Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.

Kyocera Mita Corporation

Mita Industrial Co., Ltd.

Takashi Kotani

Yasushi Kamezaki

Yukio Tanisaki

Hiromichi Oguma

Hiroyuki Harada

Masahiro Sako

Toru Tanjo

Masahiro Nakagawa

Kazuhisa Iwamoto

Yasunori Ueno

Terumitsu Noso

Sachio Izumichi

Mitsutoshi Takemoto

Hiroyuki Nagai

Kazushi Takimoto

Toshiaki Inoue

A sheet conveying device includes: a sheet conveyance path that receives a long sheet conveyed from an image forming apparatus and allows the long sheet to be further conveyed; a turnover conveyance path that diverges from the sheet conveyance path, receives the long sheet conveyed from the sheet conveyance path to turn over the long sheet, and allows the turned-over long sheet to be further conveyed; a first shunt conveyance path that connects to the turnover conveyance path, has a circularly curved shape, and allows the long sheet conveyed from the turnover conveyance path to be shunted and switched back thereon; and a long-sheet conveyance path diverges from the turnover conveyance path connecting to the first shunt conveyance path and allows the long sheet switched back on the first shunt conveyance path to be conveyed toward a conveyance path leading to the image forming apparatus or an ejection device.

Sheet conveying device conveying sheet ejected from image forming apparatus

A sheet conveying device includes: a sheet conveyance path that receives a sheet conveyed from an image forming apparatus and allows the sheet to be conveyed on the sheet conveyance path; a turnover conveyance path that diverges from the sheet conveyance path, receives the sheet conveyed from the sheet conveyance path to turn over the sheet, and allows the turned-over sheet to be conveyed on the turnover conveyance path; a first shunt conveyance path that is formed to connect to the turnover conveyance path and have a circularly curved shape and allows the sheet conveyed from the turnover conveyance path to be shunted and switched back on the first shunt conveyance path; and a first U-turn conveyance path that is formed to diverge from the first shunt conveyance path and allows the sheet switched back on the first shunt conveyance path to be conveyed toward the image forming apparatus.

A conveyance apparatus includes a conveyance unit, a first cursor, a second cursor, and a controller. The conveyance unit conveys a sheet in a first direction. The first cursor regulates movement of the sheet in a second direction intersecting the first direction. The second cursor presses the sheet against the first cursor. The controller controls a speed at which the second cursor positioned away from the sheet moves toward the sheet.

Conveyance apparatus that controls speed toward sheet of second cursor pressing sheet against first cursor

A sheet loading device includes a discharge roller pair, a loading tray, a paddle member, a sheet holding member, a tray lifting-lowering drive portion, a top surface detection sensor, and a control portion. The control portion is capable of performing a lifting-lowering operation to arrange the loading tray at a reference position by lowering the loading tray with the sheet holding member arranged at the holding position to turn the top surface detection sensor into an off state, then lifting the loading tray to turn the top surface detection sensor into an on state, and then lowering the loading tray again to turn the top surface detection sensor into the off state and stopping the loading tray. With the loading tray at the reference position, a predetermined clearance is provided between a top surface of a sheet loaded on the loading tray and a rotational orbit of the paddle member.

Sheet loading device, sheet post-processing device provided therewith, and image forming system

A sheet stacking device includes a sheet outlet, a lower discharge roller, and a paddle member. The paddle member is disposed coaxially to a rotation shaft of the lower discharge roller, and is driven to rotate independently of the lower discharge roller in the same direction as the lower discharge roller, so as to contact downward an upstream part in a discharging direction of a sheet discharged through the sheet outlet. The paddle member includes a base part in which the rotation shaft is inserted, an arm part protruding in a direction separating from an axis center of the base part, and a paddle elastic part protruding from the arm part. A rotation speed of the paddle member is the same as a rotation speed of a discharge roller pair when the sheet passes through a nip of the discharge roller pair.

Sheet stacking device, sheet post processing device, and image forming system

A sheet post-processing device includes a processing tray, a post-processing mechanism, a discharge roller pair, a bundle discharge member, a loading tray, a sheet holding member, a discharge drive portion, a tray lifting-lowering drive portion, a sheet holding drive portion, and a control portion. In a case where a number A of sheets included in a sheet bundle loaded on the processing tray is smaller than a predetermined number A1, the control portion discharges the sheet bundle onto the loading tray by using the discharge roller pair, with the loading tray arranged at a reference position. In a case where the number A of the sheets included in the sheet bundle is equal to or larger than the predetermined number A1, the control portion discharges the sheet bundle onto the loading tray by using the bundle discharge member, with the loading tray having been lifted above the reference position.

Sheet post-processing device and image forming system provided therewith

A controller of a sheet stacking device executes tray elevating processing and sheet stacking processing. The tray elevating processing is processing in which when a sensor detects an uppermost sheet, the controller once lowers a stacking tray, and lifts the stacking tray until the sensor detects the uppermost sheet. The sheet stacking processing is processing in which the controller arranges a guide arm at an advanced position to guide the sheet, arranges the guide arm at a retracted position before a rear end of the sheet passes the sheet discharge portion, and stacks the sheet on the stacking tray after the rear end of the sheet passes the sheet discharge portion. The controller executes the tray elevating processing in a state where the guide arm is disposed at the advanced position during the execution of the sheet stacking processing.

Sheet stacking device, sheet post-processing device and image forming apparatus provided with sheet post-processing device

A sheet stacking device includes: a pair of sheet discharge rollers having a drive roller; a stacking tray for stacking sheets; a blade member; and a controller. The controller executes: stop processing in which the blade member is stopped at a stop position during discharging of the sheet; and rotation processing in which the blade member is rotated by one turn before a rear end of the sheet passes through the pair of sheet discharge rollers and the sheet is placed on the stacking tray. The blade is configured, in the rotation processing, to make the sheet fall on the stacking tray by beating a rear end portion of the sheet from above, and to be brought into contact with the rear end portion of the sheet which falls on the stacking tray from above while pulling the sheet toward an upstream side in the sheet discharge direction.

In a sheet discharge device, upon a discharge of a sheet bundle onto a discharge tray, a lowering control portion lowers the discharge tray by a predetermined lowering distance. After the discharge tray is lowered by the lowering control portion, a lifting control portion waits until a front end of an initial sheet of a next sheet bundle becomes in a state of protruding from a discharge port, and then lifts the discharge tray until an upper-surface detection sensor detects that an upper surface of sheet bundles stacked on the discharge tray has reached a predetermined height.

Sheet discharge device and image forming apparatus

When a discharge count has exceeded a specified number of sheets, a sheet discharge device executes a process of moving down a discharge tray by a specified quantity and thereafter moving up the discharge tray until a top-surface detection part outputs a top-surface detection signal, while clocking a move-up time lasting from a move-up start of the discharge tray until output of the top-surface detection signal by the top-surface detection part. When the move-up time is equal to or less than a reference time, the sheet discharge device makes a next sheet discharged while the top-surface detection part outputs the top-surface detection signal; on the other hand, when the move-up time is more than the reference time, the sheet discharge device executes a correction process of moving down the discharge tray before making the next sheet discharged.

A recording medium ejecting device includes ejecting trays, a guiding member and a switching mechanism. The guiding member is switchable between a first posture to permit ejection of a recording medium on one ejecting tray and a second posture to restrict the ejection of the recording medium on the one ejecting tray. The switching mechanism switches the guiding member between the first posture and the second posture. The switching mechanism includes pulleys, a driving belt and a pressing member. The driving belt is wound around the pulleys. The pressing member presses the guiding member. The driving belt includes a contactable area configured to be contactable with each of the pulleys and a contact restricted area whose contact with each of the pulleys is restricted. The pressing member catches the contact restricted area from both an outer face side and an inner face side.

Recording medium ejecting device and image forming apparatus

A sheet post-processing device includes a tray, an evacuating member, a regulating member mounted on the tray, and a feed mechanism. The tray can receive sheets thereon. The evacuating member temporarily evacuates, from a conveyance path, sheets being conveyed, stacks the evacuated sheets into a pile, and conveys the pile of sheets onto the tray through the conveyance path. The feed mechanism includes a spongy elastic member and moves the pile of sheets along the tray toward the regulating member. When stacking three or more sheets into a pile, the evacuating member performs the stacking such that, in the pile conveyed to the tray, an edge of each intermediate sheet protrudes toward the regulating member beyond an edge of an uppermost sheet and an edge of a lowermost sheet.

Post-processing device having shifted sheets

A sheet post-processing device includes: a temporary holding unit temporarily holding a sheet supplied by an image forming apparatus; and a shifting unit performing a shifting operation on a sheet bundle, the sheet bundle including two or more sheet, wherein an extra sheet not included in the sheet bundle is supplied to the shifting unit without temporarily holding the extra sheet in the temporary holding unit or by shortening a holding duration time in the temporary holding unit; and when the shifting operation is not completed on a sheet in queue immediately before the extra sheet when the extra sheet is received, the shifting unit is set to a waiting condition until the extra sheet is supplied to the shifting unit.

Sheet post-processing device

An image forming apparatus includes a sheet aligning mechanism that aligns a sheet of medium stacked by causing the sheet of medium to move in a shift direction orthogonal to a feed direction. The sheet aligning mechanism includes: a pair of alignment members having a pair of alignment surfaces; a rotational waiting position detector that detects whether the alignment members have moved to a rotational waiting position at which the alignment members wait; a rectilinear waiting position detector that detects whether the alignment members have moved to a rectilinear waiting position; and a post-processing controller that performs correction of a rotational angle and amount of movement of the alignment members performed by a rotational movement drive mechanism, based on signals output from the rotational waiting position detector and the rectilinear waiting position detector.

Post-processing device and image forming apparatus including the same

A sheet post-processing apparatusincludes bundle discharge rollers, a sheet detection sensor, a main tray, and a sheet hold devicehaving a plurality of hold portionsto. When a sheet bundle is discharged from the bundle discharge rollers, the hold portionstorotate to a release position where the hold portionstostop holding the sheet bundle P stacked on the main tray, the main traymoves downward to a wait position H, and then, the hold portionstorotate to the lowest position, then the main traymoves up to a hold position H

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Osaka, Japan

Takashi Kotani