# US 7,744,074 B2 · Sheet processing apparatus and sheet processing method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 7,744,074 B2 - Document ID: US7744074B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 12/044,080 - Filed: 2008-03-07 - Published: 2008-12-18 - Granted: 2010-06-29 - Earliest claimed: 2007-06-13 - Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba; Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Ken Iguchi; Hiroyuki Tsuchihashi; Tetsuhiro Morita - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7744074B2 ## CPC - B65H 35/00: Delivering articles from cutting or line-perforating machines; Article or web delivery apparatus incorporating cutting or line-perforating devices, e.g. adhesive tape dispensers (cutting or perforating machines or devices in general B26D, B26F) - B26D 5/32: with the record carrier formed by the work itself - B26D 7/2628: {Means for adjusting the position of the cutting member} - B26F 1/02: Perforating by punching, e.g. with relatively-reciprocating punch and bed - G03G 15/6582: {Special processing for irreversibly adding or changing the sheet copy material characteristics or its appearance, e.g. stamping, annotation printing, punching} - B65H 2301/5152: Cutting partially, e.g. perforating - B65H 2511/20: Location in space - B65H 2511/24: Irregularities, e.g. in orientation or skewness - B65H 2513/51: Sequence of process - B65H 2801/27: Devices located downstream of office-type machines - G03G 2215/00561: Aligning or deskewing - G03G 2215/00616: Optical detector - G03G 2215/00818: Punch device - Y10T 83/05: With reorientation of tool between cuts - Y10T 83/145: Including means to monitor product - Y10T 83/536: Movement of work controlled - Y10T 83/538: Positioning of tool controlled - B65H: HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES - B26D: CUTTING; DETAILS COMMON TO MACHINES FOR PERFORATING, PUNCHING, CUTTING-OUT, STAMPING-OUT OR SEVERING (for growing crops or plants A01D, A01G; for fodder or straw A01F; for bulk butter A01J; for dough A21C; slaughtering A22B; for tobacco, cigars or cigarettes A24; marking-out, perforating or making buttonholes A41H25/00; manufacturing footwear A43D; brushmaking A46D; surgery A61B; disintegrating, mincing or shredding in general B02C; cutting wire, making pins or nails B21F, B21G; of the kind used formetal B23; cutting by abrasive fluid jets B24C5/02; hand-held cutting tools B26B; perforating, cutting-out, stamping-out or punching, or severing by means other than cutting B26F; for wood B27; for stone B28D; working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29; making boxes, cartons, envelopes or bags, of paper or similarly worked materials, e.g. metal foil, B31B; article or web delivery apparatus incorporating cutting or line-perforating devices B65H35/00; for leather or upholstery B68, C14B; for glass C03B; making matches C06F; for peat C10F; for sugar C13B45/00; for textile materials D06H; civil engineering, building, mining, see Section E; for light guides G02B6/25; cutting processed photographic material G03D15/04) - B26F: PERFORATING; PUNCHING; CUTTING-OUT; STAMPING-OUT; SEVERING BY MEANS OTHER THAN CUTTING (marking-out, perforating or making buttonholes A41H25/00; shoemaking A43D; surgery A61B; punching metal B21D; drilling metal B23B; cutting of metal by applying heat locally, e.g. flame cutting, B23K; cutting by abrasive fluid jets B24C5/02; details common to machines for severing B26D; drilling wood B27C; drilling stone B28D; working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29; making boxes, cartons, envelopes or bags, of paper or similarly worked materials, e.g. metal foil, B31B; of glass C03B; of leather C14B; of textile materials D06H; for light guides G02B6/25; of tickets G07B) - G03G: ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY - Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION ## Abstract A sheet processing apparatus includes a hole punching section arranged orthogonally to a conveying path of a sheet, a moving mechanism which moves the hole punching section along a direction orthogonal to the conveying path, a detection unit which is arranged upstream from the hole punching section and which moves by being interlocked with the hole punching section and detects a lateral edge of the sheet conveyed thereto, and a control unit which controls the moving mechanism in accordance with the result of detection by the detection unit and varies the position of the hole punching section, thus controlling the punching processing position. The control unit causes the hole punching section to be moved in the direction to the retreat position along with the conveying of the sheet, causes the hole punching section to retreat by a prescribed quantity with reference to the result of detection by the detection unit, then causes the hole punching section to be moved in the opposite direction, and controls movement to the punching processing position in accordance with the result of detection by the detection unit. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A sheet processing apparatus comprising: a hole punching section arranged, in order to perform punching processing to a sheet conveyed thereto, orthogonally to a conveying path of the sheet; a moving mechanism configured to move the hole punching section along a direction orthogonal to the conveying path and move the hole punching section in a direction toward a retreat position and a punching processing position; a rotating mechanism which tilts the hole punching section in the conveying direction of the sheet; a detection unit arranged upstream from the hole punching section and configured to move by being interlocked with the hole punching section and detect a lateral edge of the sheet conveyed thereto; a control unit configured to control the moving mechanism in accordance with a result of detection by the detection unit and vary the position of the hole punching section, thus controlling the punching processing position with respect to the sheet; and a skew correction unit configured to control the rotating mechanism in accordance with a quantity of skew of the conveyed sheet, and carry out skew correction by changing tilt angle of the hole punching section; wherein the control unit causes the hole punching section to be moved in the direction to the retreat position along the orthogonal to the conveying path with the conveying of the sheet, causes the hole punching section to retreat by a prescribed quantity with reference to the result of detection by the detection unit, then causes the hole punching section to be moved in the opposite direction, and controls movement to the punching processing position in accordance with the result of detection by the detection unit. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after performing punching processing to a preceding sheet, the control unit moves the hole punching section in a first direction toward the retreat position from that position as a starting point, and in the process of moving the hole punching section in the first direction, when the detection unit has detected the lateral edge of a subsequent sheet, the control unit further moves the hole punching section from there in the first direction by the prescribed quantity. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after performing punching processing to a preceding sheet, the control unit moves the hole punching section to a home position set at a central part of the conveying path, and moves the hole punching section in a first direction toward the retreat position from that position as a starting point, and in the process of moving the hole punching section in the first direction, when the detection unit has detected the lateral edge of a subsequent sheet, the control unit further moves the hole punching section from there in the first direction by the prescribed quantity. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls and moves the hole punching section to the retreat position in an initial state. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the hole punching section to stand by at the retreat position with respect to the first page of sheet, of sheets that are sequentially conveyed thereto, and causes the hole punching section to stand by at a position that is reached by retreating by the prescribed quantity with respect to the next page and subsequent sheets. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving mechanism includes a stepping motor as a driving source for moving the hole punching section, and when moving the hole punching section by the prescribed quantity, the control unit drives the stepping motor at a preset number of pulses. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lateral edge detection unit includes plural sensors arranged in an array in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying path, and the control unit selects one of the plural sensors for lateral edge detection in accordance with the size of the sheet that is conveyed. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control unit confirms a relative positional shift in a direction of width of the sheet with respect to the hole punching section in accordance with the result of detection by the plural sensors, and if the sheet is shifted in a direction opposite to the retreat direction, the control unit carries out control to reduce the quantity of movement of the hole punching section in the retreat direction in accordance with the quantity of shift. ### Claim 9 An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit having an operation panel and a printer unit for forming an image on a sheet; a conveying motor for conveying the sheet outputted from the image forming unit along a conveying path; a hole punching section arranged, in order to perform punching processing to a sheet conveyed thereto, orthogonally to the conveying path of the sheet; a moving mechanism configured to move the hole punching section along a direction orthogonal to the conveying path and move the hole punching section in a direction toward a retreat position and a punching processing position; a rotating mechanism which tilts the hole punching section in the conveying direction of the sheet; a detection unit arranged upstream from the hole punching section and configured to move by being interlocked with the hole punching section and detect a lateral edge of the sheet conveyed thereto; a control unit configured to control the moving mechanism in accordance with a result of detection by the detection unit and vary the position of the hole punching section, thus controlling the punching processing position with respect to the sheet; and a skew correction unit configured to control the rotating mechanism in accordance with a quantity of skew of the conveyed sheet, and carry out skew correction by changing tilt angle of the hole punching section; wherein the control unit causes the hole punching section to be moved in the direction to the retreat position along the orthogonal to the conveying path with the conveying of the sheet, causes the hole punching section to retreat by a prescribed quantity with reference to the result of detection by the detection unit, then causes the hole punching section to be moved in the opposite direction, and controls movement to the punching processing position in accordance with the result of detection by the detection unit. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the lateral edge detection unit includes plural sensors arranged in an array in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying path, and the control unit selects one of the plural sensors for lateral edge detection in accordance with a sheet size designated by operation on the operation panel. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control unit confirms a relative positional shift in a direction of width of the sheet with respect to the hole punching section in accordance with the result of detection by the plural sensors, and if the sheet is shifted in a direction opposite to the retreat direction, the control unit carries out control to reduce the quantity of movement of the hole punching section in the retreat direction in accordance with the quantity of shift.