JP2011105494A - Creasing device, paper post-processing device, image forming device, image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a creasing device putting a crease in a paper before performing folding work in accordance with the crease formed in the paper, capable of performing creasing processing with a high degree of accuracy without displacement of an actual crease position relative to a predetermined crease position. <P>SOLUTION: The creasing device includes an operation control means controlling a fixing position of the paper by using a paper conveying means and a paper fixing means so that the predetermined crease position F is positioned on a straight line Y connecting the vertex of a protruded part 19a and the vertex of a recessed part 18a when a protruded member 19 and a recessed member 18 are engaged in a condition with the paper fixed in such a manner that an upper block 20 and a lower block 21 are made to abut to sandwich the front part of the paper in an advancing direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a crease device that folds the paper before the folding process is performed according to the crease formed on the paper, and a paper post-processing device, an image forming apparatus, and an image forming system provided with the crease device. About.
About.

  If the paper without creases after the image is formed by the image forming apparatus is folded by the paper folding apparatus, sufficient folding cannot be obtained, or the paper is folded at a stroke, so that the image is formed at the crease. It may come off. Therefore, there is already known a crease device that creases a fold at a planned fold position (target fold position) before folding.

  As this crease device, for example, a belt for conveying paper is sandwiched between belt surfaces on the paper conveyance side so as to be rotatable in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the conveyance belt. The belt includes a V-belt and a flat plate-like pushing member provided on the back side of the belt so as to be able to push up the conveying belt. Then, this crease device stops the conveyance belt when the center of the sheet is conveyed by the conveyance belt and comes to the top of the V-belt, and causes the sheet together with the conveyance belt to contact the V-belt by the pushing member, A crease is made by rotating the V-belt (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, since the above-described crease device is configured to push the paper together with the conveying belt toward the V-belt by the pushing member to make the crease, the actual crease position is deviated from the expected crease position. In many cases, there is a problem that the quality of the subsequent folding process is lowered.
SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a crease device, a sheet post-processing device, an image forming device, and an image forming system that can solve the above-described problems.

In order to solve the above problems, the crease forming apparatus, the sheet post-processing apparatus, the image forming apparatus, and the image forming system according to the present invention employ the following technical means.
The invention according to claim 1 is a crease forming apparatus for forming a crease on the paper before performing a folding process according to the crease formed on the paper, wherein a paper conveyance path is formed, and the paper conveyance path includes the crease. A sheet conveying means for conveying the sheet, and a convex member and a concave member, each of which is disposed in a direction crossing the conveying direction across the sheet conveying path, and at least one of which is provided with a folding corner, A crease unit that folds the sheet with the sheet sandwiched between a convex member and the recess member, and one of the sheets disposed on either the upstream side or the downstream side of the sheet conveyance path from the crease unit A paper fixing means for fixing the paper by sandwiching the side, and a vertex of the folding corner when the paper is sandwiched between the convex member and the concave material with the paper fixed by the paper fixing means At the time of the above As the eye scheduled position is located, and wherein the creasing device including an operation control means for controlling the fixed position of the sheet with said sheet locking means and said sheet conveying means.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the operation control unit is configured to be able to control the fixing position of the paper according to the shape and size of the convex member and the concave member. It is characterized by.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the concave member is formed with the fold corner portion of an isosceles triangle shape or an equilateral triangle shape that can mesh with the convex member. When the width of the concave portion of the concave portion is w and the depth of the concave portion is d, the expected position of the fold is set at a distance X away from the sheet conveyance direction calculated by the following equation (1) with the vertex of the fold corner as a base point , And the position is set as a reference fixing position of the sheet by the sheet fixing means.

請求項４にかかる発明は、請求項１乃至３の何れか１項において、前記動作制御手段は、前記用紙の厚みに応じて、前記用紙の固定位置を制御可能に構成されていることを特徴とする。
請求項５にかかる発明は、請求項１乃至４の何れか１項に記載の折り目付け装置と、該折り目付け装置より前記用紙搬送路の下流側に設けられ、前記折り目付け装置によって前記用紙に形成された前記折り目に従って折り加工を実行する用紙折り装置とを備えた用紙後処理装置とを特徴とする。
請求項６にかかる発明は、請求項１乃至４の何れか１項に記載の折り目付け装置を備え、前記用紙に画像を形成可能に構成された画像形成装置を特徴とする。
請求項７にかかる発明は、請求項５に記載の用紙後処理装置と、前記用紙に画像を形成可能に構成された画像形成装置とを備えたことを特徴とする画像形成システム。

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the operation control unit is configured to be able to control a fixed position of the paper according to the thickness of the paper. And
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the crease device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects and the crease device are provided on the downstream side of the paper conveyance path from the crease device. A sheet post-processing device including a sheet folding device that performs folding according to the formed fold.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including the crease forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects and configured to form an image on the paper.
The invention according to claim 7 is an image forming system comprising the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 5 and an image forming apparatus configured to form an image on the sheet.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform the crease processing with high accuracy without causing the actual crease position to deviate from the planned crease position, and as a result, the fold processing quality can be improved.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the outline of the creasing apparatus and paper processing apparatus concerning this Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the outline of the creasing apparatus concerning this Embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an operation state following FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation state following FIG. 3. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a standard fixing position of a sheet. The fixing position due to the difference in paper thickness is shown, (1) and (2) are schematic diagrams showing the fixing position when thin paper is used, and (3) and (4) are fixing when thick paper is used. It is a schematic diagram which shows a position. The fixed position by the difference in the shape of a convex part and a recessed part is shown, (1) And (2) is a schematic diagram which shows the fixed position at the time of forming a convex part and a recessed part wide and shallow, (3) and (4 ) Is a schematic diagram showing a fixed position when the angle between the convex part and the concave part is narrow and deep. It is the schematic diagram 1 which shows the other aspect of the shape of a convex part and a recessed part. It is the schematic diagram 2 which shows the other aspect of the shape of a convex part and a recessed part. It is the schematic diagram 3 which shows the other aspect of the shape of a convex part and a recessed part.

An embodiment of a creasing apparatus according to the present invention will be described.
The crease device according to the present embodiment exemplifies a crease device attached to a paper processing device provided with a paper fold device that performs folding processing according to the crease formed on the paper by the crease device.
The principal part of the present invention is a crease device, but before the detailed description thereof, the outline of the sheet processing device will be described first.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is provided at the upper part of one side surface, and receives the sheet from the crease forming apparatus 1 and the other side facing the upper part of one side surface. A shift tray 2 provided so as to be able to move up and down with the upper part of the side surface as the rising end, a saddle stitching tray 3 provided at the lower part of the other side surface, and a fixed tray 4 provided near the other side surface of the top of the apparatus, A punching unit 5 provided in the vicinity of the sheet carry-in port 1 for punching a sheet; a first stippling unit 6 for performing a stapling process on an end of the sheet that is obliquely provided in the central portion of the apparatus; A second stipple unit 7 that is erected so as to be adjacent to the stipple unit 6 and performs a stipple process on a central portion of the bundled paper, and a folding roller 8 and a fold plate 9 with the second stipple unit 7 interposed therebetween. Provide a second stipe A sheet folding device 10 that folds a sheet by applying a folding plate 9 to a fold formed at the center of a bundle of sheets stapled by the section 7 and extrudes it as it is toward a folding roller 8; A sheet conveying unit that includes a roller, a branching claw, and the like and communicates from the sheet carry-in port 1 to each tray, and a sheet discharge device 12 that discharges the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveying unit to the shift tray 2 are provided.

  The above-described sheet conveying means including a conveying roller, a branching claw, and the like includes a path portion 11a from the sheet carry-in port 1 to the fixed tray 4 via the punching unit 5 and from the sheet carry-in port 1 through the punching unit 5. A path portion 11b toward the shift tray 2, a path portion 11c from the sheet carry-in port 1 to the shift tray 2 via the punching unit 5 and the first staple 6, and a punching unit 5 from the sheet carry-in port 1 The path portion 11d is directed to the saddle stitching tray 3 via the one staple portion 6 and the second staple portion 7.

  In the paper processing apparatus configured as described above, the paper received from the sheet carry-in port 1 is punched by the punching unit 5 and discharged to the fixed tray 4 or the shift tray 2 in accordance with a control command from the image forming apparatus. Then, the bundle of sheets stapled by the first stapler 6 is discharged to the shift tray 2, and the sheets stapled by the second stapler 7 are folded by the sheet folding device 10 and discharged to the saddle stitching tray 3. Alternatively, the paper is discharged toward the fixed tray 4 or the shift tray 2 without post-processing the paper. In addition, although the saddle stitching type was illustrated as the paper folding apparatus 10, it may be a Z-folding type or a tri-folding type (both are well known), and is not particularly limited.

Next, the creasing apparatus, which is the main part of the present invention, will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
The crease device according to the present embodiment includes a sheet conveying unit, a crease unit, a sheet fixing unit, and an operation control unit.

  The pair of sheet conveying means is provided so as to be able to receive a sheet from the image forming apparatus and to feed the sheet inwardly, and to be rotated by a drive motor (not shown) whose operation is controlled by an operation control means described later. Entrance side roller 14 and a drive motor (not shown) whose operation is controlled by an operation control means to be described later so that the sheet conveyed by the entrance side roller 14 can be sent out toward the sheet carry-in entrance 1 of the sheet processing apparatus. ) And a plurality of guide plates 16 formed with a paper conveyance path 16a for guiding and conveying the paper from the inlet side roller 14 toward the outlet side roller 15, A non-contact type sensor 17 that detects the position of the sheet conveyed in the sheet conveyance path 16a between the exit side roller 15 and the sheet fixing means is provided (FIG. 2).

The creasing means includes a concave member 18 and a convex member 19.
The concave member 18 is formed in a block shape having a required length longer than the paper width, and a concave portion 18a as a folding corner portion in an isosceles triangle shape (or a regular triangle shape) when viewed from the side is formed on the upper surface in the longitudinal direction. Between the inlet side roller 14 and the outlet side roller 15 and in the vicinity of the inlet side roller 14 so that the upper surface thereof and the lower guide plate 16 forming the paper transport path 16a are flush with each other. It is fixed (FIG. 2).

  The convex member 19 is formed in a block shape having a required length longer than the paper width in the same manner as the concave member 18, and can be meshed with the shape of the concave portion 18 a in a side view isosceles triangle (or equilateral triangular) folding angle. A convex portion 19a as a portion is formed on the lower surface in the longitudinal direction, the sharp convex portion 19a can be engaged with the concave portion 18a, and the convex portion 19a from the upper guide plate 16 that forms the paper transport path 16a. It is connected to a mechanism part (not shown) such as a solenoid or a cylinder so that it can be separated upward. The convex member 19 and the concave member 18 are respectively disposed in a direction (vertical direction) perpendicular to the conveyance direction with the paper conveyance path 16 a interposed therebetween, and the paper is creased by the engagement of the convex member 19 and the concave member 18. It is like that. A series of operations of the convex member 19 is controlled by an operation control means described later (FIG. 2).

  The sheet fixing means includes an upper block 20 and a lower block 21 connected to a mechanism unit (not shown) such as a solenoid or a cylinder, and between the inlet side roller 14 and the outlet side roller 15, and The upper block 20 and the lower block 21 are provided so as to be able to advance and retreat in the vicinity of the outlet side roller 15 on the downstream side of the sheet conveying path 16a from the disposition position of the crease unit. The sheet fixing means sandwiches the front part (one side of the sheet) of the transported sheet in abutment with the upper block 20 and the lower block 21 (FIG. 2). The abutment height between the upper block 20 and the lower block 21 is the same as the abutment height between the pair of inlet side rollers 14 as illustrated. A series of operations of the upper block 20 and the lower block 21 are controlled by an operation control means described later.

  The operation control means (not shown) executes sheet detection information from a non-contact type sensor 17 provided in the sheet conveyance path 16a, and crease processing transmitted from the outside such as an image forming apparatus or sheet processing apparatus. Based on the information to that effect, the sheet conveying means, the crease means, and the sheet fixing means are operated according to a predetermined control procedure. The description relating to the series of operations will be replaced with the following operation description.

  Next, a series of operations of the creasing apparatus according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. It is assumed that the information that the crease processing is executed is received from the outside of the image forming apparatus or the paper processing device, and the crease processing is not executed if the information to that effect is not received. The paper is conveyed to the paper processing device.

  First, the entrance-side roller 14 starts rotating, accepts a sheet from the image forming apparatus, and feeds the sheet toward the downstream side of the sheet conveyance path 16a (FIG. 2). When the non-contact type sensor 17 detects the leading edge of the sheet S1, the fold planned position F is fixed by the sheet fixing means based on the outer peripheral length and the rotation speed of the entrance side roller 14 using the detection as a trigger. When the convex member 19 and the concave member 18 are engaged with each other, the sheet is conveyed until the planned fold position F is located on the straight line Y connecting the vertex of the convex portion 19a and the vertex of the concave portion 18a. That is, the fold expected position F is positioned at a position that takes into account the amount of paper drawn due to the engagement between the convex member 19 and the concave member 18 (FIG. 3). A method for calculating the reference fixing position of the sheet S1 (the stopping position of the sheet in the sheet conveyance path 16a when fixing the sheet) will be described later.

When the sheet reaches that position, the rotation of the entrance side roller 14 is stopped, the upper block 20 and the lower block 21 are brought into contact with each other, and the sheet is fixed so as to sandwich the front part in the traveling direction of the sheet.
When the paper is fixed in this manner, the convex member 19 is advanced toward the concave member 18 in this state, the convex member 19 and the concave member 18 are engaged, and the paper is creased (FIG. 4).
When the creasing is finished, the convex member 19 is released upward to release the meshing, and the upper block 20 and the lower block 21 are separated to release the fixing of the paper, and the entrance side roller 14 and the exit side roller 15 The rotation is started and the sheet is conveyed toward the sheet processing apparatus. When the conveyance is finished, the rotation of the entrance side roller 14 and the exit side roller 15 is stopped, and a series of operation processing is finished.

Next, a reference fixing position of the sheet S1 during the crease process according to the shapes of the convex member 19 and the concave member 18 will be described with reference to FIG.
When the recess width of the recess material 18 is w and the recess depth is d, the vertex of the folding corner is the base point, and in the case of the present embodiment, the above-mentioned straight line Y is the base point, and is obtained by the following equation (1). The fold planned position F is positioned at a distance X away from the sheet conveyance direction. The following equation (1) is not calculated every time the crease is processed, but is numerical value information set in advance. The operation control means is the numerical information, the paper size, the expected position of the fold, and the like. The paper is fixed at the optimum position by each numerical information.

  The distance X calculated by the equation (1) is a case where there is no problem even if the type and thickness of the paper are not taken into consideration (general paper that is frequently used). In some cases, even if the distance X calculated by the equation (1) is used, the position of the crease may be shifted.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D, when the paper thickness of the paper S1 is thick, the crease is scheduled when the paper is sandwiched by the crease processing as compared with the case where the paper thickness is thin. The amount of the position F drawn into the sheet fixing means is small. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the distance between the fold planned position F and the straight line Y when the paper S1 is thin is X1, and the fold planned position F and the straight line Y when the paper thickness is thick. Is set to X2, X1> X2, and an optimum fixing position is selected according to the paper thickness of the paper S1, so that the expected position of the fold can be stably formed regardless of the paper thickness. F can be creased with high accuracy.

  Therefore, a correction value considering the paper type and thickness is added to the distance X calculated by the equation (1) in advance, and the “distance X” is tabulated for each paper type and recorded in the operation control means. The operation control unit receives information on the material, thickness, and the like of the sheet from the image forming apparatus, and selects an optimum “distance X”.

  Also, depending on the material and thickness of the paper, there are some that are likely to be creased and others that are not easily creased. Therefore, the convex member 19 and the concave member 18 can be exchanged, and the operation control means selects the optimum “distance X” according to the shape and size of the convex member 19 and the concave member 18. .

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, a sharp convex portion 19a of the convex member 19 and a concave portion 18a of the concave member 18 are formed with a wide and shallow angle, and FIG. As shown in d), when comparing the sharp convex portion 19a of the convex member 19 and the concave portion 18a of the concave member 18 formed with a narrow and deep angle, the latter is more When the sheet is sandwiched by meshing with the sheet 18, the amount of the expected fold position F is pulled toward the sheet fixing means. Expressed by the distance between the fold planned position F and the straight line Y, if the former distance is X3 and the latter distance is X4, X3 <X4, and the optimum fixed position is selected according to the shape of the crease means. With this configuration, even when the shape of the convex portion 19a of the convex member 19 and the shape of the concave portion 18a of the concave member 18 are changed, the crease can be stably and accurately creased at the planned fold position F.

  Therefore, the distance X calculated by the equation (1) is tabulated and recorded in the operation control means for each shape of the concave portion 18a and the convex portion 19a in advance, and the convex member 19 and the concave member 18 are exchanged. In this case, the optimum “distance X” is selected. In this case, the selection of “distance X” may be a selection input by the user, or an electrical or mechanical information part that can be specified for each concave member 18 is provided, and the operation control means reads the information part. It may be configured so that it can be automatically selected.

  As described above, according to the crease device according to the present embodiment, when the convex member 19 and the concave member 18 are engaged with each other with the paper fixed by the paper fixing means, the fold is scheduled on the straight line Y. Since the operation control unit controls the fixing position of the sheet using the sheet conveying unit and the sheet fixing unit so that the position F is positioned, the actual fold position is deviated from the fold planned position F. Therefore, the creasing process can be performed with high accuracy at the expected position F of the sheet, and as a result, the folding quality can be improved.

  As mentioned above, although the creasing apparatus concerning this Embodiment was demonstrated, Embodiment mentioned above shows an example of the suitable embodiment of this invention, This invention is not limited to it, Various modifications are possible.

For example, in the present embodiment, a pair of folding corners in which the shape of the convex portion 19a of the convex member 19 and the concave portion 18a of the concave member 18 are respectively formed in an isosceles triangle shape (V shape) are illustrated. As shown in FIG. 8, the shape of the concave portion 18b of the concave portion 18 may be a rectangular shape, and only the convex portion 19a may be a folding corner portion. Moreover, in this Embodiment, what provided the plane part in the both sides of the convex part 19a and the recessed part 18a is illustrated as a shape of the meshing surface of the convex part 19a of the convex member 19, and the recessed part 18a of the recessed part material 18. However, as shown in FIG. 9, it is not necessary to provide a plane part on both sides of the convex part 19a or the concave part 18a. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, only the concave portion 18a of the concave portion 18 may be triangular, and the convex member 19 may be formed in a plate shape, or the concave portion 18a may be formed in a V-shape that is convexly curved. .
In the present embodiment, the convex member 19 and the concave member 18 are provided in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction with the paper transport path 16a interposed therebetween, but may be in the transport direction and the oblique direction with the paper transport path 16a interposed therebetween.

In the present embodiment, the non-contact type sensor 17 for detecting the paper and the paper fixing means are arranged on the downstream side of the paper conveyance path 16a of the crease unit, but are arranged on the upstream side of the paper conveyance path 16a. You may do it.
Further, the crease device according to the present embodiment is exemplified by the paper processing device provided with the paper folding device inside. However, as another aspect, the paper post-processing device provided with the creasing device inside. Any of an image forming system including the sheet post-processing apparatus and the image forming apparatus, an image forming apparatus including a crease device, and the like may be used.

14... Entrance side roller 15... Exit side roller 16. Guide plate 16 a .. paper transport path 17 .. non-contact type sensor 18 .. concave portion material 18 a .. concave portion 19 .. convex member 19 a. …… Line F Fold fold planned position

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-262771

Claims (7)

A crease forming device that creases the paper before performing folding according to the crease formed on the paper,
Paper transport means for forming a paper transport path and transporting the paper to the paper transport path;
Each of which is disposed in a direction crossing the transport direction across the paper transport path, and includes a convex member and a concave member provided with a fold corner at least one of the convex member and the concave member. A creasing means for creasing the paper with the paper sandwiched therebetween;
A sheet fixing means disposed on either the upstream side or the downstream side of the sheet conveying path from the crease unit, and sandwiching one side of the sheet to fix the sheet;
When the paper is sandwiched between the convex member and the concave member while the paper is fixed by the paper fixing means, the paper is set so that the expected position of the fold is positioned at the apex of the fold corner portion. A creasing apparatus, comprising: an operation control unit configured to control a fixing position of the sheet using a conveying unit and the sheet fixing unit.   2. The creasing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation control means is configured to be able to control a fixed position of the paper according to the shape and size of the convex member and the concave member. . The concave material is formed with the fold corners of an isosceles triangle or equilateral triangle that can mesh with the convex member,
The operation control means has a distance X away from the sheet conveyance direction calculated by the following equation (1) with the vertex of the folding corner as a base point, where w is the width of the concave portion and d is the depth of the concave portion. The crease forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a predetermined position of the fold is positioned at a position where the position is set as a reference fixing position of the sheet by the sheet fixing means.

  The crease forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the operation control unit is configured to be able to control a fixed position of the paper according to a thickness of the paper. A creasing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A paper post-processing device comprising: a paper folding device provided downstream of the paper folding path from the creasing device and executing a folding process in accordance with the creases formed on the paper by the creasing device. apparatus.   An image forming apparatus comprising the crease forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to form an image on the sheet.   An image forming system comprising: the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 5; and an image forming apparatus configured to form an image on the sheet.

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