Alignment control for post-processing apparatus and image forming system having the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10046940-B2
Application number	US-201414326818-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 9, 2014
Priority date	Jul 12, 2013
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a post-processing apparatus capable of performing conveying to and storing at a predetermined stack tray without causing sheet jamming even when a sheet having larger size than a standard size is introduced. The present invention comprises a post-processing apparatus as a processing tray on which sheets conveyed in a predetermined conveyance direction are stacked into a bundle shape, an aligning device which aligns the sheets conveyed to the processing tray, a binding device which performs a binding process on the sheets aligned by the aligning device, and a controller which controls the aligning device so that a sheet is aligned at a position being apart from the binding device by a predetermined distance when the sheet conveyed to the processing tray has a predetermined size or larger.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A post-processing apparatus, comprising:
a stack portion on which sheets conveyed in a predetermined conveyance direction are stacked;
a binding device which performs a binding process on sheets stacked on the stack portion;
a moving portion which moves a sheet conveyed to the stack portion;
a regulation portion which regulates a position of an upstream end in the predetermined conveyance direction of a sheet which has been conveyed in an opposite direction relative to the predetermined conveyance direction by the moving portion, the upstream end of the sheet abutting to the regulation portion;
a sheet discharging portion which discharges a sheet from the stack portion; and
a controller which controls the moving portion to move a sheet conveyed to the stack portion in order to perform an operation in which a distance between the sheet and the binding device is increased in a direction crossing to the predetermined conveyance direction, and to convey the sheet, which has been on the stack portion, in the opposite direction in a state in which the sheet and the binding device do not overlap with each other in the direction crossing to the predetermined conveyance direction and then to cause an upstream end in the predetermined conveyance direction of the sheet which has been conveyed, in the state in which the sheet and the binding device do not overlap with each other in the direction crossing to the predetermined conveyance direction, in the opposite direction to abut against the regulation portion, and controls the sheet discharging portion to discharge the sheet, which has been abutted against the regulation portion, from the stack portion in the state in which the sheet and the binding device do not overlap with each other in the direction crossing to the predetermined conveyance direction.

2. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller includes a first operation mode to perform a post-process on sheets stacked on the stack portion and a second operation mode to discharge a sheet from the stack portion without performing the post-process.

3. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein, when a sheet size of a sheet introduced onto the stack portion is a predetermined length or larger in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction, the controller performs the second operation mode.

4. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller causes the moving portion to perform the operation in a state that an upstream end in the predetermined conveyance direction of the sheet is not abutted to the regulation portion when a sheet size of a sheet to be introduced onto the stack portion is a predetermined length or larger in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined conveyance direction.

5. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the controller causes the moving portion to position a sheet in the direction crossing to the predetermined conveyance direction in a state that an upstream end in the predetermined conveyance direction of the sheet is abutted to the regulation portion when the sheet size of the sheet introduced onto the stack portion is smaller than the predetermined length in the direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction.

6. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the stack portion, wherein the stack portion includes a sheet placement face inclining downwardly toward an upstream in the predetermined conveyance direction.

7. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the binding device is structured with a non-staple binding device which bonds sheets with pressure-bonding deformation or cutout deformation,
the non-staple binding device includes a pair of pressing members having pressurizing faces capable of being mutually pressure-contacted and separated, and a drive device which moves at least one of the pressing members from a separated position where the pressurizing faces are separated to a pressuring position where the pressurizing faces are pressure-contacted, and
corrugation-shaped concave-convex grooves to be mutually engaged are formed on the pair of pressurizing faces.

8. An image forming system, comprising:
an image forming unit which forms an image on a sheet, and
a post-processing unit,
wherein the post processing unit is the post-processing apparatus according to claim 1 .

9. A post-processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the moving portion includes:
an aligning device disposed on the stack portion, for moving sheets conveyed to the stack portion in the perpendicular direction to align the sheets, and
a paddle rotor for conveying sheets stacked on the stack portion in the opposite direction of the predetermined conveyance direction.

10. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the binding device is a non-staple binding device.

11. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 10 , further comprising:
a staple binding device which performs a staple-binding process on sheets stacked on the stack portion.

12. A post-processing apparatus, comprising:
a processing tray on which sheets conveyed in a predetermined conveyance direction are stacked into a bundle shape;
an aligning device which aligns the sheets conveyed to the processing tray;
a binding device which performs a binding process on the sheets aligned by the aligning device; and
a controller which controls the aligning device so that a sheet is aligned at a position being apart from the binding device by a predetermined distance when the sheet conveyed to the processing tray has a predetermined size or larger,
wherein the controller performs introducing sheet offset operation, when a sheet to be introduced to the processing tray has a predetermined size or larger in a sheet conveyance direction, causing a side edge regulating member to move the sheet in a direction perpendicular to a sheet discharging direction by a predetermined amount and subsequently causing a sheet conveying device to convey the moved sheet toward a sheet tailing end regulating member.

Assignees

• Obuchi Yusuke
• Takahashi Masaya
• Nishizawa Seiji
• Canon Finetech Nisca Inc

Inventors

• Obuchi Yusuke
• Takahashi Masaya
• Nishizawa Seiji

Classifications

• B65H2301/51611

  involving at least a binding element traversing the handled material, e.g. staple · CPC title

• B65H2511/12

  Width · CPC title

• G03G2215/00468

  Large sized, e.g. technical plans · CPC title

• B65H2408/1222

  movable transversely to direction of transport · CPC title

• B42B5/00

  Permanently attaching together sheets, quires or signatures otherwise than by stitching (by deformation thereof B31F; by adhesive peculiar to bookbinding B42C9/00) · CPC title