JP2007008672A - Paper folding device, paper sheet handling device, and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce cockles in a wide-width paper by making a roller nip part uniform. <P>SOLUTION: A right folding roller 7 is held by a bearing 17 in both ends of a roller shaft 7b thereof, and an upper roller 15 is coaxially provided with the roller shaft 7b near the bearing 17 on a side of the bearing 17 opposite to the right folding roller 7 on both sides. The outer diameter 15a of the upper roller 15 is set at the same with the outer diameter 7a of the right folding roller. A right pressurizing roller 8 is held by an arm 13 in both ends of the roller shaft 8b thereof, and a lower roller 16 is provided at a position opposite to the upper roller 16 to transmit driving force. The outer diameter 16a of the lower roller 16 is set at the same with the outer diameter 8a of the pressurizing roller. The lower roller 16 receives arm pressurizing force 13b from the arm 13, and the lower roller is thereby brought into contact with the upper roller 15 at the predetermined contact pressure to transmit the power. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper folding device having a function capable of diffracting a plurality of papers, a paper processing device provided with the paper folding device, and a copier, printer, facsimile, or digital multifunction device provided with the paper folding device or the paper processing device. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

For example, the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known as this type of technology. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet folding apparatus that is inexpensive and that can stably convey a sheet, and in order to achieve this object, a pair of elastic layers formed on the outer surface. Convex stepped portions are provided on the outer peripheral surface of at least one of the pair of rollers at positions that are substantially symmetrical with respect to the central portion in the axial direction. In the embodiment, the first and second folding roller pairs are equally arranged on the left and right sides of the conveying roller pair, and the first and second folding roller pairs are formed of an elastic body such as rubber. The pair is supported at both ends, and one of the folding rollers has a mechanism in which the shaft portion is fixed, and the other has a mechanism in which the shaft portion is pressurized. It is described to reverse.
JP 2001-253633 A

  In the invention described in Patent Document 1, when a narrow (A3 width) roller is used, there is no paper wrinkle due to the bending of the roller, but when a wide (A1 or larger) roller is used, the strength of the roller is insufficient. It is difficult to pressurize the roller nip portion evenly due to the bending caused by the above and the bending of the roller due to the setting of the applied pressure, causing wrinkles on wide paper. And this wrinkle caused the folding failure and the variation of the folding position.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and it is an object of the present invention to equalize the roller nip portion and reduce the occurrence of wrinkles on wide paper.

  In order to achieve the above object, the first means includes first and second pair of folding rollers for folding the loaded paper, and transport rollers for transporting the paper to the first or second pair of folding rollers. In a paper folding device that has a pair and folds when the first and second folding roller pairs repeat forward and reverse, a predetermined pressure is applied between the pair of folding rollers to crease the paper Pressurizing means, and pressure regulating means for regulating the pressure applied between each of the first and second folding roller pairs.

  The second means is characterized in that, in the first means, the pressure regulating means is provided in the vicinity of the pressurizing means.

  The third means is that in the first or second means, the pressure regulating means comprises a roller having the same diameter as the outer diameter of the folding roller pair provided coaxially with each axis of the folding roller pair. Features.

  The fourth means is characterized in that, in the third means, the rollers having the same diameter are provided at both ends of the pressure portions of the first and second folding rollers.

  A fifth means is characterized in that, in the first means, a roller having the same diameter as the outer diameter of the folding roller is provided in the pressure part of the first and second folding rollers.

  The sixth means is characterized in that, in the first means, a stopper for keeping the distance between the roller shafts constant is provided in the pressure portions of the first and second folding rollers.

  The seventh means is characterized in that, in the sixth means, the stopper is provided with an adjusting means for adjusting a distance between the roller shafts.

  The eighth means is characterized in that the paper processing apparatus includes the paper folding apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh means.

  A ninth means is characterized in that the image forming apparatus includes the paper folding apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh means.

  A tenth means is characterized in that the image forming apparatus includes the paper processing apparatus according to the eighth means.

  In the embodiment described later, the first folding roller pair is denoted by reference numerals 7 and 8, the second folding roller pair is denoted by numerals 9 and 10, the pressurizing means is provided by the tension spring 14 and the arm 13, and the pressure regulating means is provided by The rollers 15 and 16, the shafts correspond to the reference numerals 7b and 8b, the stoppers correspond to the reference numeral 19, and the adjusting means correspond to the stopper shaft 19a.

  According to the present invention, a roller having the same diameter as the outer diameter of the first and second folding rollers is provided in the vicinity of the pressurizing portion so as to suppress bending caused by insufficient strength of the roller or setting of the applied pressure. Paper wrinkles in the paper can be reduced.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a system including a paper folding apparatus and a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, this system is composed of a copying machine main body 200 and a folding device 100 connected to the back side of the copying machine main body 200. The folding device 100 has a function of folding the end face of the paper and / or a function of folding it in a bellows shape, an end face folding portion 120 for folding the end face of the front end of the paper, a paper folding portion 130 for folding the paper in a bellows shape in the transport direction, and It consists of a tray 140 that discharges and stacks folded sheets and is connected to the main body via a connecting portion (not shown).

  An image reading device 205 is disposed in the copying machine main body 200, and a manual sheet feeding table 208 is disposed below the image reading device 205. A sheet is set on the manual sheet feeding table 208, and the sheet is temporarily stopped by the registration roll 207 and supplied to the image forming unit 206 at a timing. The image forming unit 206 forms a latent image corresponding to the image data on a photoconductor (not shown), develops the latent image with toner, transfers the toner onto a sheet, and fixes the image on the fixing device 210. . The recorded paper on which the toner is fixed by the fixing device 210 is discharged by the recorded paper discharge roll 211 to the paper folding device 100 when paper folding is performed. When paper folding is not performed, the paper is discharged into the main body by the upper paper discharge roller 209 by a switching claw (not shown).

  Next, when the sheet is folded, the sheet is fed from the recorded sheet discharge roll 211 to the sheet folding apparatus 100, and the sheet is fed by the pair of entrance conveying rollers 106 and 107. When the sheet end face is folded, the sheet is folded by the end face folding unit 120. The end face of the tip is folded. After the end surface of the front end of the paper is folded by the end face folding unit 120, the paper is folded in a bellows shape in the transport direction by the paper folding unit 130, and the folded paper is stacked on the tray 140.

An outline of the paper folding apparatus 130 is shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of the paper folding device 130 that folds the paper in a bellows shape in the conveyance direction.
In FIG. 2, the leading edge detection sensor 4 for detecting the leading edge of the paper P is disposed at the entrance of the paper folding section 130, and the conveyance driving roller pairs 2 and 3 are provided on the upstream side thereof. On the downstream side, a pair of folding rollers 7, 8, 9, and 10 for conveying the sheet 1 in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sheet 1 is conveyed (downward in the figure) are arranged. The pair of folding rollers 7, 8 and 9, 10 rotate in the normal direction and reverse direction, respectively, and fold the paper in a bellows shape. A folding width right detection sensor 11 and a folding width left detection sensor 12 are provided outside the pair of folding rollers 7, 8, 9, and 10, respectively, and detect the leading edge of the sheet and the folded end surface of the folded sheet. Further, a lower guide plate 21 is disposed between the pair of folding rollers 7, 8, 9, 10, and guides the folded sheet end face to the roller pair 7, 8, 9, 10.

  Movable guides 5 and 6 are provided between the conveying roller pairs 2 and 3 and the folding roller pairs 7 and 8 and 9 and 10 so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the sheet conveying path. Change the direction to 9, 10 and guide. The leading edge of the sheet is guided by the movable guides 5 and 6 in the vicinity of the folding roller pairs 7, 8 and 9, 10 and enters the nip of the folding roller pairs 7, 8, 9, 10. At this time, depending on which of the movable guides 5 and 6 is moved, it is selected which nip of the pair of folding rollers 7, 8 and 9, 10 is to be advanced.

  FIG. 2 shows an initial state before the paper is carried into the nip between the pair of conveyance drive rollers 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet 1 carried in from this state enters the nip between the conveyance drive roller pairs 2 and 3 (hereinafter also referred to as the conveyance drive roller 2 and the conveyance driven roller 3). The conveyance driven roller 3 is provided so as to be in pressure contact with the conveyance driving roller 2, and the conveyance driving roller 2 is driven by a driving mechanism (not shown) and always rotates to convey the sheet in the downstream direction (illustrated: downward direction). Thereafter, after the leading edge of the sheet 1 passes through the entrance sensor 4, the movable guide right 5 operates to determine the folding direction of the first surface.

  The movable guide right 5 is connected to a drive mechanism (not shown), and the sheet 1 is conveyed in the nip direction of a pair of folding rollers 9 and 10 (hereinafter also referred to as folding roller left 9 and pressure roller left 10). The movable guide right 5 moves in the reverse direction after a predetermined time and returns to the standby position. The pressure roller left 10 is provided so as to be in pressure contact with the folding roller left 9, and the folding roller left 9 and the folding roller right 7 are connected to a drive mechanism (not shown) so as to be able to perform forward and reverse rotation operations.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the leading edge of the paper that has passed through the nip between the folding roller left 9 and the pressure roller left 10 and sent in the left direction in the figure is detected by the paper sensor left 12. The sheet sensor left 12 is connected to a control device (not shown), and after detecting the leading edge of the sheet, the sheet is conveyed by a certain amount according to the sheet folding length. As shown in FIG. 4, the sheet 1 conveyed by a certain amount according to the sheet folding length is rotated by the folding roller left 9 and the pressure roller left 10, and the conveyance driving roller 2 and the conveyance driven roller 3. Always rotates, and the movable guide left 6 moves forward in FIG. 5 to form a loop. When this loop grows, it is sandwiched in the nip with the pressure roller right 8 provided so as to be in pressure contact with the folding roller right 7, and the first surface crease is given to the loop surface of the paper 1.

  The sheet crease that has passed through the nip between the folding roller right 7 and the pressure roller right 8 is sent in the right direction as shown in FIG. Then, it is detected by the paper sensor right 11 and conveyed by a certain amount according to the paper folding length. When the sheet is further conveyed by a certain amount, as shown in FIG. 7, the folding roller right 7 and the pressure roller 8 stop and then rotate forward, and the conveyance driving roller 2 and the conveyance driven roller 3 are always rotating. The paper 1 forms a loop. When this loop grows, it is sandwiched between the nips of the pressure roller 10 that is pressed against the folding roller left 9, and a second surface crease is made on the sheet loop surface. Thereafter, the sheet fold passing through the nip between the folding roller left 9 and the pressure roller left 10 is detected by the sheet sensor left 12, and is conveyed by a certain amount according to the sheet folding length. Zigzag folds are caused by the continuous rotation of the transport driving roller 2 and the transport driven roller 3 and the forward and reverse rotations of the folding roller left 9, the pressure roller left 10, the folding roller right 7, and the pressure roller right 8. It is done.

  8, when the rear end of the sheet 1 passes through the inlet sensor 4, the control device (not shown) determines that the sheet is finally folded, and the conveyance drive roller left 2 stops after a predetermined time. Passes the paper sensor right 11, the folding roller right 7 and the folding roller left 9 stop after a certain time, and the sheet 1 that has been folded is discharged rightward in this case.

  Of the folding roller right 7, the pressure roller right 8, the folding roller left 9, and the pressure roller left 10, the pressure roller right 8 and the pressure roller left 10 are pressed to form the folding roller right 7 and the folding roller left 9, respectively. A conveyance force is generated between the two and paper folding becomes possible. This mechanism is shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the folding roller right 7 and the pressure roller right 8. In the figure, the folding roller right 7 is rotationally driven by the roller shaft 7 b, and the pressure roller right 8 is rotatably held at one end of the arm 13. The arm 13 can swing about the arm fulcrum 13a, and the pressure roller 8 is pressed against the folding roller right 7 by a spring 14 that pulls the other end of the arm 13. Further, the shaft of the pressure roller right 8 is rotatably supported by a bearing (not shown) to allow the pressure roller right 8 to freely rotate. The left folding roller pair 9, 10 has the same configuration.

  FIG. 10 is a front view of the folding roller right 7 and the pressure roller right 8 as viewed from the paper transport direction (paper folding direction). The folding roller right 7 is held by bearings 17 at both ends of the roller shaft 7b. The roller shaft 7b is located outside the bearing 17, that is, in the vicinity of the bearing 17 on the opposite side of the bearing 17 from the folding roller right 7. On the same axis, a roller top 15 is provided on each side. The outer diameter 15a of the roller upper 15 is set to the same outer diameter as the folding roller right outer diameter 7a.

  The pressure roller right 8 has both ends of the roller shaft 8b held by the arms 13 and is pressed in the upward direction in the figure. Are provided. The outer diameter 16a of the lower roller 16 is set to the same outer diameter as the pressure roller outer diameter 8a. The lower rollers 16 receive the arm pressure 13b from the arm 13 to contact the upper roller 15 with a predetermined contact pressure, thereby transmitting power. Therefore, even if the bending as shown by the arrow 18 occurs in the folding roller right 7, the distance between the roller shafts 7b and 8b is restricted by the upper and lower rollers 15 and 16, and the pressure roller right 8 rotates at a predetermined pressure. Therefore, the contact pressure between the roller pairs 7 and 8 is averaged, so that excessive or insufficient applied pressure does not occur.

  In this way, roller pairs 15 and 16 having the same diameter as the outer diameter of the rollers are provided in the vicinity of the pressure portions of the roller pairs 7 and 8, and the distance between the roller pairs 7 and 8 is regulated between the rollers 15 and 16. It is possible to reduce the generation of wrinkles due to the non-uniform nip width caused by the deformation of the rollers due to insufficient strength of the pairs 7 and 8 or large pressure. Such an effect is particularly noticeable when a wide-width sheet of A0 width is folded zigzag by two pairs of rollers.

  FIG. 11 shows a modification of FIG. 10. In the example of FIG. 10, the lower roller 16 is arranged on both sides around the arm 13 holding the pressure roller right 8. The upper roller 15 is arranged at both ends of the folding roller right 7 so that the upper roller 15 and the lower roller 16 are in contact with each other at two locations on one side. Since each other part is comprised similarly to embodiment shown in above-mentioned FIG. 10, the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  With this configuration, the rollers having the same diameter as the roller outer diameter are provided not only in the vicinity of the pressing portion of the roller pair but also at both ends of the roller pressing portion, so that the amount of deformation of the roller can be further reduced. It is possible to reduce the generation of wrinkles.

  FIG. 12 shows another modification of FIG. 10. In the example of FIG. 12, the roller 16 on the side of the pressure roller 8 is omitted, and the upper roller 15 is directly attached to the arm 13 holding the pressure roller 8. The distance between the roller shafts 7 b and 8 b is regulated by the upper roller 15 and the arm 13. Since each other part is comprised similarly to embodiment shown in above-mentioned FIG. 10, the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  If comprised in this way, since the roller for restrict | limiting the axial distance between the folding rollers 7 in the pressurization roller 8 side becomes unnecessary, the cost reduction by that amount can be aimed at.

  FIG. 13 is a modification of FIG. In this example, instead of the roller top 15 on the pressure roller 7 side, a stopper 19 that restricts the position of the arm 13 is used. Other parts are configured in the same manner as the embodiment shown in FIG. If the stopper 19 is arranged in this way and the distance (distance between the shafts) between the folding roller right 7 and the pressure roller right 8 is kept constant, the roller pair does not approach more than a certain amount, so the applied pressure becomes excessive. It is possible to reduce wrinkling due to non-uniform nip width due to the generated roller deformation.

  FIG. 14 is a modification of FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, the applied pressure may be different at the left and right positions across the pressure roller 8 of the roller shaft 8b. In the example of FIG. 14 corresponding to such a case, the stopper 19 is provided with a mechanism for adjusting the restriction position of the arm 13. In this mechanism, one end is installed in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in the figure, and the stopper 19 is supported by a stopper shaft 19a that rotates in a direction parallel to the paper surface, and the rotational position of the stopper shaft 19a is adjusted and fixed. The contact position with the arm 13 can be adjusted. Other parts are configured in the same manner as the embodiment shown in FIG.

  If comprised in this way, it will become possible to adjust the right and left applied pressure with respect to the folding roller 7 of the pressure roller 8, and generation | occurrence | production of the wrinkle by a skew can be reduced with respect to the example of FIG.

1 is a side view of a paper folding apparatus connected to a copying machine main body according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which expands and shows the principal part of the paper folding apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view (the 1) which shows operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view (the 2) which shows operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view (the 3) which shows operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view (the 4) which shows operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view (the 5) which shows operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view (the 6) which shows operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the mechanism of the paper folding apparatus paper folding part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 10 is a side view of FIG. 9. It is a front view which shows the modification of FIG. It is a front view which shows the other modification of FIG. It is a front view which shows the modification of FIG. It is a front view which shows the modification of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, P Paper 2,3 Conveyance drive roller pair 4 Tip detection sensor 5,6 Movable guide 7,8,9,10 Folding roller pair 7b, 8b Roller shaft 11,12 Paper sensor 13 Arm 14 Spring 15,16 Roller 19 Stopper 19a Stopper shaft 100 Paper folding device 120 End face folding part 130 Paper folding part (bellows folding part)

Claims (10)

A first pair of folding rollers and a second pair of folding rollers for folding the carried paper;
A conveying roller pair for conveying a sheet to the first or second folding roller pair;
In the paper folding apparatus that folds the first and second folding roller pairs by repeating forward and reverse rotations,
Pressurizing means for applying a predetermined pressure between the pair of folding rollers in order to crease the sheet;
Pressure regulating means for regulating the pressure applied between each of the first and second folding roller pairs;
A paper folding device comprising:   2. The paper folding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure regulating means is provided in the vicinity of the pressurizing means.   The paper folding apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pressure regulating means comprises a roller having the same diameter as the outer diameter of the pair of folding rollers provided coaxially with each axis of the pair of folding rollers.   4. The paper folding apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the rollers having the same diameter are provided at both ends of the pressure portions of the first and second folding rollers.   2. The paper folding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a roller having the same diameter as a roller outer diameter of the folding roller is provided in the pressure unit of the first and second folding rollers.   2. The paper folding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a stopper for keeping a constant distance between the roller shafts is provided in the pressure portions of the first and second folding rollers.   7. A paper folding apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said stopper is provided with adjusting means for adjusting a distance between the roller shafts.   A paper processing apparatus comprising the paper folding device according to claim 1.   An image forming apparatus comprising the paper folding device according to claim 1.   An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 8.

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