JP2000169038A - Sheet folding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately fold even a sheet with high stiffness or a thick sheet at the desired sheet folding position by providing a fold applying means applying a physical deformation to a portion to be folded on the sheet to give low stiffness and a sheet folding means folding the sheet at the fold position. SOLUTION: This sheet folding device 1 is constituted of a half-cut section 10 applying a slit half-cut along a folding position to one face of a sheet 100 and a sheet folding section 20 folding the sheet along the half-cut. The cutter section 13 of the half-cut section 10 is provided with a ridge folding cut section 14 and a trough folding cut section 15. The sheet folding unit 23 of the sheet folding section 20 is constituted of a sheet folding roller pair 231 and guides 232-237, and it folds the sheet 100 along the fold applied by the half-cut section 10 together with a conveyance roller pair 21 and a sheet stop section 22. The sheet folding roller pair 231 discharges the sheet 100 to a tray after folding the sheet 100 into two.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet folding apparatus for folding a sheet such as a cardboard at a predetermined position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet folding apparatus has been used alone or attached to and attached to a sheet discharge section of an image forming apparatus such as a thermal transfer apparatus. For example, those described in JP-A-333469. This conventional apparatus has a configuration in which a lever is disposed above a sheet conveying path and a sheet folding roller pair is disposed below the sheet conveying path. After the sheet is conveyed to a position where the folding position is directly below the lever, the lever is pressed down. The sheet is pushed into the nip of the roller pair, and the folding roller pair is driven to rotate to feed the sheet, thereby folding the sheet in two.
That is.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional apparatus, when the lever is pushed down in accordance with the folding position of the sheet, depending on the state of conveyance of the sheet to the pair of folding rollers, the folding roller may be moved before entering the nip portion. The sheet may come into contact with one of the rollers of the pair, or the fold of the sheet may not be parallel to the nip portion, but may be slantingly approached. The problem arises that the sheet cannot be folded. Further, in the case of a thick sheet or a sheet having a strong stiffness, there is also a problem that even if the sheet is folded once, the sheet is opened after being discharged from the pair of folding rollers.

In view of the above problems, the sheet folding apparatus of the present invention can accurately fold a stiff sheet or a thick sheet at a desired sheet folding position, and does not open once folded. It is an object to provide a folding device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a sheet folding apparatus according to the present invention applies a physical deformation to a portion of a sheet that is to be folded, so that a stiffener can stiffen other portions. And a sheet folding means for folding the sheet at the position of the fold.

The fold applying means includes a cutter having a linear blade having substantially the same length as the width of the sheet, and a pressing means for pressing the cutter along a line to be a fold of the sheet. The fold may be formed by making a cut of a predetermined depth in the sheet with a blade. Further, the sheet folding means is disposed in front of the sheet conveying direction, and a contact member for contacting the sheet leading end portion to prevent the sheet from advancing, and for conveying the sheet in the contact member direction, the sheet leading end is Sheet conveying means for bending the sheet at the fold position by continuously conveying even after contacting the contact member, guide means for guiding the fold of the bent sheet in a predetermined direction,
The apparatus may further include a folding roller that winds the folded fold portion guided by the guide means so as to sandwich the folded fold portion and sends it forward, and a driving means that rotationally drives the folding roller.

[0007] A first fold applying means for applying a fold to the first surface of the sheet, a second fold applying means for applying a fold to the second surface of the sheet, and the sheet is provided with the fold. A sheet folding unit that folds the sheet in a direction opposite to a surface, a folding information acquiring unit that acquires information on a sheet folding direction, and the first fold imparting unit based on information acquired by the folding information acquiring unit. Or switching means for switching whether to use the second fold imparting means.

The sheet folding means is disposed in front of the sheet conveying direction, abuts against the leading end of the sheet to prevent the sheet from advancing, and transports the sheet in the direction of the abutting member. Sheet conveying means for bending the sheet at the fold position by continuously conveying even after the leading end abuts on the contact member, guide means for guiding the fold of the bent sheet in a predetermined direction, A folding roller which winds the folded fold portion guided by the guide means so as to sandwich the folded fold portion and sends the folded forward; and the folding roller in advance based on the information acquired by the folding information acquiring means, the first surface of the sheet. And a moving means for moving the folding roller to a side perpendicular to a sheet feeding direction of the folding roller. The sheet may be arranged substantially symmetrically and move together with the folding roller to guide the bent fold portion of the sheet in the direction of the folding roller.

Alternatively, there is provided a sheet folding apparatus for folding a sheet which has been physically deformed such that a part to be folded is weaker than other parts.
A contact member disposed in front of the sheet conveying direction and abutting against the front end of the sheet to prevent its progress; and conveying the sheet in the direction of the contact member, and after the front end of the sheet abuts on the contact member. The sheet conveying means for bending the sheet at the position of the fold, the guiding means for guiding the fold of the bent sheet in a predetermined direction, and the bending being guided by the guiding means. The sheet folding device may be configured to include a folding roller that winds the folded portion so as to sandwich the folded portion and feeds the folded portion forward, and a driving unit that rotationally drives the folding roller.

In the case where the sheet folding device is constituted only by the sheet folding means, the sheet folding device is configured to fold a sheet which has been physically deformed so that the stiffness of a portion to be a fold is weaker than that of the other portions. hand,
A contact member disposed in front of the sheet conveying direction and abutting against the front end of the sheet to prevent its progress; and conveying the sheet in the direction of the contact member, and after the front end of the sheet abuts on the contact member. The sheet conveying means for bending the sheet at the position of the fold, the guiding means for guiding the fold of the bent sheet in a predetermined direction, and the bending being guided by the guiding means. A folding roller that winds in and wraps around the folded part and sends it forward, and a moving unit that moves the folding roller to the first surface side or the second surface side of the sheet in advance based on information acquired by the folding information acquisition unit. And the guide unit is disposed substantially symmetrically with respect to a plane orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction of the folding roller, and together with the folding roller. And moving the bending has been folded portion of the sheet may be guided to the folding roller direction.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a sheet folding apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of the sheet folding apparatus 1. The sheet folding apparatus 1 is installed in a paper discharge unit of an image forming apparatus (not shown), and a sheet 100 sent with its print side up after an image is formed by the image forming apparatus.
Is bent according to the operator's specification received by the image forming apparatus. The sheet folding device 1 is roughly
It comprises a half-cut section 10 for making a cut (hereinafter, referred to as “half-cut”) along a folding position on any surface of the sheet, and a sheet folding section 20 for folding the sheet along the half-cut.

The half-cut unit 10 includes a first conveying roller pair 11, a sheet sensor 12, and a cutter unit 13. The sheet folding section 20 includes a second conveying roller pair 21, a sheet stopper 22, and a sheet folding unit 23. The sheet folding device 1 includes a pair of paper discharge rollers 31 and an upper paper discharge tray 3.
2, a lower discharge tray 33, and a control unit 50 (not shown in FIG. 1) for controlling the processing of the entire apparatus (the configuration is shown in FIG. 8).

The pattern of sheet folding using the sheet folding apparatus 1 includes a mountain fold in which the printed surface of the sheet is visible after folding, and a valley fold in which the printed surface of the sheet is not visible. The selection of the mountain fold / valley fold is made by the operator from the image forming apparatus. From the image forming apparatus to the sheet folding apparatus 1, in addition to the folding pattern (mountain folding / valley folding), the sheet size (A4, B5, etc.), the sheet folding position (1/4 or 1 /
3) and half-cut strength (strong / medium / weak) information according to the sheet thickness and waist strength. These four types of sheet folding information are designated by an operator from an operation panel (not shown) of the image forming apparatus.

Next, the configuration of each part of the sheet folding apparatus 1 will be described. The first conveying roller pair 11 is rotationally driven by a driving source (not shown), and conveys the sheet 100 discharged from the image forming apparatus toward the cutter unit 13. The driving of the first conveying roller pair 11 is controlled by the control unit 50 based on information on the sheet size and the folding position and the timing at which the sheet sensor 12 detects the leading edge of the sheet 100.

The sheet sensor 12 is composed of, for example, a reflection type photoelectric sensor, and detects the passage of the leading end of the sheet 100 and notifies the controller 50 of the detection. Based on the notification from the sheet sensor 12, the control unit 50 controls the first conveying roller pair 11,
The sheet 100 is stopped at a predetermined sheet folding position. The processing of the control unit 50 will be described later. Cutter part 1
Numeral 3 is for performing half-cut of a depth according to the designation of the half-cut strength by the operator on the sheet 100 conveyed by the first conveying roller pair 11. The cutter section 13 has a mountain fold cut section 14 and a valley fold cut section 15. The cutter unit 13 performs a half cut from the upper surface of the sheet using the mountain fold cut unit 14 when the operator specifies the mountain fold, and performs a half cut from the lower surface of the sheet using the valley fold cut unit 15 when the operator specifies the valley fold. Further, the mountain fold cut section 14 and the valley fold cut section 15 selectively use a plurality of cutters according to the designated half-cut strength.

A mountain fold cut section 14 and a valley fold cut section 15
Has the same configuration as that of FIG.
Only the configuration 4 will be described. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view (FIG. 2A) and a front view (FIG. 2B) of a main part of the mountain fold cut section 14. As shown in FIG. The mountain fold cut section 14 has a driving device 16 (see FIG. 4) as another configuration, but the driving device will be described later.

The mountain fold cut section 14 performs a half cut on the upper surface of the sheet so that the sheet is reliably mountain-folded in a folding process described later, and is installed above the sheet conveying surface. The mountain fold cut section 14 includes three types of cutters having substantially the same length as the sheet width, a strong cutter 142, a medium cutter 143, and a cylindrical cutter holding member 141 provided around a rotatable shaft 147.
The weak cutter 144 and the pedestal 145 are installed, and the strong cutter 142, the middle cutter 143, and the weak cutter 144 are provided.
Are rubber support members 1421, 1431,
The blades 1422, 1432, 1442 are embedded in 1441. The rear ends of the blades 1422, 1432, and 1442 are not aligned with the shaft 1 so that the blades 1422, 1432, and 1442 do not retreat even during the half cut.
It is in contact with 47. Support members 1421, 1431, 1
The hardness of the rubber 441 is different from one another, and is properly used according to the half-cut strength (strong / medium / weak) specified by the operator. The rubber of the support member 1421 of the strong cutter 142 is the softest and is used for performing a half cut on a thick paper or a strong sheet. The rubber of the support member 1431 of the middle cutter 143 has an intermediate hardness among the three types of cutters, and is used for a sheet having normal thickness and stiffness. The rubber of the support member 1441 of the weak cutter 144 is the hardest and is used for a thin sheet or a sheet having a weak stiffness.

The pedestal 145 is made of an elastic material such as rubber, and is placed at a position facing the sheet conveying surface when performing half-cut for valley folding, and functions as a support means for supporting the sheet from above. The pedestal 145 supports the sheet so that the sheet does not shift and the half-cut position does not deviate from the sheet folding position while partially absorbing the pressing force of the cutter against the valley folding cutter pressed from the back surface of the sheet. . On the other hand, the pedestal 15 of the valley fold cut portion 15
Reference numeral 5 denotes support means for supporting the sheet from below when performing the half-cut for mountain folding, and its function is the same as that of the base 145 at the time of valley folding.

The mountain fold cut section 14 can be rotated and vertically moved by a driving device 16 (see FIG. 4). The mountain fold cut unit 14 is rotated so that the cutter corresponding to the specified half-cut strength is located at a position facing the sheet in a state where the cutter is retracted upward during sheet conveyance.
When the sheet reaches a predetermined position, the sheet is moved downward.
Then, the blade of the cutter is pressed against the upper surface of the sheet,
The sheet is cut half.

FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the hardness of the support member of the cutter and the half-cut strength (depth). FIG. 9A shows a weak cutter 144. Since the rubber of the supporting member 1441 is hard, the blade 1 is pressed when pressed against the sheet 100.
The bite of the 442 into the sheet 100 is shallow. On the other hand, in the strong cutter 142 shown in FIG. 13B, the rubber of the support member 1421 is soft, so that the blade 1422 has a deep bite into the sheet 102. The bite depth of the blade is determined by the difference in hardness between the support member and the pedestal 157 of the valley fold cut portion 15.
The stiffer the support member, the more the base 157 is deformed and dented, and the bite of the blade into the sheet becomes shallower.

FIG. 4A is a view showing a driving device 16 for the mountain fold cut section 14. As shown in FIG. The driving device 16 is connected to one end of the shaft 147 by a flexible joint 162 to support the supporting portions 161 a and 161 b that hold the shaft 147 of the mountain fold cut portion 14 so as to rotate and move up and down, and to rotate the mountain fold cut portion 14. The rotation driving device 163 and the cam plates 164a and 164 for moving the mountain fold cut section 14 up and down.
b, a second rotation driving device 166 for rotating the cam shaft 165 of the cam plates 164a and 164b. Also, axis 1
47 is urged upward by compression springs 167a and 167b.

FIG. 4B shows the shape of the cam plate 164a. The first rotation driving device 163 rotates the shaft 147 according to the control of the control unit 50, and causes the cutter corresponding to the specified half-cut strength to face the sheet conveying surface. The second rotation driving device 166 rotates the shaft 165 in response to an instruction from the control unit 50, and pushes down the mountain fold cutting unit 14 by the cam plates 164a and 164b to perform half cutting on the sheet.

Returning to FIG. 1, the valley fold cut section 15 is a cutter for half-cutting the lower surface of the sheet so that the sheet is folded in a valley, and is installed below the sheet conveying surface. Its structure is the same as the mountain fold cut section 14,
It is rotated and moved up and down by a device having the same configuration as the driving device 16. FIG. 5 shows how the mountain fold cut section 14 and the valley fold cut section 15 rotate and move up and down according to the mountain fold / valley fold. Here, the bending position is the center of the sheet,
The case where the half cut is performed with the half cut strength “strong” will be described as an example.

First, in the case of mountain folding, FIG.
Is an initial state, and the mountain fold cut section 14 and the valley fold cut section 15 are located at positions where the pedestals 145 and 155 face the sheet conveying surface, respectively. From this position, the mountain fold cut unit 14 is rotated according to the information of the operator designation (mountain fold / valley fold, half cut strength) acquired by the control unit 50 from the image forming apparatus.

In FIG. 5B, the mountain fold cut portion 14 is rotated clockwise by 90 degrees from the position shown in FIG.
The strong cutter 142 is positioned at a position facing the sheet 100. In this state, when the sheet 100 is conveyed on the conveyance path and reaches the half-cut position (the position where the folding line of the sheet 100 is directly below the blade of the strong cutter 142), the sheet 100 is stopped to perform the half-cut. . The control unit 50 determines whether or not the sheet has reached the half-cut position based on sheet leading edge detection information from the sheet sensor 12 and sheet size information.
The processing of the control unit 50 will be described later.

In FIG. 5D, the mountain fold cut portion 14 is pushed down, and the half cut 1
01 is given. Next, in the case of valley folding, FIG.
From the initial state of (a), the valley fold cut unit 15 is rotated according to the information of the operator designation (mountain fold / valley fold, strength of half cut) acquired by the control unit 50 from the image forming apparatus.

In FIG. 3C, the valley fold cut portion 15 is rotated 90 degrees clockwise from the position in FIG.
The strong cutter 152 is positioned at a position facing the sheet conveying surface. In this state, the sheet 100
Is transported to the half-cut position (the position where the folding line of the sheet 100 is directly above the blade of the strong cutter 152), the sheet 100 is stopped to execute the half-cut. This processing is the same as the case of mountain folding.

FIG. 5E shows the case of the valley fold, in which the valley fold cut portion 15 is pushed upward, and a half cut 102 is made on the lower surface of the sheet 100. Returning to FIG. 1, the configuration of the sheet folding unit 20 will be described. Second transport roller pair 21
Starts rotation after the sheet is half-cut, and feeds the sheet toward the sheet folding unit 23.
The control of the driving of the second conveying roller pair 21 is performed by the control unit 50, the details of which will be described later.

The sheet stopper 22 is provided with the second conveying roller pair 2
1 holds one end of the sheet fed out and prevents the sheet from advancing further. A sheet stopper groove 221 for holding the sheet is provided. The entrance portion of the sheet stopper groove 221 has a tapered shape, and has a shape in which the sheet 100 is securely guided to the back.

The sheet folding unit 23 comprises a sheet folding roller pair 231 and guides 232 to 237.
The sheet 100 is folded together with the pair of conveying rollers 21 and the sheet stopper 22 along the crease provided by the half-cut unit 10. The sheet folding roller pair 231 nips a sheet entering in a form that is bent along half-cut, applies pressure, folds the sheet into two, and discharges the sheet into the upper discharge tray 25 or the lower discharge tray 26. .

The guide 232 guides the leading end of the sheet 100 conveyed into the sheet folding unit 23 by the second conveying roller pair 21 to the sheet stopper 22 and
The sheet 100 is bent so that the half-cut surface of the sheet 100 faces the direction of the sheet folding roller 231. The guides 233 and 234 are used to move the sheet 100 bent along the half cut into a sheet folding roller pair 231.
Guide in the direction. The guides 235 to 237 guide the sheet 100 that has been folded and sent by the sheet folding roller pair 231 toward the upper discharge tray 25 or the lower discharge tray 26.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the sheet 100 bends along a half cut, taking the case of mountain folding as an example. In FIG. 6A, the sheet 10 fed out into the sheet folding unit 23 by the second conveying roller pair 21 is shown.
Numeral 0 is guided by the guide 232 and advances toward the sheet stopper 22, and its leading end reaches the depth of the sheet stopper groove 221. Although the sheet 100 does not advance further, the second conveying roller pair 21 continues to rotate and the sheet 10
0 continues to be fed into the sheet folding unit 23. As a result, a force that is sent in the direction of arrow 401 acts on the sheet 100 by the second conveying roller pair 21, but since one end of the sheet 100 is held by the sheet stopper 22, the sheet 100 has arrow 401. The force acting in the direction of the arrow 402 is generated as a reaction of the force acting in the direction of the arrow.
When the force of the arrow 401 and the force of the arrow 402 act on the sheet 100 in opposition to each other, the sheet bends upward or downward, but the sheet 100 with the fold 101 provided on the upper surface has a “<” shape. It is guided by a guide bent in a shape, and is bent upward as shown in FIG.
Bends at In the case of valley folding, the sheet is bent downward.

When the sheet 100 is further fed out by the second pair of conveying rollers 21 from the state shown in FIG. 3B, the sheet 100 is folded with the fold 101 upward and the guides 233, 2
Proceed along 34. Then, the sheet folding roller pair 231
After that, the sheet 100 is completely folded in two by the rotation of the sheet folding roller pair 231 (FIG. 10C), and is folded in the direction of the arrow 403 (in the direction of the upper discharge tray 25). Is discharged.

A pair of paper discharge rollers 31 is provided in front of the upper paper discharge tray 25. The discharge roller pair 31 discharges the sheet 100 that has been folded and sent out by the sheet folding roller pair 231 to the upper discharge tray 25. The sheet folding unit 23 is supported with the fulcrum P in FIG. 1 as a pivot, and is rotated by a rotation unit (not shown) in accordance with the mountain fold / valley fold. The rotation means is controlled by the control unit 50. Sheet folding section 20 shown in FIG.
The position is for mountain fold, and for valley fold,
The sheet folding unit 23 is rotated with the point P as a fulcrum and moved to a position for valley folding.

FIG. 7 shows the sheet folding unit 23 in the valley folding position. As in the case of the mountain fold, the sheet fold in the case of the valley fold can be realized only by the second conveyance roller 21 conveying the sheet in the direction of the sheet folding unit 23. 2
The folded sheet is discharged to the lower discharge tray 26. The lower discharge tray 26 is not provided with a discharge roller. This is because in the case of valley folding, the sheet sent out from the sheet folding roller pair 231 falls on the lower discharge tray 26 by its own weight.

The upper discharge tray 25 and the lower discharge tray 2
6 is provided with a paper ejection sensor (not shown). When the folded sheet is discharged to the tray, the paper ejection sensor
This is detected and notified to the control unit 50. The control unit 50
The components of the sheet folding apparatus 1 are controlled in accordance with the contents of the sheet folding information designated by the operator, and the sheet is folded.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit 50. The control unit 50 controls the CPU 510
Is executed by executing the program stored in the. The RAM 530 stores sheet folding information (mountain / valley folding, folding position, sheet size, half-cut strength) notified from the image forming apparatus. The timer clock oscillator 540 oscillates a clock signal used by the CPU 510 to set the start / stop timing of the first conveying roller pair 11 and the second conveying roller pair 21.

The control unit 50 also controls the first transport roller pair 1
1, second transport roller pair 21, sheet folding roller pair 23
1. The operation timing of each roller pair of the paper discharge roller pair 24 and each drive device that drives the mountain fold cut section 14, the valley fold cut section 15, and the sheet folding unit 23 is controlled. Hereinafter, the processing content of the control unit 50 will be described along the flow of the sheet folding process according to the flowchart.

FIG. 9 shows the control unit 5 in the sheet folding process.
11 is a flowchart mainly showing the operation of CPU 510. The CPU 510 is activated by an instruction from the image forming apparatus when the operator designates folding of a sheet from the image forming apparatus. Then, the CPU 510 receives the sheet folding information designated by the operator from the image forming apparatus,
It is stored in the RAM 530 (S901).

The CPU 510 refers to the mountain fold / valley fold designation and the information on the half-cut strength, and determines the mountain fold cut section 14 for mountain fold (S902: Yes) and the valley fold cut section 15 for valley fold. Is driven to rotate (S902: No),
The cutter corresponding to the half-cut strength is positioned at a position facing the sheet conveying surface (S903, S904). At the same time, the rotation driving device for the sheet folding unit 23 is instructed to position the sheet folding unit 23 at a position (FIG. 1 or FIG. 6) that matches the folding pattern (S9).
05, S906).

Next, after the CPU 510 activates the first conveying roller pair 11 (S907), the first conveying roller pair 11 conveys the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus, and the sheet sensor 12 detects the leading edge of the sheet. Wait to detect. Then, the sheet sensor 12 detects the sheet by the CPU 5.
10 is notified, the CPU 510
Of the sheet conveying speed of the first conveying roller pair 11 stored in the RAM 530 and the sheet size and the folding position information (sheet center in this embodiment) stored in the RAM 530. The time required to reach the position of the blade of the cutter performing the half cut is obtained. Then, the time is measured based on the clock signal oscillated by the timer clock oscillator 540, and when the obtained time has elapsed (S908: Yes), the first transport roller pair 11 is stopped (S909).

Then, the CPU 510 instructs the driving device for the mountain fold cut section 14 or the valley fold cut section 15 to push down or push up the cutter to execute the half cut (S910). When the half cutting is completed, the CPU 510 instructs the driving device of each cutter to separate the cutter from the sheet. Then, the second transport roller pair 21 is activated (the first transport roller 11 is also restarted), and the sheet is transported toward the sheet folding unit 23 (S911). Further, the CPU 510 activates the sheet folding roller pair 231 (S912). Further, when the folding pattern is mountain folding (S913: Yes), the CPU 510 also activates the sheet discharging roller pair 24 (S914).

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6, the second conveying roller pair 21, the sheet folding roller pair 231, and the sheet discharging roller pair 24 (only in the case of mountain folding) are kept rotating, and the sheet is discharged from the sheet folding. Since the processing up to is executed, the CPU
The control unit 510 waits for the notification of the completion of the paper discharge from the paper discharge sensor (S915: Yes), stops the rotating various rollers, and ends the processing (S916).

As is apparent from the above description, the sheet folding apparatus 1 of the present embodiment sends the sheet to the sheet folding section 20 after half-cutting the sheet at the folding position. And
In the sheet folding section 20, the sheet is fed out by the second conveying roller pair 21 while holding one end of the sheet by the sheet stopper member 22, so that the sheet enters the sheet folding roller pair 231 in a state where the sheet is correctly folded at the fold, and the At the bending line. Further, since the sheet is half-cut before being folded by the sheet folding roller pair 231, even a thick sheet or a sheet having a strong stiffness can be reliably folded and will not be opened after the sheet is discharged.

In the present embodiment, the sheet folding apparatus 1 capable of performing both the mountain folding and the valley folding is shown. However, only the mountain folding or only the valley folding may be performed. FIG. 10 shows an example of a sheet folding device dedicated to mountain folding. The sheet folding apparatus 1000 includes a half cut unit 1010 and a sheet folding unit 1020. Half cut part 101
0 includes a first conveying roller pair 11, a sheet sensor 12, a mountain fold cut unit 1011 and a pedestal 1012, and the mountain fold cut unit 1011 is rotated and moved up and down by a driving device (not shown) to cut half the upper surface of the sheet. Apply. The sheet folding unit 1020 includes a second conveying roller pair 21, a sheet stopper 22, a sheet folding roller pair 1021, and a guide 102.
2, 1023, and 1024, and the procedure of executing sheet folding is the same as that of the sheet folding unit 20. However, unlike the sheet folding unit 30, the sheet folding unit 1020 is fixed, and the folded sheet is always placed in the discharge tray 1
041 is discharged. Note that a sheet folding device dedicated to valley folding can be similarly configured.

In the present embodiment, the half cut is performed on one side of the sheet. However, the present invention is not limited to the half cut, and the sheet guided to the guide in the state shown in FIG. Any processing may be used as long as it is a physical deformation that facilitates bending at a position in a predetermined direction. Specifically, perforation may be performed instead of half cutting, or half cutting may be performed only on a part of the sheet bending line.

Further, in this embodiment, three types of cutters are selectively used to adjust the half-cut depth, but the method of adjusting the depth is not limited to this. Even if one kind of cutter is used, adjustment of the amount of pressing down of the cutter by the driving device (in the present embodiment, the cam plates 164a, 16
4b), it is also possible to adjust the depth of the half cut.

In this embodiment, the half cutters are provided separately for the mountain fold and the valley fold.
By rotating 0, the position was changed between the mountain fold and the valley fold. However, when the sheet reaches the sheet folding section 20, the half-cut surface always becomes one of the upper and lower sides when the sheet is turned upside down between the half-cut section 10 and the sheet folding section 20. In this case, it is not necessary to rotate the sheet folding section 20. Further, if the above-described sheet reversing configuration is provided upstream of the half cutting section 10, two kinds of cutting sections (for mountain folding and valley folding) need to be provided. As a result, the configuration of the sheet folding apparatus 1 can be simplified.

In this embodiment, the sheet folding apparatus 1 is provided so as to be connected to the image forming apparatus serving as a host. If it is configured to have an operation panel for receiving designation, the sheet folding apparatus can be used alone. The sheet folding apparatus according to the present embodiment has the half-cut unit 10 and the sheet-fold unit 20, but if the sheet is separately subjected to the half-cut, only the configuration of the sheet-fold unit 20 is used. It can also be used as a sheet folding device. In this case, it is conceivable to use a sheet feeding device that supplies sheets and an operation panel that receives designation of sheet folding information such as mountain folding / valley folding in combination with the sheet folding unit 20 of the present embodiment.

[0050]

As is apparent from the above description, the sheet folding apparatus of the present invention applies physical deformation to a portion of the sheet that is to be folded, so that the strain is weaker than the other portions. Crease applying means and sheet folding means for folding the sheet at the fold position, wherein the fold applying means supports the sheet with a support member when physically deforming the sheet using a cutter or the like. In the sheet folding means, since the guide means has a shape for guiding the fold of the sheet in the direction of the folding roller, the sheet can be accurately folded at a desired folding position, and once a strong sheet or a thick sheet is folded. After opening it will not open.

The apparatus further includes first fold applying means for applying a fold to the first surface of the sheet, and second fold applying means for applying a fold to the second surface of the sheet. Switching between providing a fold on the first surface of the sheet and providing a fold on the second surface is performed, and the sheet folding means also controls the folding roller based on the bending information on the first surface side or the second surface of the sheet.
If the sheet is moved to the surface side and the guide means is also moved together with the folding roller, it is possible to cope with both the mountain fold and the valley fold of the sheet.

As a sheet folding apparatus for folding a sheet which has been physically deformed such that a part to be a fold is weaker than other parts, a fold of the sheet is guided by a guide means toward a folding roller. With respect to the sheet folding means, if the folding roller is moved to the first surface side or the second surface side of the sheet based on the folding information, and the guide means is moved together with the folding roller, the sheet is folded in advance. A sheet that has been physically deformed so that the stiffness of the part to be stiffened is weaker than the stiffness of the other parts can be accurately folded at the desired fold position regardless of the mountain fold and valley fold, and a strong or thick sheet But once folded, it won't open.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a sheet folding device according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a structure of a mountain fold cut section of the sheet folding apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between hardness of a cutter support member of the sheet folding apparatus and half-cut strength.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structure of a driving device for the mountain fold cut section.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an order of a sheet half-cutting process by a half-cutting section of the sheet folding apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a progression order of a sheet folding process in a sheet folding section of the sheet folding apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a position of a sheet folding unit of the sheet folding apparatus during a valley folding process.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit of the sheet folding apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the control unit, focusing on an operation of a CPU;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sheet folding apparatus dedicated to mountain folding to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sheet folding apparatus 10 Half cut part 11 1st conveyance roller pair 12 Sheet position sensor 14 Mountain fold cut section 15 Valley fold cut section 16 Drive device 20 Sheet fold section 21 2nd conveyance roller pair 22 Sheet stopper 23 Sheet fold unit 231 Sheet folding roller pair 232 to 237 Guide 50 Control unit 510 CPU

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Atsuhiko Shimoyama 2-3-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka F International Term Minolta Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 3F108 AA01 AB01 AC01 BA03 BA08 BB31 CC02 CC34 CC35

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A fold imparting means for applying physical deformation to a portion to be a fold of the sheet so that the stiffness is weaker than that of other portions, and a sheet for folding the sheet at the fold position A sheet folding device, comprising: folding means. 2. The fold applying means includes a cutter having a linear blade having substantially the same length as the width of the sheet, and pressing means for pressing the cutter along a line to be a fold of the sheet. 2. The sheet folding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a fold is formed by making a cut of a predetermined depth in the sheet. 3. The sheet folding means is disposed in front of the sheet conveying direction, a contact member abutting on the front end of the sheet to prevent the sheet from advancing, and a sheet convey means for conveying the sheet in the direction of the contact member. By continuously transporting even after the tip abuts on the contact member,
Sheet conveying means for bending a sheet at the position of the fold, guide means for guiding the fold of the bent sheet in a predetermined direction, and wrapping around the bent fold portion guided by the guide means. 3. The sheet folding device according to claim 1, further comprising: a folding roller that sends the sheet forward, and a driving unit that rotationally drives the folding roller. 4. A first method for forming a fold on a first surface of a sheet.
A second fold applying means for applying a fold to the second surface of the sheet, a sheet folding means for bending the sheet in a direction opposite to the surface on which the fold is applied, and a sheet folding direction. Bending information acquiring means for acquiring information; switching means for switching between using the first fold applying means or using the second fold applying means based on the information acquired by the folding information acquiring means. And a sheet folding device. 5. A sheet folding means disposed in front of a sheet conveying direction, a contact member for contacting a leading end portion of the sheet to prevent the sheet from being advanced, and a sheet conveyer for conveying a sheet in the direction of the contact member. By continuously transporting even after the tip abuts on the contact member,
A sheet conveying means for bending the sheet at the position of the fold, a guide means for guiding the fold of the bent sheet in a predetermined direction, and a rolled-in part which sandwiches the bent fold part guided by the guide means. A folding roller that sends the sheet forward, and a moving unit that moves the folding roller to the first surface side or the second surface side of the sheet in advance based on the information acquired by the folding information acquisition unit. The folding roller is disposed substantially symmetrically with respect to a plane orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction, and moves together with the folding roller to guide a bent fold portion of the sheet in the direction of the folding roller. Item 5. The sheet folding device according to Item 4. 6. A sheet folding apparatus for folding a sheet which has been physically deformed such that a part to be folded becomes weaker than a part other than the other part, wherein the sheet folding apparatus is disposed forward in the sheet conveying direction, and An abutting member that abuts on the leading end portion to prevent the advancement, by conveying the sheet in the direction of the abutting member, and by continuously transporting the sheet even after the leading edge of the sheet abuts on the abutting member;
A sheet conveying means for bending the sheet at the position of the fold, a guide means for guiding the fold of the bent sheet in a predetermined direction, and a rolled-in part which sandwiches the bent fold part guided by the guide means. And a driving unit for rotating and driving the folding roller. 7. A sheet folding apparatus for folding a sheet which has been physically deformed such that a part to be a fold is weaker than a part other than the other part, wherein the sheet folding apparatus is disposed forward in the sheet conveying direction, and An abutting member that abuts on the leading end portion to prevent the advancement, by conveying the sheet in the direction of the abutting member, and by continuously transporting the sheet even after the leading edge of the sheet abuts on the abutting member;
A sheet conveying means for bending the sheet at the position of the fold, a guide means for guiding the fold of the bent sheet in a predetermined direction, and a rolled-in part which sandwiches the bent fold part guided by the guide means. A folding roller that sends the sheet forward, and a moving unit that moves the folding roller to the first surface side or the second surface side of the sheet in advance based on the information acquired by the folding information acquisition unit. A sheet disposed substantially symmetrically with respect to a plane orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction of the folding roller, and moving together with the folding roller to guide a bent fold portion of the sheet in the direction of the folding roller. Folding device.