JP2007062145A - Bookbinding equipment and image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system having bookbinding equipment which executes a reliable and firm cover gluing-on bookbinding processing, improves the quality of finished bookbinding and has a high productivity. <P>SOLUTION: In the bookbinding equipment which sticks a cover K to the back of a paper bundle Sa and subjects it to the gluing-on bookbinding processing, a notch forming means 90 to form a notch portion V in the end side of paper S to be coated with glue N on the occasion of the bookbinding processing is provided on a paper conveyance path of the equipment. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a bookbinding apparatus for producing a booklet by covering the back and front and back surfaces of a sheet bundle with a cover sheet, and more particularly to a bookbinding apparatus applicable to an image forming apparatus main body such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a printer. The present invention relates to an image forming system provided.

  As the bookbinding process, a staple binding process and a gluing bookbinding process are known for a single sheet bundle in which printed sheets are stacked.

  As a glue binding apparatus, a glue discharge nozzle is used to discharge glue on paper, a glue wheel is installed in the glue storage box, glue is attached to the outer periphery of the rotating glue wheel, and the outer periphery of the glue wheel is brought into contact with the paper. A contact transfer device, a hot melt application device that discharges a mixture of hot melt agent (thermal adhesive) and heated compressed air from a nozzle, and a sheet bundle while heating a tape pre-applied with adhesive glue. A tape applicator for attaching to the back is known.

  In a general bookbinding apparatus, after a sheet bundle is gripped by a clamping device, a plurality of notch grooves are formed on the edge side of the sheet bundle by a milling device, and the edge side of the sheet bundle having the notch groove is formed. A bookbinding apparatus for applying glue is used in a conventional printing apparatus.

  Recent electrophotographic image forming apparatuses have high-speed performance, multi-functions, network functions, etc., and their use as printing apparatuses is expanding by connecting large-capacity paper feeders and large-capacity stackers. .

When the image forming apparatus is used as a printing apparatus, printing to bookbinding can be performed by a single apparatus by connecting a bookbinding apparatus that binds printed matter.
JP 2004-209869 A

  In the gluing bookbinding apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the glue bonding area applied to the back of the sheet bundle is small, the strength of glued bookbinding is insufficient.

  In a bookbinding apparatus in which a plurality of notch grooves are formed on the edge side of a sheet bundle by a milling apparatus and glue is applied to the edge side of the sheet bundle having the notch groove, the milling apparatus is large, so the bookbinding apparatus If this milling device is placed inside, there is a problem that the bookbinding device becomes large and accompanied by an increase in manufacturing cost, and there are disadvantages when an image forming system is used that directly connects the bookbinding device using the image forming device as a printing device. Become.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems, improves the bookbinding apparatus, and provides a bookbinding apparatus that achieves the same bookbinding strength as before without increasing the size of the bookbinding apparatus, and an image forming system including the bookbinding apparatus. The purpose is to do.

  The above object is solved by the following bookbinding apparatus and image forming system of the present invention.

  (1) The bookbinding apparatus according to the present invention is a bookbinding apparatus that performs a bookbinding process by attaching a cover to the back of a sheet bundle, and an edge to which glue is applied to a paper transport path of the bookbinding apparatus during the bookbinding process. A notch forming means for forming a notch on the side is provided.

  (2) The bookbinding apparatus of the present invention is the bookbinding apparatus according to (1), wherein the notch forming unit is disposed upstream of the sheet conveyance path of the sheet conveyance path for conveying the sheet to the sheet bundle accommodating unit for collecting the sheets. It is characterized by this.

  (3) The bookbinding apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that, in (1), the notch forming means is controlled so as to select whether or not to form a notch in the sheet.

  (4) In the bookbinding apparatus of the present invention, in (1), the notch forming means includes a die fixed to a part of the sheet conveyance path, a punch that can be raised and lowered by fitting to the die, Drive means for moving the punch up and down.

  (5) In the image forming system of the present invention, an image forming apparatus main body having an image forming means and a paper conveying means, and a notch is formed on one end side of the paper on which the image is formed by the image forming apparatus main body. After that, the bookbinding apparatus according to any one of (1) to (4) is provided, which stacks the sheets and attaches a cover to the back of the sheet bundle and performs bookbinding processing. Is.

  The following effects can be obtained by the bookbinding apparatus and the image forming system of the present invention.

  (1) The bookbinding apparatus of the present invention is provided with notch forming means for forming a notch on the edge side to which glue is applied during the bookbinding process in the paper transport path of the bookbinding apparatus. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a large-scale device such as the conventional milling device of a bookbinding device, and the installation space can be reduced. Moreover, since the case binding process equivalent to the milling apparatus of the conventional bookbinding apparatus can be obtained, the bookbinding strength is high and the finished quality of the bookbinding is improved.

  (2) The notch forming means of the present invention is arranged on the upstream side of the paper transport direction of the paper transport path for transporting the paper to the paper bundle housing means for stacking paper, and is transported into the bookbinding apparatus The notch is formed on the sheet, and the notch forming means can be reduced in size, manufacturing cost, and low noise.

  (3) The notch forming means of the present invention is controlled so as to be able to select whether or not to form a notch in the sheet, and is appropriately selected depending on the number of sheet bundles, the sheet type of the sheet, and the like. I can do it.

  (4) The notch forming means of the present invention has a die fixed to a part of the paper conveyance path, a punch that can be raised and lowered by fitting to the die, and a drive means for raising and lowering the punch. Thus, the notch forming means can be miniaturized, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the noise can be reduced.

  (5) With the image forming system including the bookbinding apparatus of the present invention, the sheet bundle and the cover sheet are strongly attached to the sheet transported from the image forming apparatus main body, and the image forming process is automatically performed continuously. Bookbinding processing can be performed.

  Next, a bookbinding apparatus of the present invention and an image forming system including the bookbinding apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Image forming system]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming system including an image forming apparatus main body A, a bookbinding apparatus B, and a paper discharge apparatus C. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the image forming system.

[Image forming device body]
The image forming apparatus main body A has an image forming unit in which a charging unit 2, an image exposing unit 3, a developing unit 4, a transfer unit 5A, a charge removing unit 5B, and a cleaning unit 6 are arranged around a rotating image carrier 1. . The image forming means uniformly charges the surface of the image carrier 1 by the charging means 2 and then performs exposure scanning based on the image data read from the document by the laser beam of the image exposure means 3 to form a latent image. Then, the latent image is reversely developed by the developing means 4 to form a toner image on the surface of the image carrier 1.

  The paper S fed from the paper storage unit 7A is sent to the transfer position. The toner image is transferred onto the paper S by the transfer means 5A at the transfer position. Thereafter, the charge on the back surface of the sheet S is erased by the charge eliminating unit 5B, separated from the image carrier 1, conveyed by the conveying unit 7B, heated and fixed by the fixing unit 8, and discharged from the sheet discharge roller 7C.

  When image formation is performed on both sides of the sheet S, the sheet S heated and fixed by the fixing unit 8 is branched from the normal sheet discharge path by the conveyance path switching unit 7D, and is switched back in the reverse conveyance unit 7E. After the reversal, it passes through the image forming unit again, forms an image on the back surface of the paper S, and is discharged from the paper discharge roller 7C to the outside of the apparatus via the fixing unit 8. The paper S discharged from the paper discharge roller 7C is sent to the bookbinding apparatus B.

  The developer remaining on the surface of the image carrier 1 after image processing is removed by the cleaning unit 6 to prepare for the next image formation.

[Bookbinding device]
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the sheet conveyance path of the bookbinding apparatus B according to the present invention.

  The bookbinding apparatus B includes a sheet introduction unit 10, a sheet discharge unit 20, a sheet bundle storage unit 30, a sheet bundle conveyance unit 40, a glue application unit 50, a cover sheet supply unit 60, a cover sheet cutting unit 70, a cover sheet exterior unit (case binding unit). 80, an alignment unit 89, and a booklet conveyance unit 100. Each of these means is arranged in a column in a substantially vertical direction in the bookbinding apparatus main body.

<Paper introduction means 10>
The paper S introduced into the paper introduction unit 10 is nipped and conveyed by the entrance rollers 11 and 12, and is branched to either the paper discharge unit 20 or the paper bundle storage unit 30 by the conveyance path switching unit 31.

<Discharge means 20>
When the sheet conveyance is set, the conveyance path switching unit 31 blocks the conveyance path to the sheet bundle conveyance unit 40 and opens the conveyance path to the paper discharge unit 20.

  The sheet S passing through the conveyance path of the sheet discharge unit 20 is nipped by the conveyance rollers 21 and 22 and conveyed upward, and is discharged and stored on the fixed sheet discharge table 24 at the top of the apparatus by the sheet discharge roller 23. On the fixed sheet discharge table 24, the sheets S discharged from the image forming apparatus main body A can be directly received, and a maximum of about 200 sheets can be stacked.

<Paper bundle accommodating means 30>
The sheet S branched to the left in the drawing on the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction by the conveyance path switching unit 31 is sandwiched between the conveyance rollers 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36 and is accommodated in a predetermined position of the sheet bundle accommodation unit 30. Stacked, a sheet bundle Sa composed of a predetermined number of sheets S is formed. The sheet bundle accommodating means 30 includes a sheet placing table 37 that is inclined, a movable sheet rear end positioning member 38, a sheet width aligning member 39 that positions the sheet width direction, and the like.

<Paper bundle conveying means 40>
The sheet bundle Sa stacked on the sheet placing table 37 of the sheet bundle accommodating means 30 is conveyed obliquely downward by an unillustrated pushing means. After that, the sheet bundle Sa is gripped by the gripping means 41 of the sheet bundle transport means 40, and is swung so that the surface (back) for applying the glue to the sheet bundle Sa is turned downward while holding the sheet bundle Sa. Stopped in position.

<Glue application means 50>
The glue application unit 50 includes a glue application member (also referred to as application roller) 51, a rotation unit 52 that rotationally drives the application roller 51, a glue container 53 that stores glue, and a back surface of the bookbinding apparatus B that supports the glue container 53. A movable body 54 that can move from the initial position on the side to the glue application position on the front side, and a moving means (not shown) that reciprocates the movable body 54.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the bookbinding apparatus B showing the glue application processing to the sheet bundle Sa, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the glue application means 50 and the gripping means 41.

  The moving body 54 of the glue applying unit 50 is moved by a driving unit (not shown) in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the lower surface of the sheet bundle Sa held upright by the gripping unit 41.

  The moving body 54 starts moving from the initial position on the back side of the bookbinding apparatus B, is moved along the guide member 55, stops at a predetermined position on the front side of the bookbinding apparatus B, and then reversely drives to return to the initial position. To do.

  The application roller 51 immersed in the adhesive container 53 containing the adhesive N is rotated by the motor M1 and the rotating means 52 of the adhesive application driving means. The application roller 51 applies the glue N in the longitudinal direction of the lower surface of the sheet bundle Sa held in an upright state by the forward movement or reciprocation of the moving body 54.

<Cover Supply Unit 60>
As shown in FIG. 3, the cover sheet K accommodated in the sheet supply tray 61 of the cover sheet supply means 60 is separated and fed by the sheet supply means 62, and is sandwiched between the transport rollers 63, 64, 65 to be covered with the cover sheet exterior. It is conveyed to the means 80.

<Cover cutting means 70>
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the cover sheet exterior means 80 and the cover sheet cutting means 70 at the lower limit position.

  On the upper side of the cover sheet supply means 60, a cover sheet cutting means 70 is integrally formed on the right side of a cover sheet exterior means 80, which will be described later. The cover cutting means 70 cuts the length in the conveyance direction of the cover K to a predetermined length.

  The cover sheet cutting means 70 is a roller cutter unit including a rotary blade 71 and a fixed blade 72. The rotary blade 71 rotates while being in sliding contact with the fixed blade 72 to shear the cover K in the cover width direction. The scrap portion of the sheared cover sheet K falls and is stored in the waste box 73.

  The cutting length of the cover sheet K is a length obtained by adding the length of the back portion of the sheet bundle Sa to the length of two sheets in the traveling direction of the sheet S. When the sheet size, the number of sheets, and the sheet thickness are selected or detected in the operation unit 9 of the image forming apparatus main body A, the control unit sets a predetermined cutting length of the cover sheet K. The length of the cover sheet K before cutting is determined in advance corresponding to the maximum number of sheets.

<Cover cover means 80>
The cover sheet K stored in the sheet supply tray 61 of the cover sheet supply means 60 is separated and fed by the sheet supply means 62, sandwiched between the conveying rollers 63, 64, 65, and introduced into the cover sheet exterior means 80. Then, it is conveyed in the reverse direction and enters the cover cutting means 70. The cover sheet K cut to a predetermined length by the cover sheet cutting means 70 is conveyed again to the cover sheet exterior means 80.

  The cover sheet K introduced into the cover sheet exterior means 80 is transported by the transport roller 65, travels along the guide plate 87, passes through the nipping position between the transport roller 81 and the driven roller 881 that are driven and rotated, and is further driven and rotated. Passes through the nipping position between the conveying roller 82 and the driven roller 882.

  The motor M2A as the second drive means swings and drives the cover sheet holding member 88A via a drive transmission system Z1 including a belt and a gear train. The motor M2B of the second drive means swings and drives the cover sheet holding member 88B via a drive transmission system Z2 including a belt and a gear train.

  The cover sheet holding member 88A includes a driven roller 881 that is rotatably supported by a swingable lever connected to the final gear of the drive transmission system Z1.

  The cover sheet holding member 88B includes a driven roller 882 that is rotatably supported by a lever that is swingable by being connected to the final gear of the drive transmission system Z2.

  When the cover sheet K enters along the guide plate 87 in the cover sheet exterior means 80, the motor M2A starts driving and swings the lever so as to come into pressure contact with the transport roller 81 driving and rotating the driven roller 881. At substantially the same time, the motor M2B starts driving, swings the lever, and presses the driven roller 882 against the conveying roller 82 that rotates.

  The cover sheet K entering along the guide plate 87 is nipped and conveyed by the conveying roller 81 and the driven roller 881 on the upstream side in the conveying direction, and is subsequently nipped by the conveying roller 82 and the driven roller 882 on the downstream side in the conveying direction. After being transported, it stops at a predetermined position.

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the upper limit position of the cover sheet exterior means 80.

  While the cover K placed on the cover cover means 80 is moved to the vicinity of the paste application processing surface by the first drive means of the cover cover means 80, the cover holding members 88A and 88B are shaken by the motor M3 of the first drive means. The cover K is pressed and held. As a result, the cover K is prevented from moving during the movement of the cover cover means 80, and is accurately adhered to the glue application surface of the sheet bundle Sa.

  When the detection means PS detects that the cover sheet K is close to the glue application surface of the sheet bundle Sa, the cover pressing by the cover sheet holding members 88A and 88B is released by the motors M2A and M2B.

<Production of booklet>
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a booklet production process. FIG. 8A is a perspective view showing a cover sheet K placed on the movable casing 84 of the cover sheet exterior means 80 and a sheet bundle Sa attached to the center of the cover sheet K. FIG. FIG. 8B is a perspective view showing a state in which the glued sheet bundle Sa is bound and bound by the cover sheet K folded by the first folding member 86A, the second folding member 86B, and the pressure member 83. It is. FIG. 8C is a perspective view of the booklet Sb bound and bound.

  In these drawings, U represents the top side representing the top surface when the sheet bundle Sa and booklet Sb are upright, and L represents the ground side representing the bottom side of the sheet bundle Sa and booklet Sb.

<Ejection of booklet>
After the cover K folding process is completed, the cover cover exterior means 80 is lowered and retracted by the lowering drive of the belt 85 shown in FIG. By doing so, the lower end portion thereof is brought into contact with the discharge belt 101 and is slid in the transport direction by the discharge belt 101. The booklet Sb is placed on the surface of the rotating discharge belt 101 and conveyed, discharged outside the apparatus, and accommodated in the paper discharge apparatus C.

<Discharge device C>
The booklet Sb discharged by the discharge belt 101 is placed on the elevating / discharging tray 103 of the sheet discharge device C through the discharge opening 102 shown in FIG. When the booklet Sb is discharged and stacked on the lifting / lowering tray 103, the lifting / lowering tray 103 is sequentially lowered by the rotating wire 104. When the elevating / discharging tray 103 reaches the bottom dead center, the booklet Sb is transferred to the transport belt 105 and is discharged out of the apparatus by the rotation of the transport belt 105.

  FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the notch forming means 90.

  The notch forming means 90 accommodates a die 91 fixed to a part of the paper conveyance path, a punch 92 that can be fitted to the die 91 and moved up and down, a drive means that raises and lowers the punch 92, and cut paper waste. A waste storage box 98 is provided.

  The outer peripheral surface of the punch 92 facing the die 91 is fitted to the inner surface of the guide member 93 so as to be movable up and down. The driving means for raising and lowering the punch 92 includes a motor M4, a small gear 94 connected to the motor M4, a large gear 95 meshing with the small gear 94, a crank 96 that is locked to one end of the large gear 95 and that can swing and rotate, A connecting member 97 for connecting the upper portion of the punch 92 is provided.

  By driving the motor M4, the punch 92 is driven up and down through the small gear 94, the large gear 95, the crank 96, and the connecting member 97.

  A notch portion V (see FIG. 11) is formed at the rear end portion of the sheet S by the lowering drive of the punch 92 and the fitting of the die 91.

  The notch forming means 90 is disposed between the transport roller 32 and the transport roller 33. The leading edge of the paper S introduced into the bookbinding apparatus B passes through the conveying roller 32, the notch forming position of the notch forming means 90, and the conveying roller 33, and stops at a predetermined position. That is, a sensor (not shown) arranged on the upstream side of the conveyance roller 32 detects the passage of the trailing edge of the paper S, then counts a predetermined pulse to stop the driving of the motor (not shown), and stops the progress of the paper S. Let At this sheet stop position, a notch V is formed at the edge of the trailing edge of the sheet S.

  FIG. 10A is a plan view of the die 91 and the punch 92, and FIG. 10B is a perspective view of the die 91 and the punch 92.

  The die 91 has a plurality of notched blade portions 91a. The punch 92 has a plurality of protruding blade portions 92 a that fit into the die 91.

  FIG. 11A is a perspective view showing a state in which a plurality of cutout portions V are formed on one sheet S and the cutout scraps Sc are separated. The plurality of notches V or notches may be formed for each sheet S conveyed one by one, or a plurality of sheets S stacked together. You may make it form.

  FIG. 11B is a perspective view of a sheet bundle Sa on which sheets S on which a plurality of cutout portions V are formed are stacked. In this state, glue is applied to the back of the sheet bundle Sa having the notch V. The applied glue enters the edge and the notch V, and the cover K is firmly attached to the back of the sheet bundle Sa.

  The shape of the notch V is not limited to the illustrated V-shaped notch, and various shapes are appropriately selected depending on the paper type, the number of sheets, the nature of the glue, and the like.

  FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a sheet bundle Sa on which sheets S on which a plurality of cut portions V ′ are formed are stacked.

  Further, instead of the cutout portion V, a linear cutout portion (slit) V ′ may be used. In this case, a knife-like blade member and a plate-shaped receiving plate member are arranged in place of the above-described lifting and lowering punch 92 and a die 91, the mechanism is simple, and the notch scrap Sc is removed. There is a feature that does not occur. However, there is little glue biting at the back of the sheet bundle Sa.

  FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a sheet bundle Sa in which sheets S on which a plurality of notches V are formed are stacked.

  In FIG. 9, a known shift means (not shown) is provided on the transport roller 33 downstream of the notch forming means 90 in the paper transport direction. The shift means shifts the paper S gripped by the transport roller 33 by a predetermined distance in the paper width direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction.

  A plurality of notch portions V are formed and conveyed on the first sheet S by the notch forming means 90, the second sheet S is conveyed, and the sheet gripped by the conveying roller 33 by the shift means After shifting S by a predetermined distance in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction, a plurality of notch portions V are formed on the second sheet S by the notch forming means 90.

  In this way, the notch V is sequentially formed on the subsequent plurality of sheets S and is conveyed to the sheet bundle accommodating means 30 to form the sheet bundle Sa. On the back of the sheet bundle Sa, a plurality of cutout portions V between stacked sheets are arranged obliquely as shown in the figure.

  A plurality of cutout portions V are arranged at substantially equal intervals on the back portion of the sheet bundle Sa to form an adhesive pasting surface.

  It should be noted that the bookbinding apparatus B of the present invention is formed in an independent apparatus and the sheet bundle Sa processed by another image forming apparatus main body is loaded on the sheet bundle accommodating means 30, and then the glue application process and the cover cover exterior process are performed. It is also possible to make case binding.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming system including an image forming apparatus main body, a bookbinding apparatus, and a paper discharge apparatus. 1 is an external perspective view of an image forming system. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a paper conveyance path of the bookbinding apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a bookbinding apparatus showing a glue application process on a sheet bundle. The perspective view of an adhesive application means and a holding means. Sectional drawing of a cover cutting means and a cover exterior means. Sectional drawing which shows the upper limit position of a cover exterior means. The perspective view which shows the preparation process of a booklet. Sectional drawing of a notch formation means. The top view and perspective view of a die and a punch. The perspective view which shows the state which formed the some notch part in the sheet | seat of one sheet | seat, and isolate | separated the notch | chip notch | chip, and the perspective view of the sheet | seat bundle | stacking which accumulated the paper in which the some notch part was formed. The perspective view of the sheet | seat bundle | stacking which the sheet | seat in which the some notch part was formed was integrated | stacked. The perspective view which shows other embodiment of the sheet | seat bundle | stacking which accumulated the paper in which the some notch part was formed.

Explanation of symbols

32, 33 Conveying roller 41 Gripping means 50 Glue application means 90 Notch forming means 91 Die 91a Notch blade part 92 Punch 92a Protruding blade part 93 Guide member 94 Small gear 95 Large gear 96 Crank 97 Connecting member 98 Waste container A Image forming apparatus main body B Bookbinding apparatus M4 Motor S Paper Sa Paper bundle Sc Notch waste V Notch V 'Notch

Claims (5)

In a bookbinding device that performs bookbinding processing by attaching a cover to the back of a stack of paper,
A bookbinding apparatus, comprising: a notch forming means for forming a notch portion on an edge side to which glue is applied at the time of bookbinding processing in the sheet transport path of the bookbinding apparatus. 2. The bookbinding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notch forming unit is arranged on the upstream side in a sheet conveyance direction of a sheet conveyance path that conveys the sheet to a sheet bundle accommodation unit that accumulates the sheets. 2. The bookbinding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notch forming unit is controlled to select whether or not to form a notch portion in the sheet. The notch forming means includes a die fixed to a part of the sheet conveying path, a punch that can be raised and lowered by fitting to the die, and a drive means that raises and lowers the punch. The bookbinding apparatus according to claim 1. An image forming apparatus main body having an image forming means and a paper transporting means, and a notch formed on one end side of the paper on which the image is formed by the image forming apparatus main body, and then stacking the paper and back of the paper bundle An image forming system comprising: a bookbinding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 that performs bookbinding processing by attaching a cover sheet to the booklet.

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