JP2009274859A - Sealing device and envelope sealing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sealing device improving transfer performance of a pressure sensitive adhesive at low temperatures. <P>SOLUTION: In sealing work at the low temperature, the timing for separating a flap of an envelope from a transfer roller is delayed by ta. At the same time, a delivery speed of a delivery plate for sending out the envelope is delayed more than ordinary temperature time over a period tz. Transfer time of the pressure sensitive adhesive to the flap can be lengthened by adjusting these delivery processing (the delivery starting timing and the delivery speed), and the deterioration in the transfer performance of the pressure sensitive adhesive at the low temperature can be improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sealing device that seals by transferring an adhesive to a flap of an envelope and sticking the flap to an envelope body, and a sealing method thereof.

  Specifically, by adjusting the delivery process such as the delivery start timing and delivery speed at which the envelope with the adhesive transferred is sent to the envelope ejection means, it is the same as when used at low temperatures. The transfer is realized.

  There is known a sealing device that automatically seals the flap by transferring the adhesive to the envelope flap (folding portion), folding the transferred flap, and sticking the folded flap to the envelope body (for example, Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2).

  In this sealing device, a tape to which an adhesive (which functions as glue) is applied (hereinafter, this adhesive tape is referred to as an adhesive tape) is used. Further, in order to make it easy to load the adhesive tape into the apparatus main body, the adhesive tape is provided between the supply reel shaft mounting cylinder mounted on the supply reel shaft and the take-up reel shaft mounting cylinder mounted on the take-up reel shaft. Use a case (attachment storage case) that is stored in a state where it is stretched over. The attachment storage case is configured to be freely disassembled. After the attachment storage case is mounted on the apparatus main body, only the case main body is disassembled and removed from the apparatus main body for use.

  Therefore, one end of each of the supply reel shaft and the take-up reel shaft is a free end, and after the adhesive tape is loaded, the supply reel shaft and the take-up reel shaft are pivotally supported using a shaft support means provided on the free end side. A structure that is fixed to the means is employed.

JP 2007-55270 A JP 2006-151518 A

  By the way, the adhesive applied to the adhesive tape is devised so that the transferability (tack force and adhesive force) is best when used at room temperature of about 15 to 25 ° C., although it depends on the material. ing. For this reason, when used at a temperature lower than room temperature, for example, at a low temperature of about 10 ° C., the transferability deteriorates, so that the adhesive cannot be normally transferred to the flap. That is, there is a disagreement that the transfer amount of the adhesive to the flap is reduced or that the transfer state varies.

  In order to improve transferability deterioration and realize transferability similar to that at room temperature, the pressing force (loading amount) at the time of transfer to the flap may be increased from that at room temperature. For example, when the pressing force at room temperature is about 6.2 kg · h (h is time), if this is increased to about 8.0 kg · h, even when used in a low temperature environment, Transferability comparable to transfer can be realized.

  To transfer the adhesive, the flap is sandwiched between the transfer roller and the flap roller, which is a pressing roller, and is transferred to the flap with the pressing force of the flap roller. In order to increase the pressing force when transferring to the flap For this, the rolling contact pressure of the flap roller to the transfer roller may be increased.

  To do so, it is only necessary to increase the power of the drive motor that drives the flap roller. However, this increases the drive motor used, and the member (housing) for mounting the drive motor is also a strong member. Must be used. All of these incur cost increases.

  Therefore, the present invention solves such a conventional problem, and proposes a sealing device and a sealing method that can improve the deterioration of transferability at low temperatures even with the same pressing force as at normal temperature.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the sealing device according to the present invention described in claim 1, in the sealing device that seals by transferring the adhesive to the flap of the envelope and sticking the flap to the envelope body,
Adhesive transfer means for glue tape coated with an adhesive to be transferred to the flap of the envelope,
A flap roller that presses the flap against a transfer roller provided in the adhesive transfer means and transfers the adhesive to the flap;
Consists of sending means for sending the envelope with the adhesive transferred to the envelope discharging means side,
The delivery process of the delivery means can be adjusted.

Further, in the envelope sealing method according to the present invention described in claim 6, in sealing the envelope by transferring the adhesive to the envelope flap and attaching the flap to the envelope body,
Transferring the adhesive to the flap by pressing the flap against a transfer roller provided in the adhesive transfer means of the envelope;
Sending the envelope with the adhesive transferred to the envelope discharging means side,
The transfer state to the flap is controlled by adjusting the envelope feeding process.

  In this invention, it has the adhesive transfer means of the adhesive tape which apply | coated the adhesive transferred to the flap of an envelope. The adhesive transfer means includes a supply reel shaft for the glue tape, a take-up reel shaft, and a transfer roller. The glue tape is wound on the take-up reel shaft side through the outer peripheral surface of the transfer roller.

  A flap roller (pressing roller) is in rolling contact with the transfer roller (platen roller) via the flap of the envelope. At the time of rolling contact with the transfer roller, the adhesive of the adhesive tape is transferred to the flap.

  When the transfer of the adhesive to the flap is completed, as a next step, a delivery plate (feeding means) for feeding the envelope with the adhesive transferred to the envelope discharge means side is driven. The delivery plate is configured to be movable back and forth, and the vicinity of the fold between the envelope body and the flap is a standby position at the tip of the delivery plate. When the flap is pressed toward the transfer roller, the flap is bent near the fold. Therefore, the envelope body can be sent out to the envelope discharge means side by pushing the vicinity of the fold of the envelope body with the delivery plate.

  In the envelope discharge means, a press roller and a discharge roller are juxtaposed, and the press roller is on the adhesive transfer means side. The delivery plate is delivered to the press roller side. When the envelope body is sent out to the press roller side, the fold portion of the envelope body enters the peripheral surface of the press roller, so that the envelope is sent to the press roller side by the rotation, and the flap is pressed to the envelope body side. By this pressing, the flap is stuck to the envelope body. When the tip of the envelope body enters the discharge roller side, the envelope body is discharged by the rotational force of the discharge roller. With this series of operations, the automatic envelope sealing process is completed.

  The delivery process of the delivery means described above is adjusted according to the temperature conditions of the usage environment. The delivery process refers to adjustment of envelope delivery start timing and delivery speed.

  At normal temperature, when the flap roller is brought into rolling contact with the transfer roller, the simultaneous feeding plate starts to be fed. The delivery start timing is based on the point in time when the flap roller is in contact with the transfer roller. Under normal temperature, the feed start timing is set equal to the time of rolling contact with the transfer roller.

  On the other hand, when the sealing operation is performed at a low temperature, the delivery start timing ty is somewhat delayed. Due to the delay (= ty) from the rolling contact point, the transfer time to the flap is extended by ty. Thus, by extending the transfer time of the pressure-sensitive adhesive, it is possible to improve the deterioration of the pressure-sensitive adhesive transfer property at a low temperature.

  In addition to adjusting the delivery start timing, it is more preferable to adjust the delivery speed of the delivery plate. In the case of sealing at a low temperature, the flap is slowly separated from the transfer roller by making the feed speed slower than at normal temperature. That is, it is transferred slowly. As a result, the transferability of the adhesive is improved even at low temperatures. Note that, after the flap is completely separated from the transfer roller, there is no relation to the transfer property, so that the loss of the envelope feeding time can be improved by returning to the feeding speed at normal temperature.

  In this invention, the transferability of the adhesive at a low temperature can be improved by adjusting the delivery process such as the delivery start timing and delivery speed for delivering the envelope with the adhesive transferred to the envelope discharge means side. It is.

  Thereby, even when used at a low temperature, the same transfer as when used at a normal temperature can be realized.

  Next, preferred embodiments of a sealing device and an envelope sealing method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a sealing device 10 for automatically sealing an envelope. The envelope 4 has a flap 5a which is a margin part on one end side of the envelope body 5 for storing the contents, and an adhesive (so-called glue) is transferred to the flap 5a to transfer the back surface of the envelope body 5 (what is the address surface)? The flap 5a is stuck on the opposite side 5b and sealed.

The sealing device 10 has a box-shaped housing 1, and its main plane 1a is used as an envelope placement surface. An envelope alignment piece 2 is slidably attached in the direction of arrow a on the end face side of the envelope placement surface 1a, in the example shown in the figure, on the right end face side. Using this envelope alignment piece 2, the position of the flap 5 a is adjusted as appropriate according to the size of the envelope 4 so that the position of the flap 5 a can be set at a designated position (flap folding position). The adjustment is performed by the knob 3. As the envelope 4, an envelope of a long shape 3 or the like is used, but the size is arbitrary.
On the rear surface side of the housing 1, a mechanism housing portion 7 in which a device driving mechanism and the like are housed is located.

  An adhesive transfer means 20 constituting a part of the sealing mechanism is provided on the left side of the upper surface of the envelope placement surface 1a in this example. The adhesive transfer means 20 is composed of an adhesive tape and its transfer means, and an adhesive is applied to the adhesive tape. Every time the adhesive is transferred to the surface of the flap 5a, a new adhesive is provided at the adhesive transfer position. The tape is wound by a predetermined length so that the surface faces.

  Therefore, the adhesive transfer means 20 includes a supply reel shaft 21 for glue tape, a take-up reel shaft 22 and a transfer roller 23. The glue tape is wound up via the transfer roller 23.

  The adhesive transfer means 20 is rotatably attached to the side wall 7a side of the mechanism housing portion 7, and the reel shafts 21 and 22 and the transfer roller 23 on the opposite side are free ends. A shaft support means 30 is disposed on the free end side. The reason why the reel shafts 21 and 22 and one end side of the transfer roller 23 are configured as free ends is to allow the adhesive tape to be attached and detached from the free end side.

  Therefore, the shaft support means 30 is configured to be able to advance and retreat and rotate with respect to the support shaft 33 supported on the side wall 7a. The shaft support means 30 is configured to be able to advance and retreat in the reel axis direction so as to release the shaft support state on the free end side of the reel shafts 21 and 22 and the transfer roller 23 and to be rotatable to open the free end side. Thus, the adhesive tape can be easily attached and detached.

  In FIG. 1, the glue tape is not shown. The adhesive tape is mounted in a state of being accommodated in an attachment type storage case described later.

  In the adhesive transfer means 20, a discharge means composed of an envelope press mechanism 40 and a discharge mechanism 50 is disposed in the vicinity thereof. The press mechanism 40 is for pressing and sticking the folded flap 5a to the back surface 5b of the envelope body 5, and has a pair of press rollers 40a and 40b that are in rolling contact with each other as shown in FIG. The discharge mechanism 50 is also composed of a pair of discharge rollers 50a and 50b that are in rolling contact with each other, and discharges the sealed envelope 4 to the envelope tray (not shown) side.

  The entire adhesive transfer means 20, press mechanism 40, and discharge mechanism 50 are closed by a cover 9 that can be freely opened and closed.

Then, each part which comprises the sealing apparatus 10 is demonstrated in detail.
FIG. 2 is a plan view in a state in which the adhesive transfer means 20 is omitted, and a delivery plate 70 that functions as a delivery means for the envelope 4 is disposed directly below the adhesive transfer means 20. The placement position of the envelope 4 is adjusted so that the front end portion 70a of the delivery plate 70 is located at the fold 5d of the flap 5a.

  And when the front-end | tip part 70a of the sending-out board 70 is located in the crease | fold 5d, the flap roller 60 is just located in the lower surface center part vicinity of the flap 5a. The flap roller 60 functions as a contact roller for bringing the flap 5a into contact with the transfer roller 23 while bending the flap 5a. The flap roller 60 is rotatable about a rotation fulcrum (described later).

  The delivery plate 70 is a slide plate that can be moved forward and backward to feed the envelope 4 having the adhesive transferred thereon to the press mechanism 40 side, and the delivery mechanism is housed on the mechanism housing portion 7 side. The initial position of the delivery plate 70 is the position shown in FIG. 2, and the position where the tip 70a of the delivery plate 70 contacts the roller of the press mechanism 40 is the maximum sliding position. A sensor (envelope presence / absence sensor) Sa for detecting the envelope placement state is disposed at a predetermined position on the envelope placement surface, in this example, on the right end side of the delivery plate 70. An optical sensor or the like can be used as the sensor Sa. In FIG. 2, the arrow b indicates the placement direction of the envelope 4.

  3 and 4 show details of the relationship between the adhesive transfer means 20 and the glue tape 80. The glue tape 80 is wound between the supply reel shaft mounting cylinder 91 and the take-up reel shaft mounting cylinder 92. FIG. It has been.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a supply reel shaft mounting cylinder 91 is mounted on the supply reel shaft 21, and a take-up reel shaft mounting cylinder 92 is mounted on the take-up reel shaft 22. The glue tape 80 is sent out from the supply side to the winding side.

  On the transfer roller 23 side, a tape guide piece 24 is provided so as to cover the tape entry side and the withdrawal side. The tape guide piece 24 regulates the winding angle and the withdrawal angle of the adhesive tape 80 around the transfer roller 23 (see FIG. 12).

  A sensor through hole 24a is provided at an appropriate position on the upper surface side of the tape guide piece 24, and a leader tape (not shown) indicating the start end and the end attached to the adhesive tape 80 is detected. The adhesive is applied only from the beginning to the end.

  Gears 27a and 27b are connected to each other so that the supply reel shaft 21, the take-up reel shaft 22 and the transfer roller 23 rotate in synchronization with each other, and these are connected to an intermediate gear 27d (on the transfer roller 23 side). The intermediate gear is meshed via a not-shown).

  By sending out the flap 5a, the glue tape 80 is sent out to the take-up reel shaft 22 side. In synchronization with this, the supply reel shaft 21, the take-up reel shaft 22 and the transfer roller 23 also rotate. In order to wind the adhesive tape 80 on the take-up reel shaft 22 side without slackening, the supply reel shaft 21 is provided with a torque limiter 25 so as to increase the take-up amount on the take-up reel shaft, and is fed with tension.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the transfer roller 23 and the flap roller 60. The flap roller 60 functions as a pressing roller (contact roller) for pressing the surface of the flap 5a against the transfer roller 23 side.

  A support plate 62 (only one end is shown) is pivotally attached to both ends of the support shaft 61 that also functions as a rotation shaft, and both ends of the flap roller 60 rotate around the bearing portions 62a of the pair of support plates 62. It is pivotally supported.

  FIG. 5 shows a state in which the flap roller 60 is in contact with the transfer roller 23 via the flap 5a. Since the adhesive tape 80 coated with an adhesive is wound around the peripheral surface of the transfer roller 23, this rotational rolling state is a transfer state of the adhesive to the flap 5a.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the shaft support means 30 is composed of a shaft support portion 31 and a shaft engagement portion 32 provided at one end thereof, and a shaft 33 is attached to the tip end portion 33a of the support shaft 33 attached to the side wall 7a. An engagement hole 32a of the engagement portion 32 is attached so as to be movable forward and backward and rotatable. A locking piece 35 for the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22 is provided on the upper surface of the tip end of the shaft support 31.

  The locking piece 35 is an L-shaped plate as shown in FIG. 6, and includes a ring-shaped engaging recess 28a and a take-up reel shaft 22 provided on the free end 21a side of the supply reel shaft 21 shown in FIG. By inserting the tongue pieces 35a and 35b into the ring-shaped engaging recess 28b provided on the free end 22a side, the support state of the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22 to the shaft support means 30 is changed. Locked.

  The shaft support state will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 shows the shaft support means 30 from the inside for convenience of explanation. FIG. 9 similarly shows only the fitting relationship between the supply reel shaft 21 and the locking piece 35. As shown in FIG. 8, since the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22 are attached with a slight step, the tongue pieces 35a and 35b are also provided with a step.

  As shown in FIG. 7, bearing portions 31 a and 31 b are formed in the shaft support portion 31, and the free ends 21 a and 22 a of the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22 are respectively fitted and supported. In this axial support state, the tongue pieces 35a and 35b of the locking piece 35 face each other only in the engagement recesses 28a and 28b. In this state, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, when the locking piece 35 is tilted toward the shaft support portion 31, the tongue pieces 35 a and 35 b of the locking piece 35 fit into the engaging recesses 28 a and 28 b, respectively.

  By doing so, the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22 are securely supported by the shaft support means 30, and both the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22 are supported by the shaft support means in this shaft support state. Can be locked to 30.

  If the shaft support state with respect to the supply reel shaft 21 or the take-up reel shaft 22 is incomplete, the glue tape 80 may be loosened or the glue tape 80 may be twisted and wound. A reliable transfer process can be realized by simultaneously locking both the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22 to the shaft support means 30 by the locking pieces 35.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of the drive mechanism 100 for the delivery plate 70. Since this drive mechanism 100 is accommodated in the mechanism accommodating portion 7 of FIG. 1, the state illustrated from the left side X of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 10, the delivery plate 70 facing the envelope placement surface 1a is in a state where the tip end portion 70a side is slightly bent toward the envelope placement surface 1a side, and the tip end portion 70a is a tapered surface. The flap 5a is easily bent from the fold 5d.

  The delivery plate 70 is connected to the main plate 101a of the L-shaped plate body 101, and the side plate 101b parallel to the side wall 7a has mounting portions 101c and 101d that are slidable with a pair of guide rods 102 and 103 as guides. Provided. A drive motor (linear motion motor) 105 is positioned close to the side plate 101b. The rotational force from the linear motion motor 105 is transmitted to the side plate 101b side via the link mechanism 104.

  Therefore, one end of the cam 106 constituting the link mechanism 104 is attached to the rotating shaft 105a of the linear motor 105, and a transmission bar 108 is provided between the other end 106a of the cam 106 and the support shaft 107 provided on the side plate 101b. Are concatenated.

  A protruding piece 101e having a predetermined width is located on the lower end side of the side plate 101b. A pair of sensors 120a and 120b are arranged with a predetermined width so as to face the protruding piece 101e. One sensor 120a is for detecting the home position of the delivery plate 70, and the other sensor 120b is a sensor for measuring the control period used when controlling the delivery speed of the delivery plate 70 (directly). Dynamic initialization sensor). These sensors 120a and 120b are both optical sensors.

  The operation of the drive mechanism 100 configured as described above will be described. FIG. 10 shows a state when the adhesive is transferred and before the start-up of the delivery plate 70, and FIG. 11 shows a state when the post-transfer envelope 4 is delivered to the press mechanism 40 side.

  In the state at the time of transfer, the pair of sensors 120a and 120b are in a state of facing the protruding piece 101e. When the linear motor 105 is driven and the rotary shaft 105a rotates halfway, the feed plate 70 is sent to the position shown in FIG. When the rotating shaft 105a further rotates halfway, it returns to the original position (FIG. 10). The transferred envelope 4 can be sent to the press mechanism 40 by the reciprocating movement of the delivery plate 70 by the drive mechanism 100. Since the press mechanism 40 is rotationally driven immediately before the envelope 4 is sent out to the press mechanism 40, the envelope 4 can be sent out to the discharge mechanism 50 side while pressing (sticking) the flap 5a of the envelope 4.

  The passage of the envelope 4 in the discharge mechanism 50 is detected by a sensor (discharge sensor) Sc, and the discharge motor 147 is controlled based on the detection output. The discharge sensor Sc is a mechanical sensor having a detection piece, and the drive motor (discharge motor) 147 is a motor for driving each of the press mechanism 40 and the discharge mechanism 50 as shown in FIG.

  Here, in order to allow the press mechanism 40 and the discharge mechanism 50 to absorb the thickness of the envelope 4, respectively, in this example, the upper rollers 40b and 50b are configured to move up and down with respect to the axial direction. . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1 and the details thereof in FIG. 24, springs 148 and 149 are attached to these rollers 40b and 50b so that a certain amount of pressure is applied to the envelope 4 while absorbing the thickness of the envelope 4. Has been made.

  FIG. 12 is an example of a drive mechanism 140 for the flap roller 60. As described above, the flap roller 60 is rotatably attached to the support shaft 61 via the support plate 62, and a drive mechanism 140 for the flap roller 60 is provided. The drive mechanism 140 has a drive motor (flap motor) 65, and one end of a cam 66 constituting a link mechanism is attached to the rotating shaft 65a, and one end of a transmission bar 67 is rotatable to the other end 66a of the cam 66. Is pivotally supported. An engagement shaft 69 provided on the support plate 62 is coupled to the slide hole 68 provided on the other end side of the transmission bar 67.

  The flap motor 65 is further connected to a disk-shaped encoder 142. The encoder 142 is provided with one notch 142 at a predetermined position, a sensor 144a that functions as a flap home position sensor at a position facing the notch 142, and a position of the flap 5a that is 180 ° apart from the sensor 144a. A flap stop sensor (light sensor) 144b that senses the stop position is provided. The rotation position (initial position and rotation end position) of the flap roller 60 is detected by the encoder 142 and the pair of sensors 144a and 144b.

Next, the sealing operation will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 13 shows the positional relationship when the envelope 4 is placed on the envelope placement surface 1a. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the envelope 4 is placed along the bottom 5 c (see FIG. 1) of the envelope body 5 along the side surface of the envelope alignment piece 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the envelope 4 can be placed so as to substantially coincide with the crease 5 d of the envelope 4 and the leading end portion 70 a of the delivery plate 70. This position is the initial position shown in FIG.

  When the envelope 4 is placed and the placement state is detected by the envelope presence sensor Sa, the flap motor 65 is driven to rotate the flap roller 60 about the support shaft 61 in the clockwise direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 14, the flap roller 60 hits the back surface of the flap 5a. The flap 5a is pushed upward by the flap roller 60. However, since the fold 5d hits the tip 70a of the delivery plate 70, the flap 5a is bent to the right.

  Since the folded flap 5a is pushed up to the transfer roller 23 side together with the flap roller 60, the flap roller 60 finally comes into rolling contact with the transfer roller 23 via the flap 5a as shown in FIG. By this rolling contact, the flap 5 a comes into contact with the adhesive surface of the glue tape 80.

  Since the flap 5a is pressed against the adhesive surface of the glue tape 80 by the flap roller 60, when the feeding plate 70 is moved to the press mechanism 40 side in the pressed state, the flap 5a is also pushed out while the adhesive is stuck to the flap 5a. Will be. As a result, the adhesive is transferred to the flap 5a. When the flap 5a is separated from the transfer roller 23, the transfer is completed. The transfer width of the pressure-sensitive adhesive is from the position of the flap 5 a first abutted until the flap 5 a is separated from the transfer roller 23.

  The delivery plate 70 is further delivered to the press mechanism 40. Then, as shown in FIG. 16, the fold 5d of the envelope 4 enters the rolling contact position between the pair of rollers 40a and 40b constituting the press mechanism 40, and the envelope 4 is sandwiched between the pair of rollers 40a and 40b. Since the press mechanism 40 is rotationally driven, the envelope body 5 of the envelope 4 is fed to the discharge side by a pair of press rollers 40a and 40b. As a result, since the flap 5a is pressed against the envelope body 5 side, the flap 5a is pressed and attached to the envelope body 5.

  Thereafter, the envelope 4 is discharged to the discharge tray (not shown) side by the discharge mechanism 50 (see FIG. 17). The passage of the envelope 4 is detected by the discharge sensor Sc, and the drive of the press mechanism 40 and the discharge mechanism 50 is stopped based on the detection output.

  The sealing process as described above is achieved by a sealing control circuit 150 as shown in FIG. The sealing control circuit 150 includes a control unit (consisting of a CPU) 152 that controls the entire apparatus. The controller 152 is supplied with sensor outputs (detection outputs) from the plurality of sensors described above. For convenience of explanation, a reference numeral indicating a sensor and an input terminal for detection output are indicated by the same reference numeral.

  Detection output from the flap home position sensor 144a and the flap stop sensor 144b for detecting the initial position and rotation position of the flap roller 60, as well as the detection output from the envelope presence / absence sensor Sa for detecting the loading state of the envelope 4, and sending out The control unit 152 receives the original position (origin) of the plate 70 and the linear motion home position for detecting that the plate 70 has moved halfway, the detection outputs from the initialization sensors 120a and 120b, and the detection output from the discharge sensor Sc of the envelope 4 respectively. To be supplied. The drive state of the flap motor 65, the direct acting motor 105, and the discharge motor 147 is appropriately controlled by the output from the control unit 152.

  The control unit 152 is further supplied with control outputs from the sensor Sb for the leader tape and the mode changeover switch SW. The lighting of the replacement time notification indicator lamp (LED or the like) P of the adhesive tape 80 is controlled by the detection output from the sensor Sb. The indicator lamp P can be disposed on the side wall 7a shown in FIG. 1, for example.

  The mode switch SW will be described below. The mode switching is used when the feeding process (feeding start timing and feed speed) of the feeding plate is switched between a normal temperature and a temperature lower than the normal temperature (low temperature).

  Since the adhesive applied to the glue tape 80 has the best transferability (tack force and adhesive force) when used at room temperature of about 15 to 25 ° C., a temperature lower than room temperature, for example, about 10 ° C. When it is used at a low temperature, the transferability deteriorates, so that the adhesive cannot be normally transferred to the flap 5a. Therefore, the delivery start timing of the delivery plate 70 is switched between normal temperature (normal temperature mode) and low temperature (low temperature mode).

  In the normal temperature mode, the flap roller 60 rolls in contact with the transfer roller 23 and simultaneously feeds the feed plate 70. On the other hand, in the low temperature mode, the delivery start timing ty is slightly delayed. Due to this delay ty, the transfer time to the flap 5a is extended by ta. Thus, by extending the transfer time of the pressure-sensitive adhesive, it is possible to improve the deterioration of the pressure-sensitive adhesive transfer property at a low temperature.

  In addition to the adjustment of the delivery start timing, it is more preferable to adjust the delivery speed of the delivery plate 70. In the case of the sealing process in the low temperature mode, this delivery speed is made slower than the delivery speed in the room temperature mode.

  By doing so, the flap 5a is slowly separated from the transfer roller 23 at a low temperature. That is, since it is transferred slowly, the transferability of the adhesive is improved even at low temperatures.

FIG. 19 shows an example of sealing processing in the room temperature mode, and FIG. 20 shows an example of sealing processing in the low temperature mode.
Explaining from the room temperature mode, when the envelope presence sensor Sa detects that the envelope 4 is placed (FIG. 19A), the flap motor 65 is driven at a timing (time point t1) delayed by a predetermined time t1 (FIG. 19B). ). When the flap motor 65 is driven to rotate, the encoder also rotates synchronously. At this time, the detection output of the sensor 144a indicating the home position of the flap roller 60 changes to a low level (FIG. 19C).

  The driving time ta of the flap motor 65 is set to the time until the flap roller 60 is brought into contact with the transfer roller 23. At the timing when the flap roller 60 is in rolling contact with the transfer roller 23 (time t2), the flap stop sensor 144b detects this rolling contact state, and the rotation of the flap motor 65 is stopped (FIGS. 19C and D).

  Synchronously with the rotation stop of the flap motor 65, the linear motor 105 for the feed plate 70 is driven for a predetermined time tb (FIG. 19E). Since the delivery plate 70 reciprocates by one rotation of the linear motor 105 and returns to the origin, the first half of the predetermined time tb is the forward movement time of the delivery plate 70, and the latter half is the backward movement time.

  When the delivery of the delivery plate 70 is started, the projecting piece 101e is detached from the home position sensor 120a (see FIG. 11), and the detection output becomes a high level (FIG. 19F).

  Since the linear motor 105 is driven from the time point t2 when this detection output is obtained, the feed operation of the feed plate 70 starts. At time t4 when the delivery plate 70 is delivered and the predetermined time tc is reached, the discharge motor 147 is driven this time (FIG. 19G). This time point t4 is the timing immediately before the front end portion 70a of the delivery plate 70 reaches the press mechanism 40.

  At time t5 when the leading end 70a of the delivery plate 70 reaches the press mechanism 40 due to further delivery of the delivery plate 70, the tip of the envelope 4 (the portion of the fold 5d) reaches the press mechanism 40. Since the press mechanism 40 has already been rotationally driven, the flap 5a is sent out to the discharge mechanism 50 side while being pressed against the envelope body 5 by this rotational drive.

  Since the discharge sensor Sc is arranged on the discharge mechanism 50 side, the passage state of the envelope 4 is detected (FIG. 19H). The detection output of the discharge sensor Sc is maintained at a high level until the trailing end of the envelope 4 passes through the discharge mechanism 50 (te-td) after the leading end of the envelope 4 passes.

  At time t6 when the detection output of the discharge sensor Sc is reversed to the low level, the flap motor 65 is driven, so that the flap roller 60 is separated from the transfer roller 23, and the home position of the flap roller 60 is at the time t7. Since it is detected by the home position sensor 120a, the flap roller 60 returns to the original position at time t7, and the drive of the flap motor 65 is also stopped (FIGS. 19B, C, and D). The sealing process for one envelope 4 is completed in a series of these cycles Tn.

  Next, the sealing processing operation in the low temperature mode will be described with reference to FIG. Description of the processing corresponding to FIG. 19 is omitted.

  The user selects whether or not to process in the low temperature mode. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, a switch SW for switching between the normal temperature mode and the low temperature mode is provided on the housing 1, in this example, on the mechanism housing portion 7 side. The sealing process shown in FIG. 20 starts only when the mode is switched to the low temperature mode. Of course, it is also possible to detect the outside air temperature at the place where the sealing device 10 is installed and automatically transition to the low temperature mode when the outside air temperature becomes a predetermined temperature or lower (for example, 10 ° C. or lower).

  In any case, when the low temperature mode is selected, the flap motor 65 is driven by the detection of the envelope 4, and processing is performed at the same timing as in the normal temperature mode until the flap roller 60 is brought into contact with the transfer roller 23 (FIGS. 20A and 20B). ). Then, from the start of the flap roller 60 to the rolling contact state is detected by the home position sensor 144a and the flap stop sensor 144b (FIGS. 20C and 20D).

  After a predetermined time ty has elapsed from the time t2 when the rolling contact of the flap roller 60 to the transfer roller 23 is detected, the driving of the linear motor 105 is started and the delivery of the delivery plate 70 is started (FIGS. 20D and E). ).

  Accordingly, since the flap 5a is not separated from the transfer roller 23 until the time t8 when the predetermined time ty elapses from the time t2 when the roller 5 is in contact with the transfer roller 23, the state of the contact with the roller 5 is maintained during that time. That is, the transfer time of the adhesive to the flap 5a is increased by the predetermined time ty as compared with the normal temperature mode, so that the transfer property of the adhesive is improved accordingly.

  At time point t8 when the predetermined time ty elapses, driving of the linear motor 105 is started, and at this time, the feeding operation of the feeding plate 70 is performed for the first time. Since the flap roller 60 is in a state of rolling contact with the transfer roller 23, the flap 5 a is also separated from the transfer roller 23 while pulling out the glue tape 80 as the feed plate 70 is fed. Until the flap 5a is separated from the transfer roller 23, the transfer process for the flap 5a is performed.

  Thus, the feed operation of the feed plate 70 is started from time t8, but the speed at which the feed plate 70 reciprocates (feed speed) is not constant during the reciprocation and is controlled as follows. .

  First, the delivery speed of the delivery plate 70 starting from time t8 is lower than that in the normal temperature mode. The low speed delivery period tz is a period from time t8 to time t9 (FIG. 20E). The subsequent reciprocation period is the same as the delivery speed in the room temperature mode. That is, low speed driving is performed for a predetermined time tz from the start of sending out the envelope 4. The predetermined time tz corresponds to a time until the flap 5a is separated from the transfer roller 23. By setting the time until the separation is longer than that in the normal temperature mode, the deterioration of the transfer property of the adhesive is compensated.

  This low-speed feed period tz is detected by the home position sensor 120a and the initialization sensor 120b (FIG. 20F, G). That is, the low-speed feed period tz is set until the protruding piece 101e of the feed plate 70 passes through these sensors 120a and 120b.

  The feed plate 70 reciprocates by one rotation of the linear motion motor 105, and the feed plate 70 returns to the original position after one rotation. Therefore, when the return timing is appropriate in the latter half of one rotation (time t10 in this example). Since the initialization sensor 120b detects the protrusion 101e again, the detection output of the initialization sensor 120b is inverted to a low level at this detection time t10 (FIG. 20G).

  Further, at time t11 when a predetermined time tc ′ has elapsed from time t9 when the initialization sensor 120b detects the protruding piece 101e (time immediately before the delivery plate 70 reaches the press mechanism 40) t11, the discharge motor 147 is driven (FIG. 20H). The driven period te is a period during which the discharge sensor detects the envelope 4 (FIGS. 20H and I).

  The time tb ′ required for the reciprocating movement of the delivery plate 70 is slightly longer than that in the normal temperature mode. This is because the low-speed delivery period tz is set as described above. However, since the speed other than the low-speed delivery period tz is set to the same speed as the normal temperature mode, it is not greatly different from that in the normal temperature mode.

  When the discharge of the envelope 4 is completed, the return operation for returning the flap roller 60 to the original position is performed over a period from time t13 to time t14 (FIG. 20B). The sealing process for one envelope 4 ends in this series of cycles Tm.

  As in the example of FIG. 20, even if the delivery plate 70 is sent out after being delayed by a predetermined time ty, in addition to this delivery delay process, the delivery speed of the delivery plate 70 is controlled at a low speed for a predetermined period tz. It was confirmed that the deterioration of the transferability of the pressure-sensitive adhesive due to can be improved. Of course, it goes without saying that the latter can further improve the transferability.

  The envelope 4 is sent out simultaneously with the rolling contact of the flap roller 60 to the transfer roller 23 without performing a delay process for a predetermined time ty, but the sending speed at that time is low for a predetermined period as shown in FIG. It is possible to improve the transferability of the pressure-sensitive adhesive simply by controlling it.

  FIG. 21 and subsequent figures illustrate the configuration related to the glue tape 80, and FIG. 21 shows a configuration example of an attachment type storage case 170 that accommodates the glue tape 80.

  The attachment-type storage case 170 shown in FIG. 21 is for a take-up reel shaft for winding the adhesive tape 80, with the supply reel shaft mounting cylinder 91 wound with the adhesive tape 80 and the start end of the adhesive tape 80 locked. A mounting cylinder 92 and a transfer roller mounting cylinder 93 temporarily mounted on the transfer roller 23 are provided. For each of the mounting cylinders 91, 92, 93, an inexpensive paper tube or the like can be used.

  The supply reel shaft mounting cylinder 91 and the take-up reel shaft mounting cylinder 92 are used while being mounted and fixed to the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22, respectively. The inner diameter is selected to fit the outer diameter of the reel shaft 22.

  Furthermore, since the supply reel shaft mounting cylinder 91 and the take-up reel shaft mounting cylinder 92 are rotated in synchronization with the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22, respectively, the supply reel shaft mounting cylinder shown in FIG. In this example, an engagement recess 91a is formed on the end surface side of 91, and similarly, an engagement recess 92a is also formed on the end surface side of the take-up reel shaft mounting cylinder 92.

  Engagement protrusions 29a and 29b (see FIG. 4) are provided on the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22 side so as to face each other, and a supply reel shaft mounting cylinder 91 and a take-up reel shaft mounting cylinder are provided. When 92 is mounted, it is mounted so that the engaging recesses 91a and 92a engage with the respective engaging protrusions.

  On the other hand, the transfer roller mounting cylinder 93 is temporarily mounted on the transfer roller 23 and then removed, but is large enough to cover the tape guide piece 24 provided to cover a part of the transfer roller 23. A hollow rectangular parallelepiped cylinder is used.

  The adhesive tape 80 has, for example, a total length of 10 m of an adhesive layer provided with a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer on a film base, and is green on the start end side of the tape locked to the take-up reel shaft mounting cylinder 92 side. A colored film-like leader tape (blue leader) is attached. The leader tape is an identification tape for identifying the application area of the adhesive.

  For example, a film-like leader tape (orange leader) colored in orange is attached to the rear end side of the tape locked to the supply reel shaft mounting cylinder 91. Used to identify the end of the tape and prompt replacement of the glue tape 80.

  FIG. 22 is a development view of the case main body 171 of the attachment type storage case 170. The case main body 171 uses, for example, a single paper sheet having a shape as shown in the developed view.

FIG. 23 shows a state during the assembly of the case body 171.
The case main body 171 is provided with a pair of half-circular accommodating portions 173a and 173b on both sides of one main surface 172a, and includes three tongue pieces on both sides of the other main surface 172b. Flapper-like portions 174a and 174b are provided to face each other.

  The accommodating portions 173a and 173b and the flapper-like portions 174a and 174b serve as fixed portions in which the supply reel shaft mounting tube 91 and the take-up reel shaft mounting tube 92 are disposed. However, a fixing portion for the transfer roller mounting cylinder 93 is not provided.

  With this configuration, first, the take-up reel shaft mounting cylinder 92 is provided in the portion indicated by the arrow A of the storage portions 173a and 173b, the supply reel shaft mounting tube 91 is provided in the portion indicated by the arrow B, and the storage portion 173a. , 173b, transfer roller mounting cylinders 93 are arranged in the portions indicated by arrows C, respectively.

  Thereafter, the case main body 171 is folded in the direction of arrow D, and the tongue piece 176 is inserted into the slit 177, whereby the case main body 171 is closed. At this time, each member such as the supply reel shaft mounting cylinder 91 is sandwiched between the accommodating portions 173a and 173b of the main surface 172a or the main surface 172a itself and the flapper portions 174a and 174b of the other main surface 172b. The case body 171 is fixed to such an extent that it does not rattle when transported.

  Next, a mounting example of the attachment type storage case 170 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the shaft support means 30 is opened. Then, the supply reel shaft 21, the take-up reel shaft 22 and the free end of the transfer roller 23 constituting the adhesive transfer means 20 are all opened. In this state, the case main body 171 of the attachment type storage case 170 is mounted from the free end side. By mounting the case main body 171, the supply reel shaft mounting cylinder 91 is mounted on the supply reel shaft 21, the take-up reel shaft mounting cylinder 92 is mounted on the take-up reel shaft 22, and the transfer roller mounting cylinder 93. Is mounted outside the tape guide piece 24 of the transfer roller 23.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 25, the tongue piece 176 of the case body 171 is removed from the slit 177, and the case body 171 is disassembled. The disassembled case main body 171 is removed from the adhesive transfer means 20, and the transfer roller mounting cylinder 93 is pulled out from the tape guide piece 24 side as shown in FIG.

  Thereafter, the shaft support means 30 is moved to the adhesive transfer means 20 side, and the free ends of the supply reel shaft 21, the take-up reel shaft 22 and the transfer roller 23 are supported by the shaft support portion 31. In this axial support process, first, the axial support means 30 is pulled forward to form a gap with each free end, and then rotated to the transfer means 20 side so that the axial support means 30 faces the transfer means 20. Then, the free end can be pivotally supported by the pivot support means 30 by pushing the pivot support means 30 toward the free end side.

  At this time, the engaging piece 35 is engaged with the engaging recesses 28 a and 28 b of the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22, so that the supply reel shaft 21 and the take-up reel shaft 22 are securely attached to the support means 30. The shaft is supported (locked). When the locking piece 35 is not engaged with both the engaging recesses 28a or 28b, the locking piece 35 cannot be locked. In this case, the supply reel shaft mounting cylinder 91 or the take-up reel shaft mounting What is necessary is just to push the cylinder 92 in the side wall 7a side again.

  By this locking operation, both the supply reel shaft mounting cylinder 91 and the take-up reel shaft mounting cylinder 92 can be securely mounted on the reel shafts 21 and 22.

  Since the glue tape 80 is in a slack state, the glue tape 80 can be stretched by turning the knob 190 provided on the take-up reel shaft 22 side counterclockwise as shown in FIG.

  When a setting mode for automatically driving the glue tape 80 is prepared, this slack can be automatically absorbed. In this case, when the leader tape on the start end side is detected, control is performed to automatically stop, so that the sealing operation can be started by closing the cover 9.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the envelopes 4 are placed on the envelope placement surface 1a one by one to perform the sealing process has been described. However, the envelopes 4 are automatically and sequentially placed on the envelope using a sorter or the like. The present invention can also be applied to a continuous sealing device that sends out to the mounting surface 1a side and automatically seals.

  The present invention can be applied to a sealing device that automatically performs an envelope sealing process.

It is a perspective view which shows an example of the sealing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a top view of the sealing apparatus which abbreviate | omitted partially which shows the conveyance system of an envelope. It is the perspective view which shows an example of an adhesive transfer means, Comprising: It is the figure seen from the conveyance downstream of an envelope. It is a disassembled perspective view of the adhesive transcription | transfer means in the state which removed the adhesive tape. It is a perspective view which shows the rolling contact state of a flap roller, Comprising: It is the figure seen from the conveyance upstream of the envelope. It is a perspective view which shows the shaft support state of the reel shaft by a shaft support means. It is a fragmentary sectional view of the principal part which shows the shaft support state of the reel shaft by a shaft support means. It is a principal part side view which shows the axial support state by a locking piece. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the fixed state with respect to a supply reel axis | shaft. It is the principal part side view seen from the mechanism storage part side which shows the transfer mechanism of an adhesive transfer means (the 1). It is the principal part side view seen from the mechanism storage part side which shows the transfer mechanism of an adhesive transfer means (the 2). It is the principal part side view seen from the envelope mounting direction which shows the sealing conveyance system of an envelope. It is a figure which shows the sealing process of an envelope (the 1). It is a figure which shows the sealing process of an envelope (the 2). It is a figure which shows the sealing process of an envelope (the 3). It is a figure which shows the sealing process of an envelope (the 4). It is a figure which shows the sealing process of an envelope (the 5). It is a systematic diagram of the processing circuit for performing a sealing process. It is a timing chart which shows a sealing process (the 1). It is a timing chart which shows a sealing process (the 2). It is a principal part perspective view which shows the state which accommodated the adhesive tape in the attachment type storage case. It is an expanded view which shows the case main body of an attachment type storage case. It is an expanded view which shows the state which assembled the case main body partially. It is a perspective view which shows the process of mounting | attaching an attachment type storage case to an adhesive transfer means. It is a perspective view when disassembling a case main body and removing an attachment type storage case. It is a perspective view which shows the process in which the mounting cylinder for transfer roller shafts is removed. It is a perspective view which shows the shaft support state by a shaft support means.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Sealing apparatus 1a ... Sealing mounting surface 4 ... Envelope 5 ... Envelope main body 5a ... Flap 20 ... Adhesive transfer means 21 ... Supply reel shaft 22 ... Take-up reel shaft 23 ... transfer roller 24 ... tape guide piece 40 ... press mechanism (press roller)
50 ... Discharge mechanism (discharge roller)
30 ... Shaft support means 31 ... Shaft support 35 ... Locking piece 60 ... Flap roller 70 ... Envelope sending means (feeding plate)
80 ... glue tape 91 ... supply reel shaft mounting tube 92 ... take-up reel shaft mounting tube 93 ... transfer roller mounting tube 170 ... attachment type storage case

Claims (10)

In the sealing device that seals by transferring the adhesive to the flap of the envelope and sticking this flap to the envelope body,
Adhesive transfer means for glue tape coated with an adhesive to be transferred to the flap of the envelope,
A flap roller that presses the flap against a transfer roller provided in the adhesive transfer means and transfers the adhesive to the flap;
Consists of sending means for sending the envelope with the adhesive transferred to the envelope discharging means side,
A sealing device characterized in that the delivery process of the delivery means can be adjusted. The sealing device according to claim 1, wherein the delivery process is adjusted according to delivery start timing. 3. The sealing device according to claim 2, wherein the delivery start timing is based on a point in time when the flap roller is in rolling contact with the transfer roller. 2. The sealing device according to claim 1, wherein in the delivery process, in addition to the delivery start timing, a delivery speed of the delivery means is controlled.   5. The envelope sealing device according to claim 4, wherein the delivery speed is controlled to be lower than that at room temperature in a use environment at a low temperature. Transfer the adhesive to the envelope flap and attach the flap to the envelope body to seal the envelope.
Transferring the adhesive to the flap by pressing the flap against a transfer roller provided in the adhesive transfer means of the envelope;
Sending the envelope with the adhesive transferred to the envelope discharging means side,
The envelope sealing method, wherein the transfer state to the flap is controlled by adjusting the delivery process of the envelope. The envelope sealing method according to claim 6, wherein the delivery process is adjusted according to a delivery start timing of the envelope. 8. The envelope according to claim 7, wherein the feeding start timing is delayed by a predetermined time from the time when the flap roller is brought into rolling contact with the transfer roller, whereby the transfer state to the flap is controlled. Sealing method. 7. The envelope sealing method according to claim 6, wherein in the delivery process, in addition to the delivery timing, a delivery speed of the delivery means is controlled.   10. The envelope sealing method according to claim 9, wherein the delivery speed is controlled to be lower than that at room temperature in a use environment at a low temperature.

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