JP7512638B2 - Recording material processing apparatus and image forming system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a recording material processing device and an image forming system.

Patent document 1 discloses a process in which, after the sheet media discharged from the discharge means is completely stacked on the tray, an alignment member is brought into contact with and separated from the edge of the sheet media that is parallel to the discharge direction of the sheet media, thereby aligning the position of the edge.

JP 2001-240295 A

In a device for processing a recording material, the position of the recording material in the extension direction may not be aligned. Also, the recording material may swell in the thickness direction. As a method for dealing with this, it is possible to provide a mechanism for applying a load to the recording material in the thickness direction of the recording material in addition to a mechanism for aligning the position of the recording material in the extension direction. However, in this case, the number of parts increases by configuring the mechanisms acting on the recording material separately, and the order of the mechanisms acting on the recording material must be controlled, making the configuration more complicated.
The object of the present invention is to reduce the complexity of the configuration required for processing recording material, compared to a case in which a mechanism for aligning the position of the recording material in its extension direction and a mechanism for applying a load acting on the recording material in its thickness direction are provided separately.

The invention described in claim 1 is a recording material processing device comprising a support portion which supports a recording material from below, a contact member having a contact surface which advances from the side of the recording material supported by the support portion into the recording material and contacts the edge of the recording material , and an advancing portion which advances into the recording material together with the contact member , wherein the contact member has a lower edge portion which is located below the lower end portion of the advancing portion, and when the contact surface of the contact member contacts the edge portion and presses against the edge portion, the contact surface faces diagonally downward.
The invention described in claim 2 is a recording material processing device described in claim 1, in which an advancing portion is provided on the side opposite the side on which the recording material is positioned, sandwiching the contact member, and advancing into the recording material together with the contact member, and an elastic member is provided between the contact member and the advancing portion.
The invention described in claim 3 is the recording material processing device described in claim 2, wherein the elastic member is a coil spring, and a portion of the contact member that is located below the axial center of the coil spring contacts the edge of the recording material.
The invention described in claim 4 is a recording material processing device described in claim 1, in which an advancing portion is provided on the side opposite to the side on which the recording material is located, sandwiching the contact member, and advancing into the recording material together with the contact member, the contact member is supported by the advancing portion, the contact member is positioned at an angle to the vertical direction when the contact surface is in contact with the edge portion and pressing against the edge portion, and the advancing portion is positioned along the vertical direction when the contact surface is in contact with the edge portion and pressing against the edge portion.
The invention described in claim 5 is a recording material processing device described in claim 1, in which an advancing portion is provided on the opposite side to the side on which the recording material is located, sandwiching the contact member, and advancing toward the recording material together with the contact member, the contact member is supported by the advancing portion, the contact member changes its posture when it advances toward the recording material and contacts the edge portion, and with this change in posture, the contact surface faces diagonally downward, and the advancing portion does not change posture even after the contact surface of the contact member contacts the edge portion.
The invention described in claim 6 is a recording material processing device described in claim 5, wherein the protruding portion is aligned along the vertical direction, and even after the contact surface of the contact member contacts the edge portion, the posture of the protruding portion does not change, and the protruding portion is maintained in a state aligned along the vertical direction.
The invention described in claim 7 is a recording material processing device described in claim 1, in which an advancing portion is provided on the opposite side to the side on which the recording material is positioned, sandwiching the contact member, and advancing toward the recording material together with the contact member, the contact member is supported by the advancing portion, and when comparing the thicknesses in the advancing direction when the contact member advances toward the recording material, the thickness of the contact member is smaller than the thickness of the advancing portion.
The invention recited in claim 8 is the recording material processing apparatus recited in claim 1, wherein when the contact member is retracted from the recording material, the contact surface is disposed along a vertical direction.
The invention described in claim 9 is a recording material processing device described in claim 1, in which when the contact member comes into contact with the recording material, a load acts on the contact member from the recording material, and the load acting on the contact member causes the contact surface to face diagonally downward.
The invention described in claim 10 is a recording material processing device described in claim 9, wherein the contact member has a lower edge portion and an upper edge portion, and the load from the recording material acts on a portion of the contact member that is located closer to the lower edge portion.
The invention described in claim 11 is a recording material processing device described in claim 1, wherein when the contact surface of the contact member contacts the edge of the recording material and presses the edge, the upper edge of the contact member is located at a position facing the upper surface of the recording material.
The invention described in claim 12 is an image forming system comprising an image forming device that forms an image on a recording material, and a recording material processing device that processes the recording material, the recording material processing device being configured to include the recording material processing device described in any one of claims 1 to 11 .

According to the invention of claim 1, it is possible to prevent the configuration required for processing the recording material from becoming complicated, compared to a case in which a mechanism for aligning the position of the recording material in its extension direction and a mechanism for applying a load acting on the recording material in its thickness direction are provided separately.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the load acting on the recording material can be reduced compared to a case where no elastic member is provided between the contact member and the protruding portion.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the contact surface of the contact member can be more easily oriented obliquely downward than when the portion of the contact member located above the axial center of the coil spring contacts the edge of the recording material.
According to the invention of claim 4, the protruding portion can support the contact member more stably than when the protruding portion is arranged at an angle rather than aligned vertically.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the contact member can be supported by the protruding portion more stably than in a case where the posture of the protruding portion changes.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the contact member can be supported by the protruding portion more stably than when the posture of the protruding portion changes to a state other than the vertical direction.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the contact member is more easily deformed than when the thickness of the contact member is greater than the thickness of the protruding portion, and the load acting on the recording material from the contact member can be reduced.
According to the invention of claim 8, when the contact member is retracted from the recording material, interference between the contact member and the recording material newly supplied to the support section is less likely to occur compared to when the contact surface is positioned at an angle rather than along the vertical direction.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the contact surface of the contact member can be directed obliquely downward without providing a dedicated drive source for directing the contact surface of the contact member obliquely downward.
According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, it becomes easier to orient the contact surface of the contact member obliquely downward, compared to a case in which the load from the recording material acts on a portion of the contact member that is located closer to the upper edge portion.
According to the invention of claim 11 , when the contact surface presses the edge, the upward movement of the recording material can be restricted compared to when the upper edge of the contact member is not positioned at the opposing point on the upper surface of the recording material.
According to the invention of claim 12 , it is possible to suppress the complexity of the configuration required for processing the recording material, compared to the case where a mechanism for aligning the position of the recording material in its extension direction and a mechanism for applying a load acting on the recording material in its thickness direction are provided separately.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a first post-processing device. 3 is a view of the first stacking unit as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow III in FIG. 2 . This is a case where the first advancing member etc. are viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow IV in FIG. 5 is a view of the first advancing member and the contact member as viewed from the direction indicated by arrow V in FIG. 4 . 6 is a view of the support portion, the first advancing member, and the contact member as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow VI in FIG. 3. 13A to 13C are diagrams showing other examples of the arrangement of the support portion, the paper, the first advancing member, and the contact member. 8 is a diagram showing the support portion, the paper, the first advancing member, the second advancing member, and the contact member as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow VIII in FIG. 7 . 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating an example of processing when sheets are stacked in a staggered manner. 10 is a diagram showing the support portion, the paper, the second advancing member, and the contact member as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow X in FIG. 9 . 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a movement mechanism. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating a state in which contact members and the like are retracted from the paper. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing other configuration examples of the contact members, etc. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another configuration example. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing other configuration examples of the contact member. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing other configuration examples of the contact member. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state in which sheets are offset and stacked.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an image forming system 1. As shown in FIG.
The image forming system 1 shown in Figure 1 includes an image forming device 2 that forms an image on paper P as an example of a recording material, and a paper processing device 3 that performs predetermined processing on the paper P on which the image has been formed by the image forming device 2.
Here, the image forming device 2 forms an image on the paper P using an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method.

The paper processing device 3, which is an example of a recording material processing device, is provided with a conveying device 10 that conveys the paper P output from the image forming device 2 downstream, and a slip sheet supplying device 20 that supplies slip sheets such as thick paper or window-opening paper P to the paper P conveyed by the conveying device 10.
The sheet processing apparatus 3 is also provided with a folding device 30 that performs folding processes such as inner triple fold (C fold) and outer triple fold (Z fold) on the sheet P conveyed from the conveying device 10 .

The sheet processing apparatus 3 also includes a first post-processing apparatus 40 that is disposed downstream of the folding apparatus 30 and performs hole punching, edge stitching, saddle stitching, and the like on the sheets P.
In addition, downstream of the folding device 30, a first post-processing device 40 is provided which processes a stack of sheets of paper (an example of a stack of recording materials) on which images have been formed by the image forming device 2, and which processes the sheets of paper P one by one.

The sheet processing apparatus 3 also includes a second post-processing apparatus 500 that is disposed downstream of the first post-processing apparatus 40 and that performs further processing on the center-folded and center-stitched sheet bundle.
The paper-sheet processing apparatus 3 is also provided with a control unit 100 that is configured with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes a program and controls each of the functional units of the paper-sheet processing apparatus 3 .

The first post-processing device 40 is provided with a punching unit 41 that punches holes in the paper P, and an end-stitching stapler unit 42 that staples the ends of a paper stack.
Also provided is a first stacking section 43 on which sheets P that have passed through the edge-stitching stapler unit 42 are stacked, and a second stacking section 45 on which sheets P that are not processed by the first post-processing device 40 or sheets P that have only been punched are stacked. The first stacking section 43 and the second stacking section 45 are open to the outside of the device, and an operator manually removes sheets P stacked on the first stacking section 43 or the second stacking section 45.
The first post-processing device 40 is further provided with a saddle stitching unit 44 that folds and stitches the stack of sheets to produce a booklet in a double-page spread format.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the first post-processing device 40. As shown in FIG.
The first post-processing device 40 is provided with an acceptance port 49 for accepting the paper P conveyed from the folding device 30 .
A punching unit 41 is provided immediately behind the receiving port 49. The punching unit 41 punches two holes, four holes, or the like into the paper P conveyed to the first post-processing device 40.

Further, a first paper transport path R1 is provided from the receiving opening 49 to the edge-stitching stapler unit 42 and is used to transport the paper P received at the receiving opening 49 to the edge-stitching stapler unit 42.
Furthermore, a second paper transport path R2 that branches off from the first paper transport path R1 at the first branching portion B1 and is used to transport the paper P to the second stacking portion 45 is provided.

Further, at the second branching portion B2, a third paper transport path R3 is provided, which branches off from the first paper transport path R1 and is used to transport the paper P to the saddle stitching unit 44.
Also, a switching gate 70 is provided for switching (setting) the transport destination of the paper P to any one of the first paper transport path R1 to the third paper transport path R3.

The edge-stitching stapler unit 42 is provided with a paper stacking section 60 that stacks the required number of sheets P to generate a paper stack.
The paper stacking section 60 is provided with a support plate 67 that is disposed at an angle with respect to the horizontal direction and supports from below the transported paper P. In this embodiment, a stack of paper is produced on the support plate 67.

Furthermore, the edge-stitching stapler unit 42 is provided with a binding processing device 50 that performs stapling (edge stapling) on the edge of the paper stack generated in the paper stacking section 60 .
The edge-stitching stapler unit 42 is provided with a discharge roll 61 that is driven to rotate and sends out the stack of sheets produced in the sheet stacking section 60 to a first stacking section 43 provided outside the device.
Further, a movable roll 62 is provided which is movable between a position retracted from the discharge roll 61 and a position where it is in pressure contact with the discharge roll 61 .

When processing is performed by the edge-stitching stapler unit 42, the conveyed paper P is first received by the receiving port 49.
Thereafter, the paper P is transported along the first paper transport path R1 and reaches the edge-stitching stapler unit 42.
Then, the paper P is transported to above the support plate 67 and then drops onto the support plate 67. The paper P is supported from below by the support plate 67, and slides on the support plate 67 due to the inclination and rotation member 63 provided to the support plate 67.

Thereafter, the paper P hits the end guide 64 attached to the end of the support plate 67. In addition, in this embodiment, the end guide 64 extending upward in the figure is provided on the end of the support plate 67, and the paper P moving on the support plate 67 hits the end guide 64.
In this embodiment, this stops the movement of the paper P. After that, this operation is performed every time a paper P is transported from the upstream side, and a paper stack in which the paper P is aligned is generated on the support plate 67.

In this embodiment, a paper width position alignment member 65 for aligning the position of the paper stack in the width direction is further provided.
In this embodiment, each time paper P is supplied onto the support plate 67, the end (side) of the paper P in the width direction is pressed by the paper width alignment member 65, and the position of the paper P (paper stack) in the width direction is also aligned.

When a predetermined number of sheets P are stacked on the support plate 67, the binding device 50 binds the end of the stack of sheets P.
Thereafter, in this embodiment, the movable roll 62 advances toward the discharge roll 61, and the paper stack is sandwiched between the movable roll 62 and the discharge roll 61. Thereafter, the discharge roll 61 is driven to rotate, and the paper stack is transported to the first stacking unit 43.

The binding device 50 is provided so as to be movable toward the rear and front of the paper surface in the figure, and in this embodiment, the binding process for the paper P can be performed at a plurality of locations.
There may also be cases where the binding process is not performed by the binding device 50. In such cases, the sheets P that have not been bound are sent from the sheet stacking section 60 to the first stacking section 43.

FIG. 3 is a view of the first stacking section 43 as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow III in FIG.
The first stacking section 43 is provided with a support section 300 that supports the paper P from below. The support section 300 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction.
Furthermore, the first stacking section 43 is provided with an advancing member 600 that advances from the side of the paper P supported by the support section 300 toward the paper P. The advancing member 600 corresponds to the advancing device in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, a first advancing member 610 and a second advancing member 620 are provided as the advancing member 600 .
The first advancing member 610 advances into the sheet P from one side of the sheet P, and the second advancing member 620 advances into the sheet P from the other side of the sheet P.
5, the first advancing member 610 is composed of a rotation shaft 612, an arm portion 613 that rotates around the rotation shaft 612, and an advancing portion 614 that advances into the paper P from the side of the paper P when the arm portion 613 rotates and is positioned downward. In this embodiment, the side of the advancing portion 614 that is closer to the rotation shaft 612 is the rotation shaft 610A side, and the tip side is the tip 610B side.

In addition, each of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 moves in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the paper P (the width direction of the paper P) and advances onto the paper P from the side of the paper P.
When the paper P is loaded onto the first stacking section 43, the paper P is transported in the direction indicated by the arrow 3A in FIG.
In this embodiment, the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 each move in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction.

In addition, in this embodiment, each of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 moves in a direction intersecting the vertical direction, and advances onto the sheet P from the side of the sheet P.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, a contact member 700 that comes into contact with the paper P is attached to each of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 .

The contact member 700 is attached to a portion of the first advancing member 610 located on the paper P side and a portion of the second advancing member 620 located on the paper P side, and contacts the edge PB of the paper P as the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 advance toward the paper P.
In addition, the contact member 700 is provided on the paper P side of the advancing member 600, and comes into contact with the edge PB of the paper P as the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 advance toward the paper P.
In this embodiment, as described later, each of the contact members 700 is capable of moving in the opposite direction to the advancing direction of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620. In this embodiment, each of the contact members 700 advances into the paper P in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction, and after contacting the paper P, moves toward the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 disposed to the side of the paper P, and the surfaces of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 that are at the same position in the direction perpendicular to the vertical direction of the paper P receive the impact of the contact member 700 via the coil spring KB (see FIG. 5).

Fig. 4 shows the first advancing member 610 and the like as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow IV in Fig. 3. Note that in Fig. 4, the support portion 300 is omitted from illustration.
The first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are provided so as to protrude from the apparatus body 40A of the first post-processing apparatus 40.
In this embodiment, a moving mechanism 730 that moves the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 is provided.

In this embodiment, the moving mechanism 730 allows the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow 4A in FIG. 4 around the center of rotation indicated by the symbol 3X in FIG.
In other words, in this embodiment, the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are capable of moving in the vertical direction.
The first stacking section 43 is open to the outside, and when an operator removes paper P loaded on the support section 300, the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are in an upward position and are removed from the paper P to be removed.

In this embodiment, the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are capable of moving in the directions indicated by the arrows 4X in FIG.
Additionally, in this embodiment, as described above, the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 can be moved relative to the edge portion PB of the paper P (not shown in FIG. 4).
In addition, in this embodiment, the contact member 700 is located closer to the paper P (not shown in FIG. 4 ) than the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 .

Fig. 5 is a view of the first advancing member 610 and the contact member 700 as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow V in Fig. 4. In this embodiment, the second advancing member 620 side is configured similarly to the first advancing member 610 side.
The contact member 700 is provided with two protrusions 740 that protrude toward the first advancing member 610 side, and in this embodiment, the contact member 700 tilts around the points where the protrusions 740 are provided (described later).

In other words, in this embodiment, the two protrusions 740 are structured to function as axes, and in this embodiment, the contact member 700 is configured to tilt around each of these axes.
In this embodiment, the protrusions 740 include a tip side protrusion 741 located on the tip 610B side of the first advancing member 610 and a base side protrusion 742 located on the base 610A side of the first advancing member 610.

Here, the two protrusions 740 are disposed at different positions in the longitudinal direction of the contact member 700 .
The first advancing member 610 is provided with two holes 750 into which the protrusions 740 provided on the contact member 700 are inserted.

Furthermore, the contact member 700 of this embodiment has a root side end 700A located on the root 610A side of the first advancing member 610, and an opposite side end 700B located on the opposite side of this root side end 700A (the tip 610B side of the first advancing member 610).
In this embodiment, the distance L2 between the tip side protrusion 741, which is the other protrusion 740, and the opposite end 700B is greater than the distance L1 between the base side protrusion 742, which is one protrusion 740, and the base side end 700A.

In this embodiment, the tip side hole 751, which is the hole 750 located on the tip 610B side of the first advancing member 610, is configured as an elongated hole. Here, this elongated hole is disposed along the longitudinal direction of the contact member 700.
On the other hand, the base side hole 752, which is the hole 750 located on the base 610A side of the first advancing member 610, is configured as a round hole.
Here, in this embodiment, the cross-sectional area (cross-sectional area in a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of hole portion 750) of tip side hole portion 751, which is one of the two hole portions 750, is larger than the cross-sectional area of base side hole portion 752, which is the other hole portion 750.

In this embodiment, when the first advancing member 610 advances toward the paper P, a predetermined contact point (described later) of the contact member 700 comes into contact with the paper P.
In this embodiment, of the two holes 750 , the cross-sectional area of the tip side hole 751 located closer to the contact point is larger than the cross-sectional area of the base side hole 752 .

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a coil spring KB as an example of an elastic member is provided between the contact member 700 and the first advancing member 610 .
In this specification, the coil spring KB is described as an example, but the elastic member may be a leaf spring, rubber, or other member in addition to the coil spring KB.

In this embodiment, an advancing portion 614 that advances toward the paper P together with the contact member 700 shown in FIG. 5 is provided on the side opposite to the side on which the paper P (see FIG. 3) is positioned, with the contact member 700 shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, a coil spring KB as an example of an elastic member is provided between the contact member 700 and the protruding portion 614 .

In this embodiment, a plurality of coil springs KB are provided.
Specifically, in this embodiment, two coil springs KB are provided: a tip side coil spring KB1 provided on the tip 610B side of the first advancing member 610, and a root side coil spring KB2 provided on the root 610A side of the first advancing member 610.
In this embodiment, a tip side coil spring KB1 is provided around the tip side projection 741, and a base side coil spring KB2 is provided around the base side projection 742.

In this embodiment, a restricting screw 220 is provided to restrict movement of the contact member 700 in a direction away from the first advancing member 610 .
In addition, a restricting screw 220 is provided to restrict the movement of the contact member 700 in a direction away from the first advancing member 610 and to prevent the contact member 700 from coming off.

Each of the regulating screws 220 is attached to the tip end of the tip side protrusion 741 and the tip end of the base side protrusion 742 .
When the contact member 700 attempts to move in a direction away from the first advancement member 610, the head 221 of the regulating screw 220 abuts against the first advancement member 610. This prevents the contact member 700 from coming off the first advancement member 610.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of the support portion 300, the first advancing member 610, and the contact member 700 as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow VI in FIG.
In this embodiment, each time a sheet of paper P is transported to the support section 300, the first advancing member 610 advances onto the sheet of paper P, and the contact member 700 is pressed against the edge portion PB of the sheet of paper P.
At this time, the second advancing member 620 (not shown in FIG. 6) also advances into the paper P, and the contact member 700 provided on the second advancing member 620 side is pressed against the edge portion PB of the paper P.

When the contact member 700 is pressed against the edge PB of the paper P, a predetermined contact point 780 of the contact member 700 comes into contact with the paper P in this embodiment.
Here, in this embodiment, the tip side hole portion 751 (see Figure 5) is located on the side closer to this contact point 780, and in this embodiment, the cross-sectional area of this tip side hole portion 751 is larger than the cross-sectional area of the base side hole portion 752.

As a result, in this embodiment, the contact point 780 (see FIG. 6 ) of the contact member 700 is more likely to move than when the cross-sectional area of the tip side hole 751 is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the base side hole 752 .
In addition, the side of the contact member 700 where the contact point 780 is located is more likely to retreat to the first advancing member 610. In this embodiment, the area of the contact point 780 is part of the contact member, but a configuration in which a larger area of the contact member is in contact is also possible. In that case, if the contact point 780 is wider than in FIG. 6 and overlaps both holes when viewed from the direction of FIG. 6, the hole portion located closer to the center of the contact point will be the side closer to the contact point.

FIG. 6 also shows the first advancing member 610 and the contact member 700 as viewed from the upstream side in the advancing direction of the first advancing member 610.
In this manner, when the first advancing member 610 and the contact member 700 are viewed from the upstream side in the advancing direction of the first advancing member 610 , in this embodiment, the contact member 700 is larger than the first advancing member 610 .

More specifically, in this embodiment, in the protruding direction of the first advancing member 610, the end portion 701 of the contact member 700 is located downstream in the protruding direction of the first advancing member 610 relative to the tip portion 611 of the first advancing member 610.

In this embodiment, the width of the contact member 700 is greater than the width of the first advancing member 610 .
More specifically, in this embodiment, when comparing the widths in a direction perpendicular to the protruding direction of the first advancing member 610, the width W2 of the contact member 700 is larger than the width W1 of the first advancing member 610.
In addition, in this embodiment, the lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 is located lower than the lower edge 610E of the first advancing member 610.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the thickness of the first advancing member 610 is greater than the thickness of the contact member 700 .

In this embodiment, when the first advancing member 610 advances into the paper P, as shown in FIG. 6, the multiple coil springs KB are disposed at different positions in the direction in which the edge portion PB extends.
More specifically, in this case, the root side coil spring KB2 is located on the upstream side in the transport direction of the paper P, and the tip side coil spring KB1 is located on the downstream side in the transport direction of the paper P.

In this embodiment, in order to prevent interference between the first advancing member 610 and the contact member 700 and the support portion 300, a recess 300B is formed in the upper surface 300A of the support portion 300.
In addition, in this embodiment, the position of the paper P can be shifted with respect to the first advancing member 610. More specifically, in this embodiment, the paper P can be moved relative to the first advancing member 610, that is, the paper P can be moved in the vertical direction.

The paper sheet P is moved relative to the first advancing member 610 by, for example, moving the support portion 300 up and down.
More specifically, for example, the movement of the paper P relative to the first advancing member 610 in the vertical direction is achieved by moving the support portion 300 up and down to move the stacking position of the paper P upward or downward.
In this embodiment, an elastic member is provided between the contact member 700 and the first advancing member 610. In addition to providing an elastic member between the contact member 700 and the first advancing member 610, a spring may also be disposed on the rotating shaft 612 (see FIG. 5) to absorb shock doubly.
On the other hand, as a comparative example, even if a spring is provided only on the rotating shaft 612 and the contact member 700 and the first advancing member 610 are configured as an integrated contact movable part (not shown), the contact part can advance with respect to the paper P, but in the case of an integrated contact movable part, the shock received by the side of the paper is absorbed not by the side of the paper but by the rotating shaft 612 which is the rotation fulcrum, so the rigidity of the contact movable part is required. In this case, the load on the rotating shaft 612 becomes large, which is not suitable.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the arrangement of the support portion 300, the paper P, the first advancing member 610, and the contact member 700. In FIG.
In this arrangement example, the support portion 300 is lowered further than in the state shown in FIG. 6, and a portion of the contact member 700 closer to the lower edge portion 709 comes into contact with the paper P.
More specifically, in this arrangement example, a portion of the contact member 700 that is located below the tip side coil spring KB1 comes into contact with the paper P.
In addition, in this arrangement example, a portion of the contact member 700 that is located below the axial center C of the tip side coil spring KB1 comes into contact with the paper P.

8 is a diagram of the support portion 300, the paper P, the first advancing member 610, the second advancing member 620, and the contact member 700 as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow VIII in FIG.
In the example of this arrangement shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a portion of the contact member 700 that is located below the tip side coil spring KB1 comes into contact with the paper P.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the contact member 700 is inclined and covers the edge PB of the paper P.

When a portion of the contact member 700 located below the tip side coil spring KB1 comes into contact with the paper P, the surface of the contact member 700 that presses the paper P faces diagonally downward. In this case, the contact member 700 covers the edge portion PB of the paper P.
In this case, a load is also applied to the sheet P from above the edge PB. In addition, in this case, the load is applied not only from the side of the sheet P but also from above the sheet P, and a load pressing the sheet P from above is applied to the sheet P.

The contact member 700 of this embodiment has a contact surface 760 that comes into contact with the edge PB of the paper P.
8, when the contact surface 760 contacts the edge portion PB and presses the edge portion PB, the contact surface 760 faces obliquely downward. In other words, the contact surface 760 is inclined with respect to the vertical direction and faces downward toward the paper P. In other words, the contact surface 760 is disposed so that the normal to the contact surface 760 faces obliquely downward.
In addition, in this embodiment, when the contact surface 760 contacts the edge portion PB of the paper P and presses against this edge portion PB, the upper edge portion 710 of the contact member 700 is positioned at a location facing the upper surface PU of the uppermost paper P.

In this embodiment, the portion of the contact member 700 that is located below the axial center C of the tip side coil spring KB1 comes into contact with the edge portion PB of the paper P.
In this embodiment, a coil spring KB that presses the contact member 700 toward the paper P side is provided on the opposite side to the side on which the paper P is positioned, sandwiching the contact member 700 therebetween.
In this embodiment, a portion of the contact member 700 that is located below the axial center C of the coil spring KB comes into contact with the edge portion PB of the paper P.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, as described above, the advancing portion 614 that advances toward the paper P together with the contact member 700 is provided on the side opposite the side on which the paper P is located, sandwiching the contact member 700. The contact member 700 is supported by this advancing portion 614.
In this embodiment, when the contact surface 760 is in contact with and pressing against the edge portion PB, the contact member 700 is disposed in a state inclined with respect to the vertical direction.
Specifically, in this embodiment, the contact member 700 is formed in a plate shape, and when the contact surface 760 is pressing against the edge portion PB, the contact member 700 is positioned in an inclined state with respect to the vertical direction.

In contrast, when the contact surface 760 presses against the edge portion PB, the protruding portion 614 is disposed in a state aligned along the vertical direction, as shown in FIG.
Specifically, the protruding portion 614 is formed in a plate shape, and when the contact surface 760 presses the edge portion PB, as shown in Figure 8, this plate-shaped protruding portion 614 is arranged in a vertical direction.

The contact member 700 of this embodiment changes its posture when it advances toward the paper P and comes into contact with the edge PB of the paper P. With this change in posture, the contact surface 760 faces diagonally downward.
In contrast, the position of the protruding portion 614 does not change even after the contact surface 760 of the contact member 700 comes into contact with the edge portion PB.
More specifically, the protruding portion 614 is aligned in the vertical direction, and even after the contact surface 760 of the contact member 700 contacts the edge portion PB, the posture of the protruding portion 614 does not change, and the protruding portion 614 remains aligned in the vertical direction.

When the contact member 700 is retracted from the paper P, the contact member 700 and the contact surface 760 are arranged along the vertical direction, as shown in Figure 12 (a diagram showing the state of the contact member 700 etc. retracted from the paper P).
In this embodiment, when the contact member 700 comes into contact with the paper P, a load acts on the contact member 700 from the paper P. In this embodiment, this load acting on the contact member 700 causes the contact member 700 to tilt, and as a result, the contact surface 760 faces diagonally downward.

More specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the load from the paper P acts on a portion of the contact member 700 that is located closer to the lower edge 709 .
More specifically, the contact member 700 of this embodiment has an upper edge 710 and a lower edge 709, and the load from the paper P acts on a portion of the contact member 700 that is closer to the lower edge 709. In other words, in this embodiment, the side of the contact member 700 that is closer to the lower edge 709 comes into contact with the edge PB of the paper P.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, when comparing the thickness in the advancing direction when the contact member 700 advances into the paper P (see FIG. 8), the thickness W5 of the contact member 700 is smaller than the thickness W6 of the advancing portion 614.
Here, the thickness refers to the thickness of the main body portion formed in a plate shape, and does not refer to the thickness of a portion where the thickness is partially increased due to the presence of a protrusion, or the thickness of a portion where the thickness is partially decreased due to the presence of a recess.

For example, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the protruding portion 614 is provided with a protruding portion 614A, and the thickness W6 of the protruding portion 614 refers to the thickness of the portion excluding this protruding portion 614A.
Similarly, the contact member 700 is also provided with a protrusion 740, but the thickness W5 of the contact member 700 refers to the thickness of the portion excluding this protrusion 740.

Figures 13(A) and (B) show other configuration examples of the contact member 700, etc. As shown in Figure 13(A), in this configuration example as well, a protruding portion 614B is provided in the protruding portion 614, but the thickness W6 of the protruding portion 614 refers to the thickness of the portion excluding this protruding portion 614B.
In this configuration example, the protruding portion 614A shown in FIG. 5 is not provided, and the head portion 221 of the restricting screw 220 abuts against a side surface 614X of the plate-shaped protruding portion 614.
In addition, in this configuration example shown in FIG. 13(A), the contact member 700 is provided with a protrusion 789 that is not shown in FIG. 5, and the thickness W5 of the contact member 700 refers to the thickness of the portion excluding this protrusion 789.

Fig. 13B is a view of the protruding portion 614 as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow XIIIB in Fig. 13A. In the protruding portion 614, a plurality of recesses 700Y are provided on the surface facing the contact member 700 (see Fig. 13A).
The thickness W6 of the advancing portion 614 refers to the thickness of the portion where the recess 700Y is not provided. In other words, the thickness W6 of the advancing portion 614 refers to the thickness of the advancing portion 614 in a state where the recess 700Y is not provided.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing another configuration example.
In this configuration example, the contact surface 760 of the contact member 700 faces obliquely downward even when it is not in contact with the paper P. In other words, in this configuration example, the contact surface 760 of the contact member 700 faces obliquely downward even when the contact member 700 is retracted from the paper P.
In other words, in this configuration example, the portion of the contact member 700 that comes into contact with the edge portion PB of the paper P has an inclined surface that is inclined with respect to the vertical direction and faces diagonally downward.

More specifically, in the configuration example shown in Figure 14, the entire surface of the contact member 700 that faces the paper P is inclined, and the entire surface is inclined with respect to the vertical direction and faces diagonally downward.
In addition, in this configuration example, the protruding portion 614 and the coil spring KB are not provided, and the contact member 700 is directly supported by the arm portion 613 provided on the first protruding member 610 (see Figure 5).
In this configuration example as well, the contact surface 760 is pressed against the edge PB of the paper P to align the paper P in the extension direction, and a load is applied to the paper P pressing down from above.

15 and 16 are diagrams showing other configuration examples of the contact member 700. In FIG.
15, in this configuration example, the contact surface 760 facing diagonally downward is provided on the surface 790 of the contact member 700 facing the paper P. In other words, the surface 790 of the contact member 700 facing the paper P is provided with an inclined surface facing diagonally downward.
Furthermore, the surface 790 facing the paper P is provided with a vertical surface 762 that is a surface disposed along the vertical direction.

In this configuration example, the swelling of the paper P can be easily suppressed.
16, in this configuration example, a vertical surface 762 of the contact member 700 is pressed against the edge PB of the paper P. This causes the paper P to be aligned in the same manner as described above.
Furthermore, in this configuration example, for example, when the paper P curls and bulges upward as shown in Fig. 15, this bulge is pressed from above by the contact surface 760 as shown in Fig. 16. This reduces the bulge of the paper P in this case, making it less likely that the paper P will be disturbed when being stacked.
15 and 16 may be attached directly to the arm portion 613 provided on the first advancing member 610 (see FIG. 5). As in the above, a coil spring KB and an advancing portion 614 may be provided, and the contact member 700 may be attached to the advancing portion 614 via the coil spring KB.

Next, a processing example when the sheets P are stacked in a staggered manner will be described. In other words, a processing example when the sheets P are stacked in an offset manner will be described.
In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 9 (a diagram explaining an example of processing when sheets of paper P are stacked in a staggered manner), each time a predetermined number of sheets of paper P are stacked, the stacking position of the sheets of paper P in the width direction is shifted and the sheets of paper P are stacked, thereby enabling the sheets of paper P to be stacked in a staggered manner.
More specifically, paper P can be stacked alternately at a first position and at a second position, where the position in the width direction of the paper P is different from the first position.

In addition, in this embodiment, it is possible to load new paper P on top of already loaded paper PX, which is paper P that is already loaded on the support section 300, and further, it is possible to load this new paper P in a state where its position is shifted relative to the already loaded paper PX.
In this way, when the sheets of paper P are stacked alternately, as shown in Figure 9, for example, the first advancing member 610 advances toward the sheets of paper P, while the other advancing member, the second advancing member 620, receives the sheets of paper P being pressed and moved by the first advancing member 610.

Here, on the side of the first advancing member 610 which is the side pressing the paper sheet P, the contact member 700 is pressed against the edge portion PB of the paper sheet P.
In addition, the position of the second advancing member 620, which is the receiving side of the paper P, is fixed, and the paper P moves toward this fixed second advancing member 620, and the movement of the paper P is stopped by the second advancing member 620.
Further, on the side of the second advancing member 620, a contact member 700 provided on the second advancing member 620 side is arranged in contact with the upper surface of the already stacked paper sheets PX.

In this embodiment, the second advancing member 620 functions as a receiving portion, and in this embodiment, the paper P that moves as the first advancing member 610 advances is received by the second advancing member 620 .
More specifically, a contact member 700 attached to the second advancing member 620 receives the paper P.

More specifically, in this embodiment, the edge PB of the moving paper P comes into contact with the contact member 700, the movement of the paper P is restricted, and the paper P stops at a predetermined position.
At this time, in this embodiment, the contact member 700 is supported by a tip side coil spring KB1 and a base side coil spring KB2 arranged between the contact member 700 and the second advancing member 620.

Note that FIG. 9 shows a case where the first advancing member 610 advances and the second advancing member 620 receives the paper P, but if the loading position of the paper P is changed to the other loading position and the paper P is loaded, the second advancing member 620 advances to the paper P and the first advancing member 610 receives the paper P.

In this embodiment, the stacking position of the paper P is changed by moving the support portion 300 in the width direction of the paper P.
However, this is not limited to this, and the stacking position of the paper P may be changed using other methods, such as moving the discharge port that discharges the paper P toward the first stacking section 43 in the width direction of the paper P.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the first advancing member 610 which presses the paper sheet P is disposed below the second advancing member 620 which receives the paper sheet P.
Further, the first advancing member 610 which presses the paper P is disposed in the state shown in FIG. 6 and FIG.
In this case, on the side of the first advancing member 610, the contact portion 780 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) of the contact member 700 comes into contact with the paper P, as described above.

On the other hand, the second advancing member 620 side which receives the paper sheets P is disposed above the already stacked paper sheets PX as shown in FIG.
More specifically, in this embodiment, the contact member 700 provided on the second advancing member 620 side is placed on the already stacked paper sheets PX. More specifically, the contact member 700 provided on the second advancing member 620 side is disposed in contact with the already stacked paper sheets PX.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the second advancing member 620 is disposed above the already stacked sheets PX and is disposed in a non-contact state with the already stacked sheets PX.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, when new paper P is loaded on top of the already loaded paper PX, the first advancing member 610 advances toward the new paper P from the opposite side to the second advancing member 620, sandwiching the new paper P, as shown by arrow 9A.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the contact member 700 provided on the second advancing member 620 side comes into contact with the already stacked paper PX, the lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 comes into contact with the already stacked paper PX.
Although not described above, in this embodiment, the thickness D1 of the lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 is smaller than the thickness D2 of the upper edge 710 of the contact member 700.

More specifically, the contact member 700 of this embodiment is formed in a plate shape and is arranged along the transport direction of the paper P, and in this plate-shaped contact member 700, the thickness D1 of the lower edge portion 709 is smaller than the thickness D2 of the upper edge portion 710.
Additionally, in this embodiment, when comparing the thicknesses of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 in the movement direction, the thickness of the lower edge portion 709 is smaller than the thickness of the upper edge portion 710 .

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9 , in a lower portion 700F of the contact member 700 located on the lower side, the thickness decreases toward the lower edge portion 709.
Additionally, in this embodiment, the surface of the contact member 700 on which the second advancing member 620 is located is tapered, and in the lower portion 700F of the contact member 700, the thickness of the contact member 700 gradually decreases toward the lower edge portion 709.

More specifically, in this embodiment, the lower portion of the surface of the contact member 700 facing the second advancing member 620 is inclined so as to gradually move away from the second advancing member 620 as it goes downward. As a result, in the lower portion 700F, the thickness of the contact member 700 becomes smaller as it goes toward the lower edge portion 709.
More specifically, a tapered surface TM is provided on the lower portion of the surface of the contact member 700 facing the second advancing member 620, and in the lower portion 700F, the thickness of the contact member 700 decreases toward the lower edge portion 709.

In this embodiment, the contact member 700 has a tapered surface TM at a location that does not contact the base side coil spring KB2 and the tip side coil spring KB1.
Additionally, in this embodiment, when the tapered surface TM, the base side coil spring KB2, and the tip side coil spring KB1 are projected in the direction indicated by the arrow 9X in the figure, there is no overlap between the tapered surface TM and the base side coil spring KB2, and between the tapered surface TM and the tip side coil spring KB1.

Additionally, in this embodiment, when the tapered surface TM, the base side coil spring KB2, and the tip side coil spring KB1 are projected in the thickness direction of the contact member 700 and toward a plane 9Z parallel to the contact member 700, there is no overlap between the tapered surface TM and the base side coil spring KB2, and between the tapered surface TM and the tip side coil spring KB1.
As a result, in this embodiment, it is possible to impart a tapered shape to the contact member 700 while suppressing deformation of the contact member 700.

Here, if the above-mentioned tapered surface TM is present at the point of contact between the base side coil spring KB2 and the tip side coil spring KB1 of the contact member 700, the contact member 700 will be easily deformed in the portion where the tapered surface TM is formed, since the thickness of the contact member 700 is small.
In contrast to this, if the tapered surface TM is present at a portion of the contact member 700 that is not in contact with the base side coil spring KB2 and the tip side coil spring KB1, as described above, deformation of the contact member 700 is suppressed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of the support portion 300, the paper P, the second advancing member 620, and the contact member 700 as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow X in FIG.
In this embodiment, the second advancing member 620, which is the side that receives the paper sheets P, is disposed above the already stacked paper sheets PX, as described above.
Furthermore, as described above, in this embodiment, the contact member 700 rests on the already-stacked sheets PX, and further, the lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 comes into contact with the already-stacked sheets PX.

In this embodiment, the lower edge 709 is disposed along the surface of the already stacked paper PX, and the lower edge 709 and the already stacked paper PX are in line contact with each other.
In addition, in this embodiment, when the lower edge portion 709 is in contact with the already stacked paper PX, the parallelism between this lower edge portion 709 and the already stacked paper PX is higher than the parallelism between the lower edge portion 610E of the second advancing member 620 and the already stacked paper PX.

In this embodiment, the first advancing member 610, which is the side that presses the paper P, is disposed in the state shown in FIG.
Further, the second advancing member 620 , which is the side that receives the paper P, is disposed in the state shown in FIG. 10 , and the second advancing member 620 is disposed in a state closer to the already-stacked paper PX than the first advancing member 610 .

In addition, in this embodiment, the angle between the line L11 connecting the axial centers C2 of the tip side coil spring KB1 and the base side coil spring KB2 provided on the first advancing member 610 side and the edge portion PB of the paper P is angle α, as shown in Figure 6.
In contrast, the angle formed by a line L21 connecting the axial centers C21 of the tip side coil spring KB1 and the base side coil spring KB2 provided on the second advancing member 620 side and the edge portion PB of the paper P is angle β, as shown in Figure 10.
In this embodiment, the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are arranged so that the angle α is greater than the angle β.

In addition, in this embodiment, on the second advancing member 620 (see Figure 10), the coil spring KB receives the load acting on the second advancing member 620 from newly supplied paper P (not shown in Figure 10).At this time, in this embodiment, this load is received by two coil springs KB, the tip side coil spring KB1 and the base side coil spring KB2.
In contrast, on the first advancing member 610 (see Figure 6), the load caused by the reaction from the paper P is received by the coil spring KB, but in this embodiment, this load is received mainly by the tip side coil spring KB1.

Here, on the receiving side, the second advancing member 620 (see FIG. 10), the load is received by two coil springs KB as described above, so the load acting on each coil spring KB is small. In this case, the contact member 700 provided on the second advancing member 620 side becomes difficult to move, and the positioning of the paper P by this contact member 700 is more stable.
Furthermore, if the contact member 700 is configured to be difficult to move, the already-stacked sheets PX that are located below the contact member 700 and in contact with the contact member 700 will also be difficult to move.

In addition, in this embodiment, when paper P is pressed against the contact member 700, which functions as a receiving portion for receiving paper P, the contact member 700 tends to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow 9F around the lower edge portion 709 (see FIG. 9).
In addition, in this embodiment, the lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 is in contact with the already stacked paper PX and receives resistance from the paper P, so it is difficult to move. On the other hand, the portion of the contact member 700 located above the lower edge 709 is pressed by new paper P and is likely to fall in the direction indicated by the arrow 9F.
In this case, the already stacked sheets PX located below the contact member 700 are less likely to move. In this case, the positional deviation of the already stacked sheets PX due to the movement of the lower edge 709 of the contact member 700 is less likely to occur.

In addition, in this embodiment, as described above, the contact member 700 is provided with the tapered surface TM, which makes the contact member 700 even more likely to fall over.
Additionally, in this embodiment, the surface of the contact member 700 that is located on the side to which the contact member 700 falls is provided with a tapered surface TM, making the contact member 700 even more likely to fall.

On the other hand, on the side of the first advancing member 610 (see FIG. 6), the load caused by the reaction from the paper P is received mainly by the leading end side coil spring KB1.
In this case, the amount of contraction of the tip end side coil spring KB1 increases, and the contact member 700 moves significantly. In this case, the load acting on the paper P from the first advancing member 610 side is reduced.

Here, if the load acting on the paper P is large, the paper P may become wavy or deformed, or when the load is released, the paper P may bounce and become misaligned. Also, if the load acting on the paper P is large, the edge PB of the paper P may be folded.
In contrast, in this embodiment, the load acting on the paper P is reduced, and problems that occur when a large load is applied to the paper P are less likely to occur.

Here, there is often variation in the size of the paper P, and there may be cases where the paper P is larger than the specified value.
In this case, the paper sheet P larger than this specified value is pressed excessively by the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620, and in this case, there is a risk that the paper sheet P will be deformed or disturbed.

In contrast, in this embodiment, when a sheet P larger than the specified value is present, the contact member 700 retreats from the sheet P.
In addition, when a sheet of paper P larger than the specified value is present, the contact member 700 moves in the opposite direction to the advancing direction of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 .
This prevents an excessive load from being applied to the paper P, and prevents the paper P from being deformed or disturbed.

In this embodiment, the amount of movement of the contact member 700 provided on the advance side (the amount of retraction from the paper P) is greater than the amount of movement of the contact member 700 provided on the reception side.
In this case, the positioning of the paper P can be performed more accurately on the receiving side, and the load acting from the paper P can be relieved on the advancing side.

In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 8, when both the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are advanced toward the paper P, the amount of movement of the contact member 700 (the amount of retraction from the paper P) also becomes large, and the load acting on the paper P is reduced.
Even when both the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are advanced toward the paper P, the load resulting from the reaction from the paper P is mainly received by the leading end side coil spring KB1.
In this case, the contact member 700 moves significantly, and the load acting on the paper P from the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 is reduced.

The process of offsetting and stacking the sheets P may be performed using the configuration shown in FIG.
When using the configuration shown in Figure 15, similarly to the above, for example, as shown in Figure 17 (a diagram showing the state when paper P is offset and stacked), the contact member 700 on the side pressing the paper P (contact member 700 indicated by reference symbol 17A) is lowered below the contact member 700 on the side receiving the paper P (contact member 700 indicated by reference symbol 17B).

When pressing the paper P, a portion of the contact surface 760 of the contact member 700 pressing the paper P advances toward the paper P, and this contact surface 760 comes into contact with the edge portion PB of the paper P. In other words, a portion of the inclined surface of the contact member 700 pressing the paper P advances toward the paper P, and this inclined surface comes into contact with the edge portion PB of the paper P. In contrast, the contact member 700 receiving the paper P is positioned so that a vertical surface 762 is located on an extension line of the moving paper P. This causes the edge portion PB of the paper to be pressed against this vertical surface 762.
In FIG. 17, the inclination angle of the contact surface 760 with respect to the vertical direction is set smaller than the inclination angle of the contact surface 760 with respect to the vertical direction shown in FIG.

In this processing example, the surface against which the edge PB of the paper is pressed is aligned in the vertical direction, so that the positions of the sheets P in the extension direction are aligned.
In other words, the vertical surface 762 of the contact member 700 provided on the right side in the figure is aligned along the vertical direction, and the paper sheets P are pressed against this vertical surface 762, thereby aligning the positions of the sheets P in the extension direction. In other words, the positions of the sheets P in the horizontal direction are aligned.

Furthermore, in this configuration example, the contact surface 760 facing diagonally downward is positioned opposite the upper surface of the newly loaded paper P, and if the newly loaded paper P bulges upward in a convex manner, this bulging can be suppressed in the same manner as described above.
Furthermore, in this configuration example, as described above, newly loaded paper P is pressed from above by contact surface 760, and a load is applied to the newly loaded paper P, pressing the paper P downward.

In this embodiment, a storage unit is provided that stores the sheets P transported from the upstream side while the sheets P are being aligned using the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 .
More specifically, in this embodiment, between the time when one or both of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 start to advance and the time when the advancing member 600 returns to its original position, new paper P may be transported from the upstream side toward the support section 300, and in this case, in this embodiment, this new paper P is temporarily accumulated in the accumulation section.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the paper stacking section 60 (see Figure 2) functions as an accumulation section, and multiple new sheets of paper P are accumulated in the paper stacking section 60 from the time when one or both of the above-mentioned advancing members 600 begin to advance until the time when the advancing members 600 return to their original positions.
In addition, in this embodiment, multiple sheets of paper P that reach the paper stacking section 60 between the time when one or both of the advancing members 600 begin to advance and the time when the advancing members 600 return to their original positions are accumulated in the paper stacking section 60.
In this embodiment, when the advanced advancing member 600 returns to its original position, the multiple sheets of paper P accumulated in the paper stacking section 60 are sent to the first stacking section 43 .

Here, for example, if the paper stacking unit 60 is configured such that a plurality of sheets P are not accumulated, it becomes necessary to perform processing such as temporarily stopping the image forming process in the image forming apparatus 2 (see FIG. 1).
More specifically, while the alignment process of paper P is being performed in the first stacking section 43, the transport of paper P toward the first stacking section 43 is delayed, in this case, the image forming device 2 is affected by this, and it becomes necessary to take measures such as temporarily stopping the image formation process.
In contrast, in the present embodiment, when multiple sheets of paper P are accumulated in the paper stacking section 60, the impact on the image forming device 2 is smaller than when no sheets of paper P are accumulated, thereby improving the processing efficiency of the entire image forming system 1.

In the above, both the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 have the function of pressing paper P and the function of receiving paper P, but it is also possible for one advancing member 600 to have only the function of pressing paper P and the other advancing member 600 to have only the function of receiving paper P.
In addition, in the above, both the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 have the function of advancing and retracting with respect to the paper P. However, this is not limited to the above, and only one of the advancing members 600, the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620, may be given the function of advancing and retracting with respect to the paper P, and the other advancing member 600 may not be given the function of advancing and retracting, and this other advancing member 600 may be provided in a fixed state.

In this case, the advancing member 600 that is installed in a fixed state does not have the function of advancing, so it can be regarded not as an advancing member, but rather as a placement member that is arranged downstream of the paper P moving along the width direction.
In addition, the advancing member 600 that is installed in a fixed state can be regarded as a positioning member that is arranged downstream in the paper movement direction of the paper P that is pressed and moved by the other advancing member 600.

Additionally, in this case, the advancing member 600 located on the side pressing the paper P can be regarded as a moving means for moving the paper P supported by the support portion 300 in the width direction of the paper P.
Further, the advancing member 600 that is provided in a fixed state can be regarded as a placement member that is placed downstream in the paper movement direction of the paper P that is moved by this moving means.

In this case, the arrangement member receives the paper P moved by the moving means using the contact member 700 provided on the arrangement member.
Here, in this case, the contact member 700 is disposed between the paper P moved by the moving means and the arrangement member.
Also, on the side receiving the paper P, instead of providing a member such as the contact member 700, for example, a wall portion along the vertical direction may be provided so that the paper P abuts against this wall portion.

11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the moving mechanism 730 (see FIG. 4).
11A is a top view of the moving mechanism 730, and FIG. 11B is a view of a part of the moving mechanism 730 seen from the direction of the arrow XIB in FIG. 11A.
In this embodiment, as described above, the moving mechanism 730 that moves the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 is provided.
As shown in FIG. 11A , the moving mechanism 730 is provided with a guide member 910 that is arranged along the advance/retract direction of the first advancement member 610 and the second advancement member 620 and guides the first advancement member 610 and the second advancement member 620 .

Furthermore, in this embodiment, there is provided a first moving mechanism 921 that moves the first advancing member 610. Also, there is provided a second moving mechanism 922 that moves the second advancing member 620.
The first moving mechanism 921 is provided with a ring-shaped belt member 921A having a portion that extends along the advance/retract direction of the first advancing member 610. Furthermore, a first drive motor M101 that moves this belt member 921A is provided.

In this embodiment, the first advancing member 610 is fixed to the belt member 921A, and the first advancing member 610 advances and retreats in the width direction of the paper P by driving the first drive motor M101.
Similarly, the second moving mechanism 922 is provided with a ring-shaped belt member 922A having a portion that follows the advance/retract direction of the second advancing member 620, and a second drive motor M102 that moves this belt member 922A, and by driving this second drive motor M102, the second advancing member 620 advances and retreats along the width direction of the paper P.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11A, a rotation mechanism 950 is provided.
The rotation mechanism 950 rotates the first advancing member 610 around the base 610A of the first advancing member 610, and rotates the second advancing member 620 around the base 620A of the second advancing member 620.

The rotation mechanism 950 is provided with a support member 951 that extends along the advancing and retreating directions of the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 and supports the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 from below.
Furthermore, the rotation mechanism 950 is provided with a vertical movement mechanism 952 that moves the support member 951 up and down.

The vertical movement mechanism 952 is provided with a third drive motor M103. The vertical movement mechanism 952 is also provided with a rotating member 954 that is rotated by the third drive motor M103 and has one end 954A that moves up and down. In this embodiment, the one end 954A of the rotating member 954 is attached to a support member 951.
In this embodiment, when the third drive motor M103 is driven to rotate the rotating member 954 as shown in FIG. 11B, the support member 951 moves up and down, and accordingly, the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 move up and down.

Here, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 8, when the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 are used to press the paper P from both sides of the paper P, the third drive motor M103 is driven to lower the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 to the sides of the paper P supported by the support section 300.
Next, in this embodiment, the first driving motor M101 and the second driving motor M102 are driven to move the first advancing member 610 and the second advancing member 620 toward the paper P.

9, the third drive motor M103 is driven in the same manner. As a result, the first advancing member 610 is lowered to the side of the paper P supported by the support portion 300.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, while the first advancing member 610 is descending, the movement of the second advancing member 620 is restricted by the already stacked sheets PX, and the second advancing member 620 comes to be positioned above the already stacked sheets PX.
Then, the first driving motor M101 is driven to advance the first advancing member 610 toward the paper P.

2...image forming device, 3...paper processing device, 300...supporting part, 610...first advancing member, 614...advancing part, 620...second advancing member, 700...contact member, 709...lower edge, 710...upper edge, 760...contact surface, 762...vertical surface, C...axis center, KB...coil spring, P...paper, PB...edge, PU...upper surface

Claims (12)

a support portion that supports the recording material from below;
a contact member having a contact surface that advances from a side of the recording material supported by the support portion toward the recording material and contacts an edge portion of the recording material;
an advancing portion that advances toward the recording material together with the contact member;
Equipped with
The contact member has a lower edge portion located below a lower end portion of the protruding portion,
The recording material processing apparatus, wherein when the contact surface of the contact member is in contact with the edge portion and pressing the edge portion, the contact surface faces obliquely downward. the advancing portion is provided on the opposite side of the contact member from the side on which the recording material is positioned, the advancing portion advancing toward the recording material together with the contact member,
2. The recording material processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an elastic member provided between the contact member and the protruding portion. the elastic member is a coil spring,
3. The recording material processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a portion of the contact member that is located below an axial center of the coil spring contacts the edge of the recording material. the advancing portion is provided on the opposite side of the contact member from the side on which the recording material is positioned, the advancing portion advancing toward the recording material together with the contact member,
The contact member is supported by the protruding portion,
the contact member is disposed in a state inclined with respect to a vertical direction when the contact surface is in contact with the edge portion and pressing the edge portion,
The recording material processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the protruding portion is disposed in a state aligned along a vertical direction when the contact surface is in contact with the edge portion and pressing the edge portion. the advancing portion is provided on the opposite side of the contact member from the side on which the recording material is positioned, the advancing portion advancing toward the recording material together with the contact member,
The contact member is supported by the protruding portion,
When the contact member advances toward the recording material and contacts the edge portion, the attitude of the contact member changes, and the contact surface faces obliquely downward with the change in attitude.
2 . The recording material processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the advancing portion does not change its position even after the contact surface of the contact member comes into contact with the edge portion. The advancing portion is aligned along a vertical direction,
6. The recording material processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein even after the contact surface of the contact member comes into contact with the edge portion, the attitude of the protruding portion does not change, and the protruding portion is maintained in a state aligned in the vertical direction. the advancing portion is provided on the opposite side of the contact member from the side on which the recording material is positioned, the advancing portion advancing toward the recording material together with the contact member,
The contact member is supported by the protruding portion,
2. The recording material processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when comparing thicknesses in a direction in which the contact member advances toward the recording material, the thickness of the contact member is smaller than the thickness of the advancing portion. The recording material processing device according to claim 1, wherein the contact surface is disposed along the vertical direction when the contact member is retracted from the recording material. The recording material processing device according to claim 1, wherein when the contact member comes into contact with the recording material, a load acts on the contact member from the recording material, and the contact surface faces diagonally downward due to the load acting on the contact member. the contact member having the lower edge and an upper edge;
10. The recording material processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the load from the recording material acts on a portion of the contact member that is located closer to the lower edge portion. The recording material processing device according to claim 1, wherein when the contact surface of the contact member contacts the edge of the recording material and presses the edge, the upper edge of the contact member is located at a location facing the upper surface of the recording material. 12. An image forming system comprising an image forming apparatus which forms an image on a recording material, and a recording material processing apparatus which processes the recording material, the recording material processing apparatus including the recording material processing apparatus according to claim 1 .

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