is smoothed. The unsmoothed portion has a weaker adhesive force than the smoothed portion. Therefore, when the second stamp member 263b is used, since a large part of the adhesive toner image S is smoothed, the sheets can be bonded to each other with “medium strength” adhesive strength. When the third stamp member 263c is used, since the smoothed area is smaller than that of the second stamp member 263b, the adhesive force is weaker than when the second stamp member 263b is used, The sheets are bonded with an adhesive strength of “”. Further, when the fourth stamp member 263d is used, since the smoothed portion is small, the sheets are bonded to each other with “weak” bonding strength.

  Thus, the adhesive force can be adjusted by adjusting the area for smoothing the surface of the adhesive toner image. Thus, the entire surface of the adhesive toner image is smoothed using the first stamp member 263a, whereby the sheets can be strongly bonded to each other, and the sheet bundle can be easily bound so that the sheet bundle does not scatter. it can. Further, by using the fourth stamp member 263d and reducing the smoothed portion on the surface of the adhesive toner image, the sheets can be bonded weakly. As a result, a plurality of sheets can be bound temporarily, and a sheet bundle can be bound so that the sheets can be easily folded when used. Thereby, various needs of users can be answered, and a highly convenient image forming system can be provided.

  In addition, by adjusting the adhesive force by adjusting the area to be smoothed, by adjusting the height (adhesion amount) of the adhesive toner image, the paper is rougher than when adjusting the adhesive force. It can be made less susceptible to the humidity of the sheet. By smoothing, it is not affected by the stiffness of the paper due to the roughness or humidity of the paper. Therefore, the adhesive force of the smoothed portion is a predetermined adhesive force. Therefore, it can adjust to desired adhesive force by adjusting the area to smooth.

  In addition, it is preferable to smooth the surface of the cradle 262 that contacts the paper. By smoothing the surface of the receiving table 262 that contacts the paper, the back surface of the paper binding margin Pt (the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image S) can be smoothed. Thereby, the desired adhesive force can be obtained more stably without the adhesive force changing due to the roughness of the back surface of the binding margin portion Pt. Further, the binding base 262 is made to face the adhesive toner image S of the paper binding margin Pt, and the rotation base 261 and the plurality of stamp members 263a to 263d are made to face the back surface of the binding margin Pt, so that the binding margin is made. You may make it adjust the area to smooth | blunt the back surface of. Even if it is set as this structure, adhesive force can be adjusted by adjusting the area which smoothes the back surface of a binding margin part. Moreover, you may make both into a turntable provided with the some stamp member. Thereby, finer adhesive force can be adjusted.

  Next, a modification of the adhesive force adjusting device 260 will be described.

[Modification A]
FIG. 19A is a schematic perspective view of an adhesive force adjusting device 260A of Modification A, FIG. 19B is a view seen from the Y direction of FIG. 19A, and FIG. These are the figures explaining the paper surface contact part of each strainer.
The adhesive force adjusting device 260A of the modified example A has a smoothed area of the paper binding margin Pt by reciprocating the surface of the paper while pressurizing the paper binding margin Pt with a strainer on which a concavo-convex pattern is formed. Is to adjust.
As shown in FIG. 19A, the adhesive force adjusting device 260A includes a receiving table 262, a rotating table 261, and the like. Three strainers 264 a to 264 c are held on the turntable 261 at equal intervals (120 °) in the rotation direction of the turntable 261. The turntable 261 is provided so as to be movable toward and away from the receiving table 262 and movable in the Z direction (paper transport direction) in the drawing.

  As shown in FIGS. 19B and 19C, the contact portions of the strainers 264a to 264c that contact the paper are formed with uneven patterns having different shapes. The contact portion of the first strainer 264a is a smooth surface without unevenness. The contact portions of the second and third strainers 264b and 264c are formed with striped concavo-convex shapes parallel to the sliding direction (Z direction) of the strainer with respect to the paper. The width of the convex portion of the second strainer 264b is wider than the width of the convex portion of the third strainer 264c. The top surfaces of the convex portions of the second and third strainers 264b and 264c are smooth surfaces.

  The adhesive strength adjusting device 260A of Modification A can adjust the adhesive strength in three stages. As shown in FIG. 19C, the first strainer 264a corresponds to the adhesive strength “strong”, the second strainer 264b corresponds to the adhesive strength “medium”, and the third strainer 264c becomes the adhesive strength “weak”. It corresponds.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the adhesive force adjusting process is performed by the adhesive force adjusting device 260A of the modified example A.
First, the turntable 261 is rotated so that the strainer corresponding to the adhesive strength set by the user operating the operation panel 310 is opposed to the receiving table 262. When the sheet is introduced into the post-processing conveyance path 141 and the sheet binding margin Pt reaches between the cradle 262 and the strainer, the conveyance of the sheet is temporarily stopped. Next, the strainer is moved toward the receiving base 262, and the contact portion of the strainer is brought into contact with the sheet binding margin portion Pt and is pressurized. Next, the surface of the adhesion toner image S is smoothed by reciprocating the receiving table 262 in the sheet conveyance direction and rubbing the surface of the adhesion toner image S on the sheet while applying pressure to the contact portion of the strainer. .

When the first strainer 264a is used, since the contact portion of the strainer is a smooth surface, the entire surface of the adhesive toner image S is smoothed. Accordingly, the entire sheet binding margin can be strongly bonded, and the sheets can be strongly bonded to each other.
When the second strainer 264b or the third strainer 264c is used, the convex top smooth surface of the concavo-convex pattern is in contact with the adhesive toner image S, and the adhesive toner image S has a smooth surface parallel to the paper transport direction. It is formed with an interval of. As described above, the contact portion of the second strainer 264b has a larger width of the convex portion, so that the area to be smoothed becomes larger when the second strainer is used. As a result, the adhesive force is stronger when the second strainer 264b is used than when the third strainer 264c is used.

  Thus, also in the adhesive force adjusting device 260A of Modification A, the smooth surface of the adhesive toner image surface can be adjusted, and the adhesive force can be adjusted. Further, by widening the range of the strainer to rub, a wide range of the toner image for adhesion can be smoothed without increasing the contact portion of the strainer. Thereby, compared with the case where it smooths with a stamp member, the enlargement of an adhesive force adjustment apparatus can be suppressed. Also in this modified example A, the surface of the cradle 262 that contacts the paper is a smooth surface, and the back surface of the cradle 262 can be reciprocated to smooth the back surface of the binding margin Pt. A desired adhesive force can be stably obtained without being affected by the thickness.

  Further, by replacing the cradle 262 and the strainer with the configuration shown in FIG. 19, the area to be smoothed on the back surface of the paper binding margin can be adjusted. In addition, by using both rotary tables with a plurality of strainers, it is possible to adjust the smoothing area of both the back side of the paper binding margin and the surface of the adhesive toner image, and finely adjust the adhesive force. can do.

[Modification B]
FIG. 21 is a schematic perspective view of an adhesive force adjusting device 260B of Modification B.
The adhesive force adjusting device 260B of the modified example B is for adjusting the area of the paper binding margin Pt to be smoothed by a pair of calendar rollers 265 and 266. As shown in FIG. 21, among the pair of calendar rollers, a plurality of concave / convex patterns D1, D2 having different concave / convex patterns in the axial direction of the surface of one of the calender rollers 265 (hereinafter referred to as adjustment calender roller 265). Is formed. Further, the adhesive force adjusting device 260B of Modification B is provided with a slide mechanism (not shown) that slides the calendar roller pair in the axial direction. The top surface of the convex part of each uneven | corrugated pattern D1, D2 is a smooth surface.

FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the adhesive force adjustment processing is performed by the adhesive force adjusting device 260B of the modified example B.
First, the calendar roller pair is slid in the axial direction so that the pattern corresponding to the adhesive strength set by operating the operation panel 310 by the user faces the binding margin Pt. Next, when the sheet is conveyed to the post-processing conveyance path 141 in the same manner as described above, the sheet binding margin portion Pt passes through the nip portion formed by the pair of calendar rollers 265 and 266. When passing through the nip portion, the sheet is conveyed by the pair of calendar rollers while being sandwiched by a pair of calendar rollers 265 and 266 with a strong force. As a result, the surface of the adhesive toner image S is smoothed by the smooth top surface of the convex portion of the concave-convex pattern formed on the calendar roller.

  When the concave / convex pattern D2 of the adjusting calendar roller 265 is used, the concave / convex pattern D1 is slid to the paper transport side as compared with the case of transferring the concave / convex pattern D1. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 24B, the surface of the adhesive toner image S is smoothed by the smooth top surface of the convex portion of the concave-convex pattern D2 of the adjustment calendar roller 265.

  Further, in the above description, the area to be smoothed of the binding margin portion is made different by moving the calendar roller pair in the axial direction, but the configuration is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 23, a plurality of adjustment calendar rollers 265 a, 265 b, and 264 c having different uneven patterns on the surface may be rotatably attached to the turntable 261. In the configuration shown in FIG. 23, an adjustment calendar roller (in FIG. 23, the first one) is formed with an uneven pattern corresponding to the adhesive strength set by rotating the turntable 261 and operating the operation panel 310 by the user. 1 adjustment calendar roller 265 a) is brought into contact with the receiving-side calendar roller 266.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 24, a plurality of calendar roller pairs may be arranged in the sheet transport direction. The uneven patterns on the surfaces of the adjusting calendar rollers 265a, 265b, 265c of each calendar roller pair are different from each other. Each of the adjustment calender rollers 265a, 265b, 265c is configured to be able to contact and separate from the receiving side calender rollers 266a, 266b, 266c. An adjustment calendar roller (a third adjustment calendar roller 265c in FIG. 26) on which an uneven pattern corresponding to the adhesive strength set by the user operating the operation panel 310 is formed is replaced with a third receiving-side calendar roller. 266c. The remaining adjustment calendar rollers 265a and 265b are separated from the receiving-side calendar rollers 266a and 266b.

  Also in the adhesive force adjusting device 260B of the modified example B, the area of the surface of the adhesive toner image to be smoothed can be adjusted, and the sheet bundle can be bound with a desired adhesive force. Further, the adhesive force adjusting device 260B of the modified example B can smooth the binding margin portion of the paper without temporarily stopping the paper, and can smooth the paper without impairing the productivity. . Further, by smoothing the surface of the receiving side calender roller 266, the back surface of the binding margin portion Pt can also be smoothed, and the influence of paper roughness can be eliminated. As a result, the sheet bundle can be bound more stably with a desired adhesive force.

  Further, the adjustment calender roller may be configured to come into contact with the back surface of the binding margin portion Pt (the surface facing the adhesive toner image S), and the area to be smoothed on the back surface of the binding margin portion Pt may be adjusted. Further, both calendar rollers may be used as adjustment calendar rollers, and the areas to be smoothed on both the back surface of the binding margin Pt and the surface of the adhesive toner image may be adjusted. Thereby, the finer adjustment of the adhesive force can be performed.

What has been described above is an example, and the present invention has a specific effect for each of the following aspects.
(Aspect 1)
A sheet such as a post-processing apparatus 110 provided with a binding unit such as a heating bonding unit 120 that bonds the sheets together by binding and heating the adhesive toner image S formed on the binding margin of the sheet to heat the sheet. In the processing apparatus, before binding the sheet bundle by the binding means, smoothing is performed to smooth the adhesive toner image surface and / or the adhesive toner image surface of the binding margin Pt of the paper after the image forming process. Means 160 were provided.
According to (Aspect 1), the surface of the binding toner image and / or the surface of the sheet facing the surface of the bonding toner image at the binding margin of the sheet after the image forming process is smoothed by the smoothing unit, and then the binding is performed. By binding by means, the adhesive force between the sheets can be increased. As a result, the toner consumption can be suppressed and the running cost of the image forming apparatus can be reduced as compared with the case where the height of the adhesive toner image is increased to increase the adhesive force.
Further, since the surface of the adhesive toner image and / or the surface of the paper facing the surface of the adhesive toner image at the binding margin of the paper after the image forming process is smoothed, as in the apparatus described in Patent Document 2, Unlike the case where the paper before the image forming process is smoothed, the paper does not return to the state before the smoothing process in the fixing process, which is one step of the image forming process. As a result, the binding margins in which at least one of the surface of the adhesive toner image and the surface of the paper facing the adhesive toner image is surely smoothed can be bonded to each other, and the adhesive force can be improved satisfactorily.

(Aspect 2)
In (Aspect 1), the smoothing means 160 includes a pressing member such as a stamp member 161 having a smooth pressing surface that presses against the surface of the adhesive toner image or the surface of the paper facing the adhesive toner image. The pressing surface of the member is pressed against the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image to smooth the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image.
According to (Aspect 2), the smooth pressing surface is transferred by pressing the smooth pressing surface with the pressing member such as the stamp member 161 against the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image. Thus, the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image can be made smooth.

(Aspect 3)
In (Aspect 1), the smoothing means includes a contact member such as a strainer 163 having a smooth contact surface that contacts the surface of the adhesive toner image or the sheet surface facing the adhesive toner image, and the contact surface of the contact member is provided. The surface of the adhesive toner image or the surface of the paper facing the adhesive toner image is smoothed by moving the surface relative to the surface of the adhesive toner image or the surface of the paper opposing the adhesive toner image.
According to (Aspect 3), as described in the first modification, the smooth contact surface of the contact member such as the strainer 163 is brought into contact with the surface of the adhesive toner image or the sheet surface facing the adhesive toner image to be rubbed. As a result, the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image can be smoothed.

(Aspect 4)
In (Aspect 1), the smoothing means includes a pair of roller members such as a pair of calender rollers whose at least one surface is smooth, and a binding margin portion Pt of the sheet is provided in a nip portion formed by the pair of roller members. By conveying, the surface of the adhesive toner image and / or the surface of the paper facing the adhesive toner image is smoothed.
According to (Aspect 4), as described in the second modification, the sheet binding margin portion Pt is obtained by passing the sheet binding margin portion Pt through the nip portion formed by a pair of roller members such as a pair of calendar rollers. The surface in contact with the roller member having a smooth surface can be smoothed.
Further, according to (Aspect 4), the smoothing process can be performed only by rotationally driving the roller member pair, and compared with the case where a pressing member such as a stamp member or a contact member such as a strainer is used. The configuration of the converting means can be simplified, and the cost increase of the apparatus can be suppressed. Further, the paper surface can be smoothed without temporarily stopping the paper, and the paper can be smoothed without impairing productivity.

(Aspect 5)
In (Aspect 1), the user includes instruction means such as an operation panel 310 for instructing the adhesive force between sheets, and the smoothing means such as the adhesive force adjusting device 260 is smoothed based on the adhesive force specified by the instruction means. Adjust the area to be converted.
According to (Aspect 5), as described in the second embodiment, the smoothed portion has strong adhesive strength, and the non-smoothed portion has low adhesive strength. Therefore, the adhesive force can be adjusted by adjusting the smoothing area of the binding margin Pt. Therefore, the sheet bundle can be bound with the adhesive force specified by the user by adjusting the area to be smoothed based on the adhesive force specified by the user using the instruction means such as the operation panel 310. Thereby, when the user instructs the binding to be performed with a strong adhesive force by the instruction means, the sheet bundle can be bound with a strong adhesive force by smoothing the entire binding margin Pt. Thereby, the sheet bundle can be bound so that the sheet bundle is not easily separated. Further, when the user instructs the binding to be performed with a weak adhesive force by the instruction means, the sheet bundle can be bound with a weak adhesive force by reducing the portion to be smoothed of the binding margin portion Pt. As a result, a plurality of sheets can be bound temporarily, and a sheet bundle can be bound so that the sheets can be easily folded when used. Thus, in (Aspect 5), the sheet bundle can be bound with an adhesive force corresponding to the user's request, and a highly convenient post-processing apparatus can be provided.
Further, according to (Aspect 5), since the binding margin of the paper is smoothed and the adhesive force is adjusted, compared with the case where the adhesive toner image height (adhesion amount) is adjusted and the adhesive force is adjusted. Thus, the influence of the adhesive force due to the roughness of the paper can be suppressed. Thus, the sheet bundle can be bound with a desired adhesive force as compared with the case where the adhesive toner image height (adhesion amount) is adjusted to adjust the adhesive force.

(Aspect 6)
In (Aspect 5), the smoothing means such as the adhesive force adjusting device 260 includes a plurality of stamp members having different areas of smooth pressing surfaces that press against the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image. Based on the adhesive force designated by the instruction means such as the operation panel 310, the pressing member to be pressed against the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image is determined.
According to (Aspect 6), the pressing member such as the stamp member has a different area of the smooth pressing surface pressed against the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image. The area smoothed by the pressing surface can be varied, and the adhesive force can be adjusted.

(Aspect 7)
In (Aspect 5), the smoothing means such as the adhesive force adjusting device 260 includes a plurality of strainers having different areas of smooth contact surfaces that contact the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image. A contact member is provided, and the contact member to be brought into contact with the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image is determined based on the adhesive force designated by the instruction means such as the operation panel 310.
According to (Aspect 7), as described in Modification A, by making the contact surfaces of the contact members such as strainers different from each other, the areas smoothed by the contact surfaces of the contact members to be used are made different. And the adhesive strength can be adjusted.

(Aspect 8)
According to (Aspect 5), the smoothing means such as the adhesive force adjusting device 260 includes a pair of roller members such as a pair of calendar rollers, and a plurality of smooth surfaces on at least one surface of the pair of roller members. A plurality of concave / convex patterns having different convex surface areas are formed in the axial direction, and based on the adhesive force specified by the instruction means such as the operation panel 310, the binding margin Pt of the sheet The axial position through which the nip portion formed by the pair of roller members passes is changed.
According to (Aspect 8), as described in the modification example B, by forming a concavo-convex pattern on the surface of the roller member, the binding margin portion Pt of the sheet passes through the nip of the roller member pair on which the concavo-convex pattern is formed. When passing, only the convex portion of the smoothed surface of the concavo-convex pattern comes into contact with the binding margin portion of the paper, and the portion is smoothed. Therefore, according to (Aspect 8), since the surface areas of the convex portions of the concavo-convex pattern are different from each other, the area smoothed by the concavo-convex pattern is changed by changing the position where the binding margin portion Pt passes in the axial direction. Can be changed. Thereby, adhesive force can be adjusted.

(Aspect 9)
In (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 8), the surface of the adhesive toner image and the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image are smoothed by the smoothing means.
By adopting such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 14 above, the adhesive force can be increased as compared with the case where smoothing is not performed. Further, by smoothing both sides of each sheet of the sheet bundle, the adhesive force can be increased as compared with the case where only one side is smoothed.

(Aspect 10)
In (Aspect 9), the sheet is conveyed from the image forming apparatus such as the multi-function device 500 and is smoothed by the smoothing unit at intervals of one sheet.
According to (Aspect 11), as described with reference to FIG. 9, it is possible to suppress a decrease in productivity as compared to the case of smoothing each sheet.

(Aspect 12)
An image including an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral 500 that forms an image on a sheet, and a sheet processing apparatus such as a post-processing apparatus 110 that performs a binding process on a bundle of sheets on which images are formed by the image forming apparatus. In the forming system, any one of (Aspect 1) to (Aspect 111) was used as a post-processing apparatus.
With such a configuration, it is possible to bind the sheet bundle satisfactorily.

110: Post-processing device 120: Heat bonding unit 160, 160A, 160B: Smoothing means 161: Stamp member 162: Receiving base 163: Strainers 164a, 164b: Calendar rollers 260, 260A, 260B: Adhesive force adjusting device 261: Rotation Table 262: Receiving table 263a: First stamp member 263b: Second stamp member 263c: Third stamp member 263d: Fourth stamp member 264a: First strainer 264b: Second strainer 264c: Third strainer 265: Adjustment calendar Roller 266: Receiving side calender roller 500: Multifunction machine D1, D2: Concavity and convexity pattern Pt: Binding margin S: Adhesive toner image

JP 2012-1113010 A JP-A-4-315162

Claims (11)

In a paper processing apparatus provided with a binding unit that bonds paper sheets by binding and heating a bonding toner image formed on a binding margin portion of the paper, and binds a bundle of paper.
Before binding the bundle of sheets by the binding means, the adhesive toner image surface of the binding margin of the sheet after the image forming process and / or the surface of the sheet facing the adhesion toner image has a smooth surface . A paper processing apparatus comprising a smoothing means for bringing a smooth surface into contact and smoothing the surface of the adhesive toner image and / or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image . The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The smoothing means includes a pressing member having a smooth pressing surface that presses against the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image,
The pressing surface of the pressing member is pressed against the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image, so that the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image is A paper processing apparatus for smoothing. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The smoothing means comprises a contact member having a smooth contact surface that contacts the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image,
By moving the contact surface of the contact member relative to the surface of the adhesive toner image or the surface of the paper facing the adhesive toner image, the paper facing the surface of the adhesive toner image or the adhesive toner image A paper processing apparatus for smoothing a surface. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The smoothing means comprises a pair of roller members having at least one surface smooth,
Smoothing the surface of the adhesive toner image and / or the surface of the paper facing the adhesive toner image by conveying the binding margin of the paper to the nip formed by the pair of roller members. Characteristic paper processing apparatus. In a paper processing apparatus provided with a binding unit that bonds paper sheets by binding and heating a bonding toner image formed on a binding margin portion of the paper, and binds a bundle of paper.
Smoothing means for smoothing the surface of the adhesive toner image at the binding margin of the paper after the image forming process and / or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image before binding the paper bundle by the binding means; ,
User and a instruction means for instructing the adhesive force between the sheets,
The smoothing means adjusts the area to be smoothed based on the adhesive force specified by the instruction means. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
The smoothing means includes a plurality of pressing members having different areas of smooth pressing surfaces that press against the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image, and are designated by the instruction means. A paper processing apparatus that determines a pressing member to be pressed against the surface of the adhesive toner image or the surface of the paper facing the adhesive toner image based on an adhesive force. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
The smoothing means includes a plurality of contact members having different areas of smooth contact surfaces that contact the surface of the adhesive toner image or the paper surface facing the adhesive toner image, and the adhesive force specified by the instruction means And a contact member to be brought into contact with the surface of the adhesive toner image or the surface of the paper facing the adhesive toner image. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
The smoothing means includes a pair of roller members,
A plurality of concave and convex patterns having a plurality of convex portions having smooth surfaces on a surface of at least one of the pair of roller members and having different surface areas of the convex portions are formed in the axial direction.
The paper processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position in the axial direction through which the nip portion formed by the pair of roller members of the binding margin portion of the paper passes is changed based on the adhesive force designated by the instruction means. The sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
A sheet characterized in that the surface of the adhesive toner image and the surface of the sheet facing the adhesive toner image are smoothed by the smoothing means at an interval of one sheet with respect to the paper conveyed from the image forming apparatus. Processing equipment. In a paper processing apparatus provided with a binding unit that bonds paper sheets by binding and heating a bonding toner image formed on a binding margin portion of the paper, and binds a bundle of paper.
Smoothing means for smoothing the surface of the adhesive toner image at the binding margin of the paper after image forming processing and / or the surface of the paper facing the adhesive toner image before binding the paper bundle by the binding means; Prepared,
A sheet characterized in that the surface of the adhesive toner image and the surface of the sheet facing the adhesive toner image are smoothed by the smoothing means at an interval of one sheet with respect to the paper conveyed from the image forming apparatus. Processing equipment. An image forming system comprising: an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet; and a sheet processing apparatus that performs a binding process on a bundle of sheets on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus.
An image forming system using the paper processing apparatus according to claim 1 as the paper processing apparatus.

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