Abstract: A post-processing apparatus including a conveyance unit containing a stacker for storing a plurality of sheets placed one on top of the other and a conveyance path having a curvature for ejecting a plurality of sheets placed one on top of the other in the stacker and a control section for controlling conveyance of sheets, wherein the control section controls aligning the plurality of sheets in the conveyance unit, feeding a plurality of sheets placed one on top of the other to a roller through the conveyance path having a curvature, driving the conveyance roller so as to feed the plurality of sheets, hitting the sheet ends against a stopper so as to align the sheet ends, further conveying the sheets with the ends aligned until a loop is formed on sheets, and punching the sheets using by a punching section subsequent to formation of the loop.

Abstract: The sheet processing apparatus has a stapling unit which staples a sheet bundle by clinching the sheet bundle, of which sheets sequentially enters an opening between a first stapling part and a second stapling part and are then stacked, and a controller which controls the stapling parts. When executing a stapling process of the sheet bundle, an opening distance between the stapling parts before starting a stapling operation becomes narrower than an opening distance set till the last sheet of the sheet bundle enters (approaches) between the stapling parts. This contrivance enables reduction of the time required for the stapling process of the sheet bundle and an improvement of the productivity irrespective of the number of points for the stapling process without scaling up the apparatus, causing any complicated configuration of the apparatus and increasing the costs.

Abstract: A sheet finisher includes a sheet stacker for stacking sheets conveyed from an image forming apparatus to form a sheet bundle and a binding device for binding the sheet bundle with a staple, further includes a center folding device for center folding sheets conveyed from the image forming apparatus, a first conveying device for conveying sheets conveyed from the image forming apparatus to the sheet stacker without passing through the center folding device, and a second conveying device for conveying the sheets to the sheet stacker via the center folding device.

Abstract: A sheet finishing apparatus includes a conveying member configured to convey recording media and a tray configured to receive the recording media conveyed by the conveying member. The tray includes a holding member configured to hold the recording media therein and to contact a first edge of the recording media such that the recording media is positioned, a rotatable moving member configured to contact the recording media such that the holding member abuts against the recording media, a discharging member configured to discharge the recording media stacked by the holding member, and a protruding member mounted on the discharging member and configured to contact a second edge of the recording media such that the recording media is positioned. One of the rotatable moving member and the protruding member positions the recording media stacked in the tray in a travel direction of the recording medium.

Abstract: There is provided a sheet post-processing unit and image forming unit, which is capable of stably conveying sheets discharged one after another to a tray to form a bundle of sheets and to staple the bundle. A sheet conveying means is provided for selectively conveying the sheet to be discharged in the downstream and upstream directions of the sheet discharging direction, as well as moving the sheet in a direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction, and which is capable of moving up and down to be contactable with, and detachable from, the sheet.

Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus has: a plurality of conveying paths which convey sheets; and front and back aligning members which perform width alignment in the direction which crosses the sheet conveying direction of the sheets conveyed from the conveying paths. Standby positions when the front and back aligning members approach side edges of the sheets from the standby positions and perform the width alignment of the sheets at the width aligning position are made different every sheet on the basis of discharge position information of the sheets to the plurality of conveying paths.

Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes: a buffer unit which stores plural supplied sheets with upstream edges in a conveying direction thereof aligned; a processing tray on which sheets discharged from the buffer unit are stacked; and an oscillation roller pair and a return roller which convey the sheet stacked on the processing tray to bring the sheet into abutment against a stopper for receiving the upstream edge of the sheet. The buffer unit is adapted to align the upstream edges of only sheets to be stored before a sheet to be supplied last among the sheets to be stored.

Abstract: A bookbinding apparatus, having a sheet bundle storing device to store a sheet bundle, a grasping device to grasp the sheet bundle stored in the sheet bundle storing device, a square spine forming device to form a square spine, wherein a pair of forming members bend a coversheet bonded onto a back section of the sheet bundle grasped by the grasping device, a pressure force controlling device to vary a pressure force of the pair of forming members to press a bending section of the coversheet in accordance with bookbinding conditions.

Abstract: A sheet treating apparatus for treating a sheet having an image formed thereon is provided, which includes a pair of transport rollers for transporting the sheet upward, a sheet post-treating portion having an intermediate treatment tray, provided to execute post-treatment such as sheet stitching or punching while holding the sheet in a substantially vertical state, and a sheet delivery portion arranged above the sheet post-treating portion. Also, an image forming apparatus is provided, which includes an image reading portion for reading an image, an image forming portion arranged below the image reading portion to form an image on a sheet, a delivery space portion provided in an apparatus housing between the image reading portion and the image forming portion to deliver the sheet, sheet treating portion for treating the sheet while holding it in a substantially vertical state, and an in-body transportation path for transporting the sheet treated by the sheet treating means to the delivery space portion.

Abstract: A sheet finishing apparatus of the present invention has a gate for taking in sheets of paper ejected from an image forming apparatus through a taking-in port and switching to either of a conveying path for post processing or a conveying path for non-post processing to convey the sheets of paper and a tray attached to the upper part of the sheet finishing apparatus by a link mechanism, and the tray can rotate between the height position for storing sheets of paper and the height position away from the upper part and keeps the angle of inclination thereof constant at either of the height positions, and furthermore, sheets of paper taken in from the taking-in port are clamped and conveyed by a pair of rollers, and one of the pair of rollers is supported by a sheet guidance member, and the sheet guidance member rotates in connection with the link mechanism and can cope with paper jamming, if any.

Abstract: There is provided a sheet processing apparatus that is capable of allowing a decrease in the speed at which sheets are discharged to a stacking device even if sheets are conveyed into the sheet processing apparatus at short time intervals, or capable of eliminating the necessity of using an aligning device that can perform each alignment at a high speed, or capable of reducing the number of times of operations to be performed by the aligning device, and an image forming apparatus that is provided with the sheet processing apparatus. A plurality of sheets being conveyed is superposed. The sheets conveyed from the sheet superposing device are stacked. The sheets stacked in the stacking device are aligned. A sheet superposing device superposes a plurality of sheets being conveyed. A stacking device stacks thereon the sheets conveyed from said sheet superposing device are stacked. An aligning device aligns the sheets stacked in said stacking device.

Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus including a first sheet stacking portion for stacking sheets thereon, a second sheet stacking portion provided downstream of the first sheet stacking portion with respect to a sheet conveying direction, a sheet holding device for holding the sheets stacked on the first sheet stacking portion, and a holding device moving device for moving the sheet holding device between a holding position for holding the sheets and a discharging position provided downstream of the holding position in the sheet conveying direction, wherein the discharging position has a predetermined distance upstream from a stop position in which the sheet holding device moved to a downstream side with respect to the sheet conveying direction by the holding device moving device is stopped to an upstream side.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus aligning and stacking a sheet comprising: a stacking means for stacking the sheet or sheet bundle; a conveying means for conveying the sheet or sheet bundle toward the stacking means; a sheet rear end aligning means for aligning rear end of the sheet or sheet bundle upon pressing toward the stacking means the rear end of the sheet or sheet bundle conveyed by the conveying means; and a controlling means for controlling operation of the sheet rear end aligning means.

Abstract: When the rear end of a sheet bundle S is brought to reach the clamping portion between a rocking roller and a rear end aligning wall by conveyance means, the individual timings, at which the rocking roller and the rear end aligning wall move to the escape position, are controlled to drop said sheet bundle S onto a stack tray, and then the rear end aligning wall is moved from the escape position to the support position thereby to register the rear end of the sheet bundle S dropped on the stack tray.

Abstract: The sheet stacking-aligning apparatus or the sheet processing apparatus includes a substantially horizontal stacking tray, a rear end aligning unit for aligning a rear end of a sheet bundle on the stacking tray, and a control unit for controlling an operation of the rear end aligning unit for aligning the sheet bundle when it is in an upstream position of the stacking tray, and the stacking tray is provided substantially horizontally. It is thus made possible to increase the stacking space, thereby increasing the number of stackable sheets and to achieve the alignment of the rear end of the sheet bundle with a simple configuration, thereby improving the stacking-aligning property of the sheet bundle on the stacking tray.

Abstract: The invention relates to a signature hopper loader and method for feeding signatures to a hopper on a binding line. The hopper loader includes a conveyor and a deblocker that work together to feed signatures to the hopper. The deblocker is preferably positioned adjacent the conveyor such that the deblocker serves to laterally shift the signatures facilitating deblocking and/or alignment of the signatures.

Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes: a buffer unit which stores plural supplied sheets with upstream edges in a conveying direction thereof aligned; a processing tray on which sheets discharged from the buffer unit are stacked; and an oscillation roller pair and a return roller which convey the sheet stacked on the processing tray to bring the sheet into abutment against a stopper for receiving the upstream edge of the sheet. The buffer unit is adapted to align the upstream edges of only sheets to be stored before a sheet to be supplied last among the sheets to be stored.

Abstract: A bundled sheet processing apparatus has a chute unit tilting between the first and second positions. A downstream side in the chute unit conveying direction, there is provided a stopper that has the contact surface narrower than the thickness of a bundle and stops the bundle by contacting the end of the bundle in the conveying direction with the contact surface. At this time, sheets protruding beyond the contact surface are detected by a detector.

Abstract: In order to reduce the stack failure of a sheet bundle, there is provided a sheet stacking/aligning apparatus comprising: a stack tray for stacking sheets thereon; and a rear end aligning member for pushing and aligning the rear end of a sheet conveyed onto the stack tray. The rear end aligning member includes sheet holding paddle for holding the sheets stacked on the stack tray.

Abstract: The sheet stacking-aligning apparatus or the sheet processing apparatus includes a substantially horizontal stacking tray, a rear end aligning unit for aligning a rear end of a sheet bundle on the stacking tray, and a control unit for controlling an operation of the rear end aligning unit for aligning the sheet bundle when it is in an upstream position of the stacking tray, and the stacking tray is provided substantially horizontally. It is thus made possible to increase the stacking space, thereby increasing the number of stackable sheets and to achieve the alignment of the rear end of the sheet bundle with a simple configuration, thereby improving the stacking-aligning property of the sheet bundle on the stacking tray.

Abstract: The present invention provides a sheet process device capable of performing a sheaf discharge operation to discharge sheaves of sheets stacked on a process tray to a stack tray, without discharging a next sheet to the process tray during the sheaf discharge operation and stopping an operation on a body side of an image formation apparatus. In the sheet process device, for example, in a case where an original consisting of six sheets of paper is carried, the first to third sheets are stacked on the process tray as they are without any designation, and the following fourth sheet is designated as a sheaf discharge sheet since it is the sheet two before the final sheet of the sheaf, whereby the sheaf discharge of the first to fourth sheets is performed. The fifth sheet after the sheaf discharge is designated as a wind sheet since a value of a wind counter has been set to be “2”.

Abstract: A sheet processing device has a sheet conveying section for conveying sheets to a sheet processing section. The sheet conveying section has a sheet standby unit including a stacking device for stacking a predetermined number of sheets in a linear state, and a bundle conveying device for conveying the sheet bundle stacked in a linear state, whereby the predetermined number of sheets are conveyed to the sheet processing section after having been stacked in a linear state.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a main body having a sheet ejecting section, a placing tray formed on an upper portion of the main body to receive a sheet ejected from the main body, an image reading device for reading an image disposed above the sheet ejecting section, and a sheet post-processing unit disposed between the image reading device and the placing tray. The post-processing unit includes a supporting device capable of moving between a support position for supporting an upstream side of an ejected sheet in a transfer direction and a retreat position for allowing the sheet to drop onto the placing tray, a post-processing device disposed at a side adjacent to the supporting means for applying post-processing to the sheet supported on the supporting means, and a sheet shift device laterally moving the sheet into and from the post-processing device.

Abstract: In a booklet maker, as would be found in conjunction with a copier or printer, print sheets to be folded and stapled into a booklet are accumulated in a slot. At the bottom of the slot, a selectably extendable contact member presses an accumulating set of sheets against a sidewall of the slot following the entry of each new sheet into the slot. The contact member decreases curling and fluffing of sheets within the slot, which can cause imprecisions in registering, stapling, or creasing of the sheets as they are formed into a booklet.

Abstract: A sheet finisher for an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a conveying device for conveying a sheet and a punch unit for punching the sheet being conveyed by the conveying device. A sheet edge sensor senses the edge of the sheet, which is being conveyed by the conveying device, parallel to the direction of sheet conveyance. A drive source moves the sheet edge sensor in a direction perpendicular to the direction of sheet conveyance. Another drive source moves the punch unit in the direction perpendicular to the direction of sheet conveyance in accordance with information output from the sheet edge sensor. A controller controls the two drive sources by a preselected pulse ratio, thereby causing the punch unit to accurately punch the sheet.

Abstract: A paper processing apparatus that includes: a paper carry-in port, which is disposed at one side surface of the paper processing apparatus; a center-bound paper discharge port, which is disposed at another side surface opposite from the paper carry-in port; a center-binding compilation tray, which extends from an upper direction of the one side surface to a lower direction of the other side surface, and aligns and accommodates plural sheets of paper conveyed from the paper carry-in port; a center-binding stapler, which binds a predetermined portion of the paper stack that is accommodated and aligned; a folding knife, which folds the bound paper stack; a rotary cutter unit, which is disposed vertically above the center-binding compilation tray and cuts the folded paper using a horizontally moving blade.

Abstract: A sheet post-processing apparatus includes a head unit and an anvil unit movably disposed in a direction traversing the sheet discharge direction to provide staples into a sheet bundle. A feed path is disposed between the head unit and the anvil unit for allowing the sheet bundle to pass therethrough. The sheet bundle is moved from a stacking device to the feed path, wherein the head unit and anvil unit stitch the sheet bundle fed for a specified distance into the feed path.

Abstract: A single aligning roller is disposed at angle to each of two reference barriers to which a printed sheet is to be advanced so as to be aligned at a specific location for stapling. The aligning roller exerts a greater force towards the reference barrier further from the adjacent edge of the printed sheet to be aligned. The aligning roller is preferably at 66° to the reference barrier further from the adjacent edge of the printed sheet to be aligned.

Abstract: A sheet post-processing device is provided which includes a post-processing tray on which sheets of paper supplied from an image forming device are stacked, and a post-processing section for applying a post-processing operation to edges of one side of the sheets of paper stacked on the post-processing tray. The device further includes a first feed-out opening for discharging, to outside, the sheets of paper having been subject to the post-processing operation, a first discharge transport path for transporting the sheets of paper from the post-processing tray to the first feed-out opening, and a feed-out section for discharging the post-processed sheets of paper from the post-processing tray to the first discharge transport path.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus comprising an intermediate staking portion for aligning a sheet sent, a reference wall for positioning the sheet, a stapler form performing a binding operation with respect to a sheet bundle aligned by the reference wall, delivery means for delivering the sheet bundle from the intermediate stacking portion, a sheet stacking portion for stacking the sheet bundle and guide means provided above the sheet stacking portion and at an end portion on the stapler side of the end portions in the width direction of the sheet. The guide means supports an end portion on the stapler side of the sheet bundle when the sheet bundle is delivered from the delivery means in a staple mode in which the binding operation is preformed with respect to the sheet bundled.

Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a sheet conveying path for receiving a sheet conveyed from the outside and conveying the sheet therethrough to be discharged, a stack tray for stacking a plurality of the conveyed sheets for stapling, a stapler for stapling the plurality of the sheets stacked on the stack tray, and an output tray for receiving the discharged sheets. The sheet conveying path includes a first conveying path for guiding the conveyed sheet to the stack tray for stapling, and a second conveying path for guiding the conveyed sheet to the output tray bypassing the stack tray.