JP5077005B2 - Recording material post-processing apparatus and recording material processing apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording material post-processing apparatus and a recording material processing apparatus using the same.

  As an example of post-processing a recording material on which an image is recorded by an image forming apparatus or the like, a booklet is produced by accumulating a plurality of recording materials and then performing saddle stitching or folding. In order to facilitate the horizontal stacking of such booklets, a method is known in which pressure is applied to the curved back surface of the back of the booklet and the flat back surface is processed into a square shape (square back processing). Yes.

Patent Document 1 discloses a method in which a booklet is restrained in the vicinity of a back portion using a clamping means, and then moved along the clamping means while pressing a curved back surface of the back portion using a pressure roller.
In Patent Document 2, a plurality of recording materials are stacked to form a recording material bundle, and an adhesive is attached to the end portion (corresponding to the back portion side) and a cover is attached to the recording material. What detects the wave amount of the material bundle and changes the pressing force pushing the back part is disclosed, and the wave amount means the difference between the theoretical recording material bundle thickness and the actual recording material bundle thickness It has become.

JP 2001-260564 A (Aspect of the Invention, FIG. 3) JP 2007-69599 A (Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention, FIG. 2)

  The technical problem of the present invention is that when a curved back portion of a booklet in which a bundle of recording materials is folded is processed into a square shape, the folded booklet is swollen depending on the number of recording materials, material, image density, and the like. An object is to easily obtain a good square shape even in a situation where the states are different.

  That is, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a restraining unit that restrains the vicinity of the back portion of the booklet in which the recording material bundle is folded, and places the back portion of the booklet protruding from the booklet restraining position. Pressing means for pressing the back portion of the booklet restrained in a curved manner from a curved back surface to a flat back surface, and a bulge amount determining means for determining a bulge amount in the thickness direction of the half-folded booklet before restraint by the restraining means And an adjusting means for adjusting the booklet restraining position by the restraining means based on the determination result by the swelling amount judging means so that the larger the swelling amount, the larger the protruding amount of the back part from the booklet restraining position by the restraining means. A recording material post-processing apparatus provided.

The invention according to claim 2 is the post-recording material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising booklet transport means for transporting the booklet so that the back of the booklet protrudes from the booklet restraining position. It is a processing device.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the recording material post-processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the adjusting means is provided so as to be movable along the back projecting direction of the booklet from the booklet constraining position by the constraining means. After the recording material having a positioning member that retracts to a position that does not interfere with the pressing means when pressed by the means and positions the back portion of the booklet corresponding to the booklet restraining position adjusted based on the determination result of the bulge amount determining means It is a processing device.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the recording material post-processing apparatus according to the second aspect, the adjusting means is provided movably along the back projecting direction of the booklet from the booklet restraining position by the restraining means, and the press A positioning member that retracts to a position that does not interfere with the pressing means when pressed by the means and positions the back position of the booklet corresponding to the booklet restraining position adjusted based on the determination result of the bulge amount determining means; and the booklet transport The booklet transport control that transports the booklet using the means and stops the booklet transport means after the booklet is abutted against the positioning member and positions the booklet transport means in a state where the booklet transport means is kept in the positioning position. And a recording material post-processing apparatus.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the recording material post-processing apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the bulge amount discrimination means discriminates the bulge amount of the booklet when being conveyed by the booklet conveyance means. It is a post-processing device.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the recording material post-processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the bulge amount discrimination means discriminates the bulge amount of the booklet in consideration of the type and number of recording materials used for the booklet. The recording material post-processing apparatus.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the recording material post-processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the bulge amount determining means determines a bulge amount of the booklet from a difference between the maximum value information and the minimum value information of the booklet thickness. The recording material post-processing apparatus.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the recording material post-processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the bulge amount discrimination means discriminates the bulge amount of the booklet from the maximum value information of the booklet thickness. Device.
The invention according to claim 9 is the recording material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bulge amount discriminating means discriminates the bulge amount of the booklet from the bulge shape of the booklet thickness. It is.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming means for forming an image on a recording material, a center folding means for folding the recording material on which an image is formed by the image forming means and then folding it into a booklet, A recording material processing apparatus comprising: the recording material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the back of the booklet is processed from a curved back surface to a flat back surface.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the curved back portion of the booklet in which the recording material bundle is folded in half is processed into a square shape (the square back processing), the booklet in the folded state is the number of recording materials. Even when the bulging state varies depending on the material, image density, etc., a good square shape can be easily obtained.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, compared with the case where it does not have this structure, a booklet can be automatically conveyed to a booklet restraint position now, and promotion of automation can be aimed at.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 3, compared with the case where it does not have this structure, the stable booklet restraint position is realizable by using a positioning member.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, compared with the case where it does not have this structure, with respect to the booklet positioned by the positioning member, a booklet can be restrained in the state in which the conveyance force by a booklet conveyance means does not act. Thus, stable restraint at the booklet restraint position can be easily realized.
According to the invention of claim 5, compared to the case where the present configuration is not provided, automation can be performed and an accurate bulge amount of the booklet before the corner spine processing can be determined. The back processing is performed.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to perform a more appropriate square-back process along the type and number of recording materials as compared with the case where this configuration is not provided.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to grasp the swollen state of the booklet with less influence of the number of recording materials and to perform a desired square-back processing suitable for the booklet as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. It can be performed.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 8, compared with the case where it does not have this structure, while being able to grasp | ascertain the swelling state of a booklet simply, the desired square-back process suitable for a booklet can be performed.
According to the invention of claim 9, it is slightly more complicated than the other system, but it is possible to grasp the bulge state of the booklet with higher accuracy and to the booklet. A desired square spine process can be performed.
According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, when the curved back portion of the booklet with the recording material bundle folded in half is processed into a square shape (the square back processing), the booklet in the folded state is the number of recording materials. Therefore, it is possible to provide a recording material processing apparatus that can easily obtain a good square shape even in a situation where the bulging state varies depending on the material, the image density, and the like.

First, an outline of an embodiment model to which the present invention is applied will be described.
Outline of Embodiment Model FIG. 1 shows an outline of a recording material post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment model embodying the present invention. Here, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, one of the typical models of the recording material post-processing apparatus is to restrain the vicinity of the back portion 1a of the booklet 1 in which the recording material bundle is folded halfway. A restraining means 2 for projecting and arranging the back portion 1a of the booklet 1 from the booklet restraining position, and a pressing means 3 for pressing the back portion 1a of the booklet 1 restrained by the restraining means 2 from the curved back surface to the flat back surface. Based on the bulge amount discriminating means 4 for discriminating the bulge amount in the thickness direction of the booklet 1 folded halfway before the restraint means 2 is restrained, and the discrimination result by the bulge amount discriminating means 4, the bulge amount is large. The adjusting means 5 for adjusting the booklet restraining position by the restraining means 2 is provided so that the back projection amount d from the booklet restraining position by the restraining means 2 increases. (A) shows a state before the booklet is restrained by the restraining means 2, and (b) shows a state in which the corner back processing by the pressing means 3 is performed on the back portion 1a of the booklet 1 restrained by the restraining means 2. ing.

Here, the booklet 1 may be folded in half, but the curved back surface of the booklet 1 is made flat against the pressing force of the pressing means 3, and the back portion 1a is processed into a favorable square shape. From the viewpoint of doing (square back processing), saddle stitching is preferable.
The restraining means 2 is not particularly limited in its shape and the like as long as the restraining means 2 restrains the vicinity of the back portion 1a of the booklet 1 whose back protrusion amount d is adjusted to a predetermined amount from both sides in the thickness direction of the booklet 1. Although it is not limited, from the viewpoint of satisfactorily performing the spine processing of the back portion 1a, it is preferable that the back portion 1a is formed of a highly rigid member such as metal and has a shape along the square spine shape. Further, the restraining means 2 preferably restrains the booklet 1 with a predetermined pressure, and the predetermined pressure in this case may be determined in advance by experiments or the like. If the restraining pressure by the restraining means 2 is too small, the booklet 1 will escape when pressed by the pressing means 3, and there is a possibility that sufficient square-back processing will not be performed.

Further, the pressing means 3 only needs to be able to press the back portion 1a of the booklet 1 in a state of being restrained by the restraining means 2, and may press the entire back portion 1a of the booklet 1 simultaneously. You may come to move, pressing the back part 1a using a member. From the viewpoint of easily forming a good square shape with respect to the back portion 1a of the booklet 1, the pressing means 3 presses the back portion 1a of the booklet 1 using a roll member having high rigidity such as metal. It is preferable to move the entire back portion 1a to perform the corner back processing.
Furthermore, the position where the pressing means 3 presses against the back portion 1a of the booklet 1 constrained by the restraining means 2 may be a position where the back portion 1a has a good square shape. The position may be a position separated by a separation distance, or may be a position in contact with the restraining means 2. The pressing means 3 is usually configured to press with a predetermined pressing force. Therefore, the distance from the restraining means 2 may be different depending on the type of recording material used for the booklet 1 or the like. Absent.

  Further, from the viewpoint of automatically transporting the booklet 1 to the booklet restraining position in the present embodiment model, the booklet 1 is further extended to a position where the back portion 1a of the booklet 1 protrudes from the booklet restraining position. It is preferable to include a booklet transport means 6 for transporting the booklet. Such a booklet transport means 6 may be any one that can transport the booklet 1. For example, the booklet 1 may be transported by rotating an endless belt member. However, it may be transported by pushing the table with a pusher, for example. Further, if the amount of swelling of the booklet 1 is determined by the amount of swelling determining means 4, it may be sandwiched between two belt members and conveyed, or a roll member may be used instead of the belt member. It may be.

Further, the adjusting means 5 may be any means that can adjust the back projection amount d of the booklet 1 from the restraining means 2 to be larger as the bulging amount is larger, based on the determination result by the bulging amount discriminating means 4. The means 2 may be moved along the width direction of the booklet 1 to adjust the back protrusion amount d.
From the viewpoint of realizing a stable booklet restraining position, the adjusting means 5 is provided so as to be movable along the back projecting direction of the booklet 1 from the booklet restraining position by the restraining means 2, and when pressing by the pressing means 3, the pressing means It is preferable to have a positioning member 7 that retracts to a position that does not interfere with 3 and positions the back position of the booklet corresponding to the booklet restraining position adjusted based on the determination result of the bulge amount determination means 4. In this case, the positioning member 7 may be provided so as to be movable along the back protrusion direction when moving to the positioning position, and the direction when retracting from the positioning position is any direction that does not interfere with the pressing means 3. The direction is acceptable.

  Moreover, in the aspect provided with the booklet conveyance means 6, the adjustment means 5 is the booklet 1 from the booklet restraint position by the restriction means 2 from a viewpoint which restrains the booklet 1 in the state which the conveyance force by the booklet conveyance means 6 does not act. It corresponds to a booklet restraint position that is movably provided along the back projecting direction of the booklet and retracts to a position that does not interfere with the pressing means 3 when pressed by the pressing means 3 and is adjusted based on the determination result of the bulge amount determining means 4 The booklet 1 is transported by using the positioning member 7 for positioning the back position of the booklet 1 and the booklet transport means 6, and the booklet transport means 6 is stopped or positioned after the positioning of the back portion 1 a of the booklet 1 against the positioning member 7. It is preferable to include a booklet conveyance control unit that idle-transports the booklet conveyance unit 6 with the back portion 1a of the booklet 1 held at the positioning position.

  The bulge amount discriminating means 4 only needs to be able to discriminate the bulge amount in the thickness direction of the half-folded booklet 1 before being restrained by the restraining means 2. The amount of swelling of the booklet 1 may be determined, or the amount of swelling may be determined from the thickness of a plurality of locations of the booklet 1. Therefore, the bulge amount discriminating means 4 has a detector for detecting the thickness information of the booklet 1, and the bulge amount of the booklet 1 is discriminated based on the thickness information obtained from this detector. .

Further, as a specific mode of the bulge amount discriminating means 4, it is preferable to discriminate the bulge amount of the booklet 1 from the difference between the maximum value information and the minimum value information of the thickness of the booklet 1. That is, the larger the difference between the maximum value information and the minimum value information, the larger the bulge amount of the booklet 1, and the correlation between the difference and the bulge amount can be easily obtained.
Furthermore, the amount of swelling of the booklet 1 may be determined from the maximum value information of the thickness of the booklet 1, and at this time, the larger the maximum value, the larger the amount of swelling.
Furthermore, the bulge amount of the booklet 1 may be determined from the bulge shape of the thickness of the booklet 1. For example, if the curvature of the thickness of the booklet 1 is small (if the radius of curvature is large), the bulge amount tends to be large. As shown.
When the bulge amount discriminating means 4 discriminates such a bulge amount, it is preferable that the bulge amount discriminating means 4 discriminates in consideration of the type and the number of recording materials used in the booklet 1, thereby making it possible to further improve the corner back processing. Will be able to do.

  Further, from the viewpoint of automatically determining the exact amount of swelling of the booklet 1, it is preferable that the amount-of-bulge determining means 4 determines the amount of swelling of the booklet 1 when being conveyed by the booklet conveying means 6.

  A recording material processing apparatus using such a recording material post-processing apparatus may be as follows. That is, an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material, a folding unit that folds the recording material on which an image is formed by the image forming unit and then folds it into a booklet 1, and a booklet 1 that is folded in half A recording material post-processing device that performs processing for converting the back portion 1a from a curved back surface to a flat back surface may be used, and the above-described recording material post-processing device may be used as the recording material post-processing device.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.
Embodiment FIG. 2 shows a recording material processing apparatus to which a square back processing apparatus as a recording material post-processing apparatus of the above-described embodiment model is applied. In the figure, the recording material processing apparatus of the present embodiment post-processes a digital copying machine 10 as an image forming apparatus for forming an image on the recording material and a recording material on which an image is formed by the digital copying machine 10. It comprises a plurality of post-processing devices 50, 60, 70, 100. Here, reference numeral 50 denotes a reversal conveying apparatus 50 that reversely conveys the recording material discharged from the digital copying machine 10 as necessary, and reference numeral 60 denotes a recording material standby apparatus that waits for a plurality of recording materials as necessary. Reference numeral 70 denotes an additional processing device (finisher) for performing additional processing such as binding processing, punching processing, and saddle stitching and folding processing on the recording material, and reference numeral 100 denotes a corner of the back of the booklet processed by the additional processing processing device 70. This is a square back processing apparatus that processes the mold shape (processes the square back).

As shown in FIG. 3, the digital copying machine 10 according to the present embodiment includes an image reading device 40 that reads an image of a document 42 set on a platen glass 41 at the top, and below the image reading device 40. An image forming unit is provided. The image forming unit forms a toner image on the photoreceptor 11, and the formed toner image is formed on the recording material S conveyed from a plurality of recording material supply units 21 to 24 provided below the image forming unit. It is designed to be transferred.
Around the photoconductor 11, a charger 12 such as a charging roll that uniformly charges the photoconductor 11, an exposure device 13 such as an LED array that forms an electrostatic latent image on the charged photoconductor 11, A developing unit 14 that visualizes the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 11 with toner, and a toner image formed on the photoreceptor 11 is transferred onto the recording material S supplied from the recording material supply units 21 to 24. A transfer device 15 such as a corotron and a cleaner 17 for cleaning residual toner remaining on the photoconductor 11 after transfer are disposed. Reference numeral 16 denotes a static eliminator for separating the recording material S from which the toner image has been transferred from the photoconductor 11, and reference numeral 43 indicated by a two-dot chain line denotes an automatic device as an optional device for feeding the document 42 onto the platen glass 41. This is a document feeder.

The recording material conveyance system in the digital copying machine 10 is as follows. In the vicinity of the recording material supply units 21 to 24, supply rolls 25 for supplying the recording material S from the respective recording material supply units 21 to 24 are provided, and the recording material S supplied by these supply rolls 25 is appropriately selected. It is conveyed by the arranged conveyance roll 26 or the like, and is guided to a registration roll 27 provided at a position adjacent to the upstream side in the recording material conveyance direction from the transfer portion that is the opposite portion between the photoconductor 11 and the transfer device 15. It has become. In this resist roll 27, after the positioning of the recording material S is regulated, it is conveyed to a transfer site at a predetermined timing.
Then, the recording material S on which the unfixed toner image is transferred at the transfer site is conveyed to the fixing device 28, and the unfixed toner image on the recording material S is fixed by, for example, heating and pressing. The recording material S that has been fixed is guided from the exit roll 29 of the fixing device 28 to the discharge roll 30 and is transported to the reversal transport device 50 (see FIG. 2) on the downstream side.

  On the other hand, when images are formed on both sides of a recording material (hereinafter, reference numeral S is omitted), the recording material that has passed through the exit roll 29 of the fixing device 28 is changed in the conveying direction downward in the figure by the reversing gate 31, The rolls are guided to the reverse conveyance path 34 via the three rolls 32 in which the rolls are arranged in pressure contact and the reverse rolls 33 capable of normal and reverse operations. The recording material that has reached the reverse conveyance path 34 is conveyed to the return conveyance path 36 provided with the conveyance roll 35 by the reverse rotation operation of the reverse roll 33 under the condition that the rear end portion is sandwiched between the reverse rolls 33. The recording material conveyed to the return conveyance path 36 is again fixed by the fixing device 28 after an image is also formed on the back surface of the recording material at the transfer portion via the resist roll 27. The recording material that has been fixed is conveyed to the reverse conveyance device 50 on the downstream side via the exit roll 29 and the discharge roll 30.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the recording material on which the image is formed by the digital copying machine 10 is guided to the reversal conveying device 50 and the recording material standby device 60, and the recording material discharge receiver 51 provided above the recording material. Or the recording material standby device 60 is conveyed to the subsequent additional processing device 70 at a predetermined timing.

  In the additional processing apparatus 70 of the present embodiment, a transport roll 71 that transports the recording material from the recording material standby apparatus 60 is provided at the entrance, and a puncher 72 that performs a punching process is provided immediately after the transport roll 71. ing. A recording material conveyance path is branched downstream of the puncher 72, and an upper recording material conveyance path 73 is directly guided to a recording material discharge receiver 76 provided above the additional processing apparatus 70. After the end binding process for binding the end side of the recording material is performed, the recording material is branched into a recording material conveyance path 75 that is discharged to the offset catch tray 77. Therefore, a conveyance roll, a conveyance guide member, and the like for recording material conveyance are appropriately disposed in each recording material conveyance path 73, 74, 75. Note that a plurality of recording materials conveyed to the recording material conveyance path 75 are collected by a paddle 81, a tamper 82, and the like, and then subjected to an end binding process toward the recording material end by the stapler 83. To be discharged. Further, the offset catch tray 77 automatically moves downward as the number of recording material bundles to be discharged increases.

On the other hand, the recording material conveyance path 78 branched downward from the puncher 72 is provided with a saddle stitch processing device 90 for making a plurality of recording materials into a booklet.
The saddle stitching processing device 90 includes a recording material aligning tray 92 provided in an obliquely inclined state, and a transport roll 91 with a paddle for transporting the recording material to the recording material aligning tray 92 is provided on the upstream side. Is provided. In addition, an end guide 96 for positioning the lower end portion (tip portion) of the recording material at a predetermined position can be moved along the vertical direction of the recording material alignment tray 92 at the lower end portion of the recording material alignment tray 92. Is provided. Further, a paddle 97 for aligning the lower end portion of the recording material is provided in the vicinity of the end guide 96.
Furthermore, a tamper drive (not shown) is provided at the upper end portion of the recording material aligning tray 92 to align the end portions in the width direction of the recording materials aligned with the recording material aligning tray 92, and drives the tamper. A portion 98 is provided.
For this reason, the recording material conveyed from the recording material conveyance path 78 to the saddle stitching processing device 90 is aligned by the recording material alignment tray 92 for every predetermined number of sheets via the conveyance roll 91 with a paddle.

  Further, the saddle stitching processing device 90 is provided with a saddle stapler 94 for saddle stitching which performs saddle stitching on a plurality of recording materials arranged on the recording material aligning tray 92, and above the saddle stapler 94. In this case, a knife edge 95 for performing a middle folding is provided so as to be able to advance to a position where the middle folding roll pair 93 is opposed to a plurality of sheets of recording material that are saddle-stitched. Therefore, the saddle stapler 94 performs saddle stitching by moving the end guide 96 with respect to a plurality of recording materials aligned on the recording material aligning tray 92, and further, the knife edge 95 is placed on the pair of rolls for folding. The recording material bundle (booklet) that is saddle-stitched and folded in the middle is conveyed from the discharge roll 99 to the subsequent square spine processing device 100 side with the back folded back at the top. ing.

Next, the square back processing apparatus 100 in this Embodiment is demonstrated.
As shown in FIG. 2, the spine processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment performs the spine processing on the back portion of a booklet produced by saddle stitching and folding the recording material bundle in the additional processing apparatus 70. A belt conveying device 110 that conveys a booklet produced by the additional processing device 70 with the back thereof at the top, and is arranged close to the downstream side of the belt conveying device 110, and protrudes a predetermined amount from the back of the booklet. For example, a pair of clampers 130 (130a, 130b) made of metal that restrain the vicinity of the back of the booklet in a state of being held, a stop plate 120 that restricts positioning of the back of the booklet protruding from the clamper 130, and the clamper 130 For example, a metal pressing roll 140 that presses the back portion so that the curved back surface of the booklet is a flat back surface (in the figure, the pressing roll 140 is in a position when pressing the back portion of the booklet). Based on the information from the detector 160 and the detector 160 for detecting the height in the thickness direction of the booklet on the belt conveyance device 110 before being restrained by the clamper 130. The control unit 200 (not shown), which will be described later, determines the amount of expansion of the booklet and adjusts the position of the stop plate 120 along the booklet conveyance direction. Incidentally, reference numeral 170 in the figure is a booklet receiving receptacle for storing a booklet that has been processed for cornering.

  The belt conveyance device 110 is opposed to, for example, a conveyance belt 111 that is stretched and circulated by two tension rolls 112 and 113 each having a tension roll 113 as a driving roll, with the tension roll 112 and the conveyance belt 111 interposed therebetween. It is provided with a carry-in roll 114 for conveying the booklet provided at the position and produced by the saddle stitching processing device 90 of the additional processing device 70 onto the transport belt 111. Therefore, the booklet produced by the additional processing apparatus 70 is subjected to pressure between the carry-in roll 114 and the stretching roll 112 of the conveyor belt 111, and the final bulge shape of the booklet is determined. Then, the finally determined thickness of the booklet is detected by the detector 160.

  Further, the drive control system of the square back processing apparatus 100 configured as described above is as shown in FIG. In the figure, the stop plate 120 can be advanced and retracted by the actuator 121 in the present embodiment, but is not limited thereto, and may be advanced and retracted using, for example, a pulse motor. On the other hand, the clamper 130 can be moved forward and backward in the thickness direction of the booklet by the actuator 131 (131a, 131b), respectively, so that the booklet can be restrained or released. The clamper 130 is provided with a notch recess at the corner on the stop plate 120 side in order to improve the corner profile of the booklet.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the pressing roll 140 includes, for example, a metal roll body 141 and a rotating shaft 142 that rotatably supports the roll body 141. In addition, a driving device 150 for driving the pressing roll 140 is provided. The driving device 150 according to the present embodiment includes a driving gear 153 mounted on a rotating shaft 152 of a reversible motor 151, and another rotating shaft 155 in which the driving gear 153 and a pair of gears 154 are supported by, for example, a frame. It is attached to. A chain 156 is bridged between the two gears 153 and 154, and the driving rotational force from the reversible motor 151 rotates the gear 154 from the driving gear 153 via the chain 156, whereby the chain 156 rotates. It can be moved in the direction. In addition, a square member 157 having a hole 157a to which the rotation shaft 142 of the pressing roll 140 is fixed is fixedly supported on the chain 156, for example. On the other hand, a guide member 158 having an oval hole 158a is provided below the square member 157, and between the hole 157a of the square member 157 and the hole 158a of the guide member 158. The rotation shaft 142 of the pressing roll 140 can be inserted. Therefore, in the driving device 150, the reversible motor 151 is rotated forward and backward so that the chain 156 performs a reverse operation and the square member 157 performs a reciprocating motion. A reciprocating motion can be performed. Needless to say, the direction of this reciprocating motion is the direction along the back of the booklet.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the rotation control of the tension roll 113 of the belt conveyance device 110, the movement control of the actuator 121 provided on the stop plate 120, and the actuator 131 provided on the clamper 130. The control device 200 performs movement control, drive control of the drive device 150 provided on the pressing roll 140, discrimination control for determining the amount of bulge of the booklet based on the thickness of the booklet detected by the detector 160, and the like. It has become.

The booklet spine processing performed using such a control device 200 will be described with a focus on the flow of FIG.
The booklet is conveyed by the belt conveyance device 110 with the back portion at the top (step S1). Next, the thickness of the booklet being conveyed is detected by the detector 160 (step S2). From the thickness detected by the detector 160, the difference between the maximum value (the value at which the bulge is maximized) and the minimum value (the value at which the bulge is minimized) is calculated (step S3), and the booklet is calculated from the calculated difference. Is determined, and the position of the stop plate 120 (the amount of protrusion from the clamper 130 constraining the vicinity of the back of the booklet) is determined (step S4). The stop plate 120 is moved to the determined position (step S5), and after the booklet hits the stop plate 120 and stopped, the clamper 130 is moved to restrain the booklet (step S6). When the booklet is restrained by the clamper 130, the stop plate 120 is retracted from the position to a predetermined retracted position (step S7). Then, after the stop plate 120 is retracted, the pressing roll 140 is moved from a predetermined position and is moved along the back portion of the booklet to perform the square back processing (step S8). When the square back processing is completed, the pressing roll 140 and the clamper 130 are returned to the predetermined positions, and the square-backed booklet is stored in the booklet storage receiver 170 (step S9). The belt conveyance device 110 is configured to stop after the booklet is position-controlled by the stop plate 120, but after the position of the back of the booklet is position-controlled by the stop plate 120, the belt-conveyance device 110 is idle-conveyed as it is. It does not matter.

Next, a point for determining the amount of swelling of the booklet from the thickness information detected by the detector 160 in such a flow and a point for determining the position of the stop plate 120 will be described.
FIG. 7A shows the thickness of the booklet transported by the transport belt 111 of the belt transport device 110 by the detector 160, determines the amount of swelling of the booklet from the detected thickness information, and the position corresponding thereto. The state which moved the stop plate 120 is shown. (B) shows the detection output (output related to the thickness of the booklet) obtained by the detector 160 at that time.

  In general, a booklet has a different bulge shape even if the same folding process is performed, depending on the number of recording materials, the material of the recording material used, the direction of the eyes (vertical and horizontal), the recording amount, and the like. . Now, assuming a booklet having a bulging shape as shown in FIG. 7A, a distance X from the detector 160 to the booklet surface on the conveyor belt 111 is continuously detected using the detector 160 (general) (It is obtained as discrete data at moderate intervals), and its detection output is as shown in (b). In addition, the dashed-two dotted line in (b) connects a measured value, and is an imaginary line when the continuous surface shape (curvature) of a booklet is assumed.

In this embodiment, the detection output by the detector 160 is expressed as the minimum output (corresponding to the maximum value) at the portion where the distance between the detector 160 and the booklet surface on the conveyor belt 111 is the shortest, and the thickness of the booklet. A small output can be obtained in a region where the is large. Therefore, the detection output and the thickness are in an inversely proportional relationship, and the position where the detection output is minimum indicates the maximum value of the thickness, and the position where the detection output is maximum indicates the minimum value of the thickness. Therefore, the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value is a value indicated by A in the figure.
In general, when the volume of the booklet is large, the apparent waist of the recording material becomes strong, and when the spine processing is performed, a flat shape is less likely to be attached to the back than when the waist is weak. Therefore, it is necessary to move the stop plate 120 in the direction in which the distance D0 (see FIG. 7A) between the stop plate 120 and the clamper 130 is wide, and to take a large amount of deformation by the pressing roll 140.

  In the present embodiment, the difference A between the maximum value and the minimum value of the booklet thickness is calculated, the amount of bulge of the booklet is determined based on the difference A, and the position of the stop plate 120 is determined accordingly. ing. In other words, by using the difference A between the maximum value and the minimum value, the influence on the bulge amount due to the number of recording materials used in the booklet can be further reduced, and factors such as the material of the recording material and the image density can be revealed. To be able to. Therefore, it becomes possible to determine the restriction position on the stop plate 120 properly.

Next, a state of deformation of the booklet back portion subjected to the square back processing in the square back processing apparatus 100 having such a configuration will be described.
FIG. 8A shows that the stop plate 120 moves to a position where the distance between the clamper 130 and the stop plate 120 (the amount of protrusion of the back portion of the booklet) becomes D0, and the booklet whose back portion is regulated by the stop plate 120, The state that the clamper 130 (130a, 130b) moves and restrains the booklet is shown. The clamper 130 is provided with a notch recess on the stop plate 120 side.
On the other hand, (b) shows a state where the pressing roll 140 presses the curved back surface of the booklet against the booklet restrained by the clamper 130 after the stop plate 120 is retracted, and the pressing roll 140 rotates. However, it is pressed along the back of the booklet to make the back a flat back. At this time, the pressing roll 140 is disposed with a distance D1 from the clamper 130, and the back of the booklet is crushed by the difference between D0 and D1. For this reason, deformation that spreads in the thickness direction of the booklet occurs at the back of the booklet, and a predetermined square-back process is performed. Here, by providing a notch recess in the clamper 130, it is possible to widen the back of the booklet to the notch recess, and the corner back processing is further improved.

For this reason, the booklet that has undergone the corner spine processing has a back portion that spreads in the thickness direction and becomes a flat back surface, so that the bulge itself is reduced and the booklet can be stably stacked horizontally.
Further, if the difference A between the maximum value and the minimum value, which is the detection output from the detector 160, is added to information such as the material of the recording material used for the booklet, the amount of swelling of the booklet is determined. A more appropriate bulge amount can be determined.
Furthermore, the distance D1 between the pressing roll 140 and the clamper 130 may be obtained in advance by an experiment or the like, and this D1 may be set to zero.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the amount of bulge of the booklet is determined based on the difference A between the maximum value and the minimum value among the thickness information of the booklet detected by the detector 160. For example, as shown in FIG. 7B, the maximum value information (value indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 7) of the detection output by the detector 160 is used. Alternatively, the bulge shape of the booklet (for example, the value of the radius of curvature indicated by the arrow C in the figure) may be obtained from the detection output, and this value may be used.

As described above, when using the maximum value or the radius of curvature of the detection output, these values may be used independently, and further, the maximum value and the minimum value can be obtained by adding information such as the number of recording materials. This has the same effect as using the difference A from the value.
That is, when the number of sheets used for a booklet increases, information on a relatively thick booklet detected by the detector 160 is obtained. Therefore, the influence of the number of sheets itself can be reduced by considering the number of sheets, and the amount of swelling of the booklet can be more appropriately determined. Further, if a strong material is used depending on the material, information having a large thickness is likely to be obtained. Even in such a case, it is possible to determine a more appropriate bulge amount by taking the material into consideration.

  In this embodiment, the booklet with saddle stitching is used. However, it is possible to use a booklet without saddle stitching. It is better to saddle-stitch so that there is no risk of loosening.

In the present embodiment, an example in which the square back processing apparatus 100 is used as a part of the recording material processing apparatus has been described, but the square back processing apparatus 100 may be used alone. In this case, when the booklet is placed on the conveyor belt 111, it is necessary to place the back of the booklet at the top, but assuming that the back is restricted by the stop plate 120, the direction of the back is the direction of travel of the conveyor belt 111. It is not always necessary to be orthogonal to the stop plate 120 as long as the back plate is aligned with the stop plate 120 when restricted by the stop plate 120.
Further, in the present embodiment, as the recording material processing apparatus, the aspect in which the square spine processing apparatus 100 is installed immediately after the additional processing apparatus 70 is shown, but, for example, the saddle stitching and the middle folding are performed by the additional processing apparatus 70. For example, a cutting device that cuts, for example, the small edge side of the booklet may be provided, and the square spine processing device 100 may be provided on the downstream side of the cutting device.

FIG. 9 shows an example in which the belt conveying device 110 is not used when the direction of the clamper 130 is changed and the booklet is positioned and restrained as a modification of the above-described embodiment. The figure shows a state where the plate is positioned by the plate 120 and is positioned at a position where the distance between the stop plate 120 and the clamper 130 (the amount of protrusion of the back portion of the booklet) becomes D0.
In the figure, a pair of guide guides 170 (170a, 170b) having a partially inclined surface are provided above the clamper 130 to guide the booklet. The booklet is connected to the booklet via the guide guide 170. Is inserted with the back portion thereof facing downward, and the back portion comes into contact with the stop plate 120 due to its own weight and stops. Thereafter, the booklet is restrained by a predetermined back protrusion amount by restraining the booklet with the left and right clampers 130 (130a, 130b). Then, after being restrained by the clamper 130, the stop plate 120 is retracted, and the back of the booklet is pressed by a pressing roll (not shown), whereby the square back processing is performed. Note that the thickness of the booklet is detected before the booklet is inserted into the guide guide 170, and the distance between the clamper 130 and the stop plate 120 is changed based on the information. Nor.
The booklet may be inserted into the guide guide 170 manually or may be slid on the guide guide 170 by a chute using a separate conveying member. This also brings about the same effect as the above-described embodiment.

In this embodiment, the bulge of the booklet after the spine processing when the distance D0 between the stop plate and the clamper in various booklet states is changed is evaluated.
Here, since the back portion of the booklet is processed into a square shape by the corner back processing, the swelling of the booklet itself after the corner back processing can be suppressed, so the swelling of the booklet before and after the corner back processing was measured. At this time, a high-quality paper (basis weight of 80 gsm) on which a character image (image area ratio of about 7%) was recorded was used as a recording material, and a plurality of sheets were collected, and saddle-stitched and half-folded booklets were evaluated. Then, it was confirmed how the bulge of the booklet changes before the spine processing and under the condition in which the interval D0 is changed by five stages.

As the evaluated booklet, a stack of four, five, ten, fifteen, and twenty sheets is used, and the amount of booklet swelling is the maximum of the booklet swelling detected by the sensor. The difference between the value and the minimum value was adopted. Further, the evaluation was repeated three times for each combination.
As shown in FIG. 10, when the distance D0 between the stop plate and the clamper is increased, the booklet bulge amount tends to decrease. When the distance D0 exceeds a certain distance, the area where the booklet bulge amount does not change, that is, It was confirmed that the booklet bulge amount reached the converging area. Further, it was confirmed that the larger the number of sheets, the wider the distance D0 when converging, and the larger the amount of booklet bulge before corner spin processing is, the better the distance D0 between the stop plate and the clamper is.
From this, it was confirmed that the suitable square spine processing according to various booklets is performed by adjusting the distance D0 between the stop plate and the clamper based on the booklet swelling amount.

  Further, when determining the booklet bulge amount, the present inventor, in addition to adopting the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the thickness, also applies the same evaluation when adopting the maximum value or bulging shape. It was confirmed that the same tendency as in FIG. 10 was obtained even under these conditions.

(A) And (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the outline | summary of the recording material post-processing apparatus based on this Embodiment model. It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline | summary of the recording material processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a digital copying machine as an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the drive control system of the square back processing apparatus of embodiment. (A) shows the press roll of a square back processing apparatus, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the drive device of a press roll. It is a flowchart of a square back process. (A) And (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the swelling state of a booklet. (A) shows the state of the booklet before the square spine processing, and (b) is an explanatory view showing the state of the booklet after the square spine processing. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode of the booklet before the square spine process as a modification. It is a graph which shows the result of an Example.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Booklet, 1a ... Back part, 2 ... Restriction means, 3 ... Pressing means, 4 ... Swelling amount discrimination means, 5 ... Adjustment means, 6 ... Booklet conveyance means, 7 ... Positioning member, d ... Back protrusion amount

Claims (10)

A restraining means for restraining the vicinity of the back portion of the booklet in which the recording material bundle is folded and placing the back portion of the booklet protruding from the booklet restraining position;
A pressing means for pressing the back portion of the booklet restrained by the restraining means from the curved back surface to the flat back surface;
A bulge amount discriminating means for discriminating the bulge amount in the thickness direction of the booklet folded in the middle before the restraint means;
Adjusting means for adjusting the booklet restraining position by the restraining means so that the amount of protrusion of the back part from the booklet restraining position by the restraining means increases as the swelling amount increases, based on the determination result by the swelling amount judging means. A recording material post-processing apparatus. The recording material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1,
Further, a recording material post-processing apparatus comprising booklet transport means for transporting the booklet so that the back of the booklet reaches a position protruding from the booklet restraining position. The recording material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The adjusting means includes
Based on the determination result of the bulge amount determination means and provided so as to be movable along the back projecting direction of the booklet from the booklet restraint position by the restraint means. A recording material post-processing apparatus, comprising: a positioning member that positions a back position of the booklet corresponding to the booklet restraining position to be adjusted. The recording material post-processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The adjusting means includes
Based on the determination result of the bulge amount determination means and provided so as to be movable along the back projecting direction of the booklet from the booklet restraint position by the restraint means. A positioning member for positioning the back position of the booklet corresponding to the booklet restraining position to be adjusted
The booklet transporting means is transported using the booklet transporting means, and the booklet transporting means is idlely transported while the booklet transporting means is stopped or the back of the booklet is held at the positioning position after positioning the booklet against the positioning member. A recording material post-processing apparatus comprising a booklet conveyance control unit. The recording material post-processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The recording material post-processing apparatus, wherein the bulge amount determining means determines a bulge amount of a booklet when being conveyed by the booklet conveying means. The recording material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The recording material post-processing apparatus characterized in that the bulge amount discriminating means discriminates the bulge amount of the booklet in consideration of the type and number of recording materials used in the booklet. The recording material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The recording material post-processing apparatus characterized in that the bulge amount discriminating means discriminates the bulge amount of the booklet from the difference between the maximum value information and the minimum value information of the booklet thickness. The recording material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The recording material post-processing apparatus, wherein the bulge amount discrimination means discriminates the bulge amount of the booklet from the maximum value information of the booklet thickness. The recording material post-processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The recording material post-processing apparatus, wherein the bulge amount discrimination means discriminates the bulge amount of the booklet from the bulge shape of the thickness of the booklet. Image forming means for forming an image on a recording material;
Folding means for folding into a booklet after accumulating the recording material on which the image is formed by the image forming means,
A recording material processing apparatus comprising: the recording material post-processing device according to claim 1, wherein the back of the folded booklet is processed from a curved back surface to a flat back surface.

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