US 7,566,051 B2
Sheet post-processing unit and image forming apparatus
Takehiko Kodama, Toride (Japan); Naoto Saeki, Abiko (Japan); Akihiko Sugiyama, Abiko (Japan); Naoyasu Funada, Moriya (Japan); and Masato Nonaka, Moriya (Japan)
Assigned to Canon Finetech Inc., Misato-Shi (Japan)
Filed on Feb. 27, 2008, as Appl. No. 12/38,222.
Application 12/038222 is a division of application No. 10/940758, filed on Sep. 15, 2004, granted, now 7,392,983.
Claims priority of application No. 2003-325702 (JP), filed on Sep. 18, 2003; application No. 2003-372918 (JP), filed on Oct. 31, 2003; application No. 2003-372919 (JP), filed on Oct. 31, 2003; application No. 2003-372920 (JP), filed on Oct. 31, 2003; and application No. 2003-372922 (JP), filed on Oct. 31, 2003.
Prior Publication US 2008/0150213 A1, Jun. 26, 2008
Int. Cl. B65H 37/04 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 270—58.12  [270/58.01; 270/58.08; 270/58.17; 270/58.27; 271/249] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A sheet post-processing unit, comprising:
sheet stacking means for stacking sheets sequentially discharged one after another;
sheet conveying means including at least one roller rotatably supported by an arm movably and vertically rockingly supported along an axis, and an actuator for moving said arm in a vertical direction and capable of selectively conveying each sheet to be discharged in downstream and upstream directions of a sheet conveying direction and of separating from the sheet by moving in the vertical direction;
an upstream side regulating member for aligning each sheet stacked on said sheet stacking means by hitting against an upstream edge of the sheet;
intersectional moving means for moving said arm of said sheet conveying means in a direction intersecting with the sheet conveying direction along the axis;
an intersectional regulating member for aligning each sheet by hitting against an edge of the sheet on a side intersecting with the sheet conveying direction;
a control section for setting a moving distance of said intersectional moving means corresponding to a size of each sheet to be discharged on the basis of information relating to sizes of sheets sequentially discharged to said sheet stacking means; and
clamping means for clamping sheets to prevent the sheets from following a moving succeeding sheet when the succeeding sheet is stacked on the preceding sheet stacked on said sheet stacking means,
wherein said at least one roller of said sheet conveying means abuts an uppermost sheet among sheets stacked on said sheet stacking means and said intersectional moving means moves said at least one roller in the intersecting direction by the moving distance corresponding to the sheet size set by said control section to hit against and align the uppermost sheet with said upstream side regulating member and said intersectional regulating member.