Cutting Processor Slip Sheet Sorting
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing image forming systems require significant labor and time for sorting output objects after cutting, as they often produce a large number of small-sized items like business cards, leading to decreased productivity.
Innovation Solution
An image forming system that includes an image forming apparatus, a cutting processor, and a sheet discharging tray, where the cutting processor performs cutting operations on first sheets and second sheets with different cutting conditions, inserting a slip sheet of a distinct size between output objects to facilitate easier sorting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If cutting processing is performed to produce small-sized output objects like business cards, then the quantity of output objects increases, but labor time for sorting increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
A slip sheet is introduced as an intermediary element between output objects during cutting processing. The slip sheet has a different size than the output objects, creating a visual and physical distinction that enables automatic or semi-automatic sorting without manual intervention. The slip sheet acts as a separator that facilitates the sorting process by providing clear boundaries between different output objects.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting processing is segmented into different types: first cutting processing that produces output objects, and second cutting processing that produces slip sheets. This segmentation allows the system to create both the final products and the sorting aids in a single integrated process, eliminating the need for separate sorting operations.
2Productivity
If multiple small-sized output objects are discharged together, then productivity appears high, but manual sorting effort increases
Solution Approach 1:
The slip sheet is designed with a different size than the output objects, creating a visual distinction similar to color changes. This size difference makes the slip sheets easily identifiable and separable from the output objects, enabling efficient sorting. The visual contrast provided by the size difference allows operators to quickly identify and separate different elements without complex sorting procedures.
3Device complexity
If uniform cutting is applied to all sheets, then processing is simple, but sorting becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Different cutting conditions are applied to different sheets based on their intended purpose. First sheets undergo first cutting processing to produce output objects with specific dimensions, while second sheets undergo second cutting processing to produce slip sheets with different dimensions. This local differentiation in cutting quality enables easy sorting while maintaining relatively simple processing operations.
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming system includes: an image forming apparatus that forms a first image according to a job on a plurality of first sheets and inserts a second sheet between the plurality of first sheets; a cutting processor that sequentially performs cutting processing on the plurality of first sheets and the second sheet that are conveyed from the image forming apparatus; and a sheet discharging tray on which an output object obtained by the cutting processing on each of the plurality of first sheets and a slip sheet obtained by the cutting processing on the second sheet are stacked, wherein the cutting processor performs the cutting processing on each of the plurality of first sheets in accordance with a first cutting condition, and performs the cutting processing on the second sheet in accordance with a second cutting condition different from the first cutting condition.