JP2003025754A - Bookbinding apparatus and bookbinding method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bookbinding apparatus dispensing with a cutting process for arranging the end sides of a plurality of middle papers after a glued-on cover is bonded to the accumulated middle papers and a bookbinding method using the same. SOLUTION: The bookbinding apparatus 30 has an accumulation mechanism 40 for obliquely accumulating papers P having images formed thereto by a copier, a coating mechanism 60 for coating the upper end sides in the inclined direction of the accumulated papers P with an adhesive, a cover stacker 70 housing covers S and a folding mechanism 80 for folding the papers P at the position corresponding to the preliminarily calculated thickness of the papers P. The thickness of the papers P is calculated corresponding to the number of the accumulated papers P and the kind thereof and the folding position of the cover S is altered corresponding to the thickness.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bookbinding apparatus and a bookbinding method for accumulating a plurality of inner sheets and attaching a cover.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a bookbinding method, a plurality of sheets of paper (intermediate paper) on which information is printed are gathered and aligned, an adhesive is applied to one of the aligned edges, and the central portion of the cover is attached to this one edge. A simple binding method is known in which cover sheets are attached and bound so as to be bonded.

[0003]

According to this method, the front cover is provided with a margin in advance so that the book can be dealt with even when the thickness of the book changes depending on the number of the inner sheets to be accumulated. is there. For this reason, a step of cutting both end sides separated from the central portion of the bound cover is required as the finishing of the bookbinding.

For example, as shown in FIG. 13, three unbound edges of a booklet made by sticking the central portions of the covers together are cut along line segments aa, bb, cc in the figure. Then, a process of aligning them is required.

Therefore, the conventional bookbinding apparatus has a large size, and it is difficult to combine it with, for example, a copying machine.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is a bookbinding apparatus which does not require a cutting step for aligning the edges after the front cover is pasted on a plurality of stacked inner sheets. , And providing a bookbinding method.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the bookbinding apparatus of the present invention comprises a stacking mechanism for stacking a plurality of inner sheets and aligning the edges, and a stacking mechanism for stacking and aligning the edges. A coating mechanism that applies an adhesive to one edge of the paper, a calculation unit that calculates the thickness in the stacking direction according to the type of the inside paper and the number of stacked sheets, and the inside paper to which the adhesive is applied by the coating mechanism. And a storage portion for accommodating a cover sheet for wrapping the accumulated inner paper sheet by adhering the central portion to one end side of the sheet, and two end sides separated from the central portion of the cover sheet are separated from the one end side of the accumulated inner sheet. A folding mechanism that folds at least one of the two end sides of the cover taken out from the accommodating section so as to be aligned with the other end side at a position according to the thickness calculated by the calculation section, and this folding mechanism. A table with at least one side folded Of the central portion and a, a bonding mechanism for bonding one end side of the inner sheets to which the adhesive is applied by the coating mechanism.

According to the above invention, since at least one end side of the cover sheet adhered to one end side of a plurality of stacked inner sheets is folded at a position according to the thickness of the inner sheet, regardless of the number of inner sheets, After binding, the step of cutting the edge of the cover can be omitted, and the edge of the inside paper and the edge of the cover can be aligned.

Further, the bookbinding apparatus of the present invention is combined with an image forming apparatus for forming an image on at least one side of a sheet, and a plurality of sheets on which an image is formed on at least one side by the image forming apparatus. A stacking mechanism that stacks sheets and aligns their edges, an application mechanism that applies an adhesive to one end of the sheets that are stacked and aligned by this stacking mechanism, and a stacking direction that varies depending on the type and number of stacked sheets. An arithmetic unit for calculating the thickness, an accommodating unit for accommodating a cover for wrapping the accumulated paper by adhering the central part to one end of the paper coated with the adhesive by the applying mechanism, and a central part of the cover. At least one end side of the two end sides of the cover sheet taken out from the accommodating section is at least the one end side so that the two end sides separated from each other are aligned with the other end side separated from the one end side of the accumulated sheets. Calculated by A folding mechanism that folds at a position according to the thickness, and an adhesive mechanism that bonds the central portion of the cover, which is folded at least on one side with the folding mechanism, to one side of the paper to which the adhesive is applied by the applying mechanism. , Are provided.

According to the above invention, it is possible to immediately bind the sheets on which the image is formed by the image forming apparatus, and to provide the bookbinding apparatus with high convenience.

Further, according to the bookbinding method of the present invention, a plurality of inner paper sheets are accumulated and their edges are aligned, and an adhesive is applied to one end side of the accumulated and aligned inner paper sheets. Also, the thickness in the stacking direction is calculated according to the number of stacked sheets, and the central portion of the inner sheet to which the adhesive is applied is stuck to the central portion of the inner sheet, and a cover sheet for wrapping the inner sheet is supplied. At least one end side of the supplied two sides of the front cover is pre-calculated so that the two end sides separated from are aligned with the other end side spaced from the one end side of the accumulated inside paper. The cover is folded at a position corresponding to the thickness, and the central portion of the cover, which is folded at least on one end side, is bonded to one end side of the inside paper to which the adhesive is applied.

Further, according to the bookbinding method of the present invention, a plurality of sheets on which images are formed on at least one side are accumulated by the image forming apparatus, their edges are aligned, and the adhesive is attached to one edge of the accumulated sheets. Is applied, the thickness in the stacking direction is calculated according to the type of the above-mentioned paper and the number of stacked sheets, and the central portion is attached to one end side of the above-mentioned paper to which the adhesive is applied, and a cover for wrapping the paper is supplied. At least one of the two edges of the supplied cover sheet is aligned so that the two edges separated from the central portion of the cover are aligned with the other edge separated from the one edge of the accumulated sheets. The sheet is folded at a position corresponding to the thickness of the sheet calculated in advance, and the center portion of the cover sheet, which is folded at least on one side, is bonded to one side of the sheet coated with the adhesive.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an electrophotographic digital copying machine 100 (image forming apparatus) in which a bookbinding apparatus 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention is combined.

The digital copying machine 100 has a housing 1 forming the outer shell thereof. A document table 3 made of transparent glass is provided on the upper surface of the housing 1, and a document supply unit 2 is provided on the document table 3. The document feeder 2 feeds a plurality of documents one by one to a predetermined position on the document table 3. Below the document table 3, a scanner 4 that moves left and right in the drawing is provided. Image data read from a document through the scanner 4 is stored in a large-capacity data file device 5 arranged near the lower end of the housing 1.

Below the scanner 4, a sheet containing sheet 2 is accommodated.
Two cassettes 6a and 6b are provided to be detachable from the housing 1. Each of the cassettes 6a and 6b has a transmissive optical sensor 7a and 7b for detecting the presence or absence of the paper P, and a paper P.
Feeding rollers 8a, 8b for separating and feeding one by one
Is provided. In this embodiment, A4 size paper P is set in the lower cassette 6a, and A3 size paper P is set in the upper cassette 6b. The paper P fed from each of the cassettes 6 a and 6 b is transferred to the first image forming unit 1 via a conveyance path 10 including a plurality of roller pairs 9.
Sent to 1.

The first image forming section 11 is provided with a photoconductor drum 12 at the substantially center thereof, and the laser optical system 1 is provided around the photoconductor drum 12.
3, charger 14, developing device 15, transfer charger 15
a is provided. Based on the image data properly read from the data file device 5, the laser optical system 13
A latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 12 by the exposure scanning of the toner, the latent image is developed by the toner supplied from the developing device 15, and the toner is formed on the sheet P fed through the transport path 10 by the transfer charger 15a. The image is transferred.

The paper P on which the toner image is transferred is sent out from the first image forming section 11 and then sent to the first fixing device 16. Here, the paper P is heated and pressed by the heat roller 16 a, and the toner image is fixed on the paper P. The sheet P on which an image is formed by fixing the toner image is
It passes through the gate 17 which is rotated by an actuator (not shown).

A second image forming section 19 having the same structure as the above-mentioned first image forming section 11 is provided upside down on one of the conveying paths switched by the gate 17. That is, it is possible to form an image on the other surface of the paper P, which has been image-formed on one surface by the first image forming unit 11. Also in this case, an image is formed on the back surface of the paper P based on the image data appropriately read from the data file device 5. Further, a second fixing device 20 having a heat roller 20a is arranged on the downstream side of the second image forming unit 19.

The conveying path on the downstream side of the second fixing device 20 is
It is connected to the other transport path 18 which is switched by the gate 17. That is, the sheet P having the image formed on only one side is conveyed via the conveying path 18 that bypasses the second image forming unit 19 and the second fixing device 20.

A gate 21 which is rotated by an actuator (not shown) is further provided on the merged conveying path 18. A pair of discharge rollers 22 for discharging the paper P to a bookbinding device 30 described later is provided on one of the transport paths switched by the gate 21. Also,
A pair of paper discharge rollers 26 for discharging the unbound book P to the paper stacker 25 is provided on the other transport path switched by the gate 21.

In addition, near the bottom of the casing 1, the operation of the above-mentioned digital copying machine 100 is controlled according to a predetermined operation program and the operation of the bookbinding device 30 described later is also functioned as an arithmetic unit of the present invention. Control unit 23, digital copying machine 100, and bookbinding device 3
A power supply unit 24 for supplying electric power to 0 is provided. Further, a touch panel type operation display panel 27 (setting input unit) is provided on the top of the housing 1 to receive various operation inputs from the operator and display various operation guides to the operator.

Next, the detailed structure of the bookbinding apparatus 30 will be described with reference to FIG.

The bookbinding apparatus 30 comprises a housing 3 which forms the outer shell of the apparatus.
0a, and the discharge roller pair 22 of the digital copying machine 100
It has a pair of take-in rollers 31 for taking in the paper P having an image formed on at least one side, which is fed into the housing 30a in the direction of the arrow T1 in FIG. A stacking mechanism 40 is provided on the downstream side of the take-in roller pair 31 in the transport direction via a pair of guide plates 32a and 32b that guide the upper surface and the lower surface of the paper P.

The stacking mechanism 40 has a pair of support members 41, 41 in the form of rectangular plates, which are spaced apart and opposed to each other on the front side and the rear side of the apparatus. Here, the front side support member 41 is not shown. A pair of support members 41, 4
At the center of rotation at the base end of 1, the housing 30 of the bookbinding device 30
A rotary shaft 41a is provided with its both ends rotatably supported by a. In other words, the pair of support members 41 is the rotary shaft 41.
It can swing about a.

A driving roller 42, which is rotated in both forward and reverse directions by a stepping motor M1, is mounted on the rotary shaft 41a.
Are coaxially and rotatably provided. Drive roller 42
A pulley 42a is attached to one end of the double pulley 4 attached to the rotary shaft of the stepping motor M1.
An endless belt 44 is wound around the belt 3.

A driven roller 45 is rotatably attached to the tip of the rotation of the support member 41. And
An endless belt 46 is wound and stretched between the drive roller 42 and the driven roller 45. The width of the belt 46 in the front-rear direction is at least longer than the width orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the paper P.

A stopper 4 for contacting and aligning one side of the sheets P to be stacked on the surface 46a of the belt 46.
7 is projected. That is, the belt 46 with the pair of support members 41 tilted to the stacking position shown by the solid line in the figure.
The lower end side of the paper P fed in along the front surface 46a in the inclined direction is brought into contact with the stopper 47 to be aligned. At this time, the surface 46a of the belt 46 functions as the inclined surface of the present invention. The position of the stopper 47 can be changed by rotating the drive roller 42 and changing the traveling position of the belt 46.

A tip of a crank arm 48 operated by a stepping motor M2 is connected to a position of the support member 41 which is separated from the rotary shaft 41a. That is, by rotating the stepping motor M2 in both forward and reverse directions, the stacking mechanism 40 is moved to the stacking position 51 shown by the solid line in the drawing, the coating position 52 shown by the chain line, or the upright bookbinding position 53 shown by the chain line. It can be set.

A belt unit 50 is arranged at a position facing the stacking mechanism 40 set at the bookbinding position 53. The belt unit 50 includes a drive roller 54, a driven roller 55, and these rollers 54, which are vertically separated from each other in the figure.
It has an endless belt 56 wound around 55 and stretched. A gear 54 a meshed with a gear pulley 57 is provided on the rotation shaft of the drive roller 54. An endless belt 58 is wound between the pulley 43 attached to the rotary shaft of the stepping motor M1 and the gear pulley 57.

The belt unit 50, when set at the bookbinding position 59 shown in the figure, works together with the stacking mechanism 40 to function as the bonding mechanism of the present invention. That is, the stacking mechanism 40
The sheet P sandwiched between and is fed upward through an adhesion position described later. Also, this belt unit 5
0 also swings following the stacking mechanism 40 by a swinging mechanism (not shown) similar to the stacking mechanism 40 described above.

That is, the belt unit 50 is set at the bookbinding position 59 shown by the solid line in the figure, and the bookbinding position 53 is set.
The plurality of sheets P stacked on the front surface 46a of the belt 46 of the stacking mechanism 40 set to the above are sandwiched, and the plurality of sheets P stacked in cooperation with the stacking mechanism 40 are attached at the upper bonding position 62 in the figure. Function to send to.

Further, the belt unit 50 swings to a coating position (not shown) and stacks a plurality of sheets P between the surface 46a of the belt 46 of the stacking mechanism 40 set at the coating position 52. It functions to feed the upper end side of the plurality of sheets of paper P, which is sandwiched and driven by the stacking mechanism 40 and stacked, to the coating position 61. At this time, the stopper 47 protruding from the belt 46 of the stacking mechanism 40 is moved so as to push up the lower end side of the sheet P along the inclination direction.

Above the stacking mechanism 40 in the drawing, a coating mechanism 60 for coating an adhesive on the upper edge of the paper P sent to the coating position 61 is arranged. The coating mechanism 60 is
Container 63 containing hot melt adhesive, container 63
Heater 64 that heats and melts the adhesive by heating the bottom of the roller, rollers 65 that rotate the motor M3 while holding the adhesive that has been melted and liquefied by heating on its peripheral surface, and the circumference of the roller 65. Roller 66 having a peripheral surface facing the surface with a constant gap, and the coating position 61 facing the peripheral surface of the roller 66 with a constant gap.
The coating roller 67 has a peripheral surface that comes into contact with the upper end side of the sheet P set to. By passing the adhesive between the rollers arranged at a fixed distance from each other, a fixed amount of the adhesive is always applied to the upper edge of the paper P.

A cover stacker 70 (accommodating section) accommodating a plurality of cover sheets S in a stacked state is provided at the lower left of the housing 30a in the figure. The cover sheet stacker 70 is provided so as to be inclined, and stores a plurality of cover sheets S having a length L along the inclination direction in a stacked manner.

As shown in FIG. 3, the length L of the cover sheet S is a length (width in the lateral direction) L1 of the sheet P along the conveying direction, and a length of the central portion Sm of the cover sheet S, that is, the sheet P. Thickness t and the folding lengths L2 and L3 on the two end sides of the cover sheet S which are separated from the central portion Sm of the cover sheet S. That is, in the present invention, since the thickness t of the paper P changes when the number of the paper P to be bound changes, both ends of the cover sheet S are set to be long so that the change in the thickness t can be absorbed. Every L2, L3 from the edge of the cover S to the folding position
Is adjusted.

A pickup roller 71 is provided near the upper end of the cover stacker 70 in the drawing to roll the cover S near the front end in the take-out direction so as to rotate the cover S one by one to the upper side in the drawing. ing. Pickup roller 71
Is a rubber roller and is rotated in a predetermined direction by a motor M4. A pair of feed rollers 33 that feed the cover sheet S by nipping the cover sheet S in a nip and rotating the cover sheet S is provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the cover sheet S fed by the pickup roller 71. The cover sheet S sent out by the feed roller pair 33
Is fed to the horizontal transport path 80a extending substantially horizontally through the folding mechanism 80 via the large-diameter roller 34.

The folding mechanism 80 has a pair of rubber rollers 81 and 82 which rotate by rolling contact with the upper surface (which becomes the surface when bound) of the cover sheet S conveyed through the horizontal conveying path 80a.
Have. The rubber roller pairs 81 and 82 are formed in a cylindrical shape that can contact over the entire length in the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the cover sheet S, and function as the folding roller pair of the present invention.
The rubber roller pairs 81 and 82 are arranged in parallel along the conveying direction and are arranged in rolling contact with each other, and one rubber roller 82 is rotated in both forward and reverse directions by a stepping motor M5. As a result, the pair of rubber rollers 81 and 82 can rotate together. That is, the pulley 82a is attached to the rotation shaft of the rubber roller 82, and the stepping motor M
An endless belt 84 is wound around and stretched between the pulley 83 and the pulley 83 attached to the rotary shaft of No. 5.

At the position facing the rubber rollers 81, 82 on the lower surface side of the cover sheet S conveyed on the horizontal conveying path 80a, 2
Two pinch rollers 85 and 86 are provided so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from each other. Each of the pinch rollers 85 and 86 forms a pair with the rubber rollers 81 and 82 that are rolling contacts, and each of them functions as a pair of feed rollers of the present invention.

Further, a solenoid 87 is provided on the right side of the rubber roller 82 on the right side of the figure so as to be movable in the left and right directions in the figure, and a solenoid 88 is moved on the left side of the rubber roller 81 on the left side of the figure in the left and right directions in the figure. It is possible. Each of the solenoids 87 and 88 has a horizontal transport path 80a.
The stoppers 87a and 88a are provided to stop the carriage S by abutting the leading end of the cover sheet S in the conveying direction. Also,
Each solenoid 87, 88 is a slide mechanism 89 for adjusting the positions of the stoppers 87a, 88a in the left-right direction in the figure.
a and 89b, respectively. That is, by driving each slide mechanism 89a, 89b by a stepping motor (not shown), each solenoid 87, 88 can be moved to a desired position along the left-right direction in the drawing.

The above-mentioned two pinch rollers 85 and 8 are used.
6 is synchronized with stoppers 88a and 87a operated by solenoids 88 and 87 arranged adjacent to each other,
The rubber rollers 81 and 82 facing each other are separated and contacted. For example, the pinch roller 86 on the right side in the figure is connected to the stopper 87a via the arm 86a,
When a is biased to an operating position interposed in the horizontal transport path 80a, the pinch roller 86 separates from the opposing rubber roller 82. Pinch roller 8 on the left side of the figure
5 is also contacted / separated in synchronization with a stopper 88a driven by an adjacent solenoid 88.

On the right side of the folding mechanism 80 in the drawing, a pair of feed rollers 91 and 92 are provided in a positional relationship of vertically sandwiching the horizontal transport path 80a. The feed roller 91 disposed below the horizontal transport path 80a is rotated in both forward and reverse directions by the stepping motor 93. Horizontal transport path 80
The feed roller 92 provided above a is provided so as to be separable from the feed roller 91 by a separation / contact mechanism (not shown).

A pair of feed rollers 95, 96 sandwiching the horizontal transport path 80a vertically are provided at positions substantially symmetrical to the feed rollers 91, 92 sandwiching the upper end side of the paper P set at the adhesion position 62. It is provided. The feed roller 95 arranged below the horizontal transport path 80a is rotated in both forward and reverse directions by a stepping motor 97. Horizontal transport path 8
The feed roller 96 provided above 0a is provided so as to be capable of being brought into contact with and separated from the feed roller 95 by a not-shown separating / contacting mechanism.

Below the horizontal conveying path 80a, at positions where the paper P set at the adhesion position 62 is sandwiched between the left and right sides in the drawing, the feed rollers 94a are disposed in rolling contact with the feed roller 91 and are driven to rotate. Further, a feed roller 94b which is disposed in rolling contact with the feed roller 95 and is driven to rotate is provided. By rotating the two stepping motors 93 and 97 in predetermined directions, respectively, the paper P set at the adhesion position 62 is removed. A central portion Sm of the cover sheet S set at a bonding position, which will be described later, is pushed upward in the drawing.

Further, above the horizontal conveying path 80a, between the above-mentioned feed rollers 92 and 96, the sheet P pushed up while being sandwiched by the pair of feed rollers 94a and 94b is received together with the cover sheet S, and further upward. A pair of feed rollers 98a and 98b for feeding the paper are provided. In the present embodiment, the pair of feed rollers 98a, 98
Although the driving force is not transmitted from the surrounding rollers, b is rotatably arranged independently, but is rotated by being driven by a predetermined torque from the feed rollers 92 and 96 arranged adjacent to each other. You can

Further, a pair of feed rollers 98a, 98b
At a position further above and close to the housing 30a,
A pair of guide rollers 99 are provided for receiving the sheet P with the cover S sent upward by the pair of feed rollers 98a and 98b in the nip and guiding it in the direction of arrow T2 in the drawing. The booklet B (see FIG. 12) that has been bound and has been ejected from the housing 30a via the pair of guide rollers 99 is ejected onto the bookbinding stacker 30b provided at the upper end of the housing 30a.

Further, the folding mechanism 80 is provided in the horizontal conveyance path 8
The guide plate 35 extends along substantially the entire length of the folding mechanism 80 along the lower surface side of 0a. The guide plate 35 is provided for the purpose of preventing the cover sheet S from buckling below the horizontal transport path 80a during a folding operation to be described later by the folding mechanism 80. Further, a pair of guide plates extending to the right side of the rightmost feed roller pair 95, 96 along the horizontal transport path 80a so as to face each other along the upper surface and the lower surface of the horizontal transport path 80a. 36 and 37 are provided.

Next, the operation of the digital copying machine 100 in which the bookbinding device 30 having the above structure is combined will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 and the screen display example shown in FIG. Here, an operation of binding a book cover S to a plurality of sheets P onto which a document image is copied by the digital copying machine 100 and binding the booklet-like booklet and binding the booklet will be described.

First, prior to the operation, the operation display panel 27
The binding conditions are set and input via (FIG. 4; step 1). At this time, on the condition that the bookbinding process is selected by the operator through the operation display panel 27, as shown in FIG.
The input screen illustrated in is displayed. The operator inputs a setting by looking at this input screen and touching a predetermined button.

In the setting input, the number of originals is set by the ten key 27.
It is input via a and either one of double-sided printing and single-sided printing is selected. When the type of paper set in the digital copying machine 100 is selected from "standard" or "designated" and "designated" is selected, the thickness of the paper P is input via the ten keys 27a. It When “standard” is selected, the preset thickness of the standard paper P is 0.08 mm. Further, when inserting "play paper", the number of "play paper" to be inserted is set and input through the ten keys 27a. What is "play paper"?
For example, it refers to a blank sheet P on which no characters or images are printed, which is inserted inside the front cover or the back cover of the bound booklet B (see FIG. 12).

In addition to this, another input screen (not shown) is displayed to set the printing position of the image corresponding to each page of the original, that is, the printing order, the printing surface, the insertion position of the "idle paper", and the like. Further, either one of a mode in which only one side of the cover sheet S is folded or a mode in which both sides are folded is selected. In the initial state, it is assumed that a mode in which both end sides of the cover sheet S separated from the central portion Sm are folded is selected, and this mode is also selected in this embodiment.

When the start button 27b displayed on the operation display panel 27 is turned on after the setting input of the bookbinding conditions is completed in step 1, the digital copying machine 100 is controlled under the control of the control unit. And the bookbinding device 30 starts to operate at the same time. Hereinafter, the process for the sheet P and the process for the cover sheet S will be described separately.

In the processing on the paper P, first, a plurality of originals are set in the original supply section 2 and sequentially fed to the original table 3. Then, the image of each original is sequentially read through the scanner 4. The image data read by the scanner 4 is sequentially accumulated in the data file device 5 (step 2).

In parallel with the reading operation of step 2, the image data is appropriately read from the data file device 5, the paper P is taken out from the cassette 6, and the first image forming section 11 and the first fixing device 16 are provided. An image is formed on one side of the paper P via the. When double-sided printing is selected in step 1, the sheet P having an image formed on one side passes through the second image forming unit 19 and the second fixing device 20 via the gate 17, and the other side. An image is formed on the (step 3).

The sheet P having the image formed on at least one surface in step 3 is ejected from the casing 1 of the digital copying machine 100 via the ejection roller pair 22 and sent to the bookbinding device 30 (step 4). The sheets P sent from the digital copying machine 100 to the bookbinding device 30 are stacked by their own weight along the inclined surface 46a of the belt 46 of the stacking mechanism 40, and the lower end side thereof is abutted against the stopper 47 to be aligned. (Step 5). At this time, as a matter of course, the stacking mechanism 40 has the stacking position 5 shown in advance by the solid line in FIG.
Swung to 1.

When the image forming operation based on all the image data stored in the data file device 5 is finished, the operation is finished as it is if the second bookbinding is not necessary. If it is selected in step 1 to insert "playing paper", the paper P that has just been taken out of the cassette 6 on which no image is formed, in addition to the above-mentioned one paper P, is placed in the stacking mechanism 40. Accumulated in. The insertion position of the idle paper is generally inside the front cover or inside the back cover, but it is inserted at the position set in step 1.

When all the sheets P (including idle paper) to be bound as one booklet B are accumulated in the accumulating mechanism 40, the stepping motor M1 repeats normal / reverse rotation at minute time intervals, and the belt 46 is vibrated along its traveling direction to vibrate the stopper 47, and all the sheets P whose lower end sides are in contact with the stopper 47 are vibrated and sorted.
At this time, in particular, the lower end side of the paper P is aligned straight.

Thereafter, the stepping motor M2 is driven to swing the stacking mechanism 40 from the stacking position 51 to the coating position 52 shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. At this time,
A motor (not shown) is driven and the belt unit 50 is also set to the coating position. As a result, the paper P is pinched and constrained between the belt 46 of the stacking mechanism 40 and the belt 56 of the belt unit 50.

Then, the stepping motor M1 is driven so that the belts 46 and 56 run in the same direction and at the same speed, and the sheet P whose lower end side is brought into contact with the stopper 47 is pushed up toward the coating roller 67 of the coating mechanism 60. To be As a result, the upper end side of the paper P is set at the coating position 61 where it contacts the peripheral surface of the coating roller 67.

On the other hand, in the coating mechanism 60, the adhesive is melted and liquefied by the heater 64, and is passed through the roller 65 and the roller 66 which are rotated by the motor M3.
The adhesive is supplied onto the outer peripheral surface of the application roller 67 with a constant film thickness. Then, the application roller 67 is rotated and a predetermined amount of adhesive is applied to the upper edge of the paper P set at the application position 61 (step 6).

At this time, due to the difference in the printing conditions (for example, the difference between single-sided printing and double-sided printing), the paper P is
It is expected that a slight variation occurs in the length, but by aligning the lower end side (the other end side) of the paper P cleanly as described above, the paper P glued to the cover sheet S after bookbinding
The variation can be offset toward the upper end side (one end side) of the. As a result, even if the length of the paper P varies, the paper P exposed on the opening side of the booklet B after bookbinding
The bottom edge of can be neatly aligned.

When the adhesive is applied to the upper edge of the paper P in step 6, the stepping motor M2 is driven again to swing the stacking mechanism 40 to the bookbinding position 53 shown by the chain line in FIG. The motor (not shown) is driven to swing the belt unit 50 to the bookbinding position 59 shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, and the paper P is set to the bookbinding position waiting for the bookbinding operation (step 7). During the swing, the paper P is collected by the stacking mechanism 40.
Since the lower end side of the sheet P is aligned by the stopper 47, the sheet P having the adhesive applied to the upper side does not shift.

Next, the processing of the cover sheet S will be described.

First, prior to processing, the control unit 23
Then, the thickness in the stacking direction of the paper P which is the inside paper of the booklet B is calculated (step 8). At this time, the control unit 2
3 calculates the number of sheets P to be bound as one booklet B according to the number of idle sheets set in step 1, the number of originals, and the printing order.
The thickness in the stacking direction of the plurality of sheets P is calculated from the thickness according to the type of.

Subsequently, the motor M4 is rotated in a predetermined direction, and the cover sheet S stored in the cover sheet stacker 70 is taken out by the pickup roller 71 (step 9). The taken-out cover sheet S is sent to the horizontal conveyance path 80a via the large-diameter roller 34. Then, while the cover sheet S is conveyed in the predetermined direction along the horizontal conveyance path 80a, the folding mechanism 80 that operates as described later in detail causes step 8
Both ends of the cover sheet S along the conveyance direction are folded to have a predetermined length according to the thickness of the sheet P calculated in step S10.

Cover S with both ends folded to a predetermined length
Is conveyed along the horizontal conveying path 80a in a state of being pinched and held by the feed roller pairs 91 and 92 and the feed roller pairs 95 and 96 which are respectively operated by the stepping motors 93 and 97, and the central portion Sm thereof will be described later. The binding position 62 is set to the bookbinding position facing the upper edge of the sheet P (step 11). Center part S of cover sheet S
As described above, m is a portion to which the upper edge of the sheet P is adhered, and the upper edge of the sheet P is accurately positioned and adhered to the central portion Sm so that the cover sheet S is folded after bookbinding. Both ends and the aligned lower end side of the paper P are flush with each other.

The paper P coated with the adhesive is placed at the bookbinding position 62.
When the cover sheet S, which has been set to the above position and whose both ends are folded, is set to the bookbinding position, the feed rollers 92 and 96 are retracted upward from the horizontal transport path 80a by a separation / contact mechanism (not shown), and two pairs of feed roller pairs 91 are set. , 92, and 95, 96
A gap is formed in the nip. At this time, at least a part of the cover sheet S is pinched and constrained by the feed roller pair in the folding mechanism 80, so that the cover sheet S is horizontally conveyed.
It does not shift along a.

In this state, the three stepping motors M
1, 93 and 97 are driven, and the paper P that has been waiting at the bookbinding position is lifted to the adhesion position 62 shown in the figure and temporarily stopped. At this point, the upper edge of the paper P to which the adhesive is applied contacts the central portion Sm of the cover S set at the bookbinding position, and the upper edge of the paper P is bonded to the central Sm of the cover S ( Step 12). The adhesive is cooled and fixed over time. The feed rollers 92 and 96 are pressed by the feed rollers 91 and 95 facing each other by a separation / contact mechanism (not shown), and the cover sheet S is pinched and restrained.

Further, the stepping motor M1 is driven and the two stepping motors 93 and 97 are driven, and the paper P set at the bonding position 62 is lifted so as to push up the bonded central portion Sm of the cover sheet S. It At this time, the feed roller pairs 94a and 94b are rotated in the direction of pushing up the paper P, and the feed roller pairs 91 and 92,
And the feed roller pair 95, 96 attaches the cover S to the central portion S thereof.
It is rotated in the direction of sending toward m. As a result, the paper P
Together with the upper end side of the cover sheet S, the central portion Sm of the cover sheet S is lifted between the feed roller pairs 98a and 98b, and the central portion Sm of the cover sheet S is folded along the upper end side of the sheet P. At this time, the pair of feed rollers 98a and 98b that rotate independently
Is driven and rotated as the sheet P and the cover sheet S are moved so that the cover sheet S follows the sheet P.

On the other hand, when torque is generated from the adjacent feed rollers 92, 96 to rotate following the feed roller pairs 98a, 98b, the feed roller pairs 98a, 98b.
Is rotated in a direction of pushing back the cover sheet S and the sheet P. As a result, the central portion Sm of the cover sheet S is pressed along the upper end side of the sheet P, and the central portion Sm of the cover sheet S is firmly folded.

In this way, the pair of feed rollers 98a, 98
The booklet B lifted via b is delivered to a pair of guide rollers 99 rotated by a motor (not shown), further sent out in the direction of arrow T2, and discharged to the bookbinding stacker 30b (step 13). After that, when the second booklet B is further created, the image data accumulated in the data file device 5 is read out to form an image on the paper P, and the cover S is pasted by the above-described processing. Be bound.

Next, the folding operation of the cover sheet S by the folding mechanism 80 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 11.

In the standby state before the cover sheet S is fed into the folding mechanism 80, as shown in FIG. 6, the solenoid 87 on the right side in the figure is turned on and the stopper 87a is moved to the horizontal transport path 8.
0a and the solenoid 8 on the left side in the drawing.
8 is turned off and the stopper 88a is moved to the horizontal conveyance path 80a.
Have been evacuated from. Also, the solenoid 87 on the right side
The slide mechanism 98a sets a predetermined slide position in accordance with the folding length of the cover sheet S calculated in advance. That is, by adjusting the sliding position of the solenoid 87, the contact position of the front end of the cover sheet S in the conveyance direction by the stopper 87a is uniquely determined, and the folding position of the cover sheet S can be adjusted.

Further, the pinch roller 86 disposed on the right side in the figure below the horizontal transport path 80a is interlocked with the stopper 87a and is retracted to a position spaced downward from the horizontal transport path 80a, and the rubber roller 82 opposed to the upper side. A pinch roller 85, which is separated from the horizontal conveyance path 80a and is arranged on the left side in the drawing below the horizontal conveyance path 80a, is in contact with the rubber roller 81 via the horizontal conveyance path 80a in conjunction with the stopper 88a.
In this state, the rubber roller 81 is rotated by being driven by the rubber roller 82 rotated by the stepping motor M5, and is further driven by the pinch roller 85 by being driven by the rubber roller 81.
Is also rotated.

Further, of the feed rollers on the right side of the folding mechanism 80 in the figure, two feed rollers 92, 96 are provided above the horizontal conveyance path 80a, and are turned to the opposite feed rollers 91, 95 by a separation / contact mechanism (not shown). It is touched.

When the cover sheet S is fed into the folding mechanism 80 through the horizontal conveying path 80a in the standby state described above, the cover sheet S is pinched and restrained by the nip between the rubber roller 81 and the pinch roller 85, and the rightward direction in the drawing. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the leading end of the cover sheet S in the carrying direction is abutted against the stopper 87a.

After that, the rubber roller 81 and the pinch roller 8
When the cover sheet S sandwiched by the nip between the cover sheet 5 and the sheet 5 is further fed rightward, the cover sheet S is crushed to the upper surface side between the nip between the rollers 81 and 85 and the stopper 87a, as shown in FIG. The rubber roller 81, 82 is bent and its buckling portion is two.
It is received in the nip between and folded. At this time,
Guide plate 35 arranged on the lower surface side of the horizontal conveyance path 80a
Function to prevent buckling of the cover sheet S toward the lower surface.

The folded portion of the cover sheet S is sent further upward by a predetermined length, and the front end of the cover sheet S is moved by the rubber roller 8.
When the nip of Nos. 1 and 82 is reached, the stepping motor M5 is reversely rotated for a short time and the rubber roller 8 is moved.
1, 82 and the pinch roller 85 are rotated in the opposite direction, and the leading edge of the cover sheet S is guided to the nip between the rollers 81 and 85 this time. Then, after the folded portion of the cover sheet S returns to the level of the horizontal transport path 80a, the stepping motor M5 is again rotated in the forward direction, and the folded portion is set at the top.
As shown in FIG. 8, the sheet is sent to the right in the figure. By the series of operations up to this point, one end side of the cover sheet S is folded.

When the other end side of the cover sheet S is folded, as shown in FIG. 9, the stopper 87a is retracted from the horizontal conveyance path 80a and the pinch roller 86 is interlocked with the rubber roller 82.
And the rear end of the cover sheet S in the conveyance direction is on the left side of the stopper 8
The cover sheet S is nipped in the nip between the rollers 82 and 86 and fed to the right until it exceeds 8a. At this time, the stepping motors 93 and 97 are also driven to rotate the two pairs of feed rollers 91 and 92 and 95 and 96, respectively, which are also rotated in a predetermined direction, thereby functioning to feed the cover sheet S to the right. .

Then, this time, all the rollers are reversed and the cover sheet S is fed to the left, and the rear end of the cover sheet S is brought into contact with the stopper 88a as shown in FIG. Needless to say, the stopper 88a is also preset at the slide position corresponding to the folding length of the cover sheet S calculated in advance. After that, the series of folding operations described above are repeated in the opposite direction, and as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the other end side of the cover sheet S is folded with a predetermined length.

The cover sheet S whose both ends are folded as described above
Finally, the central portion Sm is conveyed to the bookbinding position facing the upper end side of the paper P fed to the adhesion position 62, and the bookbinding operation is waited. After that, a separation / contact mechanism (not shown) is operated to retract the two feed rollers 92 and 96 upward, and then the stepping motor M1 and the stepping motors 93 and 97 are driven to set the bookbinding position. The sheet of paper P being lifted is raised to the adhesion position 62 shown in FIG. Then, in this state, the two feed rollers 92 and 96 are opposed to each other.
1 and 95, the cover sheet S is fed upward together with the sheet P through the nip between the feed roller pairs 98a and 98b by the above-described operation.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the cover S having the thickness of the paper P taken into consideration and preliminarily longer than twice the size of the paper P is prepared, and both ends of the cover S are attached to the paper P. Since the sheet is folded at a position corresponding to the thickness, both side edges separated from the central portion of the cover sheet S and open side edges separated from the glued side edge of the sheet P are irrespective of the number of sheets P, that is, the thickness. And can be neatly aligned, and a cutting process for aligning the three sides that are not glued after bookbinding becomes unnecessary, unlike the conventional bookbinding apparatus. As a result, the number of man-hours required for bookbinding can be reduced as compared with the conventional bookbinding apparatus, and simpler bookbinding is possible.

Further, since the cutting mechanism for cutting the edges is not required, the size of the bookbinding apparatus can be reduced, and the bookbinding apparatus can be combined with the digital copying machine as in the present embodiment. As a result, the paper P on which the original image is copied can be bound immediately and the convenience for the user can be improved.

Further, in the booklet B bound by the bookbinding apparatus of the present invention, the portions of the cover sheet S where both ends are folded are
It is also possible to wrap around the two sheets P at the stacking end of the plurality of sheets P so as to be wrapped. With this, after binding,
It is possible to make it difficult for the adhesive portion between the edge of the sheet P and the central portion Sm of the cover sheet S to peel off.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be variously modified within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the bookbinding device is combined with the digital copying machine has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the bookbinding device may be combined with the printer.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the both ends of the cover sheet S are folded and aligned with the end sides of the sheet P for bookbinding has been described. However, only one end side of the cover sheet S is folded for bookbinding. Is also good.

[0087]

As described above, since the bookbinding apparatus of the present invention has the above-mentioned structure and operation,
After the case cover is attached to the plurality of stacked inner sheets, the cutting process for aligning the edges is unnecessary.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a digital copying machine equipped with a bookbinding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the bookbinding apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing dimensions of a cover sheet folded by the bookbinding apparatus of FIG.

4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the apparatus of FIG.

5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed via an operation display panel during an operation based on the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view for explaining an operation by a folding mechanism incorporated in the bookbinding device of FIG.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view for explaining the operation of the folding mechanism incorporated in the bookbinding device of FIG.

8 is an operation explanatory view for explaining an operation by a folding mechanism incorporated in the bookbinding device of FIG.

9 is an operation explanatory view for explaining an operation by a folding mechanism incorporated in the bookbinding device of FIG.

10 is an operation explanatory view for explaining an operation by a folding mechanism incorporated in the bookbinding device of FIG.

11 is an operation explanatory view for explaining an operation by a folding mechanism incorporated in the bookbinding device of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a bound booklet.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a conventional bookbinding method.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 2 ... Original supply section, 3 ... Original table, 4 ... Scanner, 6 ... Cassette, 11 ... First image forming section, 16 ... First fixing device, 19 ... Second image forming section, 20 ... Second Fixing device,
27 ... Operation display panel, 30 ... Bookbinding device, 40 ... Stacking mechanism, 46 ... Belt, 47 ... Stopper, 50 ... Belt unit, 51 ... Stacking position, 52 ... Coating position, 53, 59 ...
Bookbinding position, 60 ... Coating mechanism, 61 ... Coating position, 62 ... Bonding position, 70 ... Cover stacker, 80 ... Folding mechanism, 1
00 ... Digital copying machine, B ... Booklet, P ... Paper, S ... Cover, Sm ... Central part.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yukio Asari             70 Yanagicho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture             Toshiba Yanagimachi Office (72) Inventor Noriaki Hiramitsu             70 Yanagicho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture             Toshiba Yanagimachi Office

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A stacking mechanism for stacking a plurality of inner paper sheets to align the edges thereof, an application mechanism for applying an adhesive to one end side of the inner paper sheets stacked and aligned by the gathering mechanism, and A computing unit that calculates the thickness in the stacking direction according to the type and the number of stacked sheets, and a cover that wraps the stacked inner sheets by sticking the central portion to one end of the inner sheet to which the adhesive is applied by the applying mechanism. So as to align the two end sides separated from the central part of the cover sheet with the other end side separated from the one end side of the accumulated middle paper,
A folding mechanism that folds at least one of the two sides of the cover taken out from the accommodating section at a position according to the thickness calculated by the computing unit, and a cover that is folded at least on one side by the folding mechanism. A bookbinding apparatus, comprising: an adhesive mechanism that adheres the central portion of the medium to one end of the inside paper coated with the adhesive by the application mechanism. 2. The bookbinding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a setting input unit for setting and inputting the type of the inside paper and the number of stacked sheets. 3. The stacking mechanism stacks the inner sheets along an inclined surface inclined with respect to the vertical direction, and aligns the lower end side of the accumulated inner sheets in the inclination direction by abutting against a stopper. The adhesive is applied to the upper end side in the inclination direction of the middle paper whose lower end sides are aligned.
The bookbinding apparatus according to item 1. 4. The folding mechanism comprises a stopper for abutting an edge of a cover sheet, a pair of feed rollers for feeding the cover sheet to the stopper by rotating the cover sheet in a nip, and between the stopper and the nip. The bookbinding apparatus according to claim 1 or 3, further comprising a pair of folding rollers that fold by rotating while sandwiching a portion of the cover that is buckled at. 5. A bookbinding apparatus combined with an image forming apparatus for forming an image on at least one side of a sheet, wherein a plurality of sheets on which at least one side has been image-formed by the image forming apparatus are accumulated. A stacking mechanism that aligns the edges, a coating mechanism that applies an adhesive to one edge of the sheets that are stacked and aligned by this stacking mechanism, and a calculation that calculates the thickness in the stacking direction according to the type and number of stacked sheets. Section, a storage section for accommodating a cover for wrapping the accumulated sheets by adhering the central section to one end of the sheet coated with the adhesive by the coating mechanism, and two ends separated from the central section of the cover. So that the side is aligned with the other end side separated from the one end side of the accumulated sheets,
A folding mechanism that folds at least one of the two sides of the cover taken out from the accommodating section at a position according to the thickness calculated by the computing unit, and a cover that is folded at least on one side by the folding mechanism. A bookbinding apparatus, comprising: an adhesive mechanism that adheres the central portion of the sheet to one end side of a sheet coated with the adhesive by the coating mechanism. 6. The bookbinding apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a setting input section for setting and inputting the type of the sheet and the number of accumulated sheets. 7. The stacking mechanism stacks sheets along an inclined surface inclined with respect to a vertical direction, and aligns the stacking sheets by abutting a lower end side of the stacked sheet in a slanting direction against a stopper. 6. An adhesive is applied to the upper end side in the inclination direction of the paper whose edges are aligned.
The bookbinding apparatus according to item 1. 8. The folding mechanism includes a stopper that abuts an edge of a cover, a pair of feed rollers that feed the cover by nipping the cover in a nip, and between the stopper and the nip. The bookbinding apparatus according to claim 5 or 7, further comprising a pair of folding rollers that fold by rotating while sandwiching a portion of the cover that is buckled at. 9. A plurality of inner paper sheets are stacked and their end sides are aligned, an adhesive is applied to one end side of the stacked and aligned inner paper sheets, and a stacking direction is determined according to the type of the inner paper sheets and the number of stacked sheets. Calculate the thickness of the cover, and supply the cover for wrapping the center paper by adhering the center to one end of the middle paper with the adhesive applied, and the two edges separated from the center of the cover are To align with the other end of the accumulated inner paper, which is separated from the one end,
At least one of the two end sides of the supplied cover sheet is folded at a position corresponding to the thickness of the middle paper calculated in advance, and the central portion of the cover sheet folded at least one end side thereof is bonded with an adhesive. A bookbinding method, characterized in that it is adhered to one end of the coated inner paper. 10. A type of the above-mentioned paper, wherein a plurality of papers on each of which at least one surface is image-formed by an image forming apparatus are stacked, their edges are aligned, and an adhesive is applied to one edge of the stacked and aligned papers. Also, the thickness in the stacking direction is calculated according to the number of stacked sheets, and the cover for wrapping the paper is supplied by adhering the central part to one edge of the above-mentioned paper to which the adhesive is applied, and separating it from the central part of the cover. So that the two edges are aligned with the other edge of the accumulated sheets that is separated from the one edge,
At least one of the two edges of the supplied cover is folded at a position corresponding to the thickness of the paper calculated in advance, and an adhesive is applied to the central portion of the cover that is folded at least one of the edges. A bookbinding method, characterized in that it is adhered to one edge of the formed sheet.