Sheet binding device and image formation system

Abstract

To provide a sheet binding device capable of miniaturizing the device by providing manual stapleless binding means, on a front side in a direction orthogonal to a sheet conveying direction, on a processing tray on which a sheet is conveyed.SOLUTION: In a sheet binding device 2 comprising conveyance means for conveying a sheet, a processing tray 15 on which the sheet conveyed by the conveyance means is placed, and a non-staple unit 60 for applying stapleless binding on the sheet placed on the processing tray 15, the non-staple unit 60 is provided at a position for binding an end part on a front (F) side of the sheet manually placed on the processing tray 15.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a sheet binding device and an image forming system that are provided with a manual staple-free binding means. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a sheet binding device is used for binding sheets on which images are formed by an image forming device such as a printer or a copier. In general, this type of sheet binding device is configured to carry out a plurality of sheets discharged from the image forming device onto a processing tray provided downstream of a paper discharge path, staple (with staples) the sheets at one or more locations, and then store the sheets in a stacking tray further downstream.

[0003] In addition to the stapled binding process, some sheet binding devices can also select a non-staple (staple-free) binding process that does not use staples. This type of sheet binding device is configured to allow the user to select either stapled or stapleless binding when the sheets sent from the paper discharge path are conveyed onto a processing tray for binding.

[0004] Also, a sheet binding device is known that has an auto mode in which sheets discharged from an image forming device are automatically accumulated on a processing tray and bound, and a manual mode in which sheets are manually inserted and bound. An example of the manual mode configuration is one in which, apart from the processing tray that automatically accumulates sheets, a manual-insertion binding section having a slit into which one end of a sheet can be inserted is protruded on the front side as viewed from the operator of the device (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-203430 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The sheet binding device disclosed in the above Patent Document 1 has a manual feeding tray that protrudes outward from a processing tray that performs automatic binding processing, in addition to the processing tray, which results in a problem of the device becoming large.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet binding device and an image forming system that can reduce the size of the device by providing a manual stapleless binding means on the front side, in a direction perpendicular to the sheet transport direction, on the processing tray where the sheets are transported. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, the sheet binding device of the present invention is a sheet binding device including a conveying means for conveying sheets, a processing tray on which the sheets conveyed by the conveying means are placed, and a staple-free binding means for staple-free binding the sheets placed on the processing tray, The staple-free binding means is provided at a position for binding the front end of the sheets manually placed on the processing tray.

[0009] The image forming system of the present invention includes an image forming device that forms an image on a sheet, an image reading device disposed on the image forming device, and a sheet binding device that is disposed in a space inside the body between the image forming device and the image reading device and binds the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming device, The sheet binding device includes a conveying means for conveying sheets, a processing tray on which the sheets conveyed by the conveying means are placed, a stacking tray on which the sheets discharged from the processing tray are stacked, a stapled binding means for stapling the rear corners of the sheets conveyed onto the processing tray, and a stapleless binding means for stapling the front ends of sheets manually placed on the processing tray from the stacking tray side. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the sheet binding device and image forming system of the present invention, a staple-free binding means for manually placing sheets on a processing tray that automatically staples the sheets conveyed by a conveying means is provided at a position for stapling the front end of the sheets. This eliminates the need to provide the staple-free binding means separately from the processing tray, making it possible to reduce the size of the device. In addition, since the staple-free binding means is provided on the front side of the processing tray, there is an advantage in that it is easy to manually insert sheets. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of an image forming system including a sheet binding device according to the present invention; [Diagram 2] A cross-sectional view of the image forming system. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the sheet binding device. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an internal configuration of the sheet binding device. [Diagram 5] 4 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the sheet binding device. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a staple-free binding operation by manual feeding. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a staple-free binding operation by manual insertion. [Figure 8] 11 is a plan view showing a sheet alignment position in stapleless binding processing; FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a non-stapling unit that is movable in accordance with the sheet size. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Figures 1 and 2 are a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of an image forming system 10 equipped with a sheet binding device 2 of the present invention, as viewed from the operation side (front side). The image forming system 10 includes a paper feed section 5, an image forming section 6, an image reading section 7, etc., within a housing 4 of the image forming device 1. The sheet binding device 2 is disposed within an internal space 3 into which sheets on which images are formed by the image forming section 6 are discharged.

[0013] The image forming apparatus 1 includes various mechanisms for forming an image, an original document placed on a platen 30 is read by an image reading unit 7, and printing is performed by an image forming unit 6 on sheets conveyed in sequence from a paper feed unit 5. The printed sheets are then conveyed toward an internal space 3, where various binding processes are performed by a sheet binding device 2 disposed in the internal space 3.

[0014] The paper feed unit 5 has, for example, a plurality of paper feed cassettes 5a, 5b, and 5c, which can store sheets of different sizes separately. Each of the paper feed cassettes 5a, 5b, and 5c is provided with a paper feed roller 32 that feeds out the sheets, a separating means (not shown) that separates the sheets one by one, and the like.

[0015] The image forming unit 6 is equipped with, for example, an electrostatic image forming mechanism 33. In this image forming mechanism 33, a plurality of drums made of photoconductors are arranged according to color components, and a light emitter (such as a laser head) and a developing device are arranged on each drum. A latent image (electrostatic image) is formed on each drum by the light emitter, and toner ink is applied to the drum by the developing device. The ink images applied to each drum are synthesized onto a sheet.

[0016] The image reading unit 7 includes a platen 30 and a reading carriage 34 that reciprocates along the platen 30. The platen 30 is made of transparent glass. The reading carriage 34 includes a light source lamp 35, a reflecting mirror 36 that changes the light reflected from the document, and a photoelectric conversion element 37. The photoelectric conversion element 37 is composed of line sensors arranged in the document width direction (main scanning direction) on the platen 30, and the reading carriage 34 reciprocates in the sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction, thereby reading the document image in line order. In addition, an original pressure plate 31 that covers the document is mounted above the platen 30.

[0017] The image forming unit 6 transfers the image data read by the image reading unit 7 onto a sheet conveyed from the paper feed unit 5, and then discharges the sheet onto which the image has been transferred toward the sheet binding device 2.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet binding device 2 includes a conveying path 13 for conveying sheets from the image forming unit 6, a conveying means consisting of a pair of input rollers 21 arranged upstream of the conveying path 13 and a pair of output rollers 22 arranged downstream, an opening (conveying port) 14 provided downstream of the conveying path 13, a processing tray 15 arranged downstream of the conveying port 14 and on which sheets discharged by the pair of output rollers 22 are stacked, a pick-up roller 25 that picks up sheets on the processing tray 15 in the direction opposite to the direction in which the sheets are discharged to the accumulation tray 12, and a binding processing unit 20 that performs various binding processes on the sheets picked up by the pick-up roller 25.

[0019] FIG. 4 shows the main components of the sheet binding device 2 in a plan view. On the processing tray 15, there are arranged a rear end regulating plate 26 for aligning the rear end of the sheet taken in by the take-in roller 25, a pair of side alignment plates 27 (see FIG. 4) for abutting and aligning both ends of the sheet width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction CD of the sheet on the processing tray 15, and a plurality of sensors for detecting the sheet. The binding processing section 20 has a stapled binding means (staple unit) 50 and a stapleless binding means (non-staple unit) 60. The pair of side alignment plates 27 is composed of an F-side alignment plate 27a for regulating the front (F) side perpendicular to the conveying direction CD of the sheet, and an R-side alignment plate 27b for regulating the rear (R) side. The F-side alignment plate 27a and the R-side alignment plate 27b are movably arranged on the processing tray 15, and their downstream ends are protruding portions 28 protruding toward the stacking tray 12 side. Normally, the processing tray 15 is disposed inside the sheet binding device 2 and has a structure that is difficult to see from the outside, but by providing the protrusion 28, as described below, it serves as a guide when inserting a sheet by manual insertion operation (manual) from the accumulation tray 12. In particular, by providing the protrusion 28 on the R-side alignment plate 27b that is recessed when viewed from the operation side, the sheets can be easily placed on the processing tray 15.

[0020] The sheets on which images are formed by the image forming unit 6 are guided along the transport path 13 of the sheet binding device 2 and sequentially discharged onto the processing tray 15. The sheets discharged onto the processing tray 15 are aligned one by one by the take-in roller 25, the trailing end regulating plate 26, and a pair of side alignment plates 27, and positioned at a predetermined binding position. Then, the positioned sheets are bound by either the staple unit 50 or the non-staple unit 60. The bound sheets are discharged onto the accumulation tray 12 by the pair of discharge rollers 23.

[0021] The stacking tray 12 is configured to move up and down, and moves down as the amount of stacked sheets increases. This allows the distance between the position of the sheet discharge port and the top surface of the sheet to be kept constant at all times, realizing good sheet discharge alignment. As described later, when placing sheets on the processing tray 15 by manual insertion, the upstream end (rear end) of the stacking tray 12 is raised to the same height position as the downstream end (front end) of the processing tray 15, that is, to a position (manual insertion position) where the top surface (loading surface) 12a of the stacking tray 12 and the top surface (loading surface) 15a of the processing tray 15 are continuous (see FIG. 7(b)). The manual insertion position may be set to a position raised beyond the second discharge roller pair 23b, that is, a position where the rear end of the stacking tray 12 is slightly higher than the front end of the processing tray 15. This makes it easy to manually insert the sheet from the stacking tray 12 side to the processing tray 15 side.

[0022] Next, the staple unit 50 and the non-staple unit 60 will be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4. The non-staple unit 60 is provided on the side where the user operates the image forming system 10, i.e., on the front side (front (F) side) of the sheet binding device 2, and the staple unit 50 is provided on the opposite side to the side where the user operates the image forming system 10, i.e., on the rear side (rear (R) side) of the sheet binding device 2.

[0023] 3 and 4, the staple unit 50 has a driver section 51 that drives a staple into a predetermined stapling position of the sheet, and a clincher section 52 that bends the tip of the staple driven into the sheet. A staple cartridge (not shown) that stores a plurality of staples for stapling the sheets is attached to the driver section 51 of the staple unit 50. The staple unit 50 in this embodiment can staple a maximum of 50 sheets, and the distance between the driver section 51 and the clincher section 52 is set to allow insertion of up to about 50 sheets.

[0024] The binding processing section 20 is supported by a support plate 55 provided on the upstream side of the processing tray 15. The support plate 55 is provided with a guide rail 56 extending in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction CD, and the staple unit 50 is arranged so as to be able to reciprocate along the guide rail 56. The non-staple unit 60 is fixedly arranged on the front side of the support plate 55.

[0025] The binding process in the binding processing section 20 is performed in a state where the sheets are regulated by the rear end regulating plate 26 and the pair of side alignment plates 27. When stapling one end of the sheet stack with the staple unit 50, the stapler unit 50 moves to the rear side of the support plate 55 (the back side in the figure) and performs the stapled binding process. When stapling at two points, the stapler unit 50 moves to opposing positions across the center position in the width direction of the sheets and performs the stapled binding process. Reference symbol S8 in FIG. 4 denotes an HP sensor that detects that the staple unit 50 is at the home position (HP), and the stapler unit 50 moves to a predetermined binding position based on this position.

[0026] The non-staple unit 60 has a so-called pressure binding function, which sandwiches the sheets between a pair of teeth and applies pressure to deform the sheets, entangling the fibers of the sheets and binding them. In addition to pressure binding, there are other binding methods that do not use staples, such as half-punching binding, cut-and-bend binding, and through-binding, which cuts and bends the sheets and then passes them through holes. As described above, the non-staple unit 60 is disposed on the front side of the support plate 55, outside the movement range of the staple unit 50.

[0027] The non-staple unit 60 using pressure binding can staple sheets with a simple structure. However, the number of sheets that can be stapled is about five sheets of normal thickness, which is less than that of the staple unit 50. Therefore, the distance between the pair of teeth is narrower than the distance between the driver portion 51 and the clincher portion 52 of the staple unit 50.

[0028] 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of an image forming system 10 consisting of an image forming apparatus 1 and a sheet binding apparatus 2. The control unit CON of the sheet binding apparatus 2 includes a one-chip microcomputer incorporating a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc., and transmits and receives various information between the image forming apparatus 1 and the sheet binding apparatus 2 via an operation panel CP, such as attribute information on the number and size of sheets, and selection information on the binding process for the sheets.

[0029] As shown in Fig. 3, the driving means includes a conveying motor M1 for driving the pair of input rollers 21 and the pair of output rollers 22, a first discharge motor M2 for driving the first discharge roller 23a, a second discharge motor M3 for driving the second discharge roller 23b, a take-in motor M4 for driving the take-in roller 25, a lifting motor M5 for raising and lowering the accumulation tray 12, and a separation solenoid SOL for separating the first discharge roller 23a. Also, as shown in Fig. 4, the driving means includes an F-side alignment motor M6 and an R-side alignment motor M7 for slidingly moving the F-side alignment plate 27a and the R-side alignment plate 27b, respectively, a staple motor M8 for driving the staple unit 50, a staple movement motor M9 for moving the staple motor, and a non-staple motor M10 for driving the non-staple unit 60.

[0030] 3, the detection means includes a transport detection sensor S1 that detects the rear end of a sheet passing through the transport path 13, and an accumulation tray HP sensor S2 that detects the lift home position of the accumulation tray 12. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the detection means includes a sheet set sensor S3 disposed on the rear end regulating plate 26, an F-side alignment plate HP sensor S4 that detects the home position (HP) of the F-side alignment plate 27a, an R-side alignment plate HP sensor S5 that detects the home position (HP) of the R-side alignment plate 27b, an F-side sheet detection sensor S6 that detects the sheet end on the F side, an R-side sheet detection sensor S7 that detects the sheet end on the R side, and a staple unit HP sensor S8 that detects the home position (HP) of the staple unit 50.

[0031] The staple unit 50 can select between an operation of moving to a corner of the sheets aligned on the processing tray 15 and stapling them at one place, and an operation of moving along a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction CD and stapling them at two places.

[0032] The non-staple unit 60, like the staple unit 50, is located on the processing tray 15 and is provided on the front (F) side perpendicular to the sheet transport direction CD. The non-staple unit 60 is configured to perform stapleless binding on sheets that are automatically transported onto the processing tray 15 or placed on the processing tray 15 by a manual operation.

[0033] The sheet binding device 2 of this embodiment is equipped with a manual operation means (operation button) 61 (see FIG. 1) for manually starting the non-staple unit 60, and by pressing (ON) this operation button 61, stapleless binding processing can be performed by the non-staple unit 60 on a sheet stack manually placed on the processing tray 15. The operation using the operation button 61 shown below is an example, and the number of times it is pressed, the type of switch, the arrangement position, etc. are not limited to this.

[0034] When the non-stapling unit 60 is used manually, the operation is started by placing sheets from the stacking tray 12 side toward the processing tray 15 after the operation button 61 is turned ON.

[0035] FIG. 6 is an operation flow diagram for manually performing stapleless binding on sheets, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the sheet conveying operation, and FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the sheet regulating operation. As shown in FIG. 7(a), first, the operation button 61 of the sheet binding device 2 is pressed once to turn it ON (FIG. 6(ST01)). When the operation button 61 is turned ON, the separation solenoid SOL is driven and the first discharge roller 23a separates from the second discharge roller 23b. The accumulation tray 12 rises from the accumulation tray HP sensor S2 disposed at the bottom of the sheet binding device 2 until it reaches the same height as the processing tray 15. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8(a), the pair of side alignment plates 27 are waiting at a position where the F-side alignment plate 27a is detected by the F-side alignment plate HP sensor S4 and the R-side alignment plate 27b is detected by the R-side alignment plate HP sensor S5. The positions of the F-side alignment plate HP sensor S4 and the R-side alignment plate HP sensor S5 are set according to the maximum size of the sheet that can be bound by the sheet binding device 2 (see FIG. 4). In addition, the illumination means (guide lamp) 62 arranged near the transport opening 14 where the first discharge roller 23a and the second discharge roller 23b face each other is turned on (FIG. 6 (ST02)). The guide lamp 62 is provided at a position that illuminates at least the rear (R) side of the transport opening 14, thereby improving the visibility of the insertion position of the rear (R) side of the sheet that is deep when viewed from the operator side. This makes it easier to insert the sheet manually. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, by providing the guide lamp 62 at a position that illuminates the protrusion 28 of the rear side alignment plate 27b, it serves as a guide when inserting the sheet manually from the stacking tray 12 side.

[0036] 7(b), the accumulation tray 12 stops at a position where the loading surface 12a and the placement surface 15a of the processing tray 15 are continuous on a flat surface, or at a manual insertion position where the loading surface 12a is slightly higher than the placement surface 15a of the processing tray 15. This allows the sheet to be inserted from the transport opening 14 and placed on the processing tray 15 by placing a sheet on the loading surface 12a of the accumulation tray 12 and manually moving it toward the processing tray 15, making it easy to place the sheet on the processing tray 15.

[0037] Next, the sheet stack P (five sheets or less) to be bound is manually placed on the stacking tray 12 and the processing tray 15 (FIG. 6 (ST03)). When the placement of the sheet stack P is completed, the operation button 61 is pressed a second time (FIG. 6 (ST04)). The completion of the placement of the sheet stack P is determined when the leading edge of the sheet inserted from the conveyance opening 14 is detected by the sheet set sensor S3. The sheet set sensor S3 detects that the sheet stack P has reached a position regulated by the trailing end regulating plate 26. When the placement of the sheet stack P is completed, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), the R-side alignment plate 27b moves toward the F-side alignment plate 27a to move the sheet stack P toward the F side and regulate it. This causes the F-side sheet detection sensor S6 to turn ON, and the R-side alignment plate 27b is stopped (FIG. 6 (ST05)). Then, the end of the sheet stack P moves to a stapleless binding position by the non-staple unit 60. In this state, by pressing the operation button 61 a third time (FIG. 6 (ST06)), the stapleless binding process is executed by the non-stapling unit 60 (FIG. 6 (ST07)).

[0038] As shown in FIG. 7(c), when the stapleless binding process is completed, the separation solenoid SOL is turned off, and the first discharge roller 23a comes into contact with the second discharge roller 23b. At the same time, the accumulation tray 12 is lowered to a position lower than the processing tray 15. Then, the sheet stack P sandwiched between the first discharge roller 23a and the second discharge roller 23b is discharged toward the accumulation tray 12. When the discharge of the sheet stack P is completed, the guide lamp 62 is turned off (FIG. 6(ST08)). Finally, the stapled sheet stack is removed from the accumulation tray 12 and the process is completed (FIG. 6(ST09)). In addition, by providing a sub-tray 12b that extends the stacking surface 12a on the downstream side of the accumulation tray 12 so as to be able to be pulled out, it is possible to handle large-sized sheets.

[0039] The non-staple unit 60 in this embodiment is located at the end of the front (F) of the processing tray 15, and is positioned outside the movement range of the staple unit 50. Therefore, it does not become an obstacle when stapled stapling a normal size sheet stack P1 such as A4. However, when stapling five or more large size sheets, the non-staple unit 60, which has a limit on the number of sheets that can be inserted, may get in the way. FIG. 9(b) shows a configuration for improving this, and the staple opening of the non-staple unit 60 is rotatable so that it can be accommodated on the support plate 55 side, thereby enabling stapled stapling of a large size sheet stack P2.

[0040] Next, a brief description will be given of the operation when stapled or stapleless binding is performed automatically without relying on the above-mentioned manual feeding. First, when performing stapled binding processing by the staple unit 50, the sheet is first conveyed from the image forming apparatus 1 to the sheet binding device 2 and discharged. In this sheet conveyance and discharge operation, the conveying motor M1 is driven based on a sheet delivery signal from the image forming apparatus 1. This causes the pair of conveying rollers 21 and the pair of conveying rollers 22 to rotate, and the sheet is conveyed from the image forming apparatus 1 to the processing tray 15.

[0041] Next, in the sheet alignment operation, when the trailing end of the sheet is detected by the conveyance detection sensor S1, the take-in motor M4 is driven. As a result, the take-in roller 25 rotates and comes into contact with the sheet conveyed onto the processing tray 15, and transports the sheet toward the trailing end regulating plate 26. The transported sheet is aligned by bringing its trailing end into contact with the trailing end regulating plate 26.

[0042] After aligning the front-rear direction of the sheet, the F-side and R-side alignment motors M6 and M7 are driven. By driving the F-side and R-side alignment motors M6 and M7, the pair of side alignment plates 27 moves to positions according to the sheet size to align the sheet width direction.

[0043] Then, the discharged sheets are aligned one by one, and when a predetermined number of sheets are aligned on the processing tray 15, the staple movement motor M9 is driven, and when stapling one end, the staple unit 50 is moved to the rear side of the support plate 55 to perform staple stapling. When stapling at two points is performed, the staple stapling is performed while moving to opposing positions sandwiching the center position in the width direction of the sheets. When the stapling process is completed, the first and second discharge motors M2 and M3 are driven to discharge the sheet bundle to the accumulation tray 12 by the pair of discharge rollers 23.

[0044] On the other hand, when the stapleless binding process is performed by the non-staple unit 60, the process is the same as the stapled binding process until a predetermined number of sheets are aligned on the processing tray 15. In the automatic stapleless binding process in this embodiment, when a predetermined number of sheets are aligned on the processing tray 15, the F-side and R-side alignment motors M6 and M7 are driven, and the sheet bundle aligned by the pair of side alignment plates 27 is moved to the front (F) side. Then, when the sheet bundle moves to a position where it is detected by the F-side sheet detection sensor S6, the driving of the F-side and R-side alignment motors M6 and M7 is stopped. As a result, the end of the sheet bundle moves to the stapleless binding position by the non-staple unit 60. In this state, the stapleless binding process is performed by the non-staple unit 60. When the stapleless binding process is completed, the first and second discharge motors M2 and M3 are driven to discharge the sheet bundle to the stacking tray 12 by the discharge roller pair 23. When stapleless binding is performed on sheets automatically transported onto the processing tray 15, the number of sheets that are stapled is less than in the case of stapled binding, just as in the case of manual stapleless binding.

[0045] In the above-mentioned embodiment, the staple unit 50 is simply described as an example of automatically driving the staple unit 50, but the staple unit 50 can also manually staple the sheets placed on the processing tray 15. In that case, as shown in FIG. 9(a), the staple unit 50 is moved to the maximum size stapling position on the rear (R) side of the processing tray 15 or to a position further rear (R) than that, and as shown in FIG. 7, the sheet is manually inserted from the stacking tray 12 side toward the processing tray 15 side. Thereafter, the F-side alignment plate 27a is moved to the R-side alignment plate 27b side, and when the R-side sheet detection sensor S7 detects the sheet, the F-side alignment plate 27a is stopped. As a result, the sheet stack is moved to the manual staple position. Then, when the sheet end is stapled by the staple unit 50, the sheet stack is discharged to the stacking tray 12 by the discharge roller pair 23.

[0046] In the above embodiment, the accumulation tray 12 is raised to a position where the upper surfaces of the accumulation tray 12 and the processing tray 15 are continuous on a flat surface or to a manual insertion position slightly higher than the upper surface of the processing tray 15 so that the loading surface 12a of the accumulation tray 12 can be used as an insertion guide for the transport opening 14, but the accumulation tray 12 may be lowered and removed from the periphery of the transport opening 14 where the sheets are inserted. This widens the space around the transport opening 14, making it easier to manually insert the sheets from the transport opening 14.

[0047] As described above, the staple unit 50 has a staple cartridge attached thereto, and therefore the staple unit 50 is larger in size than the non-staple unit 60. Therefore, by disposing the non-staple unit 60, which is smaller than the staple unit 50, on the front side, it is possible to eliminate or suppress the protrusion from the front side of the image forming apparatus 1. Also, in the above embodiment, the staple unit 50 and the non-staple unit 60 are disposed separately on the rear side and the front side of the processing tray 15, and are configured to staple the sheets on the processing tray 15 in both the auto mode and the manual mode. As a result, the sheet binding device 2 itself is made smaller in size, and can be accommodated and disposed in the internal space 3 of the image forming apparatus 1. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] M1 Conveyor motor M2 First discharge motor M3 Second discharge motor M4 scraping motor M5 Lifting Motor M6 F side matching motor M7 R side matching motor M8 Staple Motor M9 Staple Movement Motor M10 Non-staple motor S1 Transport detection sensor S2 Stacking tray HP sensor S3 Sheet Set Sensor S4 F side alignment plate HP sensor S5 R side alignment plate HP sensor S6 F side seat detection sensor S7 R side sheet detection sensor S8 Staple unit HP sensor SOL Distance solenoid CON Control unit CP Operation Panel 1. Image forming device 2 Sheet binding device 3 Interior space 4. Chassis 5 Paper feed section 5a, 5b, 5c Paper feed cassette 6 Image forming section 7 Image reading section 10. Image forming system 12 Stacking Tray 12a Loading surface 12b Sub-tray 13 Transport route (transport means) 14 Transport entrance 15 Processing Tray 15a Placement surface 20 Binding processing section 21 Loading roller pair 22 Discharge roller pair 23 Discharge roller pair 23a First discharge roller 23b Second discharge roller 25 Scraping roller 26 Rear end regulation plate 27 Side alignment plate 27a F side alignment plate (front side alignment plate) 27b R side alignment plate (rear side alignment plate) 28 Protrusion 30 Platen 31 Original Pressing Plate 32 Paper feed roller 33 Image formation mechanism 34 Reading carriage 35 Light source lamp 36 Reflective Mirror 37 Photoelectric conversion element 50 Staple unit (staple binding means) 51 Driver section 52 Clincher section 55 Support plate 56 Guide rail 60 Non-staple unit (staple-free binding means) 61 Operation Buttons 62 Guide lamp (lighting means)

Claims

1. A sheet binding device including a conveying means for conveying a sheet, a processing tray on which the sheet conveyed by the conveying means is placed, and a stapleless binding means for staple-free binding the sheets placed on the processing tray, The staple-free binding means is provided at a position where it binds the front end of the sheets manually placed on the processing tray.

2. A sheet binding device including a conveying means for conveying a sheet, a processing tray on which the sheet conveyed by the conveying means is placed, and stapled binding means for stapling a rear corner of the sheet placed on the processing tray, The sheet binding device is provided with a stapleless binding means for binding the front end of the sheets manually placed on the processing tray.

3. a stacking tray capable of being raised and lowered on which sheets discharged from the processing tray are stacked, A sheet binding device as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein when a sheet is manually placed on the processing tray, the accumulation tray is raised so that the position of the end of the loading surface of the accumulation tray on the processing tray side is the same as or higher than the position of the end of the sheet loading surface of the processing tray on the accumulation tray side.

4. a pair of alignment plates that align the sheets by contacting the front end and the rear end of the sheets on the processing tray; A sheet binding device as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein when a sheet is manually placed on the processing tray, the pair of alignment plates are moved to a position where the distance between the pair of alignment plates is greater than the width of the maximum size sheet that can be placed on the processing tray.

5. a pair of alignment plates that align the sheets by contacting the front end and the rear end of the sheets on the processing tray; a stacking tray that is movable up and down and on which sheets discharged from the processing tray are stacked, 3. The sheet binding device according to claim 1, wherein the rear alignment plate of the pair of alignment plates protrudes from the processing tray toward the accumulation tray.

6. 3. The sheet binding device according to claim 1, further comprising an operating means for causing the staple-free binding means to perform staple-free binding on the sheets manually placed on the processing tray.

7. a stacking tray capable of being raised and lowered on which sheets discharged from the processing tray are stacked, 3. The sheet binding device according to claim 1, wherein the stacking tray is lowered a predetermined amount when the sheets are manually placed on the processing tray.

8. an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet; an image reading device disposed on the image forming device; a sheet binding device disposed in a space between the image forming device and the reading device, the sheet binding device binding sheets on which an image is formed by the image forming device, The sheet binding device is an image forming system that includes a conveying means for conveying sheets, a processing tray on which the sheets conveyed by the conveying means are placed, a stacking tray on which the sheets discharged from the processing tray are stacked, a stapled binding means for stapling the rear corners of the sheets conveyed onto the processing tray, and a stapleless binding means for stapling the front ends of sheets manually placed onto the processing tray from the stacking tray side.

9. a pair of alignment plates that align the sheets by contacting the front end and the rear end of the sheets on the processing tray; 9. The image forming system according to claim 8, wherein the rear alignment plate of the pair of alignment plates protrudes from the processing tray toward the accumulation tray.

10. The staple-free binding means staples the sheets that are inserted and placed on the processing tray through an opening for discharging the sheets onto the stacking tray, 9. The image forming system according to claim 8, further comprising an illumination means for illuminating at least a rear side of said opening.

Images