JP2003211367A - Electric stapler - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the operating load of an electric stapler. <P>SOLUTION: A drive mechanism for a clincher part is composed of a gear 16 and a feed screw mechanism comprising a screw shaft 18. A threaded hole is formed in a clincher pusher 25 so as to be fitted to the tip part of the screw shaft. When the gear supported to a gear holder 17 is driven to rotate normally, the whole clinch mechanism part for supporting the screw shaft descends and presses paper on a table. When the gear is further driven to rotate normally, the screw shaft is rotated integrally with the gear, and the clincher pusher descends and pushes a clincher 30 to bend a leg part of a staple. Operating load is reduced, and operating noise is lowered in comparison with a conventional electric stapler constituted to bring paper into pressure contact with the clinch mechanism part by spring pressure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric stapler, and more particularly to an electric stapler having an improved clinch mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electric stapler includes a suspension mechanism using a spring in a driver portion or a clincher portion which is in contact with an upper surface of a paper on a paper table, and is provided with a driver portion and a clincher portion. The suspension mechanism is configured to shrink when the paper is nipped to absorb the difference in the paper thickness, and it is compatible with booklets of various thicknesses.

In a copying machine with a built-in stapler, for the sake of collation, the copying surface of the paper is placed on the lower side of the paper table, and the driver section of the electric stapler is placed under the paper table. The clincher part is arranged on the paper table. Therefore, in this case, the suspension mechanism is installed in the clincher,
The clincher section descends from above and presses against the paper on the paper table, and the driver section ejects staples from below,
The clincher arm of the clincher section bends the legs of the staple penetrating the paper to bind the paper.

A drawback of the above-mentioned electric stapler is that when the clincher portion is pressed against the paper on the paper table, the operation load for compressing the spring of the suspension mechanism is large and the power consumption is large. Also,
When the clincher part rises after stapling, the suspension mechanism is released from compression and abruptly returns to the initial state, which causes a problem of large mechanical noise. Therefore, a technical problem to be solved in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks arises, and an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is proposed in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, and a clincher portion and a driver portion are arranged to face each other, and the clincher portion is moved toward the driver portion. And a second drive means for moving the clincher toward the driver section via a clincher pusher provided in the clincher section,
The clincher portion is moved by the first driving means to sandwich the paper by the clincher portion and the driver portion, the staple is ejected by the driver of the driver portion, and then the clincher is moved by the second driving means to move the leg portion of the staple. In an electric stapler for bending an electric stapler, the clincher portion and the clincher pusher are engaged with one feed screw, and the feed screw mechanism constitutes the first and second drive means. Is.

Further, the electric stapler is provided with a first detecting means for detecting the sheet nipping by the clincher portion and the driver portion and a second detecting means for detecting the completion of clinching of the clincher. An electric stapler provided with a control means for controlling the feed screw according to a detection signal of a second detection means.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a front view of the electric stapler,
2 is a side sectional view, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the upper half of FIG.
In FIG. 1, 1 is a frame, 2 is a paper table installed in the upper and lower intermediate portions of the frame 1, a clincher unit 3 is arranged above the paper table 2, and a driver unit 4 is a paper table.
2 are arranged below and are engaged with linear guides 5 provided on the ceiling surface and the inner bottom surface of the frame 1, respectively.

A motor 6 for moving the stapler is arranged at the left end of the frame 1 and drives a vertical drive shaft 8 via a reduction gear 7. Gear pulleys on the upper and lower ends of the vertical drive shaft 8
9 is installed, upper gear pulley 9 and frame 1
Both ends of the timing belt 11 wound around the driven gear pulley 10 arranged at the upper right end of the are fastened to the slide base 12 supporting the clincher portion 3. Similarly, both ends of the timing belt 11 wound around the gear pulley 9 below the vertical drive shaft 8 and the driven gear pulley 10 arranged at the lower right end of the frame 1 are fastened to the slide base 12 supporting the driver unit 4. , A stapler moving mechanism that causes the clincher unit 3 and the driver unit 4 to travel in synchronization with each other.

Next, the structure of the clincher section 3 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3, the clincher drive motor 13 is disposed upward in the rear portion of the clincher frame 14, and rotationally drives the final stage gear 16 via the intermediate gear 15. Spur gear 16
The upper and lower surfaces are supported by a gear holder 17 fixed to a clincher frame 14, and a screw shaft 18 is screwed into a screw hole formed at the center.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the lifting type clinch mechanism section of the clincher section 3 as seen from the rear side (right side in FIG. 3),
The front and rear cover frames 19, 20 and the upper support frame 21 form a clincher mechanism casing, and a clincher unit 22 is built in the lower portion of the casing. Vertically long square holes 23 and 24 are formed in the upper half of the front and rear cover frames 19 and 20, and the gear 16 is a square hole of the rear cover frame 20.
When meshed with the intermediate gear 15 shown in FIG. 3 through 24 and the gear 16 is rotated counterclockwise when viewed from above, the gear 1 shown in FIG.
The clinch mechanism except for 6 and the gear holder 17 descends, and conversely, when the gear 16 is rotated clockwise, the clinch mechanism rises.

The screw shaft 18 is a stepped male screw having an upper large diameter screw portion 18a and a lower small diameter screw portion 18b, and the small diameter screw portion 18b is screwed into a screw hole formed in the clincher pusher 25. . Fixed screw shafts on the left and right of the central screw shaft 18
26 is arranged vertically, and the stopper holder 27 is attached to the horizontal shaft 26a that is attached to the lower end of the fixing screw shaft 26 in the front-back direction.
The stopper plate 28 on the stopper holder 27.
Is attached so that it can rotate left and right. The stopper holder 27 is attached to the horizontal shaft portion 26a of the fixed screw shaft 26 so as to be vertically slidable.
Pushed down by 29.

The lower surface of the stopper plate 28 has a chevron shape and is in contact with the support plate 22a mounted on the upper surface of the clincher unit 22. Clincher pusher 2
In the initial state when 5 is raised, clincher pusher 2
5 hits the upper side surfaces of the left and right stopper plates 28 and pushes them outward and the lower portions of the two stopper plates 28 are turned inward so that they approach each other. Although a detailed description of operation will be given later, when the clincher pusher 25 descends, the clincher pusher 25 contacts the lower inner surface of the stopper plate 28 and pushes the left and right stopper plates 28 outward, and the clincher pusher 25 is pushed by the stopper plate 28 to push the stopper holder 27. Compresses the compression coil spring 29 and moves upward, and at the same time, the stopper plate 28 presses the support plate 22a and the clincher unit 22 downward. Since the support plate 22a and the clincher unit 22 are in surface contact with each other, the pressurized clincher unit 22 is securely fixed without shifting back and forth.

When the clincher pusher 25 rises to the initial position and the expansion pressure on the stopper plate 28 is released,
The stopper holder 27 is lowered by the spring force of the compression coil spring 29, whereby the lower parts of the left and right stopper plates 28 are closed and the initial state is restored. The left and right clincher 30 in the clincher unit 22 are biased upward by the leaf springs 32 arranged outside the support shaft 31, respectively, and the clincher pusher 25 descends and pushes down the left and right clincher 30 to move the clincher 30. Bends the staple legs flat. When the clincher pusher 25 rises, the tip of the clincher 30 rises due to the spring force of the leaf spring 32 and returns to the initial position.

The clincher unit 22 includes a left and right support shaft 31.
Are supported by being inserted into the holes 33 of the cover frames 19, 20, the diameter of the support shaft 31 is smaller than the inner diameter of the hole 33, and the width of the clincher unit 22 in the front-rear direction is equal to that of the cover frames 19, 20.
Since it is narrower than the internal space of the clincher unit 22, the left and right sides of the clincher unit 22 can independently move slightly back and forth.

FIG. 5 shows the construction of the clincher unit 22, 34 is a groove-shaped clincher holder pressed into a U shape, and 35 is a rectangular spacer. Left and right clincher
The spacer 30 and the spacer 35 are attached to the support shaft 31 that is inserted into the pair of left and right holes 36 of the clincher holder 34, respectively. The clincher 30 has a mountain-shaped convex portion projecting upward at the tip portion thereof, and the convex portion projects upward through a hole 37 formed in the central ceiling portion of the clincher holder 34 and faces the lower surface of the clincher pusher 25 described above. To do. The clincher 30 and the spacer 35 are alternately stacked on the right side and the left side, and assembled so that the front surface of the front end portion of one clincher and the rear surface of the front end portion of the other clincher are in contact with each other.

At the lower ends of the clincher holder 34 and the spacer 35, there is formed a guide surface 38 which is inclined upward from the front edge portion or the rear edge portion toward the inside of the clincher holder 34.
As shown in FIG. 6, the guide surface 38 is arranged so as to correspond to the penetration position of the leg portion of the staple S. As described above, since the clincher unit 22 can be finely moved forward and backward within the front and rear cover frames 19 and 20, even if the positions of the legs of the staple S are slightly moved forward and backward, the tips of the legs hit the guide surface 38. The clincher unit 22 is moved forward or backward, the tip ends of the legs of the staple S enter between the clincher holder 34 and the spacer 35, and accurately contact the lower surface of the clincher 30. As described above, the clincher unit 22 is provided with the automatic centering mechanism, thereby eliminating the risk of clinching failure due to displacement of the staple driving position. Further, since both legs of the staple S are held between the clincher holder 34 and the spacer 35 until the clinching is completed and the both legs are separated by the spacer 35, the both legs are clinched in parallel and the two legs overlap. There is no risk of crossing.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rear cover frame 2
A slider 39 and a slider cover 40 for detecting grounding of the clinch mechanism are attached to the lower part of 0. Figure
As shown in Fig. 7, the slider 39 has pawls 41, 42 on the top and left side.
There is a vertically long slot 43 in the center of the vertical surface and four guide holes 44 at the top, bottom, left and right, and insert the upper end claw 41 into the hole of the rear cover frame 20, as shown in FIG. 4. The slider cover mounting screw 45 is passed through the guide hole 44 of the slider 39 and fastened to the rear cover frame 20, whereby the slider cover 40 is fixed and the slider 39 is held in a vertically slidable state. When the slider 39 is in the lowered initial position, the claws 41 at the upper end of the slider 39 move the clincher pusher 25 and the stopper plate 28 as shown in FIG.
The clincher pusher 25
Cannot lower to spread the lower part of the stopper plate 28, and the clincher pusher 25 cannot be lowered. The claw 46 extending from the lower end of the clincher pusher 25 rearward (toward the front in the figure) projects rearward through the elongated holes 43 of the slider 39 and the slider cover 40.

As shown in FIG. 4, a grounding sensor 47 for detecting grounding of the clincher unit 22 is provided at the upper left portion of the slider cover 40, and a clinch completion is detected beside the elongated hole 43. The clinch sensor 48 of is attached. When the clinch mechanism section descends and the slider 39 contacts the ground, and the slider 39 rises relative to the cover frames 19 and 20, the claw 42 on the left side surface of the slider 39 causes the ground sensor to move.
The actuator 47 is pressed to input a ground detection signal to a control circuit (not shown). In the subsequent clinching operation, when the clincher pusher 25 descends and completes the clinching, the claw 46 of the clincher pusher 25 moves to the clincher sensor.
The actuator of 48 is pushed and the clinch completion signal is input to the control circuit. Further, when the clinching mechanism unit rises and returns to the initial position, the initial position detection sensor 49 fixed to the clincher frame 14 shown in FIG. Stop the motor 13.

Next, the driver section 4 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the driver unit 4 mounts a driver cam 51, a forming cam 52, and a staple feeding cam 53 on a single shaft 50 driven by a driver drive motor (not shown), and Forming plates (not shown in the figure, which are arranged on both the left and right sides of the driver 54 (front and rear toward the paper surface)) and the anvil 55 are moved up and down, and the driver cam 51 drives the thin plate-shaped driver 54 up and down. The staple feed cam 53 rotates the link lever 57 via the staple feed cam follower 56. A slider 73 having a feed pawl 72 attached is built in the upper part of the staple cartridge 71, and a link lever 57 of the driver unit 4 engages with an arm 74 attached to the slider 73 extending in the left-right direction and the arm 74 and the slider 73. Drive back and forth,
The staples in the staple cartridge 71 are fed forward (left in the figure) by the feed claws 72.

The operation timing of one cycle of the driver cam 51, the forming cam 52, and the staple feeding cam 53 is as follows.
First, the staple feed cam follower 56 is lowered from the initial position, which is the raised position, so that the feed claw 72 of the staple cartridge 71 is advanced to perform staple feeding, and then the forming plate is raised to form linear staples. The driver 54 and the anvil 55 are set so as to rise together. The anvil 55 rides on the protrusion 59 of the anvil guide 58 immediately before the top dead center at the time of ascending and retracts forward from the path of the driver 54, and the driver 54 further ascends to complete the driving of the staples.

Below the staple feed cam 53 and the staple feed cam follower 56, there are disposed a microswitch type injection detection sensor 60 and an initial position detection sensor 61, respectively. The ejection detection sensor 60 under the staple feeding cam 53 is
The fact that the driver 54 has reached the top dead center is detected via the staple feed cam 53. The initial position detection sensor 61 below the staple feed cam follower 56 detects that the driver 54 has reached the bottom dead center (initial position) by returning the staple feed cam follower 56 to the top dead center (initial position).

Next, the operation process of the clincher unit 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 11A show an initial state, and when a start signal is input to the electric stapler from this state, the driver drive motor (not shown) and the clincher drive motor 13 are started. In the driver section 4, the linear staple sheet of the staple cartridge 71 is fed forward by the staple feeding cam 53 shown in FIG. 2, and is slightly fed by the staple feeding operation, the forming plate starts rising and the leading staple is formed in a gate shape. To form. In the clincher unit 3, the clincher drive motor 13 rotates to rotate the gear 16 shown in FIGS. 8 and 11 (a).
When viewed from above, it is driven to rotate in the counterclockwise direction, and the entire clinch mechanism section descends. Then, when the slider 39 comes into contact with the surface of the paper P on the paper table and rises relative to the clinch mechanism portion, the claw 4 on the left side surface of the slider 39 shown in FIG.
2 presses the actuator of the ground sensor 47 to input the ground detection signal to the control circuit, the control circuit stops the clincher drive motor 13, and presses the paper by the clincher unit 22 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 11 (b). Stand still in the state.

Next, the driver 54 of the lower driver section 4
Staples are ejected by the paper, and the paper P is
The left and right legs of the staple S penetrating from below hit the lower surface of the clincher 30 and are bent inward. driver
At the time of completion of driving by 54, the output signal of the injection detection sensor 60 of the driver unit 4 shown in FIG. 2 is input to the control circuit, and the control circuit stops the driver drive motor and at the same time starts the clincher drive motor 13 to drive the gear 16 Drive forward.

At this time, the clinch mechanism is in contact with the paper P on the paper table and therefore cannot be lowered.
Unlike the initial state in which the claw 41 at the upper end of the slider 39 shown in FIG. 7 is located between the clincher pusher 25 and the stopper plate 28, the slider 39 moves up and the claw 41 moves between the clincher pusher 25 and the stopper plate 28. Since the downward regulation of the clincher pusher 25 is released, the gear 16 and the screw shaft 18 are not regulated in rotation and lock and rotate integrally. As a result, the clincher pusher 25 that meshes with the small-diameter portion 18b of the screw shaft 18 starts to descend due to the feeding action of the screw shaft 18 and pushes down the clincher 30, thereby flatly bending both legs of the staple S.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 12 (b), when the clincher pusher 25 reaches the lower end position and completes the clinching, the claws 46 on the back surface of the clincher pusher 25 actuate the actuator of the clincher sensor 48 shown in FIG. When pressed, the clinching completion signal is input to the control circuit, which causes the control circuit to drive the driver drive motor in the forward direction and
Drive 13 in reverse. In the clincher section 3, the clincher pusher 25 is rotated by the reverse rotation of the gear 16.
It is pulled up along the small-diameter portion 18b and the entire clinch mechanism is pulled up to reach the upper initial position.
The initial position sensor 49 of the clincher unit 3 shown in 2 detects and stops the clincher drive motor 13. In addition, the driver unit 4
2, the cam shaft 50 shown in FIG. 2 makes one rotation from the initial position and the staple feed cam follower 56 returns to the top dead center (initial position), whereby the initial position detection signal is output from the initial position detection sensor 61. The control circuit stops the driver drive motor and completes one cycle of operation.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the technical scope of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention extends to those modifications. is there.

[0027]

As described above, since the electric stapler of the present invention is constructed so that the clincher portion is moved up and down and clinched by the feed screw mechanism, the clincher portion is pressed by the spring pressure using the suspension and the spring. Unlike the conventional electric stapler that presses against the sheet, the load when sandwiching the paper is reduced, and drive energy can be saved. Further, the operating noise when returning to the initial position is also reduced as compared with the conventional electric stapler, and it is effective in reducing noise.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an electric stapler.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of an electric stapler.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a clincher portion.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a clinch mechanism section.

FIG. 5 is an assembly diagram of a clincher unit.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a clincher unit.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a screw shaft and a clincher pusher.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an initial state of a clinch mechanism section.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state in which the clinch mechanism unit holds the paper.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a clinch completed state of the clinch mechanism section.

11A and 11B show an operation process of the clinch mechanism unit, FIG. 11A is an explanatory view of an initial state, and FIG. 11B is a perspective view showing a paper pressing state.

12A and 12B show an operation process of the clinch mechanism unit, FIG. 12A is an explanatory view showing a state at the time of staple driving, and FIG. 12B is a perspective view showing a clinch completed state.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 frame 2 Paper table 3 Clincher section 4 Driver section 13 Clincher drive motor 14 clincher frame 15 gears 17 Gear holder 18 screw shaft 19 front cover frame 20 rear cover frame 21 upper support frame 22 Clincher unit 22a support plate 25 clincher pusher 28 Stopper plate 30 clincher 39 Slider 47 Ground sensor 48 clinch sensor

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] January 22, 2002 (2002.1.2
2)

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A clincher is directed toward a driver through a first drive means which disposes a clincher and a driver opposite each other and moves the clincher toward the driver, and a clincher pusher provided in the clincher. A second drive means for moving the clincher portion by the first drive means to sandwich the paper between the clincher portion and the driver portion, and the staple of the second portion after being ejected by the driver of the driver portion. In an electric stapler in which a clincher is moved by a drive means to bend a leg portion of a staple, a clincher portion and a clincher pusher are engaged with a single feed screw, and the feed screw mechanism constitutes the first and second drive means. An electric stapler that has been characterized. 2. A first detecting means for detecting paper nipping by a clincher portion and a driver portion, and a second detecting means for detecting completion of clinching of the clincher, the first detecting means and the second detecting means. 2. The electric stapler according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling the feed screw in accordance with the detection signal of.