JP2007185815A - Apparatus for applying adhesive to contact bonding postcard - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for applying an adhesive to a contact bonding postcard which can apply the adhesive to the contact bonding postcard with excellent contact bonding properties and efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: The adhesive 5a and 5b developed on photosensitive body drums 29 by the medium of developing rollers 28 is transferred by transfer rollers 31 and applied in layers onto paper 15 being conveyed, by adhesive applying sections 21a and 21b disposed in series at two places along the direction of conveyance of paper of a paper conveying belt 26 stretched over on a driving roller 24 and an idler roller 25 of a paper conveying section 22, and is fixed in a fixing section 23. By preliminarily folding the contact bonding postcard to be folded in the shape of Z before application of the adhesive, according to this constitution, the layer of the adhesive in a necessary and sufficient quantity for contact bonding that is about 30 μm thick is formed on the respective sides of the front and back contact bonding surfaces being opposite to each other by single conveyance of the paper. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an adhesive applicator for a crimping postcard, and more particularly to an adhesive applicator for a postcard having a configuration in which the adhesive applied to the crimping surface of the crimping postcard is applied only to one side of the crimping surface.

Conventionally, in order to transmit character information only to a specific individual, generally, the character description is in a sealed form so that the individual can confirm the character information only after opening.
In recent years, personal information protection has become a strict question, and various business establishments, for example, personal information such as various personal data, gradebooks, salary statements, etc., are printed on the printed part of the written text. It is recorded and distributed in the form of envelopes or cards by bonding or crimping the peripheral edge of the printed part or the entire surface of the written text.

  Among these, postcard-sized cards are called crimped postcards and can be used at the same charge as regular postcards. Therefore, as a printing information concealment system that is highly convenient for information providers, advertising It is also widely used for advertising direct mail.

  In order to use such a printing information concealment system for crimping postcards, etc., secret information has conventionally been created by entrusting it to a specialized manufacturer or introducing an expensive crimping postcard or other manufacturing / printing device. .

  There are two methods for creating confidential information using a manufacturing / printing device such as a crimping postcard, such as a method of applying adhesive after information printing or a method of applying adhesive before information printing. The premise of creating a large amount of information is essential and expensive.

Further, such outsourcing to a manufacturer is not a preferable method for creating confidential information because there is a potential problem of leakage of personal information.
By the way, in recent years, along with the development of personal computers and printers, there has been proposed one that can easily create a crimp postcard even in a small unit so that it can be used by small-scale offices and individuals.

  For example, postcard paper with release paper pre-applied with a pressure sensitive adhesive is on the market. In this method, after printing predetermined character information or the like on the printing surface inside the two-fold, the pressure-sensitive adhesive portion is crimped to complete a postcard for postage.

  For example, a set of adhesive film and postcard paper is sold. In this method, after printing predetermined character information or the like on the printing surface inside the double fold, the adhesive film is pressure-bonded with the adhesive film sandwiched inside the double fold so that a postcard for posting can be created.

  However, this is inevitable, and the handling is cumbersome, and it is better to personally create several crimped postcards, but it is cheap, quick, and responsive to demand in a certain number of units. It can not be created with.

Therefore, a toner-like adhesive composed of microcapsules containing an adhesive is transferred onto the surface of the substrate by electrostatic printing and flash-fixed. During adhesion, the microcapsules are destroyed by pressure and the adhesive in the capsule is leached. In this way, a proposal has been made that it is possible to easily create a pressure-bonded postcard. This proposal also suggests a pulverized toner obtained by melting, kneading, and pulverizing an adhesive. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1.)
In addition, the pressure-bonding substance is put in a replacement printing cartridge for an office printer or copying machine, and the pressure-bonding substance is applied to a government-made postcard or envelope by the same operation as the printing operation by the office printer or copying machine. After that, a proposal has been made that it is applied to a dedicated crimping machine, and up to the crimping dedicated machine can be performed by a single printer or copying machine. In addition, this proposal suggests that a crimping substance is applied to one side of a fold and one side of a center of a fold. (For example, see Patent Document 2.)
In addition, a method has been proposed in which an image is created on demand by an electrophotographic method using toner containing a heat-sensitive adhesive. In this proposal, the softening temperature of the heat-sensitive adhesive is configured to be higher than the softening temperature of the binder resin of the toner for electrophotography, and the ratio of the heat-sensitive adhesive to the toner for electrophotography is 5 to 5. It has been proposed that the composition be 60% by weight and that the composition of the heat-sensitive adhesive contains at least one selected from the group consisting of a heat-adhesive resin, a hot melt, and waxes. (For example, refer to Patent Document 3.)
JP 09-104849 A (paragraphs 0005, 0014, FIG. 1, FIG. 3, FIG. 6) JP 2000-006553 A (summary, no figure) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-126231 (paragraphs 0085 to 0087, not shown)

  However, although the technology of Patent Document 1 describes the configuration and composition of the microcapsule toner, the pulverized toner is merely suggested to the extent that it is conceived, and the specific composition, production method, There is no description about the usage, and this makes it possible for even those skilled in the art to produce useful pulverized toners and, of course, not even make prototypes.

  In addition, the technology of Patent Document 2 is to create a print information concealment document by a public postcard or envelope before being applied to a dedicated crimping machine, and it is convenient in that it must be applied to the dedicated crimping machine to complete for posting. It must be said that it is lacking in performance and economy and is far from being responsive to demand.

  Further, in the technique of Patent Document 3, the softening temperature of the heat-sensitive adhesive is merely set higher than the softening temperature of the binder resin of the toner for the electrophotographic method, but it is suggested to the extent of the idea. No specific material formulation or specific usage of toner containing heat sensitive adhesive is disclosed.

Also, such a toner adhesive powder adhesive for postcards has not been distributed to the market to date. The pressure-sensitive adhesive for postcards in circulation is only liquid or adhesive sheet.
Therefore, the present inventor decided to make a prototype of a toner-like adhesive (thermoplastic resin powder) on the premise that it can be applied using a printer, based on the suggestion of the conventional proposed technique. .

  The material formulation of the toner-like adhesive, which was prototyped on the assumption that it can be applied using a printer or copying machine, is about 95% polyester as a binder resin, about 2% LR147 as a charge control agent, and pp as a wax. Was about 2%.

  The above-mentioned material prescription is based on the idea that it satisfies both the requirements of a pressure-sensitive adhesive for postcards and that it can be applied with a printer (that is, it has powder properties similar to toner). Polyester is a binder resin material that is currently used mainly as a toner for printers.

  Next, these materials were mixed with a Henschel mixer FM20 manufactured by Mitsui Mine, and kneaded with a biaxial continuous kneader. Thereafter, the mixture was roughly crushed, pulverized, and classified, and finally mixed with hydrophobic silica using a Henschel mixer to obtain a powder similar to a toner having a center particle size of 9 μm.

  This powder was developed on a photosensitive drum as a powder adhesive, transferred to the folding surface of a reciprocating postcard, fixed, taken out of paper, and pasted on a crimping machine. At this time, the setting temperature of the bonding roller to be bonded was set in four stages of 120 ° C., 130 ° C., 140 ° C., and 150 ° C., and the pressure-bonded postcard bonded at each set temperature was created.

  The use of a dedicated crimping machine as described above for pasting this postcard, and the temperature setting of the pasting roller includes a temperature higher than the melting temperature of the normal toner, suggesting that each of the conventional proposed techniques It is a response.

  And although not shown in particular, it decided to evaluate the crimping postcard produced for every said preset temperature. In this evaluation, the variable information printing toner was originally printed when the peel force (strength of the force when peeling the attached part of the crimping postcard) and the character offset (opening (peeling) the stuck part of the crimped postcard). It was determined whether or not it was good or bad by visual observation about the phenomenon that it was detached from the surface that had been removed and then transferred to the adhesive surface and adhered.

  As a result, the adhesive prepared as described above has a problem that character offset occurs in the temperature setting region (140 ° C., 150 ° C.) of the adhesive strength (= peeling force) to which the postcard sticks. There was found.

  In other words, with adhesives created within the range suggested by the prior art (adhesives whose softening temperature is higher than the softening temperature of the binder resin of the toner), variable information is printed with normal toner and then applied to the printing surface as a single adhesive. Or when a variable information image is formed with a toner containing a heat-sensitive adhesive, the toner fixed on the paper surface is re-melted by heating to realize the subsequent adhesion by the adhesive, A character offset occurs.

  This character offset phenomenon is caused by the fact that both the variable information printing toner softened and melted by thermocompression bonding and the adhesive are strongly bound together, and when the postcard is opened, the variable information printing toner is strongly pulled by the adhesive on the opposite surface. However, it is considered that this occurs when the adhesive force between the paper and the variable information printing toner exceeds the adhesive force, and the variable information printing toner is transferred to the opposite surface side.

Therefore, it turns out that some kind of further device is necessary for producing a powder adhesive having sufficient adhesive force (= peeling force) and no character offset.
Further, the above Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 do not disclose or suggest any specific configuration of the adhesive application device and the mode of application of the adhesive.

  In view of the above-described conventional situation, the object of the present invention is to establish a practical method for producing a powder adhesive, and then apply the powder adhesive to a pressure-sensitive postcard with good pressability and efficiency. A crimping postcard adhesive applicator that can be provided.

  The pressure-sensitive adhesive postcard adhesive application device according to the present invention is a pressure-sensitive adhesive postcard adhesive application device configured such that the adhesive applied to the pressure-bonded postcard pressure-bonding surface is provided only on one side of the pressure-bonded surface. A plurality of adhesive applicators disposed on the front, and the adhesive applicator in the previous stage is applied to the surface of the crimped postcard to which the adhesive has been applied, and the adhesive applicator in the subsequent stage applies the adhesive. Is done.

  In this adhesive application device, for example, the adhesive application part at the front stage or the rear stage applies the adhesive uniformly to the adhesive application surface of the pressure-bonded postcard, and the adhesive application part at the rear stage or the front stage has the pressure application. It is comprised so that an adhesive agent may be apply | coated to the adhesive application surface of a postcard in the shape of a mesh or a satin.

  Further, in the adhesive application device, for example, the preceding-stage adhesive application part and the subsequent-stage adhesive application part include an integrated common adhesive container.

  According to the present invention, since the adhesive is repeatedly applied by a plurality of adhesive application portions arranged in series in the conveyance direction of the pressure-bonded postcard, the adhesive is provided while being configured only on one side of the pressure-bonding surface. In addition to being able to have sufficient, the application of the adhesive can be completed in a single paper transport process, so the work efficiency is improved.

  In addition, since the adhesive is applied only on one side of the pressure-bonding surface, sufficient adhesiveness can be provided. Therefore, even in the manufacture of Z-fold pressure-bonded postcards, the adhesive can be applied to the pressure-bonded surface in a single paper transport process. It can be completed, and an adhesive application device having a simple and small configuration can be provided.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
In the adhesive made of the above-mentioned toner-like thermoplastic resin powder, in order to prevent problems such as paper breakage or character transfer due to too strong adhesive force, a variable information printing toner (hereinafter simply referred to as printing) It is considered necessary to prevent the toner) and the adhesive from being integrated when melted.

  For this purpose, it is considered necessary to make the configuration of the adhesive different from that of the variable information printing toner. Based on this idea, the present inventor has developed a toner-like powder having a composition different from that of the printing toner, and a toner-like powder having a composition almost the same as that of the printing toner for comparison, Transparent powders containing no coloring materials such as dyes and pigments were prepared, and their adhesive strength and character offset property were evaluated.

The composition, manufacturing method, and evaluation results of the toner-like powder, that is, the powder adhesive will be described below.
First, the inventors created three types of powder adhesives as Production Example 1, Production Example 2 and Production Example 3. As materials, polyester resin, silica powder, charge control agent, polyethylene wax, acrylic resin, and fine silica were prepared with different content ratios (mass%).

  Of these material formulations, the polyester resin is a binder resin. As a powder adhesive for pressure-bonding postcards, it is possible to use a binder resin used for toner, and examples of such a binder resin include polystyrene resin, styrene acrylic resin, polyester resin, and epoxy resin. It is done.

  Polyester resin, in particular, has a lower softening point than other resins, and can be set to a softening point of 110 ° C. as shown in the figure. When organic materials are mixed as a non-adhesive material used for adhesion adjustment in this example In addition, there is an advantage that the temperature difference of the softening point can be set large.

  In addition, silica powder having a particle size of 3 μm is selected as a representative inorganic non-tacky material and is used as an adhesive strength modifier. An acrylic resin having a particle size of 4 μm and a softening point of 200 ° C. or higher has been selected as a representative organic non-tacky material and is used as another adhesive strength adjusting agent.

  In addition, Nippon Carlit Co., Ltd. charge control agent LR-147 as a charge control agent, polyethylene wax NP-056 manufactured by Mitsui Chemicals, Ltd. as a wax, and Nippon Aerosil as an external additive as a fluidity improver. Fine silica RY-50 manufactured by Co., Ltd. is used for applying a powder adhesive to paper using electrophotography as in the case of printing toner.

  In Production Example 1, first, 70% by mass of a polyester resin as a binder resin, 30% by mass of silica powder, 1% by mass of a charge control agent, and 3% by mass of polyethylene wax are prepared as non-adhesive resins.

  These are mixed with a chemical mixer, the mixture is melt-kneaded with a twin screw extruder and then crushed. Further, the crushed product is pulverized with an I-type jet mill, and the pulverized product is classified to obtain an average volume particle size. 9 μm powder particles are prepared.

Then, 100% by mass of the powder particles and 1% by mass of fine silica were mixed with a Henschel mixer, and the mixture was sieved to obtain a desired pressure-sensitive adhesive for postcards.
Next, in Production Example 2, first, 70% by mass of a polyester resin as a binder resin, 30% by mass of an acrylic resin, 1% by mass of a charge control agent, and 3% by mass of polyethylene wax are prepared as non-adhesive resins.

  Then, as described above, these are mixed with a chemical mixer, the mixture is melt-kneaded with a twin-screw extruder, and then roughly crushed. Thus, powder particles having an average volume particle diameter of 9 μm are prepared.

Then, 100% by mass of the powder particles and 1% by mass of fine silica were mixed with a Henschel mixer, and the mixture was sieved to obtain a desired pressure-sensitive adhesive for postcards.
In Production Example 3, 100% by mass of a polyester resin, 1% by mass of a charge control agent, and 3% by mass of polyethylene wax were used in the same manner as in Production Example 1 or 2 as in the case of the printing toner. After producing powder particles having a diameter of 9 μm, 100% by mass of the powder particles and 1% by mass of fine silica were mixed with a Henschel mixer, and the mixture was sieved to obtain a desired pressure-sensitive adhesive for postcards.

  The adhesive prepared in this way is applied to the paper by an adhesive application machine. This adhesive is a powder adhesive and is solid at room temperature. And it melts by heating, and adhesiveness is exhibited by being pressurized.

  By the way, in the application of a powder adhesive (hereinafter, also simply referred to as an adhesive), for example, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus that performs printing (or printing, the same applies hereinafter) using toner is used, and toner is applied to the image forming unit. Instead, it is more convenient to accommodate the powder adhesive and print (apply) a solid on the adhesive application surface of the postcard.

  FIG. 1 (a) is a schematic configuration diagram of the adhesive application device in the first embodiment, and FIGS. 1 (b), (c), and (d) are diagrams showing an adhesive application procedure. is there. FIGS. 3C and 3D are a plan view and a rear side view showing a state where the adhesive is transferred.

  In this adhesive postcard adhesive application device, variable information is printed in advance with a printing toner on the surface of the adhesive postcard paper, and superimposed on the printed surface of the paper surface, the powder adhesives of Preparation Examples 1 to 3 described above. Is applied.

  In addition, in this example, since the amount of secret information can be described more as the number of pages increases in recent years, a Z-fold crimping postcard will be described as an example in view of the fact that Z-fold crimping postcards are widely used. I will decide.

In FIG. 2A, the adhesive application device for the pressure postcard includes an adhesive application unit 1, a paper transport device 2, a fixing device 3 and a reversing device 4.
To simplify the illustration of the main parts in Fig. 6 (a), the paper feeding device placed on the right side of the figure, the folding device placed on the left side of the figure, the crimping device, the finished crimping postcard storage device, etc. This device is not shown.

  The adhesive application unit 1 includes an adhesive container 6 in which an adhesive 5 is accommodated, a developing roller 7 rotatably disposed in a lower end opening of the adhesive container 6, and a developing roller 7. A photosensitive drum 8 disposed in contact therewith is provided.

  In general, the configurations of the cleaner, the initialization charger, the optical writing head, the transfer device, and the like that are disposed almost in common in the image forming unit of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus as the configuration in the vicinity of the adhesive application unit 1 are well known. Since this is the configuration, the illustration is omitted.

  The sheet conveying device 2 includes a driving roller 9 and a driven roller 11, and a sheet conveying belt 12 stretched between the driving roller 9 and the driven roller 11. The fixing device 3 includes a heat roller 13 and a pressure roller 14.

  The reversing device 4 is not shown in detail, but is a device that reverses the front and back of the paper 15 and the front and back of the paper 15 and sends them back to the paper transport device 2. It is a printing reversal device.

In FIG. 2A, first, the paper 15 taken out one by one from a paper feeder (not shown) is fed toward the adhesive application unit 1 on the paper transport device 2 as indicated by an arrow a. The
FIG. 2B is a view of the paper 15 fed toward the adhesive application unit 1 as viewed from above.

  In the adhesive application unit 1, the developing roller 7 of the adhesive container 6 rotates while forming a uniform adhesive layer on the peripheral surface thereof. On the other hand, the entire surface of the photosensitive drum 8 is exposed by an optical writing head (not shown), and the adhesive layer of the developing roller 7 is developed (transferred) on the exposed surface.

  The photoconductor drum 8 cooperates with a transfer device (not shown) on the surfaces P1 and P2 on page 2 on one end side of the surface of the paper 15 that passes directly below the photoconductor drum 8 (c). As shown in FIG. 4, the adhesive 15 is electrostatically transferred (applied).

  Here, the surface configuration of the Z-fold pressure-bonding postcard paper 15 is defined. As shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D, in this example, the surface of the sheet 15 is the surface A on one end of the cover before Z-folding, the surface A on the central page, and the other end. A page surface is defined as a surface C. A back page of the front surface A is referred to as surface D, a back page of the front surface B is referred to as surface E, and a back surface of the front surface C is referred to as surface F.

  The sheet 15 having the adhesive transferred (applied) to the surfaces A and B as shown in FIG. 5B is conveyed toward the fixing device 3 as indicated by the arrow b in FIG. Heat and pressure are applied to the paper 15 by the heat roller 13 and the pressure roller 14 of the fixing device 3, and the adhesive 5 transferred to the surfaces A and B is melted and fixed on the paper surface.

  Thereafter, the sheet 15 is conveyed toward the reversing device 4 as indicated by arrows c and d. The sheet 15 is reversed by the reversing device 4 so that the front and back sides are reversed. The sheet 15 is conveyed in the first paper feeding direction as indicated by arrows e, f, g, h, i, and the reverse side is turned upside down. It is fed to the adhesive application unit 1 again as indicated by an arrow a.

  The paper 15 having the adhesive 5 applied to the back surface thereof by the adhesive application unit 1 is fixed on the paper surface by the fixing device 3 and then directed to a folding device (not shown) as indicated by an arrow j. Are transported.

  FIG. 4D shows a plan view and a rear side view showing a state in which the adhesive 5 is transferred to the back surface E and the surface F of the paper 15. That is, as shown in FIG. 4D, the adhesive 5 is applied to the surface A and the surface B on the front surface of the paper 15 and the surface E and the surface F on the back surface.

  In this state, the paper 15 carried into the folding device is Z-folded by the folding device and conveyed to the crimping device, and the surface A and the surface B, and the surface E and the surface F are crimped by the crimping device, and can be posted. Crimp postcard is completed. Note that a generally known Z-folding device can be used as the Z-folding device.

  2A is a diagram showing the state of the sheet 15 folded by the above folding device for reference, and FIG. 2B is a diagram showing that the Z-folded sheet 15 is crimped as indicated by an arrow H. FIG. It is a figure which shows the state inserted by the apparatus. The paper 15 that has been Z-folded by the folding device is bonded by the crimping device 16 to form one postcard.

  FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a state before the crimping surface of the Z-fold crimping postcard 15 is crimped, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a state after the crimping. As shown in FIG. 2A, the adhesive 5 is uniformly applied on the paper surface and the print toner 17 on the surface A and the surface B (or the surface E and the surface F) of the paper 15.

  The printing toner 17 forms a convex portion with respect to the paper surface, but the adhesive 5 applied to both the surface A and the surface B is applied to the convex portion of the printing toner 17 at the time of pressing shown in FIG. Following the shape well, the adhesive 5 and the upper and lower sheets 15 are brought into close contact with each other, and the adhesion performance as a pressure-bonded postcard is ensured.

(Embodiment 2)
By the way, in the first embodiment, when producing a Z-fold pressure-bonded postcard, the reversing device 4 is used to apply the adhesive to both the front and back pressure-bonding surfaces of the paper 15, and the paper conveyance and the adhesive application are performed. The process is performed twice.

  In this way, the processing time for applying the adhesive 5 to both sides of the paper 15 is time-reversed compared to the case where the powder adhesive only needs to be applied to one side like a V-fold pressure-bonded postcard. Including minutes, it takes more than twice.

That is, in the case of the most popular Z-folding postcard, the adhesive application process per sheet is delayed as compared with the V-folding postcard, and the production efficiency of the pressure-bonded postcard is lowered.
This problem can be solved if the adhesive can be applied to the front and back sides by a single paper conveyance. A method for applying the adhesive on the front and back sides of this single paper conveyance will be described below as a second embodiment.

  4 (a) to 4 (d) and FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (d) show the state of the paper 15 in plan view, perspective view, side sectional view, etc. FIG. In FIGS. 4A to 4D and FIGS. 5A to 5D, the conveyance direction of the paper 15 in the pressure-bonding postcard manufacturing process is indicated by an arrow k.

  First, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), the paper 15 fed from the paper feeding unit is a part of the paper (surface C on the front and back sides) as shown in FIG. Folded (preliminarily folded) as indicated by arrow m. A sheet 15 shown in FIG. 4C in which a part of the sheet is folded (preliminarily folded) is conveyed to the adhesive application unit.

  In the adhesive application unit, the sheet 15 has the above folded surface (refer to the surface F in FIG. 4 (c)) and the unfolded surface exposed alongside the folded surface (the surface in FIG. 4 (c)). A)), the adhesive 5 is applied at once (see FIG. 4 (d)).

Thus, the sheet 15 having the adhesive 5 applied to the front and back surfaces A and F at a time is conveyed to the fixing unit. In the fixing unit, the sheet 15 is applied with heat and pressure, and the adhesive 5 is fixed on the sheet surface.
The paper 15 having the adhesive 5 fixed on the paper surface is then conveyed to the paper folding section. First, the pre-folded surface of the paper 15 carried into the paper folding portion is expanded as described above.

  FIG. 5 (a) shows the surface (surface A, surface B, surface C) of the paper 15 thus spread, and the adhesive 5 is fixed on the surface A. FIG. FIG. 5B shows the back surface (surface D, surface E, surface F) of the spread sheet 15, and the adhesive 5 is fixed on the surface F.

  Thereafter, in the paper folding portion, as shown in FIG. 5 (c), the surface F is folded to the surface E side as indicated by the arrow n, and then continuously folded to be doubled with the surface F. Is folded to the surface A side as indicated by an arrow p. As a result, the sheet 15 is Z-folded as shown in FIG.

  The Z-folded paper 15 is conveyed to the crimping section, where the application surface (surface A, surface F) of the adhesive 5 and the opposing surface (surface B, surface E) are pressure-bonded. Completed as a Z-fold crimped postcard.

  FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a state before the crimping surface of the Z-fold crimping postcard 15 is crimped, and FIG. 6B is a diagram showing a state after the crimping. As shown in FIG. 2A, the adhesive 5 is uniformly applied on the paper surface and the print toner 17 on the surface A (or surface F) of the paper 15. However, no adhesive is applied to surface B (or surface E), which is the opposing surface of the crimping.

  For this reason, when the crimping portion is crimped as shown in FIG. 5B, an unbonded portion 18 is generated around the convex portion formed by the printing toner 17 and the crimping property is lowered. There is probably a fear.

  This fear can be eliminated by increasing the amount of adhesive applied, that is, by thickly applying the adhesive. Experimental values seem to require an adhesive coating thickness of about 30 μm. However, as described above, the transfer (coating) of the adhesive by the electrostatic transfer method using the electrophotographic image forming unit is considered to be about 1.5 to 2 particle layers of the adhesive powder in one transfer. When the particle diameter is about 10 μm, the coating thickness can be obtained only up to about 15 to 20 μm.

(Embodiment 3)
Therefore, in order to solve this problem, an adhesive application apparatus capable of realizing an application thickness of about 30 μm of the adhesive in the transfer (application) of the adhesive by the electrostatic transfer method will be described below as a third embodiment.

  FIG. 7 (a) is a schematic configuration diagram of the adhesive application device according to the third embodiment, and FIG. 7 (b) is a diagram showing a state before the crimping surface of the crimping postcard after the adhesive is applied. FIG. 4C is a diagram showing a state after the crimping.

As shown in FIG. 7A, the adhesive application device 20 of this example includes a plurality (two in this example) of adhesive application units 21 (21a, 21b), a paper conveyance unit 22, and a fixing unit 23. .
Also in this example, in the same figure (a), in order to show the main parts in a simplified manner, a paper feeding unit arranged on the right side of the figure, a paper folding part arranged on the left side of the figure, a crimping part, The configuration of each part such as the finished pressure-bonding postcard storage part is not shown.

  The sheet conveying unit 22 includes a driving roller 24 and a driven roller 25, and a sheet conveying belt 26 that is stretched over the driving roller 24 and the driven roller 25. In this example, the paper transport system has a simple configuration without a reversing device.

  Moreover, said adhesive application part 21 (21a, 21b) is rotatably arrange | positioned at the adhesive agent container 27 in which the adhesive agent 5 (5a, 5b) is each accommodated, and the lower end opening part of the adhesive agent container 27 A developing roller 28, a photosensitive drum 29 disposed in contact with the developing roller 28, and a transfer roller 31 that presses the photosensitive drum 29 via the paper conveyance belt 26.

Also in this example, the configuration of the cleaner, the initialization charger, the optical writing head, etc. that are actually arranged around the photosensitive drum 29 is not shown.
The plurality of adhesive application sections 21 are arranged in series along the sheet transport direction of the sheet transport section 22 as shown in FIG.

The fixing unit 23 is provided on the downstream side of the sheet conveying unit 22 in the sheet conveying direction, and includes a heat roller 32 and a pressing roller 33.
In this example, first, the paper 15 taken out from a paper supply unit (not shown), preliminarily folded in a preliminary paper folding unit, and then fed into the paper conveyance unit 22 as indicated by an arrow q in FIG. It is brought in.

Then, the sheet 15 first passes through the adhesive application part 21a, and the adhesive 5a is applied to the surface A and the surface F (see FIG. 4 (d)).
Subsequently, the sheet 15 passes through the adhesive application portion 21b, and the adhesive 5b is applied to the surface A and the surface F in the same manner.

  Then, the sheet 15 is fed into the fixing unit 23 as indicated by an arrow r, and the double-coated adhesives 5a and 5b are fixed on the application surface at the fixing unit 23, as indicated by an arrow s. Then, the sheet is sequentially conveyed to the folding section, the crimping section, and the storage section at the subsequent stage.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the adhesive agent in the rear stage is placed on the surface A (or F) on the surface of the paper 15 (crimp postcard) on which the adhesive application section 21a in the previous stage has applied the adhesive 5a. By the application part 21b applying the adhesive 5b, an adhesive layer 5 ′ having an application thickness of about 30 μm is formed.

  As a result, when the crimping surface (surface A and surface B or surface E and surface F) of the paper 15 is crimped by the crimping portion, a convex portion is formed on the paper surface as shown in FIG. The adhesive 5 applied twice thickly follows the convex shape of the printing toner 17 and the adhesive 5 and the upper and lower sheets 15 are brought into close contact with each other, so that the adhesive performance as a pressure-sensitive postcard is ensured. .

  In this way, even if the adhesive is applied to the postcard by the electrostatic printing method, a sufficient amount of the adhesive can be obtained by double-coating the adhesive. Adequate adhesion can be obtained even by applying the adhesive only on the side.

Accordingly, pre-folding can be performed, and adhesive can be applied to the coated surfaces of the front and back sides with a single sheet conveyance to produce a pressure-bonded postcard, which improves the efficiency of making a Z-fold pressure-bonded postcard.
(Modification of Embodiment 3)
8 (a) and 8 (b) are diagrams showing a modification of the third embodiment, and FIG. 8 (a) shows a state before the crimping surface of the crimping postcard after the adhesive is applied, FIG. 2 (b) shows the state after crimping.

  In this modification, as shown in FIG. 4A, the sheet 15 is first coated with the adhesive 5a on the surface A and the surface F (see FIG. 4D) of the adhesive application surface in the adhesive application portion 21a. It is applied to the entire surface.

  Subsequently, the adhesive 15b is applied to the surface A and the surface F in the same manner as a mesh or a satin in the adhesive application unit 21b. A space 34 is formed in a portion where the mesh-like or satin-like intermediate adhesive 5b is not applied.

  However, when the adhesive 5b is applied in a mesh-like or satin-like shape, the adhesive 5 (5a, 5b) is doubly raised, so when the surfaces A and B and the surfaces F and E are pressed together As shown in FIG. 5B, the portion where the adhesive 5b is applied in a mesh or satin shape is sufficiently pressed onto the surfaces B and E, which are non-application surfaces of the adhesive.

Therefore, in this case as well, although the adhesiveness is slightly weaker than in the case of the third embodiment, sufficient adhesiveness as a crimping postcard can be obtained.
In this way, it is economical that the amount of adhesive used can be reduced by the amount of the space 34 while maintaining the adhesiveness.

  It should be noted that mesh-like or satin-like application may be performed at the adhesive application part 21a, and the entire surface may be applied at the adhesive application part 21b. The control of the mesh-like or satin-like or solid surface application can be easily realized by controlling the exposure by the optical writing head to the photosensitive drum 29 in each adhesive application part 21.

  In any case, when the printing surface is directly on the printing surface or the paper surface on the opposite surface side to be pressure-bonded, the holding force for the printing toner on the printing surface is the same as the holding force for the contact printing toner on the contact surface. Failures such as missing prints occur. Therefore, it is preferable to always apply a solid adhesive on either one of the adhesive application part 21a or the adhesive application part 21b.

The adhesive 5a and the adhesive 5b may be the same material or characteristic, or may be different.
(Embodiment 4)
In the present invention, when the same material and characteristics are used for the adhesive 5a and the adhesive 5b, the adhesive is accommodated by the adhesive applicator having the same size as that of the third embodiment and its modification. The amount can be increased. This will be described below as a fourth embodiment.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the adhesive application device according to the fourth embodiment. In the figure, the same components as those shown in FIG. 7A are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 7A.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the adhesive application device 35 of this example is supplied to a developing roller 28 a that first develops an adhesive on a photosensitive drum 29 a on the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction for applying the adhesive to the paper 15. The adhesive 5 and the adhesive 5 that is supplied to the developing roller 28b that develops the adhesive on the photosensitive drum 29b on the downstream side in the paper conveyance direction, where the adhesive is applied to the paper 15 next, are in the same adhesive container 36. Contained.

  As described above, the first stage (upstream side in the paper transport direction) adhesive application section and the second stage (downstream side in the paper transport direction) adhesive application section are provided with the integrated common adhesive container 36. Compared to the case where each adhesive application part is independently provided with the adhesive container 27 as in the case of the embodiment 3 and the modification thereof, the arrangement space of the adhesive container can be used more effectively, and the amount of adhesive accommodated Can be increased.

  Thereby, the exchange frequency of an adhesive container can be reduced and the fall of the efficiency by frequent maintenance work can be prevented.

(a) is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the adhesive agent coating apparatus in Embodiment 1, (b), (c), (d) is a figure which shows the application | coating procedure of an adhesive agent. (a) is a figure which shows the state of the paper Z-folded by the folding device for reference, (b) is a figure which shows the state by which the paper Z-folded is penetrated by a crimping | compression-bonding apparatus as shown by the arrow H. (a) is a figure which shows the state before the crimping | compression-bonding of the crimping | compression-bonding surface of the Z folding crimping postcard in Embodiment 1, (b) is a figure which shows the state after crimping | compression-bonding. (a)-(d) is the figure (the 1) which shows the state of a paper with a top view, a perspective view, a side sectional view, etc. in order of the production process of the crimping postcard in Embodiment 2. (a)-(d) is the figure (the 2) which shows the state of a paper with a top view, a perspective view, a side sectional view, etc. in order of the production process of the crimping postcard in Embodiment 2. (a) is a figure which shows the state before the crimping | compression-bonding of the crimping | compression-bonding surface of Z folding crimping postcard in Embodiment 2, (b) is a figure which shows the state after crimping | compression-bonding. (a) is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the adhesive agent coating apparatus in Embodiment 3, (b) is a figure which shows the state before the crimping | compression-bonding of the crimping | compression-bonding postcard after adhesive application, (c) is a figure after crimping | compression-bonding. It is a figure which shows a state. It is a figure which shows the modification of Embodiment 3, (a) is a figure which shows the state before the crimping | compression-bonding of the crimping | compression-bonding postcard after application | coating of an adhesive agent, (b) is a figure which shows the state after crimping | compression-bonding. It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the adhesive agent coating device in Embodiment 4.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Adhesive application unit 2 Paper conveying apparatus 3 Fixing apparatus 4 Reversing apparatus 5 Adhesive 6 Adhesive container 7 Developing roller 8 Photosensitive drum 9 Driving roller 11 Followed roller 12 Paper conveyance belt 13 Heat roller 14 Pressure roller 15 Paper 16 Crimping apparatus 17 Printing toner 18 Unbonded part 20 Adhesive application device 21 (21a, 21b) Adhesive application part 22 Paper transport part 23 Fixing part 24 Drive roller 25 Followed roller 26 Paper transport belt 27 Adhesive container 28 (28a, 28b) Development Roller 29 (29a, 29b) Photosensitive drum 31 Transfer roller 32 Heat roller 33 Pressing roller 34 Space 35 Adhesive application device 36 Adhesive container

Claims (3)

In the adhesive postcard adhesive applicator configured to apply the adhesive applied to the crimping surface of the crimping postcard only on one side of the crimping surface,
The pressure-sensitive postcard has a plurality of adhesive application portions arranged in series in the conveyance direction of the postcard, and the adhesive application portion in the subsequent stage overlaps the surface of the pressure-sensitive postcard to which the adhesive application portion in the previous stage has applied the adhesive. An adhesive application device for a postcard, which is characterized by applying an adhesive. The adhesive application part at the front stage or the rear stage uniformly applies the adhesive to the adhesive application surface of the crimping postcard,
The adhesive application part at the rear stage or the front stage applies the adhesive to the adhesive application surface of the pressure-bonded postcard in a mesh shape or a satin shape,
2. An adhesive application device for a postcard according to claim 1.   The pressure-sensitive postcard adhesive application device according to claim 1, wherein the front-stage adhesive application section and the rear-stage adhesive application section include an integrated common adhesive container.