JP2008207914A - Punching device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress generation of jarring noise even if punching treatment is applied to cardboard. <P>SOLUTION: The punching device 20 is provided with a punching rod 30 reciprocated so as to punch a binding hole relative to the paper P fed from an image forming device 19 as an upstream side device. The punching device 20 is provided with a punching action mechanism for performing punching action by the punching rod 30; and a control part 90 for varying a punching speed of the punching rod 30 according to the thickness of the paper P by controlling the action of the punching action mechanism. The control part 90 performs control such that the punching speed of the punching rod is made slower in the case of paper P (thick paper) with thick paper thickness than that of the paper P (usual paper) with thin paper thickness. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a punching device used for punching a binding hole in a sheet. For example, the present invention can be applied to a post-processing apparatus that punches a sheet fed from an image forming apparatus as an upstream apparatus. It relates to a suitable drilling device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, post-processing apparatuses that perform post-processing such as punching and stapling on paper fed from an image forming apparatus as an upstream apparatus are known. The punching process is performed by a punching device provided on the upstream end side of the post-processing device, and the paper sent from the image forming apparatus to the post-processing device is immediately punched by the punching device.

  In such a punching device, the paper being transported along the paper transporting path on the inlet side in the post-processing device is temporarily stopped, the paper is formed in a columnar shape, and a punching blade is formed at the tip. It is comprised so that the punching rod made may be driven.

  Such a punching device can be classified into a hydraulic system, a crank system, a cam system, and a guide groove system by a mechanism for reciprocating the punching rod with respect to the paper.

  The hydraulic punching device is configured such that a hydraulic pressure is supplied to a cylinder from a predetermined hydraulic pressure source, and a punching rod is continuously provided at a tip of a piston rod that advances and retreats in the cylinder by the hydraulic pressure. As such a hydraulic drilling device, one described in Patent Document 1 is known.

  The crank-type punching device is configured such that a crank is moved up and down via a crankshaft by driving of a drive motor, and a punching rod is continuously provided at the tip of the crank. As such a crank type punching device, one described in Patent Document 2 is known.

  The cam-type punching device is provided with a punching rod so that the base end surface comes into contact with the peripheral surface of the eccentric cam that is rotated by the drive motor. As such a cam type punching device, one described in Patent Document 3 is known.

Furthermore, a guide groove type punching device is provided with a guide groove that is inclined with respect to the paper transport direction on a predetermined guide plate, and a protrusion that protrudes from the peripheral surface of the punching rod is fitted into this guide groove. is there. Such a guide groove type perforating apparatus is configured such that the punching rod moves up and down via a projection guided in the guide groove by reciprocating the guide plate in the sheet conveying direction.
JP-A-8-243799 JP 2000-198612 A JP 2002-53259 A JP 2003-1597 A

  By the way, when the punching process is performed on the paper, a sound is produced at the moment when the punching rod is driven into the paper, but this sound may be annoying when the paper is a normal thickness paper. Although it is not a sound, when the paper is thicker than plain paper, so-called thick paper, a loud “pinch” sound is generated at the moment when the punching rod is driven into the thick paper, which is very annoying for those around. The inconvenience arises.

  Incidentally, in any of the punching apparatuses described in Patent Documents 1 to 4, no problem has been raised with respect to the generation of a large noise when the punching process is performed on thick paper. There is no description regarding the elimination of abnormal noise that occurs during punching of cardboard.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional situation, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a punching device that can suppress generation of annoying abnormal noise even if punching processing is performed on cardboard. Yes.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a punching rod for punching holes in a sheet, a punching mechanism for causing the punching rod to reciprocate for punching operation, and a control unit for controlling the punching speed of the punching rod. And the control unit controls the punching speed of the punching rod when punching a first sheet having a paper thickness greater than a predetermined thickness than when punching a second sheet having a paper thickness equal to or less than the predetermined thickness. It is characterized by this.

  In this invention, when the punching rod is made to perform a punching operation at a predetermined punching speed, the predetermined thickness that is a criterion for determining whether the paper to be punched is the thick first paper or the second paper is It is the thickness at which an annoying unusual noise begins to occur. Since this predetermined thickness differs depending on a predetermined punching speed of the punching rod, it can be set by actually testing by changing the paper thickness.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the paper to be punched is the first paper thicker than the predetermined thickness, it tends to occur when punching and punching is performed under the control of the control unit. The generation of annoying noises called “pachin” is suppressed, which contributes to the quietness of the environment in which the perforation device is provided.

  Invention of Claim 2 is provided with the conveyance means which conveys the said paper in the punching apparatus of Claim 1, The said punching operation is performed on the conveyance path of a paper, Comprising: The said punching operation mechanism is the following. A cam plate that reciprocates the punching rod by reciprocating in a direction orthogonal to the operation direction of the punching rod, and the guide formed on the cam plate along the moving direction of the cam plate; A groove is provided, and the guide groove has an inclined groove for the first sheet extending toward the one direction side from the neutral position and an inclined groove for the second sheet extending toward the other direction side from the neutral position. The punching rod is provided with a guided pin that is fitted into the guide groove protruding from the peripheral surface, and the inclination angle of the inclined groove for the first sheet with respect to the cam plate moving direction is the second angle. And it is characterized in that it is set smaller than that of the inclined grooves for paper.

  According to this configuration, the paper guide plate is reciprocated in the cam plate moving direction, so that the punching rod is moved up and down via the guided pin guided by the guide groove, and thus the paper is punched. The

  Since the inclination angle of the first sheet inclined groove with respect to the sheet conveying direction is set smaller than that of the second sheet inclined groove, the guided pin guides the first sheet to the first sheet inclined groove. When the first sheet is punched, the ascending / descending speed of the punching rod (that is, the punching speed) is slower than when the guided pin is guided to the second sheet inclined groove with respect to the second sheet. The generation of abnormal noise is suppressed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the inclination angle of the inclined groove for the first paper is such that the inclination for the second paper is only within a range where the punching rod performs a punching operation on the first paper. The inclination angle is set to be smaller than that of the groove.

  In the third aspect of the present invention, the “range in which the punching rod performs the punching operation on the first sheet” refers to a range related to the punching rod reciprocating operation particularly before and after the sheet is punched.

  According to this configuration, since the punching rod operates quickly during the preliminary operation before the punching rod actually performs the punching process on the first sheet, the overall punching processing time including the preliminary operation is shortened. The punching processing efficiency for one sheet is improved.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of the punching rods are arranged in a paper width direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction, and the cam plate is orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction. And a plurality of guide grooves respectively corresponding to the plurality of punching rods.

  According to such a configuration, since the plurality of holes are simultaneously punched in the paper by the reciprocating motion of the cam plate, the punching processing efficiency when punching the plurality of holes in the paper is improved, and each punching rod is supported. One (or a pair) of cam plates can be used without providing a plurality of cam plates, which contributes to a reduction in the number of parts and thus a reduction in the manufacturing cost of the drilling device.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claim 4, wherein either one or both of the installation position and the shape of the plurality of guide grooves are set so that the corresponding punching rods operate with a predetermined time difference. It is characterized by that.

  According to such a configuration, when punching a plurality of holes in the paper, each hole is punched with a time difference, so that noise is generated during the punching process as compared with the case where each hole is punched simultaneously. It is suppressed more effectively.

  According to the punching device of the present invention, when the paper to be punched is the first paper thicker than the predetermined thickness, the punching rod punching speed is the second paper under the control of the control unit. Since it is made slower, the generation of an unpleasant noise such as “pachin” that occurs when the same punching speed as that of the second sheet is adopted is suppressed, and thus a punching device is provided. It can contribute to the quiet environment.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view for explaining an outline of an embodiment of an internal structure of a post-processing apparatus to which a perforating apparatus according to the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, the XX direction is referred to as the left-right direction, and in particular, -X is referred to as the left and + X is referred to as the right. As shown in FIG. 1, the post-processing apparatus 10 is fed from an image forming apparatus (upstream apparatus) 19 as an upstream apparatus disposed opposite to the right side surface of the apparatus main body 11 having a box shape of the post-processing apparatus 10. A punching process, a stapling process, a middle folding process, and the like are performed on the sheet P.

  The post-processing apparatus 10 is provided on the upper right side in the apparatus main body 11 and has a perforation processing unit 12 that performs perforation processing on the paper P sent from the image forming apparatus 19 and has been subjected to perforation processing. A stapling unit 13 provided in the center of the apparatus main body 11 for stapling the sheet bundle P1 after storing a bundle of sheets P (sheet bundle P1) that has not been punched, and the stapling unit The apparatus main body 11 is configured to include a center folding processing unit 14 that performs a center folding process after storing the sheet bundle P <b> 1 of the sheet P conveyed by bypassing the processing unit 13.

  Further, on the left side surface of the apparatus main body 11, a sub paper discharge tray 15 is provided at the top, and a main paper discharge tray 16 is provided immediately below the sub paper discharge tray 15. Further, a half-folded paper discharge tray 17 is provided at the lowermost position on the left surface of the apparatus main body 11.

  The sub-discharge tray 15 discharges the paper P that is only subjected to punching processing by the punching processing unit 12 and not subjected to stapling processing. Further, the sheet bundle P1 subjected to the stapling process by the stapling unit 13 is discharged to the main paper discharge tray 16. Further, the sheet bundle P1 that has been subjected to the middle folding process by the middle folding processing unit 14 is discharged to the middle folding sheet discharge tray 17.

  A paper inlet 111 facing the paper outlet 191 of the image forming apparatus 19 is provided on the upper right side of the apparatus body 11. A paper receiving / conveying path 112 arranged horizontally from the paper receiving port 111 toward the back (left side) of the apparatus main body 11 is provided. The punching processing unit 12 is formed at a position above the paper receiving and conveying path 112. Also, below the sheet receiving and conveying path 112, a detachable scissor receiving container 121 is mounted to the apparatus main body 11 that receives and stores a perforated spear generated by a perforating process on the paper P in the perforating processing unit 12. ing.

  The punching processing unit 12 is provided with a punching device 20. Hereinafter, the perforation apparatus 20 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the punching device 20, and FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective view thereof. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2 to 4, the XX direction is referred to as the left-right direction, and the YY direction is referred to as the front-rear direction. In particular, the -X direction is referred to as the left, the + X direction is referred to as the right, the -Y direction is referred to as the front, and the + Y direction is referred to as the rear. .

  As shown in these drawings, the punching device 20 includes a punching rod 30 that punches the paper P, a rod guide member 40 that supports the punching rod 30 and guides its vertical movement, and a predetermined position of the paper. A pair of upper and lower sheet guide plates 50 (upper guide plate 51 and lower guide plate 52) that are guided directly under the punching rod 30 and a pair of front and rear that cause the punching rod 30 to perform a perforating operation by moving up and down by moving in the left-right direction. A cam plate 60, a cam plate guide member 70 that guides the movement of the cam plates 60 in the left-right direction, and a drive mechanism 80 that drives the cam plates 60 to move the pair of cam plates 60. I have.

  In the present embodiment, the rod guide member 40, the paper guide plate 50, the cam plate 60, the cam plate guide member 70, and the drive mechanism 80 are employed as the punching operation mechanism according to the present invention.

  The punching rod 30 includes a rod-shaped rod body 31 having a circular cross-sectional view, and a pair of guided pins 32 extending in the front-rear direction and projecting in opposite directions from the upper end of the rod body 31. Yes. The rod main body 31 is guided in the vertical movement by the rod guide member 40, and the guided pin 32 is fitted into a cam groove 61 (described later) of the cam plate 60 in a side view.

  A perforation blade 311 is formed on the periphery of the lower end portion of the rod body 31. The perforation blade 311 is formed by performing a perforation process on the paper P. The lower end surface is recessed in a U shape.

  The rod guide member 40 includes a rectangular pedestal block 41 fixed to an upper paper guide plate 50 (an upper guide plate 51 described later), and a cylinder projecting upward from the center of the pedestal block 41. The cylindrical body 42 is formed. The pedestal block 41 has four corners fixed to the upper guide plate 51 with screws.

  The rod guide member 40 is provided with a through hole 43 penetrating the cylindrical body 42 and the base block 41 at the center position of the cylindrical body 42, and the upper guide plate 51 corresponds to the through hole 43. A through-hole 511 is formed. The diameters of these through holes 43 and 511 are set slightly larger than the diameter of the rod body 31 of the punching rod 30. Thereby, the rod main body 31 can move up and down while being guided by the through holes 43 and 511 in a sliding contact state.

  The paper guide plate 50 is for gently holding the paper P to be punched. The paper guide plate 50 includes an upper guide plate 51 and a lower guide plate 52 disposed at the lower portion so as to face the upper guide plate 51. It has become. The clearance dimension between the upper and lower guide plates 51 and 52 is set to be slightly larger than the thickness dimension of the maximum thickness paper P that can be assumed. The paper receiving and conveying path 112 is formed by a gap between the upper and lower guide plates 51 and 52.

  The lower guide plate 52 is formed with a through hole 521 having the same diameter as the through hole 511 at a position corresponding to the through hole 511 of the upper guide plate 51. Accordingly, the rod P is penetrated while being guided by the through holes 43, 511, 521 while the paper P is sandwiched between the upper and lower guide plates 51, 52, so that the paper P is perforated. The

  The pair of cam plates 60 moves the punching rod 30 up and down by moving in the left-right direction while being guided by the cam plate guide member 70, and is formed by a rectangular plate that is long in the left-right direction. Is formed. Each cam plate 60 is provided with a cam groove (guide groove) 61 extending in the left-right direction in which the guided pin 32 of the punching rod 30 is fitted in a plane-symmetric state on the opposing surfaces.

  Further, a connecting plate 62 is installed between the left end portion and the right end portion of the pair of cam plates 60, whereby the pair of cam plates 60 are integrated in a stable state.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the cam groove 61 includes a left horizontal groove 611 formed on the leftmost side, a right horizontal groove 612 formed on the rightmost side, and a central horizontal groove 613 formed on the central portion. A plain paper inclined groove (second paper inclined groove) 614 inclined downward from the left end of the central horizontal groove 613 toward the right end of the left horizontal groove 611, and from the right end of the central horizontal groove 613. A thick paper sloping groove (first paper sloping groove) 615 that is slanted toward the left end of the cam groove 612 in the first descending position is provided.

  In the punching rod 30, a pair of guided pins 32 protruding in the front-rear direction are fitted in the cam grooves 61 of the respective cam plates 60, so that the cam plate 60 is driven by a drive mechanism 80 to drive a cam plate guide member. By moving forward and backward in the left-right direction while being guided by 70, it moves up and down according to the shape of the cam groove 61, thereby performing a drilling operation.

  Specifically, the cam plate 60 is normally set at a neutral position where the guided pin 32 is positioned in the central horizontal groove 613, whereby the punching rod 30 is positioned at the upper position. In this state, the punching blade 311 of the punching rod 30 is immersed in the through hole 43 of the rod guide member 40.

  When the cam plate 60 is moved to the right starting from this state, the guided pin 32 is lowered by being guided by the plain paper inclined groove 614. By this lowering, the punching rod 30 is also lowered, and the punching blade 311 passes through the through hole 43 of the rod guide member 40, the through hole 511 of the upper guide plate 51, and the through hole 521 of the lower guide plate 52.

  Therefore, when the paper P exists between the upper and lower guide plates 51 and 52, the punching rod 30 performs a punching process on the paper P. The guided pin 32 moves to the left horizontal groove 611 due to the overrun of the cam plate 60 after the drilling process. At this time, the punching rod 30 does not move up and down, and the position setting state of the lower position is maintained.

  On the contrary, when the cam plate 60 set to the neutral position is moved to the left, the guided pin 32 is now guided by the thick paper inclined groove 615, thereby the plain paper inclined groove 614. The punching rod 30 is lowered in the same manner as described above, and the paper P is punched. The guided pin 32 reaches the right horizontal groove 612 by the overrun of the cam plate 60 after completion of the drilling process.

  In this embodiment, when the paper P to be punched is plain paper (second paper), the cam plate 60 in the neutral position is moved to the right while the paper P is In the case of thick paper (first paper), the cam plate 60 in the neutral position is moved to the left. Correspondingly, the inclination angle of the thick paper inclined groove 615 corresponding to the cardboard perforating process with respect to the horizontal plane is set smaller than the inclination angle of the plain paper inclined groove 614 corresponding to the plain paper perforating process with respect to the horizontal plane. The reason for this will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The cam plate guide member 70 is for guiding the movement of the pair of cam plates 60. The cam plate guide member 70 includes an upper guide member 71 that guides the upper edge portion of the cam plate 60 and a lower guide member 72 that guides the lower edge portion of the cam plate 60.

  The upper guide member 71 includes an upper guide plate 711 corresponding to the upper edge portion of the cam plate 60 and a hanging plate 712 suspended from the front edge portion of the upper guide plate 711. On the lower surface of the upper guide plate 711, a pair of front and rear upper guide grooves 713 extending in the left-right direction in which the upper edge portions of the pair of cam plates 60 are fitted in a sliding contact state are provided in a recessed manner.

  The lower guide member 72 includes a lower guide plate 721 corresponding to the lower edge portion of the cam plate 60 and a standing plate 722 erected from the rear edge portion of the lower guide plate 721. On the upper surface of the lower guide plate 721, a pair of front and rear lower guide grooves 723 extending in the left-right direction, in which the lower edge portions of the pair of cam plates 60 are fitted in a sliding contact state, are recessed.

  Further, an insertion hole 724 for inserting the rod body 31 is formed at a position corresponding to the rod body 31 between the pair of lower guide grooves 723 of the lower guide plate 721.

  Each of the cam plates 60 can smoothly move forward and backward in the left-right direction by being guided by the upper and lower guide grooves 713, 723.

  The cam plate guide member 70 is configured such that the upper guide plate 711 of the upper guide member 71 is fixed in a state where the standing plate 722 of the lower guide member 72 is fixed to a predetermined frame 113 in the apparatus main body 11 by bolting. The rear edge portion is screwed to the standing plate 722, and the lower edge portion of the hanging plate 712 is screwed to the front edge portion of the lower guide plate 721, whereby a predetermined position in the apparatus main body 11 (FIG. 1). (Above the sheet receiving conveyance path 112) shown in FIG.

  The drive mechanism 80 is for moving the pair of cam plates 60 forward and backward in the left-right direction. Such a drive mechanism 80 includes a drive motor 81 installed at an appropriate position in the apparatus main body 11, a pinion 82 to which the drive force of the drive motor 81 is transmitted via a predetermined gear mechanism 811, and the right side of the cam plate 60. A rack 83 extending rightward from the connecting plate 62 and meshing with the pinion 82.

  When the driving motor 81 is driven, the driving force is transmitted to the rack 83 via the gear mechanism 811 and the pinion 82, whereby the cam plate 60 moves the rack 83 in accordance with the driving direction of the driving motor 81. Through the left and right direction.

  FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the cam plate 60 for explaining the functions of the plain paper inclined groove 614 and the thick paper inclined groove 615 in the cam groove 61. The direction display by X in FIG. 5 is the same as in FIG. 4 (−X: leftward, + X: rightward).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the left horizontal groove 611 and the right horizontal groove 612 in the cam groove 61 are set at the same height level. The plain paper inclined groove 614 is set so that the horizontal length L1 is shorter than the horizontal length L2 of the thick paper inclined groove 615. Therefore, when the moving speed V of the cam plate 60 is constant, the descending speed of the punching rod 30 when the guided pin 32 descends while being guided by the inclined groove 614 for plain paper is such that the guided pin 32 is thick paper. It becomes faster than the descending speed of the punching rod 30 when descending while being guided by the inclined groove 615.

  That is, when the inclination angle of the plain paper inclined groove 614 with respect to the horizontal plane is θ1 and the inclination angle of the thick paper inclined groove 615 with respect to the horizontal plane is θ2, the descending speed V1 of the punching rod 30 in the plain paper inclined groove 614 is as follows: This is represented by the expression “1”.

  V1 = {(L1 / cos θ1) / (L1 / V)} sin θ1 = V (sin θ1 / cos θ1) = Vtan θ1... “1”.

  On the other hand, the lowering speed V2 of the punching rod 30 in the cardboard inclined groove 615 is expressed by the following expression “2”.

  V2 = {(L2 / cos θ2) / (L2 / V)} sin θ2 = V (sin θ2 / cos θ2) = Vtan θ2 “2”.

Then, comparing the formulas “1” and “2” based on the premise that θ1> θ2, tan θ1> tan θ2,
V1 = Vtan θ1> V2 = Vtan θ2 “3”
It becomes.

  Accordingly, the lowering speed of the punching rod 30 when the guided pin 32 is lowered while being guided by the plain paper inclined groove 614 is lower than when the guided pin 32 is lowered while being guided by the thick paper inclined groove 615. Is clearly faster.

  This is because when the punching process is performed on the thick paper, the punching rod 30 is gently lowered as compared with the case when the punching process is performed on the plain paper. As a result, the generation of an abnormal noise “pinch” during the drilling process is suppressed.

  On the other hand, when the paper P is plain paper, no abnormal noise is generated even when the punching rod 30 is lowered at high speed. Therefore, in order to improve processing efficiency, the punching rod 30 is lowered at a high speed in the case of plain paper frequently used.

  In addition, when the guided pin 32 is located in the inclined grooves 614 and 615 (in FIG. 5, the case where the guided pin 32 is located in the inclined groove 615 for cardboard) is shown. When the force received in the direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the inclined groove from the groove wall of the inclined groove when descending is F, the downward force of the punching rod 30 (that is, the punching force Fz) is expressed by the following equation (4). expressed.

  Fz = Fcos θ “4”.

Therefore, the piercing force Fz increases as the inclination angle θ of the inclined groove decreases. Incidentally, when the drilling force Fz is specifically calculated for each of the cases where the inclination angle is 45 °, 30 °, and 15 °, it is as follows.
θ = 45 ° Fz = 0.71F
θ = 30 ° Fz = 0.87F
θ = 15 ° Fz = 0.97F.

  Since the inclination angle θ2 (θ1 = 15 ° in this embodiment) of the inclined groove 615 for cardboard is smaller than the inclination angle θ1 (θ1 = 45 ° in this embodiment) of the plain paper inclination groove 614, the cardboard When a perforation process is performed on the paper, a larger force is applied than when a perforation process is performed on plain paper, which is advantageous for perforating a thick paper.

  6A and 6B are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation of the punching device 20. FIG. 6A shows a cardboard punching operation of the punching rod 30, and FIG. 6B shows a plain paper punching operation of the punching rod 30. Each is shown. Note that the direction display by X in FIG. 6 is the same as in FIG. 5 (−X: leftward, + X: rightward).

  First, the cardboard punching operation of the punching rod 30 shown in FIG. In the state where the punching rod 30 is set at the top dead center position as shown in FIG. 6A (1), the guided pin 32 of the punching rod 30 is horizontally centered in the cam groove 61 of the cam plate 60. It is located in the groove 613.

  In this state, as shown in (2) of FIG. 6A, when the cam plate 60 is moved leftward, the guided pin 32 is lowered while being guided by the inclined groove 615 for cardboard. When the guided pin 32 reaches the right horizontal groove 612, the punching rod 30 reaches the bottom dead center as shown in (3) of FIG. The punching process is completed for the paper P positioned at (the paper P is not shown in FIG. 6).

  Next, when the punching process for the paper P by the punching rod 30 is completed, the cam plate 60 is moved rightward as shown in FIG. 6A (4). As a result, the punching rod 30 ascends while the guided pin 32 is guided by the cardboard inclined groove 615, thereby reaching the central horizontal groove 613, as shown in FIG. Thus, the cam plate 60 is returned to the original top dead center position by stopping the movement of the cam plate 60.

  Next, the plain paper punching operation of the punching rod 30 shown in FIG. 6B will be described. In the state where the punching rod 30 is set at the top dead center position as shown in (1) of FIG. 6B, the guided pin 32 of the punching rod 30 is horizontally centered in the cam groove 61 of the cam plate 60. It is located in the groove 613.

  In this state, as shown in (2) of FIG. 6B, when the cam plate 60 is moved rightward, the guided pin 32 is lowered while being guided by the plain paper inclined groove 614. . When the guided pin 32 reaches the left horizontal groove 611, the punching rod 30 reaches the bottom dead center as shown in (3) of FIG. The punching process is completed for the paper P positioned at (the paper P is not shown in FIG. 6).

  Next, when the punching process for the paper P by the punching rod 30 is completed, the cam plate 60 is moved toward the left as shown in (4) of FIG. 6B. As a result, the punching rod 30 rises while the guided pin 32 is guided by the plain paper inclined groove 614, thereby reaching the central horizontal groove 613, as shown in FIG. 6B (5). At the time, the cam plate 60 is returned to the original top dead center position by stopping the movement of the cam plate 60.

  In order to control the punching operation on the paper P as described above by the punching device 20, a control unit 90 including a microcomputer is provided at an appropriate position of the apparatus main body 11. FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining the control of the drilling operation by the control unit 90.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 90 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 91 as an arithmetic processing unit, and a ROM (read only memory) 92 that is a read-only storage device attached to the CPU 91. A random access memory (RAM) 93 which is a readable / writable storage device is provided. The ROM 92 stores a program that causes the control unit 90 to function, invariant data that is necessary for control and does not change, and the like. On the other hand, the RAM 93 is an area in which, for example, temporary data generated during the calculation is stored.

  The CPU 91 determines a sheet type determining unit 911 that determines the thickness and size of the sheet P, and a control signal output unit that outputs a control signal to various locations related to the punching operation based on the determination result of the sheet type determining unit 911. 912.

  In the present embodiment, in order to determine the paper type by the paper type determining unit 911, a paper thickness setting key 941 and a paper size setting key 942 for setting the size of the paper P are provided on the operation panel 94 of the image forming apparatus 19. Is provided.

  The paper thickness setting key 941 is usually set to correspond to plain paper. When thick paper is used as the paper P, the paper thickness setting key 941 is operated. When the switching signal generated by the switching operation from the plain paper to the thick paper with the paper thickness setting key 941 is input, the paper type determination unit 911 determines that the paper P sent to the post-processing device 10 is a thick paper and performs control. A signal indicating this is output to the signal output unit 912.

  The same applies to the paper size setting key 942, and when the size of the paper P is set by operating the paper size setting key 942, this signal is also output to the paper type determination unit 911. The paper type determination unit 911 to which this signal is input determines the size of the paper P based on this signal, and the determination result is also output to the paper type determination unit 911.

  The control signal output unit 912 indicates a time point when the paper P sent from the image forming apparatus 19 to the post-processing apparatus 10 is positioned at a proper position directly below the punching apparatus 20 based on the signal input from the paper type determination unit 911. As a result (for this purpose, a position sensor for detecting whether or not the sheet P is positioned at an appropriate position according to the size of the sheet P is provided at an appropriate position of the sheet receiving conveyance path 112 in the post-processing device 10. However, a description thereof is omitted) A predetermined control signal is output toward the drive motor 81.

  Specifically, when the paper P is plain paper, the control signal output unit 912 indicates that the drive motor 81 moves the cam plate 60 toward the drive motor 81 and the neutral position (the guided pin 32 is the central horizontal groove). A control signal for driving to reciprocate rightward (see FIG. 6) starting from the position at 613) is output. On the other hand, when the paper P is thick paper, the control signal output unit 912 reciprocates toward the drive motor 81 and the drive motor 81 reciprocates the cam plate 60 to the left (see FIG. 6A). A control signal for driving to move is output.

  By driving the drive motor 81, the punching rod 30 efficiently punches the paper P when the paper P is plain paper, while the punching rod 30 punches the rod when the paper P is thick paper. Occurrence of abnormal noise is suppressed by 30 gentle drilling operations.

  As described in detail above, the punching device 20 according to the present embodiment includes the punching rod 30 that reciprocates to punch the binding hole with respect to the paper P fed from the image forming device 19 as the upstream device. There is provided a punching operation mechanism that causes the punching rod 30 to perform a punching operation, and a control unit 90 that changes the punching speed of the punching rod 30 according to the thickness of the paper P by controlling the operation of the punching operation mechanism. The control unit 90 is configured to control the punching speed of the punching rod 30 to be slower for the thick paper P (thick paper) than for the thin paper P (normal paper). Yes.

  According to such a configuration, when the paper P to be punched is so-called plain paper with a thin paper thickness and widely used, the punching speed of the punching rod 30 is controlled by the control unit 90. By increasing the speed, the efficiency of the drilling process can be increased. Further, when the paper P is plain paper, no abnormal noise is generated during the punching process by the punching rod 30.

  On the other hand, when the paper P to be punched is thick paper thicker than plain paper, the punching speed of the punching rod 30 is slowed by the control of the control unit 90. The generation of annoying abnormal noise such as “pachin” that occurred when the perforation speed was adopted can be suppressed, thereby contributing to the quietness of the environment in which the post-processing device 10 is provided. .

  In the present embodiment, as the punching operation mechanism, the plain paper inclined groove 614 and the cardboard inclined groove in the mirror surface state are inclined to the pair of cam plates 60 in the first descending and rearward descending directions with respect to the conveyance direction of the sheet P. A cam groove (guide groove) 61 having 615 is provided, and a so-called guide groove system is employed in which a guided pin 32 protruding from the peripheral surface of the punching rod 30 is fitted into the cam groove 61. By reciprocating the paper guide plate 50 in the paper transport direction, the punching rod 30 moves up and down via the guided pin 32 guided by the cam groove 61, whereby the paper P is punched.

  Further, since the inclination angle of the cardboard inclined groove 615 is set to be smaller than the inclination angle of the plain paper inclined groove 614, the guided pin 32 is guided to the cardboard inclined groove 615 with respect to the cardboard. When the guide pin 32 is guided to the plain paper inclined groove 614 for the plain paper, the ascending / descending speed of the punching rod 30 (that is, the punching speed) is slower. Sound generation is suppressed.

  Such a guide groove type punching mechanism is capable of dealing with both plain paper and cardboard, and is generally simpler in structure than the one that changes the punching speed of the punching rod 30 under the control of the control means. Therefore, it is possible to contribute to a reduction in the manufacturing cost of the punching device 20 while ensuring a reliable punching process for the paper P.

  In this embodiment, as the punching operation mechanism, a rod guide member 40 that supports the punching rod 30 and guides its vertical movement, and a pair of upper and lower that guide a predetermined position of the paper P directly below the punching rod 30. A sheet guide plate 50, a pair of front and rear cam plates 60 having cam grooves 61 formed on opposing surfaces, which cause the punching rod 30 to perform a punching operation by moving up and down by moving left and right, and these cam plates 60 Are provided with a cam plate guide member 70 that guides the movement toward the left and right directions, and a drive mechanism 80 that drives the cam plates 60 to move the pair of cam plates 60.

  According to such a configuration, the cam plate 60 guided by the cam plate guide member 70 in the state where the paper P is positioned between the pair of cam plate guide members 70 is moved in the paper transport direction or the paper transport direction by driving the drive mechanism 80. By moving in the reverse direction, the guided pin 32 of the punching rod 30 fitted in the cam groove 61 of the cam plate 60 is guided by the plain paper inclined groove 614 or the thick paper inclined groove 615 to move up and down. As a result, the punching speed of the punching rod 30 changes depending on whether the paper P is plain paper or thick paper.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and includes the following contents.

  (1) In the above embodiment, the image forming apparatus 19 is employed as the upstream apparatus of the post-processing apparatus 10 to which the punching process is performed by the punching apparatus 20, but the upstream apparatus is the image forming apparatus 19. The present invention is not limited to this, and may be a normal printing press or various paper processing apparatuses that perform predetermined processing on the paper P for alignment processing and sorting processing.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the two inclined grooves of the plain paper inclined groove 614 and the thick paper inclined groove 615 are provided in the cam groove 61 of the cam plate 60 that moves the punching rod 30 up and down. Instead, by changing the driving speed of the driving motor 81 with one of the inclined grooves, the moving speed of the cam plate 60 may be different between plain paper and thick paper.

  (3) In the above embodiment, the thickness dimension of the paper P supplied to the punching device 20 is input to the paper thickness setting key 941 of the operation panel 94 provided in the image forming apparatus 19. Instead of this, a predetermined thickness detection sensor is provided on the entrance side of the paper receiving conveyance path 112 of the post-processing apparatus 10, and the detection result of the thickness detection sensor is input to the paper type determination unit 911 of the control unit 90. Good.

  (4) In the above embodiment, the inclination angle of the cardboard inclined groove 615 is set to a range in which the punching rod 30 actually performs a punching operation with respect to the cardboard (first sheet). Specifically, the punching rod 30 is an operating range in which the punching rod 30 actually performs punching processing on a thick paper (first paper). Only the pre-operating range of movement until reaching the cardboard and the subsequent operating range after the punching rod 30 penetrates the cardboard is not included). As for, the inclination angle may be set large (for example, the same angle as the inclined groove 614 for plain paper).

  In this way, by setting the inclination angle of the cardboard inclined groove 615 in two stages, the punching rod 30 operates quickly before the punching rod 30 actually performs punching processing on the cardboard. The overall punching processing time including the operation can be shortened, and the punching processing efficiency for cardboard can be improved.

  (5) In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of punching rods 30 are formed in the paper width direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction (the −X direction (indicated by a white arrow in FIG. 8)) (FIG. 8). In the example shown in FIG. 2, the cam plates 60 are arranged side by side, and the cam plate 60 is configured to reciprocate in the paper width direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction. A plurality of cam grooves 61 corresponding to the above may be provided. In this way, a plurality of holes can be punched in the paper P with a single reciprocation of the cam plate 60, and the punching processing efficiency when punching a plurality of holes in the paper P can be improved. A pair of cam plates 60 can be used, which contributes to a reduction in the number of parts and, in turn, to a reduction in manufacturing cost of the punching device 20.

  (6) When the cam plate 60 is provided with a plurality of cam grooves 61, the installation position or shape of the cam groove 61 is set so that each punching rod 30 corresponding to each of the plurality of cam grooves 61 operates with a predetermined time difference. It may be set. By doing so, when punching a plurality of holes in the paper P, each hole is punched with a time difference, so that it is avoided that a plurality of holes are punched at the same time, thereby reducing the load on the drive motor 81. In addition to being able to reduce, it is possible to more effectively suppress the generation of abnormal noise during the drilling process compared to the case where each hole is drilled simultaneously.

  (7) In the above embodiment, the guide groove type punching device 20 is described as an example. However, when the paper P is a thick paper, the punching speed of the punching rod 30 is increased as compared with the case where the paper P is a plain paper. As long as the control unit 90 is provided as described above, the drilling mechanism is of the cam type, the hydraulic type, or the crank type, and is included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  As an example, a cam-type drilling device 20 'will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory view in a side view showing an embodiment of a perforating apparatus 20 ′ adopting a cam type. FIG. 9A shows a state in which the punching rod 30 is set at an upper position, FIG. FIG. 9B shows a state where the punching rod 30 is punching the paper P, and FIG. 9C shows a state where the paper P is punched by the punching rod 30. In addition, the direction display by X in FIG. 9 is the same as in the previous embodiment (−X: leftward, + X: rightward).

  The so-called cam system is adopted as the punching operation mechanism in the punching device 20 'of this embodiment. That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, an eccentric cam 65 is employed in place of the cam plate 60 of the previous embodiment to raise and lower the punching rod 30. The eccentric cam 65 has an eccentric shaft extending in a horizontal direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction and supported by a predetermined frame of the apparatus main body 11 (FIG. 1) of the post-processing apparatus 10 so as to be rotatable about the axis. It is externally fitted around 651 so as to be integrally rotatable.

  On the other hand, a pressing relay member 66 that relays the pressing of the punching rod 30 by the eccentric cam 65 is fitted on the cylindrical body 42 of the rod guide member 40 in a sliding contact state. The pressing relay member 66 includes a relay cylinder 661 that is fitted on the punching rod 30 in a sliding contact state, and a relay plate 662 that extends in the horizontal direction and is fixed to the upper end of the relay cylinder 661.

  The upper end portion of the punching rod 30 and the lower surface of the relay plate 662 are fixed to each other so that the press relay member 66 can be moved up and down while the inner peripheral surface of the relay cylinder 661 is in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 42. Has been.

  The relay cylinder 661 is externally fitted in a compressed state, and the lower end is abutted against the upper edge of the cylindrical body 42 of the rod guide member 40 and the upper end is abutted against the lower surface of the relay plate 662. A stopped coil spring 67 is internally provided. Accordingly, the pressing relay member 66 is urged upward by the urging force of the coil spring 67, and thereby presses and contacts the circumferential surface of the eccentric cam 65 at all times.

  The relay plate 662 is covered with a cover body 68 that is dimensioned so that the eccentric cam 65 can be housed therein. The cover body 68 is a member that acts when the punching rod 30 is pulled out. In the state shown in FIG. 9A, the eccentric cam 65 comes into contact with the cover body 68 from below via the relay plate 662 and lifts up to assist the return of the punching rod 30.

  The eccentric shaft 651 transmits the driving force of the drive motor 81 via a predetermined gear mechanism 811 formed by combining a plurality of gears, for example, and rotates around the axis.

  In the eccentric cam 65, as shown in FIG. 9A, the circumferential surface with the shortest distance between the circumferential surface and the eccentric shaft 651 (shortest circumferential surface) is in contact with the upper surface of the connecting plate 62. . In this state, when the sheet P from the image forming apparatus 19 is sent between the upper and lower guide plates 51 and 52, this is detected by a sensor (not shown), and a control signal from the control unit 90 based on this detection signal. As a result, the drive motor 81 is driven.

  When the drive motor 81 is driven, this driving force is transmitted to the eccentric shaft 651 via the gear mechanism 811, and the eccentric cam 65 is rotated by the rotation about the axis of the eccentric shaft 651, thereby FIG. As shown in FIG.

  When the eccentric cam 65 rotates eccentrically, the distance between the contact point of the circumferential surface of the eccentric cam 65 with the upper surface of the relay plate 662 and the axis of the eccentric shaft 651 gradually increases. The plate 622 is pressed against the peripheral surface of the eccentric cam 65, and thereby descends against the urging force of the coil spring 67, thereby starting punching processing on the paper P.

  Then, by continuing the rotation of the eccentric shaft 651, as shown in FIG. 9C, the peripheral surface (longest peripheral surface) having the longest distance between the peripheral surface and the eccentric shaft 651 is the connecting plate 62. When the upper surface of the punching rod 30 is pressed, the punching blade 311 at the lower end of the punching rod 30 penetrates the paper P, whereby the punching process for the paper P is completed.

  The punching rod 30 after the drilling process is completed returns to the original upper position by continuing the rotation of the eccentric shaft 651.

  In the punching device 20 ′ of this embodiment, the rotational speed of the eccentric cam 65, that is, the lowering of the punching rod 30 is different depending on whether the paper P supplied to the punching device 20 ′ is plain paper or thick paper. The speed (drilling speed) is changed. Specifically, the punching speed of the punching rod 30 in the case of thick paper is made slower than the punching speed in the case of plain paper, and the reason is as described in detail in the previous embodiment.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, when the paper P is a thick paper, a control signal is output from the control unit 90 toward the drive motor 81 to make the drive speed slower than that of the plain paper. As a result, the eccentric cam 65 rotates at a slower speed than in the case of plain paper, so that the punching speed of the punching rod 30 is also slower than that in the case of plain paper, and as a result, abnormal noise is generated when punching the thick paper. It is suppressed.

It is explanatory drawing of the cross-sectional view for demonstrating the outline | summary of one Embodiment of the internal structure of the post-processing apparatus to which the punching device concerning this invention was applied. It is an exploded perspective view showing one embodiment of a punching device. FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective view of the punching device shown in FIG. 2. It is the IV-IV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is an enlarged view of a cam plate for explaining the functions of the plain paper inclined groove and the thick paper inclined groove in the cam groove. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the effect | action of a punching apparatus, (A) shows the cardboard punching operation of the punching rod, (B) has shown the plain paper punching operation of the punching rod 30, respectively. It is a block diagram for demonstrating control of the drilling operation by a control part. It is a perspective explanatory view for explaining a modification of the perforating apparatus shown in FIGS. It is explanatory drawing of the side view which shows other embodiment of a punching apparatus, (A) is the state in which the punching rod was set to the upper position, (B) is the state in which the punching rod is punching the paper, (C) shows a state in which the paper is punched by the punching rod.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Post-processing apparatus 11 Apparatus main body 111 Paper receiving port 112 Paper receiving conveyance path 113 Frame 12 Punching processing part 121 Trap receiving container 13 Staple processing part 14 Middle folding processing part 15 Sub paper discharge tray 16 Main paper discharge tray 17 Middle folding paper discharge Tray 19 Image forming device (upstream device)
191 Paper discharge port 20, 20 ′ Punching device 30 Punching rod 31 Rod body 311 Punching blade 32 Guided pin 40 Rod guide member 41 Base block 42 Cylindrical body 43 Through hole 50 Paper guide plate 51 Upper guide plate 511 Through hole 52 Lower guide Plate 521 Through hole 60 Cam plate 61 Cam groove (guide groove) 611 Left horizontal groove 612 Right horizontal groove 613 Center horizontal groove 614 Plain paper inclined groove (second paper inclined groove)
615 Inclined groove for cardboard (Inclined groove for first paper)
62 Connecting plate 65 Eccentric cam 651 Eccentric shaft 66 Press relay member 661 Relay cylinder 662 Relay plate 67 Coil spring 68 Cover body 70 Cam plate guide member 71 Upper guide member 711 Upper guide plate 712 Lower plate 713 Upper guide groove 72 Lower guide member 721 Lower guide plate 722 Standing plate 723 Lower guide groove 714 Upper guide member 80 Drive mechanism 81 Drive motor 811 Gear mechanism 82 Pinion 83 Rack 90 Control unit 91 CPU 911 Paper type determination unit 912 Control signal output unit 92 ROM
93 RAM 94 Operation panel 941 Setting key 942 Paper size setting key P Paper P1 Paper bundle

Claims (5)

A punching rod for punching holes in the paper;
A punching operation mechanism for causing the punching rod to reciprocate for a punching operation;
A control unit for controlling the punching speed of the punching rod,
The control unit controls the punching speed of the punching rod when punching a first sheet having a paper thickness greater than a predetermined thickness, slower than punching a second sheet having a paper thickness equal to or less than the predetermined thickness. Punching device to do. Comprising a conveying means for conveying the paper, and the punching operation is performed on a paper conveying path;
The punching mechanism has a cam plate that reciprocates the punching rod by reciprocating in a direction orthogonal to the operation direction of the punching rod,
The cam plate is provided with a guide groove formed along the moving direction of the cam plate,
The guide groove has an inclined groove for the first sheet extending toward the one direction side from the neutral position and an inclined groove for the second sheet extending toward the other direction side from the neutral position,
The punching rod is provided with a guided pin that is fitted into the guide groove protruding from the peripheral surface,
2. The punching device according to claim 1, wherein an inclination angle of the inclined groove for the first sheet with respect to a cam plate moving direction is set smaller than that of the inclined groove for the second sheet.   The inclination angle of the inclined groove for the first sheet is set to be smaller than that of the inclined groove for the second sheet only in a range where the punching rod performs a punching operation on the first sheet. Item 3. The punching device according to Item 2.   A plurality of the punching rods are arranged in a paper width direction perpendicular to the paper conveyance direction, the cam plate is reciprocally movable in a paper width direction perpendicular to the paper conveyance direction, and the plurality of the punching rods 4. A perforating apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a plurality of guide grooves respectively corresponding to the punching rods.   The perforating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein one or both of an installation position and a shape of each of the plurality of guide grooves is set so that each corresponding punching rod operates at a predetermined time difference.

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