SHEET CONVEYANCE APPARATUS AND SHEET CONVEYANCE SYSTEM

Abstract

A sheet conveyance apparatus includes: a cutting section that cuts, in a conveyance direction, a sheet on which images are printed to divide the sheet into multiple effective sheets; a conveyance section capable of individually conveying the effective sheets divided by the cutting section; a conveyance operation switching mechanism capable of switching a conveyance operation of the effective sheets conveyed by the conveyance section; and a hardware processor that controls the conveyance operation switching mechanism. Based on at least either information on image formation on the effective sheets or information on cutting of the sheet into the effective sheets, the hardware processor controls the conveyance operation switching mechanism to switch the conveyance operation of the effective sheets.

Claims

1. A sheet conveyance apparatus comprising: a cutting section that cuts, in a conveyance direction, a sheet on which images are printed to divide the sheet into multiple effective sheets; a conveyance section capable of individually conveying the effective sheets divided by the cutting section; a conveyance operation switching mechanism capable of switching a conveyance operation of the effective sheets conveyed by the conveyance section; and a hardware processor that controls the conveyance operation switching mechanism, wherein based on at least either information on image formation on the effective sheets or information on cutting of the sheet into the effective sheets, the hardware processor controls the conveyance operation switching mechanism to switch the conveyance operation of the effective sheets.

2. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the effective sheets include an unnecessary effective sheet that is unnecessary as a finished product, the hardware processor causes the conveyance operation switching mechanism to switch the conveyance operation of the unnecessary effective sheet such that the unnecessary effective sheet is distinguishable from other necessary effective sheets, based on the information on image formation on the effective sheets.

3. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein based on the information on image formation on the effective sheets, when the effective sheets include an effective sheet of a first job and an effective sheet of a second job, the hardware processor causes the conveyance operation switching mechanism to switch the conveyance operation of the effective sheet of the second job such that the effective sheet of the second job is distinguishable from the effective sheet of the first job.

4. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein based on the information on cutting, when there is no gap between adjacent effective sheets among the effective sheets, the hardware processor causes the conveyance operation switching mechanism to switch the conveyance operation such that a gap is formed between the adjacent effective sheets.

5. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein based on the information on cutting, when the effective sheets have different sheet widths, the hardware processor causes the conveyance operation switching mechanism to switch the conveyance operation of the effective sheets for each sheet width.

6. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 2, wherein in switching the conveyance operation, the conveyance operation switching mechanism differentiates conveyance timings or conveyance paths of the effective sheets.

7. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the conveyance operation switching mechanism includes a pair of speed control rollers or a pair of speed control belts that are arranged in parallel in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the effective sheets and that are rotatable at independently adjustable rotation speeds.

8. The sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the conveyance operation switching mechanism is a mechanism that holds the effective sheets and moves the effective sheets in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction or a conveyance guide that conveys the effective sheets in different directions.

9. A sheet conveyance system comprising: an image forming apparatus that forms images on a sheet; and the sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1 that cuts, in the conveyance direction, the sheet on which the images are formed by the image forming apparatus.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The advantages and features provided by one or more embodiments of the invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinafter and the appended drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention, and wherein:

[0018] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a sheet conveyance system including a sheet conveyance apparatus according to the present embodiment;

[0019] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a control structure of the sheet conveyance system according to the present embodiment;

[0020] FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a cutting section and a conveyance operation switching mechanism of the sheet conveyance apparatus according to the present embodiment, wherein a sheet is cut into two effective sheets by the cutting section as an example;

[0021] FIG. 4A is a schematic configuration of an example of the conveyance operation switching mechanism in a case where two effective sheets are formed by the cutting section;

[0022] FIG. 4B is a schematic configuration of a different example of the conveyance operation switching mechanism in a case where two effective sheets are formed by the cutting section;

[0023] FIG. 4C is a schematic configuration of a different example of the conveyance operation switching mechanism in a case where two effective sheets are formed by the cutting section;

[0024] FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of the cutting section and the conveyance operation switching mechanism of the sheet conveyance apparatus according to the present embodiment, wherein a sheet is cut into three effective sheets by the cutting section as an example;

[0025] FIG. 6A is a schematic configuration of an example of the conveyance operation switching mechanism in a case where three effective sheets are formed by the cutting section;

[0026] FIG. 6B is a schematic configuration of a different example of the conveyance operation switching mechanism in a case where three effective sheets are formed by the cutting section;

[0027] FIG. 6C is a schematic configuration of a different example of the conveyance operation switching mechanism in a case where three effective sheets are formed by the cutting section;

[0028] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation process by the sheet conveyance system according to the present embodiment;

[0029] FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of a switching operation by the conveyance operation switching mechanism in a case where two pages are printed on a sheet and the sheet includes a blank page (image forming information on the job includes a blank page);

[0030] FIG. 9 is a view for explaining a different example of the switching operation by the conveyance operation switching mechanism in a case where two pages are printed on a sheet and the sheet includes a blank page (image forming information on the job includes a blank page);

[0031] FIG. 10 is a view for explaining an example of the switching operation in a case where jobs are consecutively printed; two pages are printed on one sheet; and the sheets include a sheet on which the last sheet of the former job and the first sheet of the latter job are printed;

[0032] FIG. 11A is a diagram illustrating an example of switching the conveyance operation so that adjacent effective sheets do not overlap each other when the sheet is cut with a slit width of zero;

[0033] FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating a different example of switching the conveyance operation so that adjacent effective sheets do not overlap each other when the sheet is cut with a slit width of zero;

[0034] FIG. 11C is a diagram illustrating a different example of switching the conveyance operation so that adjacent effective sheets do not overlap each other when the sheet is cut with a slit width of zero; and

[0035] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of switching of the conveyance operation in a case where division widths of a sheet are different.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and illustrated examples.

[0037] As illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a sheet conveyance system 1 according to the present embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 100 and a sheet conveyance apparatus 200.

<Image Forming Apparatus 100>

[0038] The image forming apparatus 100 forms a color image by an electrophotographic method, based on image data obtained by reading an image of a document or image data received from an external device. The image forming apparatus 100 includes an operation part 11, a display part 12, a document reading section 13, an image forming section 14, a sheet feed section 15, a recording section 16, a communication section 17, an image processing section 18, and a controller 30 (an image forming controller 31, a hardware processor).

[0039] The operation part 11 includes a touch screen formed to cover a display screen of the display part 12 and various operation buttons, such as numeric buttons and a start button. The operation part 11 outputs an operation signal based on a user's operation to the image forming controller 31.

[0040] The display part 12 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) and displays various screens in accordance with an instruction of a display signal input from the image forming controller 31.

[0041] The document reading section 13 includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) and a scanner. The document reading section 13 outputs image data obtained by reading an image of a document to the image forming controller 31.

[0042] The image forming section 14 forms an image on a sheet supplied from the sheet feed section 15, based on the image data subjected to image processing. The image forming section 14 includes: photosensitive drums 141Y, 141M, 141C, and 141K corresponding to respective colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K); an intermediate transfer belt 142; a secondary transfer roller 143; a fixing section 144; and a density sensor 145.

[0043] The photosensitive drum 141Y is uniformly charged and is then scanned and exposed by a laser beam based on the image data for a yellow color, so that an electrostatic latent image is formed. Next, the yellow color is applied to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum, and development is performed. For the other photosensitive drums 141M, 141C, and 141K, the same processing as that for the photosensitive drum 141Y is performed, except that the colors to be handled are different.

[0044] The toner images in the respective colors formed on the photosensitive drums 141Y, 141M, 141C, and 141K are sequentially transferred onto the rotating intermediate transfer belt 142 (primary transfer). That is, a color toner image in which the toner images of four colors are superimposed is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 142. The color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 142 is collectively transferred onto a sheet by the secondary transfer roller 143 (secondary transfer).

[0045] The fixing section 144 includes a heating roller that heats the sheet on which the color toner image is transferred and a pressure roller that presses the sheet. The fixing section 144 fixes the color toner image on the sheet by heating and pressing.

[0046] The sheet feed section 15 includes sheet feed trays T11 to T13 and supplies the sheet to the image forming section 14. Each of the sheet feed trays T11 to T13 stores sheets of a sheet type and a size determined in advance for each sheet feed tray.

[0047] The recording section 16 stores various data, such as a program, image data to be used when the program is executed, and various setting data, to be readable by the controller 30 (image forming controller 31). As the recording section 16, a large-capacity memory such as a hard disk can be used.

[0048] The communication section 17 communicates with an external apparatus over a network, for example, a user terminal, a server, and a different image forming apparatus, and receives image data or job information on an image forming job from the external apparatus. The job information includes various setting items, such as the image forming mode, whether to perform cutting processing, the size of each sheet to be generated by cutting, the place to which a sheet is ejected, and post-processing.

[0049] The image processing section 18 performs necessary image processing on image data stored in the recording section 16, image data obtained by reading an image from a document by the document reading section 13, and image data input from an external device via the communication section 17. The image processing section 18 then sends the image data after the image processing to the image forming section 14. The image processing includes gradation processing, halftone processing, color conversion processing, and so forth. The image forming section 14 forms an image of four colors of C, M, Y, and K on a sheet, according to the pixel values of the four colors of the pixels of the image data on which image processing has been performed by the image processing section 18.

[0050] The controller 30 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a memory. By reading and executing various programs stored in the recording section 16, the controller 30 controls each section of the image forming apparatus 100. That is, for example, the controller 30 feeds a sheet from the sheet feed trays T11 to T13, transfers the image from the intermediate transfer belt 142 onto the sheet by the secondary transfer roller 143, and performs fixing processing by heating and pressurizing the sheet in the fixing section 144, so that the image is formed on the sheet.

[0051] The controller 30 also controls each section of the sheet conveyance apparatus 200, which is described later. Therefore, the controller 30 serves as the image forming controller 31 and the sheet processing controller 32.

[0052] The sheet conveyance apparatus 200 performs processing on a sheet output by the image forming apparatus 100 as necessary. Examples of the processing include slitter processing, gap slitter processing, cutting processing in a cross direction, creasing processing, and perforation processing in the cross direction or in the conveyance direction. These kinds of processing are not essential and are executed when instructed by the image forming apparatus 100. When the processing is not required, the sheet conveyance apparatus 200 conveys the sheets from the image forming apparatus 100 to the sheet ejection trays T1 and T2 as they are.

[0053] Herein, a case of performing slitter processing (cutting a sheet in the sheet conveyance direction) as the processing will be mainly described.

<Sheet Conveyance Apparatus 200>

[0054] The sheet conveyance apparatus 200 cuts the sheet P on which images have been printed by the image forming apparatus 100 into multiple effective sheets along the conveyance direction. The sheet conveyance apparatus 200 changes conveyance operation of the multiple effective sheets cut and divided in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction as necessary. The sheet conveyance apparatus 200 then ejects the effective sheets to the sheet ejection trays T1 and T2.

[0055] The sheet conveyance apparatus 200 includes a cutting section 21 that cuts a sheet in a sheet conveyance direction into effective sheets, an effective sheet conveyance section 22 that conveys the individual effective sheets, a conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 that switches conveyance operation of the individual effective sheets, and the sheet ejection trays T1 and T2 that receive ejected sheets. The sheet conveyance apparatus 200 further includes a printing information recording section 24, a processing information recording section 25, and the controller 30 (sheet processing controller 32).

[0056] The cutting section 21 includes a cutter 21a. The cutter 21a cuts the sheet P in the conveyance direction of the sheet P and divides the sheet P into multiple effective sheets in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction. The cutter 21a may have a mechanism for cutting a sheet, such as a disk cutter or a guillotine cutter. In the example herein, the cutter 21a is a disk cutter that cuts a sheet by rubbing an upper rotating blade and a lower rotating blade against each other.

[0057] The blade of the cutter 21a of the cutting section 21 is directed in the conveyance direction. The blade is not moved in the conveyance direction and is movable only in the cross direction. The position of the cutter 21a is adjusted based on the size of the sheet in the cross direction. That is, the controller 30 (sheet processing controller 32) moves the cutter 21a to a predetermined position in the cross direction and conveys the sheet P between the upper rotating blade and the lower rotating blade, so that the sheet is cut in the conveyance direction.

[0058] There may be one or more such cutters 21a, and the cutting section 21 may divide the sheet into two sheets as illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 or into three sheets as illustrated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. The cutting section 21 may perform processing for cutting waste. The cutting section 21 performs division of a sheet into at least two effective sheets (products).

[0059] The effective sheet conveyance section 22 can convey the individual effective sheets in parallel that are formed by cutting a sheet in the sheet conveyance direction by the cutting section 21 and dividing the sheet into multiple pieces in the direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction. The effective sheet conveyance section 22 may be formed as one body with the cutting section 21 or may be formed independently from the cutting section 21 and connected to the cutting section 21.

[0060] The effective sheet conveyance section 22 includes a conveyance means capable of conveying each effective sheet P1 independently. The conveyance means may be, for example, conveyance rollers 26 that are divided in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction and that are independently driven for each of the effective sheets. For another example, the conveyance means may be conveyance belts 28 that are independently driven for each of the effective sheets.

[0061] The conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 is provided on the conveyance path at the downstream side of the cutting section 21. That is, the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 is provided to the effective sheet conveyance section 22. The conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 can have various configurations. For example, the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 may control the conveyance operation for each conveyance row (for each divided effective sheet) to adjust the conveyance speed, the conveyance direction, and so forth of each of the effective sheets arranged in parallel. Further, the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 can also change the conveyance path for conveying the effective sheets by physically moving part of the conveyance path along with the effective sheets in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction.

[0062] Hereinafter, a specific example of the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 will be described.

[0063] FIG. 3 and FIG. 4A illustrate an example of dividing the sheet P into two effective sheets P1 by the cutting section 21 and conveying the two effective sheets P1 in parallel by the conveyance rollers 26. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6A illustrate an example of dividing the sheet P into three effective sheets P1 by the cutting section 21 and conveying the three effective sheets P1 in parallel by the conveying rollers 26.

[0064] In the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 of this example, part of the conveyance rollers 26 (the conveyance rollers immediately after the cutting section 21 in this example) are constituted by a pair of speed control rollers 26a, 26b that are arranged side by side in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the effective sheets P1. The speeds at which the speed control rollers 26a, 26b rotated are independently adjustable.

[0065] Multiple pairs of such speed control rollers 26a, 26b may be provided on each path of the effective sheet conveyance section 22 along the conveyance direction. Further, the pair(s) of speed control rollers 26a, 26b may be disposed on the conveying path (effective sheet conveyance section 22) as a conveyance operation switching unit 27.

[0066] The rotation speeds (the number of rotations) of the respective speed control rollers 26a and 26b can be independently controlled. In a case where the effective sheet P1 is intended to be conveyed linearly along the conveyance direction, the rotation speeds of the respective governor rollers 26a and 26b are made equal to each other. Further, when it is desired to convey the effective sheet toward the right side in the conveyance direction, the rotation speed of the speed control roller 26b on the left side with respect to the conveyance direction is set to be greater than the rotation speed of the speed control roller 26a on the right side. Similarly, when it is desired to convey the effective sheet toward the left side in the conveyance direction, the rotation speed of the speed control roller 26a on the right side with respect to the conveyance direction is set to be greater than the rotation speed of the speed control roller 26b on the left side. Further, when it is desired to differentiate the conveyance timing or the conveyance speed at part of the conveyance path, the conveyance rollers 26 at the part of the conveyance path may be stopped, or the rotation speed of the conveyance rollers 26 is made different.

[0067] Above are the examples of the conveying roller 26. Instead of the conveyance rollers 26, conveyance belts 28 may be used as illustrated in FIG. 4B and FIG. 6B. That is, the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 may be constituted by two speed control belts 28a and 28b arranged in parallel in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the effective sheets. The speed control belts 28a and 28b can be independently driven. In such a configuration, it is possible to change the conveyance direction and the conveyance timing of the effective sheet by the same method.

[0068] The conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 may be constituted by a conveyance guide 40 that conveys the effective sheets in different directions. The conveyance guide 40 may be constituted by a guide plate that can swing to the right and left with respect to the conveyance direction to change the conveyance direction of part of the effective sheets, for example. Such a conveyance guide 40 may be provided instead of the speed control rollers 26a, 26b or the speed control belts 28a, 28b. For another example, the conveyance guide 40 may be provided together with the speed control rollers 26a, 26b or the speed control belts 28a, 28b.

[0069] Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 4C and FIG. 6C, the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 may include a pair of upper and lower holding rollers 29 that hold the effective sheet P1. According to such a configuration, the effective sheet is pinched by the pair of holding rollers 29 from above and below, and the holding rollers 29 themselves are moved in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction while holding the effective sheet. Thus, the conveyance path of the sheet can be changed. In a case where the holding rollers 29 are also configured as the conveyance operation switching unit 27, the conveyance operation switching unit 27 itself may be moved in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction while holding the effective sheet to change the conveyance path. In the configuration of using the holding rollers 29, it is preferable that the effective sheet P1 is temporarily stopped when the conveyance path is changed.

[0070] The printing information recording section 24 records information on image formation on sheets. The information on image formation includes information on whether a blank page is included in a job, information on a page where jobs are switched, and so forth. The printing information recording section 19 may also record sheet information, such as the sheet type (e.g., the sheet type indicating plain paper, thick paper, and so forth) and the basis weight of the sheets housed in the sheet feed trays T11 to T13. The sheet information may be registered by a user on the operation part 11 of the image forming apparatus 100 or may be set by an external device via the communication section 17.

[0071] Information on the processing of the sheets is recorded in the processing information recording section 25. The information on the processing of the sheet may include information on a cutting width (effective sheet width), a position at which the sheet is cut (divided), a cutting speed, and so forth. These pieces of information on sheet processing can be input by the user through the operation part 11 via the operation part 11.

[0072] Furthermore, the information on sheet processing can also be set, based on sheet processing information that is input from an external device via the communication section 17.

[0073] The printing information recording section 24 and the processing information recording section 25 may be replaced by an external storage device that stores these pieces of information.

[0074] The controller 30 (sheet processing controller 32) controls each section of the sheet conveyance apparatus 200 by reading and executing various programs stored in the recording section 16. That is, in performing processing on the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus 100, the controller 30 instructs the sheet conveyance apparatus 200 to execute predetermined cutting processing and conveyance operation switching processing. For example, the sheet processing controller 32 causes the cutting section 21 to cut the sheet, based on the information on the processing of the sheet recorded in the processing information recording section 25. Further, the sheet processing controller 32 switches (changes) the conveyance operation, such as the conveyance speed or the conveyance direction, in units of the conveyance paths (in units of the effective sheets obtained by cutting) by the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23, based on various pieces of information recorded in the printing information recording section 19.

[0075] The above-described conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 is operated after cutting the sheet printed by the image forming apparatus 100 into multiple effective sheets and before stacking (collecting) the effective sheets.

[0076] Regarding images to be formed on a sheet by the image forming apparatus 100, how many pages of images are to be formed on a single printing sheet is determined by an instruction from the operation part 11. Thus, when printing one print job, the controller 30 (image forming controller 31) can grasp beforehand whether a blank page is included in the final sheet of the job, based on the image forming information of the job.

[0077] Furthermore, even in a case where images of different jobs are consecutively printed, the controller 30 can grasp beforehand whether the last page of the former job and the first page of the latter job are to be printed on the same sheet.

[0078] Furthermore, when cutting a sheet on which images have been printed, the controller 30 can grasp whether gap cutting is to be performed, based on image forming information before printing or processing information.

[0079] Therefore, the controller 30 can execute processing as illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 7.

[0080] First, in step 50, the controller 30 obtains paper information on which images are to be printed (e.g., paper type and basis weight of sheets housed in the sheet feed trays T11, T12, and T13) and stores the sheet information in the printing information recording section 24. Furthermore, in step 52, the controller 30 obtains printing information (e.g., whether a blank page is included in the job, job switching page information) including image forming information of the sheet to be conveyed to the sheet conveyance apparatus 200 and stores the printing information in the printing information recording section 24 in association with the sheet information.

[0081] Furthermore, in step 54, the controller 30 obtains processing information on how to process the sheet on which images have been printed (information on a cutting width, a position at which the sheet is cut, and a cutting speed) and stores the processing information in the processing information recording section 25 in association with the sheet information and the printing information.

[0082] Then, based on at least either the printing information stored in the printing information recording section 24 or the processing information stored in the processing information recording section 25, the controller 30 determines whether the conveyance operation needs to be switched for each of the divided effective sheets P1.

[0083] In execution of a print job, the number of pages to be printed on a single sheet is denoted by N (referred to as N-in-1 printing, N-Up printing or N-pages printing), and the number of pages in one print job is denoted by M.

[0084] If M is an integral multiple of N, the effective sheets, which are generated by cutting and dividing by the cutting section 21, do not include a blank page or a page of another job. Even if all the effective sheets obtained by cutting are stacked, a blank page or a page of another job is not included.

[0085] However, if M, which is the number of pages to be printed in one print job, is not an integral multiple of the number N, which is the number of pages printable on a single sheet, the final sheet of printing includes an effective sheet that will be a blank page by cutting. Furthermore, if M (the number of pages of a print job) is not an integral multiple of N (the number of pages printable on a single sheet) and if another print job is consecutively printed, the last page of the preceding print job and the first page of the subsequent print job are included in the same sheet.

[0086] Whether a single sheet includes a sheet to be a blank page and whether a single sheet includes a page of another print job can be determined in advance by what print job is to be printed on the sheet before cutting. Therefore, if the conveyance operation of the cut effective sheets is appropriately adjusted based on the printing information stored in the printing information recording section 24 and the processing information stored in the processing information recording section 25, it is possible to purge the blank pages to a different tray and arrange and eject the effective sheets for the respective jobs, for example.

[0087] From the above, based on at least either the information stored in the printing information recording section 24 and the processing information stored in the processing information recording section 25, the controller 30 controls the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 as in step 56 and subsequent steps.

[0088] That is, in step 56, the controller 30 determines whether the effective sheets to be output as a product includes a blank page. When determining that a blank page is included, in step 64, the controller 30 determines the operation of the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 (operation of purging a blank page). Details of the operation will be described later.

[0089] In step 58, when determining that it is necessary to identify the switching position of the printing job, in step 64, the controller 30 determines the operation of the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 (operation of setting the effective sheets of other jobs to another path). Details of the operation will be described later.

[0090] Furthermore, when determining in step 60 that there is no gap at the cutting position between the sheets, in step 64, the controller 30 determines the operation of the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 (operation of forming a gap between adjacent sheets). Details of the operation will be described later.

[0091] When determining in step 62 that the division widths of the effective sheets after cutting are different, in step 64, the controller 30 determines the operation of the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 (operation of conveying the effective sheets having the same division width in the same conveyance path). Details of the operation will be described later.

[0092] When the operation of the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 is determined in step 64, images are printed on a sheet(s) by the image forming apparatus 100 (step 66). The sheet is then cut in the conveyance direction by the cutting section 21, thereby forming multiple effective sheets divided in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction (step 68). Thereafter, the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 is operated based on the operation of the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 determined in step 64 (step 70). The effective sheets are ejected (stacked) to the sheet ejection trays T1 and T2 according to the switched conveyance operation (step 72).

[0093] If there is no relevant event in steps 56 to 62, printing of images (step 66), cutting (step 68), and ejection (stacking) (step 72) are performed without operating the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23.

[0094] Next, a detailed example of the switching operation of the sheet conveyance will be described, based on the operation processing by the controller 30 described above.

<Case where Effective Sheets after Cutting Include a Blank Page>

[0095] An example of the switching operation of the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 when the image forming information of a job includes a blank page will be described (an example of the switching operation of steps 56, 64, and 70).

[0096] Herein, two pages of images are formed on each sheet conveyed to the image forming apparatus 100. Such a way of printing is referred to as 2-in-1 printing or 2-up printing. In the following, it is referred to as two-pages printing. If the number of pages is an odd number, one effective sheet in the last sheet is blank. Since the sheets sent to the sheet conveyance apparatus 200 are to be accumulated as a finished product, the blank sheet should be identifiable.

[0097] If the information recorded by the printing information recording section 19 includes a blank page that is unnecessary in a product (effective sheets), the blank page obtained after cutting may be conveyed at a different timing. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the timing of conveying the blank page that are conveyed in parallel may be delayed by decreasing the speed of the conveyance roller, or the conveyance of the blank page may be temporarily stopped by stopping the conveyance rollers when the blank page passes through the switching unit.

[0098] Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the controller 30 may determine to perform the operation of ejecting the blank page to a different sheet ejection tray, and the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 may switch the conveyance operation such that the conveying path of the blank page is switched and that the blank page is ejected to the different sheet ejection tray.

<Case where Effective Sheets after Cutting Include Effective Sheets of Another Job: Case where Switching Page of Consecutive Jobs is Included>

[0099] Following is an example of the switching operation by the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 in a case where different jobs are consecutively printed and where the last page of the previous job and the first page of the next job are printed on a single sheet in two-pages printing (example of switching operation in steps 58, 64, and 70).

[0100] If effective sheets after cutting include an effective sheet of a different job and if the effective sheets are to be eventually collected for the respective jobs, there is a desire to recognize where the jobs are switched in the next process. The job number is included in the information recorded by the printing information recording section 24. When the sheets conveyed in parallel have different job numbers, the sheets of one job may be conveyed at different timing from the sheets of another job. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10, conveyance of the effective sheet (1) of a different job may be delayed or temporarily stopped. For another example, similarly to FIG. 9, the controller 30 may determine to perform the operation of ejecting the sheet having a different job number to a different sheet ejection tray, and the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 may switch the conveyance operation such that the conveyance path of the sheet having the different job number is switched and that the sheet is ejected to the different sheet ejection tray.

<Case where Sheets are Conveyed so as not to Overlap at the Divided Portion of the Sheets>

[0101] Following is an example of the switching operation by the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 in a case where the gap width between sheets is zero when a sheet is divided by the cutting section 21 (an example of the switching operation in steps 60, 64, and 70).

[0102] If the gap width is zero when a sheet is cut by the cutting section 21, the cut sheets conveyed in parallel may overlap each other and may not be conveyed properly owing to bending and deviation of the conveyed sheets.

[0103] Therefore, it is desirable that the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 switches the conveyance operation such that the sheets conveyed in parallel are separated from each other in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction.

[0104] The controller 30 performs control of switching the conveyance operation such that the effective sheets do not overlap each other depending on how many sheets a single sheet is divided to and at which part the single sheet is divided, based on the processing information recorded by the processing information recording section 25.

[0105] The switching operation to convey the sheets without overlapping each other may be performed in various ways. For example, assume a case where a sheet is divided into three effective sheets. In the case, as illustrated in FIG. 11A, the effective sheets P1 are each gripped by a pair of upper and lower holding rollers 29, and in this state, the conveyance operation switching units 27 are moved in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction. Thus, it is possible to secure a wide gap between adjacent effective sheets.

[0106] For another example, the rotation speeds of the paired speed control rollers provided to each conveyance operation switching unit 27 are adjusted. Thus, the conveyance directions of the respective effective sheets may be differentiated from each other such that the effective sheets on both sides are conveyed to move away from the center effective sheet, as illustrated in FIG. 11B.

[0107] Furthermore, the conveyance timing and the conveyance speed may be changed between adjacent effective sheets. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11C, the effective sheet in the center may be conveyed at delayed conveyance timing or lower conveyance speed so that the effective sheets on both sides are relatively forward. Thus, the adjacent effective sheets do not overlap each other.

<Case of Conveying Sheets Having Different Division Widths Along Different Conveyance Paths>

[0108] When the effective sheets formed by the cutting section 21 have different widths and are ejected via the same conveyance path, it may be difficult to collect the effective sheets having the same width in recollecting.

[0109] Therefore, it is preferable to separate the ejection paths for the respective sheet widths.

[0110] The controller 30 determines to separate the conveyance paths of for the divided sheets having different widths depending on the number of divisions of the sheet, the dividing positions, and the divided sheet widths and operates the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 in such a manner, based on the processing information recorded by the processing information recording section 25. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12, the conveyance path of one effective sheet having a different sheet width (e.g., the effective sheet having a wider sheet width) may be differentiated so that the effective sheets having the different sheet widths are guided to different ejection paths (sheet ejection trays).

[0111] As described above, the sheet conveyance apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment includes: the cutting section 21 that cuts the sheet P on which images are printed in the conveyance direction so that the sheet P is divided into multiple effective sheets P1; the conveyance section (effective sheet conveyance section 22) that can individually convey the effective sheets P1 divided by the cutting section 21 (convey in parallel and convey independently); the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 that can switch the conveyance operation of the effective sheets P1 conveyed by the conveyance section (effective sheet conveyance section 22); and the controller 30 that controls the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23. The controller 30 switches the conveyance operation of the effective sheets P1 by controlling the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23, based on at least either information regarding the image formation on the effective sheets P1 or information regarding the cutting for forming the effective sheets P1. For example, the controller 30 determines whether to switch the conveyance operation of each effective sheet conveyed by the conveyance section (effective sheet conveyance section 22) and causes the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 to switch the conveyance operation of each effective sheet for which the conveyance operation needs to be switched.

[0112] Herein, the information regarding the image formation on the effective sheets P1 may be based on (i) information recorded in the printing information recording section 24 of the sheet conveyance apparatus 200 capable of recording such information or (ii) information stored in an external storage device. Furthermore, the information on the cutting for forming the effective sheets P1 may be based on (i) information stored in the processing information recording section 25 of the sheet conveyance apparatus 200 capable of recording such information or (ii) information stored in an external storage device.

[0113] The information on image formation recorded in the printing information recording section 24 includes information on whether there is a blank page, the page number at which jobs are switched, a paper type, abasis weight, and so forth. The information on cutting recorded in the processing information recording section 25 includes the sheet width after processing, the position at which a sheet is divided, and so forth.

[0114] Thus, a single sheet on which multiple pages are printed is cut in the sheet conveyance direction by the cutting section and is divided into multiple effective sheets in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction; and the multiple effective sheets are individually conveyed as print products by the conveyance section. Then, as necessary, the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 differentiates the conveyance operations of the respective effective sheets that are individually conveyed, based on information from a printer (information on image formation on the effective sheets individually conveyed by the conveyance section) or/and information from a processing device (information on cutting for forming the effective sheets individually conveyed by the conveyance section).

[0115] Thus, in a case where a sheet is divided into multiple effective sheets in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction and the effective sheets can be individually conveyed as print products, the effective sheets can be output in a way desired by the user.

[0116] Specifically, the present invention can cope with a collating (gathering) work in a case where a job includes a blank page, a case where jobs are consecutively performed, or a case where the effective sheets after cutting include different sheet sizes.

[0117] That is, based on the information on the image formation on the effective sheets, when the controller 30 determines that the effective sheets include an unnecessary effective sheet (e.g., a blank sheet) as a finished product, the controller 30 can cause the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 to switch the conveyance operation of only the unnecessary effective sheet.

[0118] Further, based on the information on the image formation on the effective sheets, when the controller 30 determines that the effective sheets include an effective sheet of a different job, the controller 30 can cause the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 to switch the conveyance operation of the effective sheet of the different job.

[0119] Further, based on the information regarding cutting, when the controller 30 determines that the effective sheets have different sheet widths, the controller 30 can cause the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 to switch the conveyance operation of the effective sheets for the respective sheet widths.

[0120] Therefore, the present invention can cope with a collating (gathering) work in a case where the effective sheets P1 in a job include a blank page, a case where jobs are consecutively performed, or a case where the effective sheets include different sheet sizes.

[0121] Furthermore, based on the information on cutting, when determining that there is no gap between adjacent effective sheets P1, the controller 30 can cause the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 to switch the conveyance operation such that a gap is formed between the adjacent effective sheets.

[0122] In the above, the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 may switch the conveyance operation by differentiating the conveyance timings or the conveyance paths of the effective sheets P1.

[0123] The conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 that performs the above operation may be constituted by a pair of speed control rollers 26a, 26b or speed control belts 28a, 28b that are provided side by side in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the effective sheets P1 and the rotation speeds of which are independently adjustable. Further, the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23 may be constituted by (i) a mechanism that holds the effective sheets P1 and moves the effective sheets P1 in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction or (ii) the conveyance guide 40 that conveys the effective sheets P1 in different directions.

[0124] The above-described sheet conveyance apparatus 200 is useful for constituting the sheet conveyance system 1 in combination with the image forming apparatus 100 that forms images on sheets.

[0125] Further, the sheet conveyance system 1 may include a post-processing apparatus that is provided on the downstream side of the sheet conveyance apparatus 200 and that performs post-processing on the effective sheets P1. In this case, the controller 30 may control the conveyance of each effective sheet P1 by switching the conveyance operation by the conveyance operation switching mechanism 23, based on the type of post-processing to be performed by the post-processing apparatus on the downstream side.

<Others>

[0126] Although the embodiment and the modification examples of the sheet conveyance apparatus and the sheet conveyance system according to the present invention have been described, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and modification examples. The present invention also includes embodiments obtained by applying various modification examples conceived by those skilled in the art to the above-described embodiments and modification examples, and embodiments realized by suitably combining the constituent elements and functions in the embodiments and modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is to be interpreted by the appended claims.

[0127] The present invention is useful in a case where multiple effective sheets are formed by printing multiple pages on a single sheet and cutting the sheet in the sheet conveyance direction and where the effective sheets are individually conveyed and output in a way desired by a user.