Print-medium post-treatment apparatus and control method thereof

A control method of a print-medium post-treatment apparatus comprising:

• sensing a print medium discharged from a bookbinding device onto a bookbinding stack tray;
• moving the print medium in a given discharge direction by operating a conveyor belt of the bookbinding stack tray in a first direction if the print medium is sensed;
• and
• moving the print medium in an opposite direction of the discharge direction by operating the conveyor belt in a second direction so as to reduce a distance between a previously discharged print medium and a subsequently discharged print medium,
• wherein the movement of the print medium via operation of the conveyor belt in the first direction includes operating the conveyor belt for a predetermined time starting from a time when the print medium discharged from the bookbinding device onto the bookbinding stack tray is sensed, thereby moving the print medium in the discharge direction.

A control method of a print-medium post-treatment apparatus comprising:

• sensing a print medium discharged from a bookbinding device onto a bookbinding stack tray;
• moving the print medium in a given discharge direction by operating a conveyor belt of the bookbinding stack tray in a first direction if the print medium is sensed;
• and
• moving the print medium in an opposite direction of the discharge direction by operating the conveyor belt in a second direction so as to reduce a distance between a previously discharged print medium and a subsequently discharged print medium
• wherein:
• the bookbinding stack tray is provided with a tray sensor;
• and
• the conveyor belt is operated in the first direction if the tray sensor senses the print medium, and
• wherein:
• it is confirmed whether or not the tray sensor does not sense the print medium;
• and
• the conveyor belt is operated in the first direction for the predetermined time starting from a time when the tray sensor does not sense the print medium.

A print-medium post-treatment apparatus arranged parallel to an image forming apparatus, the print-medium post-treatment apparatus comprising:

• a bookbinding stack tray including a tray sensor to sense a print medium discharged from a bookbinding device, a conveyor belt to move the print medium, and a motor to operate the conveyor belt;
• a receiver to receive signals from the image forming apparatus;
• a controller to control bi-directional movement of the conveyor belt so as to increase the number of print media stacked on the bookbinding stack tray;
• a memory to store drive time information of the conveyor belt;
• a drive unit to drive the motor connected to the conveyor belt to perform bi-directional driving under the control of the controller,
• wherein the tray sensor includes a light emitting element to irradiate light, a light receiving element to receive the irradiated light, and a flag movably installed between the light emitting element and the light receiving element,
• wherein the tray sensor senses the print medium discharged from the bookbinding device onto the bookbinding stack tray when the print medium pushes the flag,
• wherein the tray sensor senses the print medium discharged from the bookbinding device onto the bookbinding stack tray when the print medium pushes the flag, and
• wherein the controller moves the print medium in the discharge direction by operating the conveyor belt for a first time starting from a time when the print medium releases the flag from a pushed state.