Cutting apparatus and image forming system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11409221-B2
Application number	US-202016890088-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 2, 2020
Priority date	Jun 5, 2019
Publication date	Aug 9, 2022
Grant date	Aug 9, 2022

Abstract

An image forming system includes an image forming apparatus, a cutting apparatus, and a controller. The cutting apparatus includes a conveyance path, a first cutting unit configured to cut, at a cutting position with respect to a conveyance direction of the sheet on the conveyance path, the sheet in a width direction perpendicularly intersecting with the conveyance direction, and a second cutting unit configured to cut, at a cutting position with respect to the width direction, the sheet in the conveyance direction. The controller is configured to control the cutting apparatus such that, in a case where the sheet is cut neither with the first cutting unit nor with the second cutting unit, the sheet is conveyed through the conveyance path with the first cutting unit and the second cutting unit retreated not to contact with the sheet passing through the conveyance path.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image forming system comprising:
an image forming apparatus configured to form images on a sheet;
a cutting apparatus configured to cut the sheet on which an image has been formed by the image forming apparatus,
wherein the cutting apparatus comprises:
a conveyance path through which the sheet received from the image forming apparatus passes,
a roller configured to convey the sheet through the conveyance path in a conveyance direction, the roller being capable of performing a skew correction to correct a skew of the sheet before the cutting apparatus cuts the sheet on which the image has been formed by the image forming apparatus,
a first cutting unit disposed on the conveyance path and configured to cut the sheet in the conveyance path along a width direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction, and
a second cutting unit disposed on the conveyance path and configured to cut the sheet in the conveyance path along the conveyance direction;

a sheet processing apparatus configured to process the sheet on which the image has been formed by the image forming apparatus and which has passed through the cutting apparatus; and
a controller configured to cause the roller to convey the sheet without performing the skew correction in a case where the sheet is neither cut with the first cutting unit nor cut with the second cutting unit.

2. The image forming system according to claim 1 , wherein the first cutting unit comprises a first cutting blade configured to move in a moving direction intersecting with the conveyance direction and the width direction, and
wherein the controller is configured to control the cutting apparatus such that, in a case of not performing cutting of the sheet with the first cutting unit, the first cutting blade retreats to wait outside the conveyance path with respect to the moving direction.

3. The image forming system according to claim 1 , wherein the second cutting unit comprises a second cutting blade configured to move in the width direction,
wherein the controller is configured to control the cutting apparatus such that, in a case of not performing cutting of the sheet with the second cutting unit, the second cutting blade retreats to wait outside edge positions of the sheet with respect to the width direction.

4. The image forming system according to claim 3 , wherein regarding a second sheet that passes through the conveyance path following a first sheet, the controller is configured to change a waiting position, at which the second cutting blade waits for the second sheet to pass through the conveyance path, depending on a width of the first sheet and a width of the second sheet in the width direction.

5. The image forming system according to claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to control the cutting apparatus such that,
in a case where the width of the second sheet is smaller than the width of the first sheet, the second sheet passes through the second cutting unit while the second cutting blade is being held at a position where the second cutting blade was retreated to pass the first sheet through the second cutting unit, and
in a case where the width of the second sheet is larger than the width of the first sheet, the second cutting blade retreats outward in the width direction to a position corresponding to the width of the second sheet and the second sheet passes through the second cutting unit.

6. The image forming system according to claim 1 , wherein, viewing in the width direction, the conveyance path is linearly extended over a length between a cutting position of the first cutting unit cutting the sheet and a cutting position of the second cutting unit cutting the sheet.

7. The image forming system according to claim 6 , wherein the cutting apparatus comprises a collection container to collect a sheet chip made in a cutting process of cutting the sheet, and
wherein the collection container is disposed under the first cutting unit and the second cutting unit and extending over a length from the first cutting unit to the second cutting unit.

8. The image forming system according to claim 1 , wherein the conveyance path extends from one side to another side in a horizontal direction between a sheet receiving port and a sheet discharge port, the sheet receiving port being disposed on the one side of lateral surfaces of the cutting apparatus in the horizontal direction and configured to receive the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus, the sheet discharge port being disposed on the other side of the lateral surfaces of the cutting apparatus in the horizontal direction and configured to discharge the sheet to the sheet processing apparatus, and
wherein, viewing in the width direction, the first cutting unit and the second cutting unit are disposed on a linear line connecting an opening position of the sheet receiving port and an opening position of the sheet discharge port.

9. The image forming system according to claim 1 , wherein the first cutting unit is configured to cut the sheet with a first cutting blade extending in the width direction by moving the first cutting blade in a direction intersecting with the conveyance direction and the width direction, with a position of the sheet fixed in the conveyance direction, and
wherein the second cutting unit is configured to cut the sheet with a second cutting blade rotating around a rotation shaft extending in the width direction while the sheet is being conveyed in the conveyance direction.

10. The image forming system according to claim 1 , further comprising a stacker tray on which sheets having been cut by the cutting apparatus and discharged one sheet at a time are stacked.

11. The image forming system according to claim 1 , wherein the cutting apparatus is disposed between the image forming apparatus and the sheet processing apparatus in a horizontal direction.

12. The image forming system according to claim 1 , wherein the image forming apparatus comprises an apparatus body comprising an image forming unit configured to form the image on the sheet and an image reading apparatus disposed above the apparatus body, and a discharge space to which the sheet is discharged is disposed between the apparatus body and the image reading apparatus in a vertical direction, and
wherein the cutting apparatus is disposed in the discharge space.

13. The image forming system according to claim 1 , wherein the cutting apparatus is configured to cut the sheet to obtain a plurality of pieces of the sheet by dividing the sheet received from the image forming apparatus.

14. The image forming system according to claim 1 , wherein the cutting apparatus is configured to cut four sides of the sheet received from the image forming apparatus.

15. The image forming system according to claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises:
a first control unit mounted on the image forming apparatus and configured to send an instruction regarding a cutting process of cutting the sheet, and
a second control unit mounted on the cutting apparatus and configured to control the cutting apparatus such that the first cutting unit and the second cutting unit are moved based on the instruction received from the first control unit.

16. The image forming system according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the first cutting unit and the second cutting unit such that, in a case where the sheet is neither cut with the first cutting unit nor cut with the second cutting unit, the first cutting unit and the second cutting unit are retreated not to contact with the sheet p

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Takada Atsushi
• Iwakawa Tadashi
• Ishikawa Rin

Classifications

• G03G15/6523 Primary

  Cutting · CPC title

• B65H35/0086

  using movable cutting elements · CPC title