Sheet-material associating – Associating or disassociating – Sheet associating
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-27
2003-06-10
Mackey, Patrick H. (Department: 3651)
Sheet-material associating
Associating or disassociating
Sheet associating
C270S052170, C270S045000, C083S934000, C412S016000, C493S356000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06575447
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sheet cutter that cuts edges of sheets to true up them for a bundle of sheets after operations of center-stapling processing, center-folding processing and bookbinding processing, and to an image forming apparatus equipped with the sheet cutter.
There have been known TOKKAIHEI Nos. 6-72064, 7-187479 and 8-192951 as a sheet finisher that conducts center-stapling processing for a bundle of sheets in which one set is composed of a plurality of sheets.
Further, there have been proposed TOKKAIHEI Nos. 10-148983 and 10-167562 as a sheet finisher that makes twofold processing possible.
There is available a sheet cutter that cuts edges of sheets to true up them for a bundle of sheets after operations of center-stapling processing, center-folding processing and bookbinding processing. Further, in recent years, there has been proposed an sheet finisher equipped with a sheet cutter wherein edges of sheets are cut by the sheet cutter to true up the sheets after operations of center-stapling processing, center-folding processing and bookbinding processing are conducted like a weekly magazine by the sheet finisher for a bundle of sheets on which images are recorded by an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer and a compound machine wherein the copying machine and the printer are combined.
(First Problem)
With regard to a booklet stand of a conventional booklet storing means which stores a plurality of booklets which have been cut and are stacked, there are used a booklet stand of a bucket type and that of a conveyer type.
The booklet storing means of a bucket type is one wherein booklets which have been cut are ejected as they are and are stacked on a sheet ejection tray that is fixed at the lower portion on the side of a sheet cutter. On the booklet storing means of this type, storing capacity for booklets is small, and workability for taking out a plurality of booklets collectively is poor.
The booklet storing means of a conveyer type is one that is equipped with a sheet ejection belt that is arranged almost horizontally at the lower portion on the side a sheet cutter, and is rotated. A booklet which has been cut is placed on the rotating sheet ejection belt to be moved, and a succeeding booklet is placed to be overlapped partially with the preceding booklet on the sheet ejection belt to be moved. The booklet storing means of this type requires a long and large sheet ejection belt and has small capacity for stacked booklets.
(Second Problem)
The booklet which has been subjected to center-stapling processing and twofold processing is in a shape in which a portion in the vicinity of a folded section is swelled. After flattening the booklet by pressing the top face including the portion in the vicinity of the folded portion of the booklet with a pressure plate of a pressing means, prior to cutting processing for truing up edges of a booklet, an upper blade of a cutting means is lowered so that the upper blade and a lower blade cut jointly edges of the booklet to true up the edges.
On the conventional sheet cutter, an ascent and descent means for lifting and lowering the pressure plate and a driving means are arranged to be fixed on the upper portion of a booklet conveyance path. Accordingly, when defective conveyance for a booklet is caused in the booklet conveyance path, it is difficult to take out the booklet in the defective conveyance, because of upper mechanisms such as the ascent and descent means in the booklet conveyance path and the driving means.
Further, it is difficult to make the space over the booklet conveyance path to be broad and taking out of the booklet in the defective conveyance is difficult accordingly, because the pressure plate only moves within a range through which a booklet with a maximum thickness can pass.
(Third Problem)
An amount of a protrusion on the edge (an end edge portion) of the trailing edge in the conveyance direction of the booklet which has been subjected to center-stapling processing and twofold processing varies depending on the number of sheets in the booklet. Namely, an edge of the innermost sheet forming the booklet is more protruded than that of the outermost sheet. The more the number of sheets of the booklet is, the greater an amount of protrusion is. Therefore, if cutting is conducted at the fixed position, the edges fail to be trued up by defective cutting. In addition, if cutting is conducted more than needed, the size of the finished booklet turns out to be too small.
(Fourth Problem)
When the front door of the sheet cutter is opened, operations of the driving means of the sheet cutter are stopped, but, it sometimes happens that a user accidentally touches its fingertip to a sharp upper cutting blade and a lower cutting blade of the cutting means in suspension to be injured. In the invention, there is provided a safety device which always prevents that a fingertip of a user is brought into contact to be injured.
(Fifth Problem)
In the sheet cutter of a type wherein a booklet storing section that stores the booklet which has been subjected to edge cutting processing is protruded to be out of an enclosure of a sheet cutter main body, it sometimes happens that a user accidentally stumbles against the protruded sheet storing section to be injured. It further happens that the sheet storing section is hit by a moving object, and damages or troubles are caused. In the invention, there is provided a safety device which prevents that a user hits the sheet cutter to be injured.
(Sixth Problem)
A booklet which has been subjected to center-stapling processing and twofold processing by the sheet finisher is usually ejected from an ejection section located at the lower portion of the sheet finisher. This sheet finisher is provided with an ascending and descending sheet ejection tray capable of storing a large number of sheets which have neither been subjected to center-stapling processing nor been subjected to twofold processing. Under the condition that a sheet cutter is connected to the sheet finisher, if a clearance between a bottom of ascending and descending sheet ejection tray and an upper part of an outer wall of the sheet cutter is small when the ascending and descending sheet ejection tray is lowered to its lower limit position, it happens that a user's hand is caught by the clearance between the ascending and descending sheet ejection tray and the upper part of an outer wall of the sheet cutter to be injured, or objects are caught by the clearance, resulting in occurrence of damages and troubles. In the invention, there is provided a safety device which prevents that a user is injured when driving the sheet finisher.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The first object of the invention is to attain an improvement of workability of a sheet storing section on which finished booklets are ejected and stacked after edges of a bundle of sheets subjected to center-stapling processing and twofold processing are cut, and to attain an increase of a storing capacity for booklets and miniaturization of the sheet cutter.
The second object of the invention to solve the second problem stated above is to attain an improvement of workability in clearance of jammed booklet (jam clearance) in a cutting means and a conveyance means.
The third object of the invention to solve the third problem stated above is to make the optimum cutting corresponding to the number of sheets of a booklet to be folded double to be possible.
The fourth object of the invention is to provide a safety device so that a user may not be injured in the course of operating the sheet cutter.
The first object stated above can be attained by the following structures each representing a sheet cutter of the invention.
Structure (1):
A sheet cutter for finishing a booklet by cutting, with a cutting means, edges of a bundle of sheets folded double, wherein it is possible to load booklets on a booklet stand of a booklet storing means that stores a plurality of booklets which have been subjected to cutting processing, by
Hattori Masato
Kataoka Hirotaka
Okabe Hirohiko
Takahashi Tadahiro
Tamura Makoto
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