JP2011157188A - Paper folding device, image forming device and paper folding method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper folding device, an image forming device and a paper folding method, capable of eliminating the occurrence of wrinkles in an additionally folding part. <P>SOLUTION: When a CPU of a folding processing device control device receives a line speed, a paper size and a folding mode from the image forming device side (ST1), the CPU determines an operation pattern (ST2). When a paper detecting sensor detects the paper tip and a detecting signal becomes ON (ST3), separation-approach operation of respective additionally folding roller pairs is performed in the predetermined timing with that timing as a trigger, and performs additionally folding operation only in a fold line (ST4). This operation is repeated up to the final paper of a job (ST5→ST3→ST4→ST5), and processing is finished. Thus, only the fold line of the paper is pressurized, and the fold line of the paper is deepened, and at the same time, the roller pairs separate a part except for a pressurizing part, and the occurrence of problems such as the wrinkles and a stain in a part except for the fold line is prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention refers to a sheet-like recording medium that is carried in (meaning all sheet-like recording members such as paper, transfer paper, and OHP sheet. In the present specification, all of these are collectively referred to as paper). On the other hand, a sheet folding device that performs folding processing such as two-fold, three-fold, four-fold, and kannon folding, a copier, printer, facsimile equipped with this sheet folding device, and a digital multifunction peripheral (MFP) that combines these functions And the sheet folding method executed by each of these apparatuses.

  Various paper processing apparatuses have been proposed for performing post-processing such as punching and stapling on a paper image formed by an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a digital multifunction peripheral. As such an apparatus, for example, an invention described in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-262625) or Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-94611) is known.

  Among these, Patent Document 1 discloses a first driving unit that moves a folding roller in an orthogonal direction to a sheet conveying direction with an electric driving force in a sheet processing apparatus that performs folding processing on a sheet after image formation. And a second drive means for manually moving in the same direction, wherein the first drive means is composed of a motor, a drive pulley, and a driven pulley, and the second drive means is a driven pulley. An invention is described that includes a lever that rotates, and further includes means for separating the folding roller from the sheet bundle at the folding position.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, a folding roller 6 that is paired so as to fold a sheet bundle while passing through the nip, and a fold portion of the folded sheet bundle that is positioned in parallel downstream of the folding roller 6. In contrast, a sheet folding apparatus including a folding roller that further folds is provided with an oblique moving means for skewing the sheet bundle before folding, and releases the pressure applied to the sheet bundle by the folding roller during the oblique conveyance operation. The invention has been described.

  The invention described in Patent Document 1 reliably removes a sheet bundle even when the sheet bundle is clogged by the pressurizing unit with the fold-in roller and the sheet bundle stops at the pressurizing unit or is caught. In other words, the operation at the time of jamming of a bundle of sheets is improved. In the invention described in Patent Document 2, the folding roller is separated when the sheet is skewed in order to improve the additional folding quality.

  On the other hand, in the sheet folding apparatus, many types of folding processing such as two-folding, three-folding, and four-folding are performed, and further, since folding is overlapped, additional folding is generally performed. In other words, in the paper folding device, the paper folded into various shapes by the folding roller is further fed by an additional folding roller (referred to as a folding-increasing roller in Patent Documents 1 and 2) in order to deepen the crease. Pressurize the crease, but if the slightly bent paper is conveyed by the roller, the bent part will be squeezed to the rear edge of the paper, and the bending will gradually increase, and finally the deflection will not be able to escape Wrinkles. In particular, in the case of three folds, four folds, and kannon folds having a bag shape on the rear end side of the paper, wrinkles are prominent because the deflection of the paper does not escape at the bag portion.

  Therefore, a problem to be solved by the present invention is to eliminate the occurrence of wrinkles at the additional folding portion as described above.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the first means includes a folding processing means for performing folding processing on the paper that is carried in, and an additional folding processing means for performing further folding processing on the folded paper. The sheet folding apparatus includes a plurality of roller pairs, and a separating unit that separates the plurality of roller pairs when performing additional folding with the plurality of roller pairs. To do.

  The second means is characterized in that, in the first means, control means for controlling the separation means is provided, and the control means separates an arbitrary roller pair among the plurality of roller pairs.

  The third means is the second means, wherein the plurality of roller pairs are provided in multiple stages so that the nips of the roller pairs are positioned in parallel with the front end portion in the paper transport direction, and the control means is a fold portion of the paper. The operation of pressurizing when the sheet passes and separating after the crease passes is sequentially performed according to the conveying operation with respect to the roller pair disposed from the upstream side to the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction.

  The fourth means includes, in the third means, a detection means for detecting a front end position of the sheet in a preceding stage in the conveyance direction of the plurality of roller pairs, and the control means executes the sequential execution based on a detection output of the detection means. The separation timing of the roller pair to be set is set.

  A fifth means is any one of the first to fourth means, characterized in that the separation means changes the separation distance according to the type of folding.

  The sixth means is characterized in that, in any one of the first to fourth means, the separating means changes the pressure depending on the type of folding.

  The seventh means is characterized in that the image forming apparatus includes the sheet folding apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth means.

  The eighth means includes a folding processing means for performing a folding process on the carried-in paper, and an additional folding processing means including a plurality of roller pairs for further folding the folded paper. When the additional folding is performed by the plurality of roller pairs, the fold portions are pressurized by the plurality of roller pairs, and the pressure of the paper portion is released.

  In the embodiment described later, the folding processing means is the first to fifth folding roller pairs 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, the additional folding processing means is the additional folding portion Z3, and the sheet folding device is denoted by ZF. The plurality of roller pairs correspond to the additional folding rollers 21 to 24, the separating means corresponds to the drive motor 106, the cam 105, the arms 104 and 107, the control means corresponds to the CPU 361, and the image forming apparatus corresponds to the symbol PR.

  According to the present invention, since it is configured as described above, it is possible to eliminate the occurrence of wrinkles at the additional folding portion.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of an image forming apparatus and a folding processing apparatus. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows Z folding operation | movement. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows a folding operation. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows the folding operation | movement of an inner three fold. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows folding operation | movement of an outer three fold. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows the folding operation | movement of a simple four fold. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows the folding operation | movement of a Kannon fold. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of an additional folding roller. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the other example of an additional folding roller. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of a folding part. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure of the separation operation | movement of an additional folding roller.

  The present invention eliminates the occurrence of wrinkles in the fold-in portion when performing additional folding with a paper folding device capable of multiple types of folding processing, and enables the additional folding of only the folds regardless of the type of folding, and It is intended to eliminate the misalignment of the paper position due to the occurrence of skew. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1. Overall Configuration FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the image forming system according to the present embodiment includes an image forming apparatus PR, a sheet post-processing apparatus PD as a sheet processing apparatus, and a folding processing apparatus ZF provided therebetween.

  In FIG. 1, the folding processing device ZF is attached to the side of the image forming apparatus PR, and the sheet discharged from the image forming device PR is guided to the folding processing device ZF. The paper post-processing device PD is further attached to the side (rear stage) of the folding processing device ZF, and the paper discharged from the folding processing device ZF is guided to the paper post-processing device PD. In the paper post-processing apparatus PD, processes such as punching, alignment, stipple binding, sorting, and simple bookbinding are performed.

The paper discharged from the image forming apparatus such as a copying machine is introduced into the paper folding device ZF from the direction of arrow A. In the paper folding device ZF according to the present embodiment,
1) Straight paper discharge mode (arrow B → E) for transporting paper to the following model as it is
2) A tray discharge mode (arrow C → D) for discharging the paper to the tray of the paper folding device ZF after folding the paper.
3) Folded paper discharge mode for discharging folded paper to subsequent models (arrow C → E)
The operation mode can be selected.

  The straight sheet discharge mode is an operation mode in which the first and third branching claws 1, 2, and 3 are rotated in a direction in which the sheet can be transported through the first transport path L <b> 1. Hold the position.

  In the tray discharge mode, the first branching claw 1 is moved to the second conveying path L2 for guiding the sheet to the first and second folding portions Z1 and Z2, and the first folding portion Z1 and the folding portion are folded. Depending on the type, after the sheet is folded at a predetermined position by the second folding portion Z2 and passes through the additional folding portion Z3, the sheet is conveyed through the third conveyance path L3 by the operation of the fourth and second branching claws 4 and 2. In this mode, the paper is discharged onto the stack tray 6 by the paper discharge roller 5.

  In the folding paper discharge mode, the folding operation by the first and second folding parts Z1, Z2 and the conveying operation by the first to third folding parts Z1, Z2, Z3 are the same as the tray paper discharging mode. 4: A mode in which the branching claw 4 is transported in the direction of the fourth transport path L4 by the branching operation of the branching claw 4 and transported to a machine connected to the succeeding machine.

2. Sheet Folding Processing Device In FIG. 1, a paper folding processing device ZF is a folding processing device that can perform folding operations of two folds, Z folds, outer three folds, inner three folds, simple four folds, and four-tone folds. It is attached to the side (rear stage) of the device PR. The folding processing device ZF includes first to fourth conveying paths L1 to L4, first to third folding portions Z1 to Z3, first to fifth folding rollers 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and First to third stopper portions S1 to S3 are provided, and the first to fifth folding rollers 9 to 13 have a first nip between the first folding 9 and the second folding roller 10 and the second A second nip is formed between the folding roller 10 and the third folding roller 11, and a third nip is formed between the fourth folding roller 12 and the fifth folding roller 13. It has become. Since the first to fifth folding rollers 9 to 13 each form a nip with an adjacent roller, the first to fifth folding rollers 9 to 13 are configured to rotate with a slight speed difference in order to set the synchronous rotation or the conveyance direction of the folds. ing. The first stopper portion S1 is on the upstream side of the first nip, the second stopper portion S2 is on the downstream side of the first nip and on the upstream side of the second nip, and the third stopper portion S3. Are respectively arranged upstream of the third nip. Further, each of the first to third stopper portions S1 to S3 is provided with a movable stopper that regulates the leading edge of the paper, a hitting roller that aligns the paper when the paper is abutted, and a jogger. Yes. The hitting roller aligns the front end of the paper conveyance direction, and the jogger aligns the paper from the direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction to align the width direction of the paper.

  The sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus PR is guided to an entrance roller in the folding processing apparatus ZF. The folding processing device ZF includes first and second transport paths L1 and L2 that are switched by the first branching claw 1 from the entrance to the exit through the paper discharge roller. The second conveyance path L2 and the first stopper portion S1 are connected to the upstream side (right side in the drawing) of the first nip from the entrance direction, and the second conveyance path L2 and the first stopper portion S1 are connected to the downstream side (left side in the drawing) of the first nip. The stopper portion S2 continues. Further, the second stopper portion S2 continues on the upstream side (the upper side in the drawing) of the second nip in the sheet conveyance direction. The fifth and sixth transport paths L5 and L6 continue in a branched state on the downstream side (lower side in the figure) of the second nip, and the sixth transport path L is upstream of the third nip ( Continuing to the right side in the figure, the downstream side (left side in the figure) continues to the fifth conveyance path L5 and the additional folding part Z3. In other words, the sixth transport path L6 is arranged to branch from the upstream side of the fifth transport path L5 and return the folded sheet to the downstream side of the fifth transport path L5.

  Third and fourth branching claws 3 and 4 are arranged in the fourth conveyance path L4 on the downstream side of the additional folding portion Z, and the fourth branching claw 4 passes through the third conveyance path L3 to the stack tray 6. It is selected whether to discharge the sheet or to discharge to the rear stage (E direction) via the exit. At that time, the third branch claw 3 is protruded toward the first conveyance path L1, and the first conveyance path L1 is conveyed in the direction opposite to the arrow B direction to be guided to the third conveyance path L3. ing. In addition, a second branch claw 2 for guiding the sheet guided by the third branch claw 3 to the third transport path L3 is provided at substantially the center of the first transport path L1. Yes. Thereby, the conveyance path from the fourth conveyance path L4 to the third conveyance path L3 is formed by the third branch claw 3, the first conveyance path L1, and the second branch claw 2.

  Each of the transport paths L1 to L4 is appropriately provided with a transport roller and a skew roller so as to transport sheets before the folding process, during the folding process, and after the folding process.

3. Control Device FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the image forming apparatus and the folding processing device. As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 360 of the folding processing device ZF is configured around a CPU 361 that transmits and receives signals to and from the control device 350 of the image forming apparatus PR and controls each unit. The CPU 361 drives a solenoid and clutch 371, a stepping motor 372, a brushless motor 373, and the like according to the input from each sensor 370 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the control device 360 is provided with a first driver 362 for driving the solenoid and clutch 371, a motor driver 363 for driving the stepping motor 372, and a second driver 364 for driving the brushless motor 373. A clock generating means (vibrator) 365 for supplying a clock to the CPU 361 is provided. Note that the sensor 370, the solenoid and clutch 371, the stepping motor 372, and the brushless motor 373 are provided in the respective parts to be operated, but only one is shown here representatively. In the following description, a plurality of items are summarized by the one symbol.

  The CPU 361 of the control device 360 of the folding processing device ZF transmits and receives control signals to and from the CPU 351 on the control device 350 side of the image forming device PR, and receives power for driving from the control device 350 of the image forming device PR. ing.

  In FIG. 2, the control device 360 of the folding processing device ZF is connected to the control device 350 of the image forming device PR. In this case, the image forming device PR is a copier or a multifunction device, and is a printer. In addition, signals are transmitted to and received from the host device. The control device of the folding processing device ZF is performed by the CPU 361 executing a program written in a ROM (not shown) while using a RAM (not shown) as a work area. The program data is downloaded from a server via a network or from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or SD card to a storage medium such as a hard disk device (not shown) via a recording medium driving device instead of or in addition to the ROM. It can also be used after being upgraded.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 8, the folding device ZF configured as described above performs six folding processes including Z folding, two folding, three inner folding, three outer folding, simple four folding, and four Kannon folding. Is possible. The folding order is also shown in the figure.

  When performing the folding process by the folding device ZF, the operation generally follows.

4). Operation When the user selects a desired fold from an operation panel (not shown) of the image forming apparatus PR, the first to fourth branching claws 1 to 4 are switched from the home position to the position corresponding to the fold, respectively. The three stopper portions S1 to S3 move from the home position in accordance with each paper size and folding position.

  Hereinafter, each folding process is performed on the assumption of this operation.

4.1 Z-folding operation FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view showing the Z-folding operation. In the Z-folding operation, as shown in the figure, the first branching claw 1 moves counterclockwise, and the paper P is guided from the first conveyance path L1 to the second conveyance path L2 (illustrated P11). The sheet P is transported along the second transport path L2, and is sandwiched between the first nip between the first and second folding rollers 9 and 10 in the first folding section Z1 and is then moved to the second stopper section S2. Is guided (P12 in the figure). The second stopper portion S2 is provided with a movable stopper, and position stop control is performed so that the folding position is appropriate for each paper size. Therefore, when the leading edge of the sheet hits the first stopper and is continuously conveyed, bending occurs in the vicinity of the second folding roller 10 and the third folding roller 11 (P12 in the drawing). The bending is guided to a second nip formed by the second and third folding rollers 10 and 11, and the first folding is performed at the nip.

  When the folding proceeds, the first folded portion is used as a tip to enter the folding position of the sixth transport path L6. At this time, the driving force of the pair of downstream conveying rollers closest to the second nip is adjusted so that the sheet is conveyed to the lower sixth conveying path L6. In the third stopper portion S3 on the downstream side of the sixth transport path L6, the third stopper is located at a position where the second crease is applied according to the sheet size, similarly to the second stopper portion S3. The first fold line contacts the third stopper and the tip position is regulated (position P13 in the figure). If the conveyance state of the second and third folding rollers 10 and 11 is continued in this state, the bending occurs in the vicinity of the fourth and fifth folding rollers 12 and 13 as in the first fold formation. The bending is guided to a third nip formed by the fourth and fifth folding rollers 12 and 13, and the second folding is performed at the nip (P13 in the drawing), and Z-folding is performed. In the state where the second folding portion is folded, the sheet is further folded at the additional folding portion Z3 (P14 in the drawing), and when transported to the subsequent stage, the fourth branch pawl 4 to the fourth transport path. The paper is discharged in the E direction through L4 (P15 in the figure). When paper is discharged to the stack tray 6, the fourth, third, and second branching claws 4, 3, and 2 are positioned as described above, and the paper P is added to the first conveyance path L1 from the folding portion Z3. Then, it is guided to the third transport path L3 (P16 in the figure), and discharged from the discharge roller 5 to the stack tray 6 (P17 in the figure).

4.2 Folding operation of two folds FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view showing the folding operation of two. When the half-folding process is instructed from the image forming apparatus PR, the first branching claw 1 is switched in the counterclockwise direction in the drawing, and the leading edge of the sheet is guided from the first conveying path L1 to the second conveying path L2. (P21 in the figure), and further, the front end of the sheet is conveyed to the first stopper portion S1. The first stopper portion S1 is provided with a movable first stopper, and the first stopper has a folding position for each paper size in the same manner as the second stopper in the second stopper portion S2. Movement stop control is performed so as to be appropriate. When the leading edge of the sheet hits the first stopper and is continuously conveyed, bending occurs near the nip between the first folding roller 9 and the second folding roller 10, and the bending is the first and second folding. After being guided to the first nip of the rollers 9 and 10 (P22 in the figure), the second folding with respect to the first fold is performed thereafter.

  When the bent portion enters the first nip, the first folding is performed, and the leading edge of the sheet on which the fold is formed is guided to the second nip formed by the second and third folding rollers 10 and 11. . At that time, a speed difference is set between the second and third folding rollers 10 and 11 so that the tip of the crease does not face the second stopper portion S2 and faces the second nip. In this state, the sheet is transported in the directions of the fifth and sixth transport paths L5 and L6. At this time, the driving force of the pair of downstream conveying rollers closest to the second nip is adjusted, and the sheet is conveyed to the upper fifth conveying path L5 (P23 in the drawing). Then, the paper P passes through the fifth transport path L5 and is transported to the additional folding portion Z3 (P24 in the drawing), and the fourth and fourth papers are transferred from the additional folding portion Z3 according to the setting of the transport destination in the same manner as in the case of Z folding. 3 and the second branching claws 4, 3, and 2 are controlled, and discharged to the proof tray 6 through the third conveyance path L3 (P25 in the drawing) (P26 in the drawing). When transported to the subsequent stage, the paper is discharged in the E direction from the fourth branch claw 4 through the fourth transport path L4.

4.3 Folding operation with 3 inner folds, 3 outer folds, and simple 4 folds As shown in FIG. 3, the Z fold is folded twice, and the inner 3 folds, outer 3 folds, and simple 4 folds are also folded twice. is there. Therefore, by controlling the positions of the first and second stoppers, the various folding operations can be performed in the same manner as the Z-folding. FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram showing a folding operation of the inner three-fold, FIG. 6 is the outer three-fold, and FIG. 7 is a simple four-fold.

  5, 6, and 7, the sheet is guided from the first conveyance path L <b> 1 to the second conveyance path L <b> 2 by the first branch claw 1. The leading edge of the sheet is conveyed to the first stopper portion S1 and abuts on a movable first stopper provided in the first stopper portion S1. The position of the first stopper 601 is controlled so that the folding position is appropriate for each paper size. When the leading edge of the sheet hits the first stopper and is continuously conveyed, the first folding 9 and the second folding roller 10 are bent. This bending is guided to the first nip of the first folding roller 9 and the second folding roller 10, and the first folding is performed by the first nip. At this time, in the inner three-fold, the tip is carried in 2/3 as shown in FIG. 5 in the first stopper portion S1 (P32 in FIG. 5), and in the outer three-fold, the tip is carried in 1/3 as shown in FIG. In FIG. P42), in the case of simple quadruple folding, the tip is carried in half as shown in FIG. 7 (P52 in FIG. 7).

  Next, with the first folded portion as the leading edge, the leading edge of the sheet enters the folding position of the second stopper portion S2. The second stopper portion S2 is provided with a movable second stopper, and position stop control is performed so that the folding position is appropriate for each paper size. When the second stopper is folded in three, the outer three is folded, the position from the first fold to 1/3 (FIG. 5P33, FIG. 6P43), and in the simple four-fold, the position from the first fold is halved When the paper is carried to the corresponding position, the inner fold and the outer fold are 1/3 from the rear end (FIG. 5P33, FIG. 6P43), and the simple four fold is the first fold to the rear end. To ½ is led to the second nip which is the nip of the second and third folding rollers 10 and 11 as the second fold, and each is conveyed in the direction of the fifth conveyance path L5 (P34 in FIG. 5). FIG. 6P44, FIG. 7P54). As described above, the sheet is conveyed in the direction of the fifth conveyance path L5 by controlling the feeding speed of the conveyance roller immediately downstream of the second nip.

  The sheets that are folded inwardly, folded outwardly, and simply folded in the second nip are respectively conveyed to the additional folding portion Z3 (FIGS. 5P35, 6P45, and 7P55). Next, the branch direction of the fourth, third, and second branching claws 4, 3, and 2 is controlled in the same manner as in the case of Z-folding according to the setting of the transport destination from the additional folding portion Z3, and the third transport path L3 (FIG. 5P36, FIG. 6P46, FIG. 7P56), the paper is discharged to the proof tray 6 (FIGS. 5P37, 6P47, and 7P57). When transported to the subsequent stage, the paper is discharged in the E direction from the fourth branch claw 4 through the fourth transport path L4.

4.4 Folding operation for fourfolds of Kannon Figure 8 is an operation explanatory diagram showing a folding operation for fourfolds of Kannon. In the fourfold folding operation, the sheet is guided from the first conveyance path L1 to the second conveyance path L2 by the first branch claw 1 (P61 in FIG. 8). The leading edge of the sheet is conveyed to the first stopper portion S1 and abuts on the movable first stopper provided in the first stopper portion S1 (P62 in FIG. 8). The leading edge of the sheet is carried 3/4, and is guided from the position to the first nip which is the nip of the first and second folding rollers 9 and 10, and a first fold is formed to form the second stopper portion S2. It is conveyed to. In the second stopper portion S2, in the second stopper portion S2, the second stopper is moved from the first fold line to a position that is ½ of the paper length to regulate the leading edge position of the paper. When the sheet is further conveyed from this position, the position of 1/3 from the rear end of the sheet is sandwiched between the second nip formed by the second and third folding rollers 10 and 11 (P63 in FIG. 8), and the second fold is formed. It is formed and conveyed in the direction of the sixth conveyance path L6. The conveyance in the direction of the sixth conveyance path L6 is caused by the action of the conveyance roller closest to the downstream side of the second nip as described above.

  The paper P carried into the sixth transport path L6 is transported to the third stopper portion S3 in which the stopper position is set at a position ½ of the paper length, and the leading end is in contact with the third stopper. By continuing the conveyance, it enters the third nip, which is the nip between the fourth and fifth folding rollers 12 and 13, as in the case of Z-folding, and the third fold is formed at the center position of the sheet. (FIG. 8P64). This third crease becomes a fold characteristic of the Kannon fold, and this crease is conveyed to the additional fold portion Z3 as a leading end (P65 in FIG. 8). Next, the branch direction of the fourth, third, and second branching claws 4, 3, and 2 is controlled in the same manner as in the case of Z-folding according to the setting of the transport destination from the additional folding portion Z3, and the third transport path L3 (P66 in FIG. 8), the paper is discharged to the proof tray 6 (P67 in FIG. 8). When transported to the subsequent stage, the paper is discharged in the E direction from the fourth branch claw 4 through the fourth transport path L4.

  The positions of the first to third stoppers are appropriately determined according to the path length and the diameter of the folding roller, and the illustration of the stopper positions is merely a guide.

5. Additional Folding Roller Mechanism Four additional folding roller pairs are installed in the additional folding portion Z3 with the conveying path interposed therebetween. FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view showing the operation of the additional folding roller. Each additional folding roller pair includes a driving roller 101 and a driven roller 102. The driven roller 102 is provided with a spring 103 for pressurizing the paper, and the spring 103 constantly urges the driven roller 102 in the direction of the driving roller 101 (direction of arrow a). An arm 104 extends from the shaft of the driven roller 102 in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the arrow a, and a cam 105 can come into contact with the distal end side of the arm 104. In the cam 105, the gear of the drive motor 106 meshes with the rotation shaft, and the distance of the driven roller 102 to the drive roller 101 can be changed according to the contact position between the arm 104 and the tip of the cam 105. The rotation control of the drive motor 106 is also performed by the CPU 361 of the sheet folding device aligning device 360. In FIG. 9, (a) shows the close position of both rollers 101 and 102, and (b) shows the separated position. In FIG. 9, when the drive motor 106 rotates counterclockwise, the cam 105 pushes the arm 104 and the driven roller 102 is separated from the drive roller 101.

  In the present embodiment, the cam configuration has been described, but the driven roller 102 can be separated by a configuration in which the arm 104 is pulled by a solenoid as another configuration.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the installation position of the tension arm 107 can be changed, and the arm 107 can be arranged on the opposite side of the driven roller 102 of the spring 103. In this example, the arm 107 has a fulcrum 107a at the center, and the spring 103 is in contact with one end and the cam 105 is in contact with the other end. In this example, the cam 105 rotates counterclockwise when the drive motor 106 rotates clockwise from the close state of FIG. 10A, and the spring 103 is pulled by pushing the other end side of the arm 107 to follow. The elastic biasing force of the roller 102 is weakened. As a result, the pressure applied to the paper can be reduced.

  In this case, a solenoid can be used instead of the drive motor 106.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of the additional folding portion Z3. As shown in the figure, the additional folding section Z3 is provided with additional folding roller pairs 21, 22, 23, 24 extending over the first to fourth four stages, and further, the additional folding roller pair 21 on the most upstream side is further provided. A paper detection sensor 14 is disposed on the upstream side. Since the sheet folding device ZF is used by being connected to the image forming apparatus PR as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the folding type, the sheet size, and the sheet size are set by the setting from the operation display unit of the image forming apparatus PR. Information regarding the conveyance speed reaches the CPU 361 of the control device 360 in advance. Therefore, the operation of the additional folding roller (nip / separation) is performed in accordance with the set folding position of the folding sheet. The paper detection sensor 14 is used for setting the timing of this operation, and detects the leading edge of the folded paper. The drive timing of the separating operation of the first to fourth additional folding roller pairs 21, 22, 23, 24 is set using the detection output of the detection sensor 14 as a trigger.

  Specifically, when the leading edge of the Z-folded sheet is detected by the detection sensor 14, the first to fourth additional folding rollers 21 to 24 are all in a pressurized state. The leading edge of the paper P (the leading edge of the Z-folded paper in the figure) is detected by the detection sensor 14, and the additional folding roller 21 is separated after L11 time when the leading edge of the Z-folded paper increases and passes through the nip of the folding roller 21. Thereafter, the additional folding roller 21 nips again after L21 time when the Z-fold paper is increased and past the nip of the folding roller 22. Similarly, the additional folding roller 22 is separated after L21 hours and nipped after L31 hours, the additional folding roller 23 is separated after L31 hours and nipped after L41 hours, and the additional folding roller 24 is separated after L41 hours and L51. Nip after time. Such a nip / separation operation is repeated for each sheet. As a result, it is possible to pressurize a specific location and prevent an unnecessary load from being applied to other locations. In this embodiment, it is Z-folded paper, and in FIG. 11, the pair of rollers is separated from each other at the fold portion formed in a bag shape on the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction to prevent pressurization. As a result, wrinkles and skew can be prevented from occurring in the bag-shaped portion.

  The control procedure of the CPU 361 at this time is shown in the flowchart of FIG. In the figure, when the CPU 361 of the folding processing device control apparatus 360 receives the linear velocity, the paper size, and the folding mode from the image forming apparatus PR side (step ST1), the CPU 361 determines the operation pattern (step ST2), and the paper detection sensor. 14 detects the leading edge of the paper and turns on the detection signal (step ST3), the timing of this timing triggers the separation of the additional folding roller pair 21, 22, 23, 24 at the timings of L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5. Then, the proximity operation is executed, and only the fold is added and the folding operation is performed (step ST4). This operation is repeated until the last sheet of the job (steps ST5 → ST3 → ST4 → ST5), and the process is completed.

When configured in this way,
1) Since the rollers can be separated during the paper conveyance in the additional folding portion Z3, only the paper folding line can be pressurized by the additional folding roller pairs 21, 22, 23, and 24, and the paper folding line can be deepened.
2) By separating the roller pair other than the pressure unit, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems such as wrinkles and dirt at portions other than the crease.
3) As a result of the above 1) and 2), the folding quality of the sheet folding apparatus can be improved.
4) The function of the additional folding roller is to deeply crease the paper, but the paper crease differs depending on the type of paper fold, paper thickness, paper waist, and the like. Therefore, by adjusting the additional folding pressure in accordance with these types, it is possible to perform an optimal pressurizing operation for a wider variety of paper types and folding types, which can contribute to the improvement of folding quality.
5) By reducing the nip pressure instead of separating the additional folding rollers, it is possible to prevent the paper from wrinkling while ensuring the conveying force.
6) The pressure of the additional folding roller is not completely released, but the nip pressure is weakened, and the minimum pressure necessary for the conveyance of the paper is left, so that the paper is not separated from the additional folding roller, and is small in size. It can handle even folding paper.
There are effects such as.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications are possible, and all technical matters included in the technical idea described in the scope of claims are the subject of the present invention.

9, 10, 11, 12, 13 First to fifth folding roller pair 21, 22, 23, 24 Additional folding roller pair 104, 107 Arm 105 Cam 106 Drive motor 361 CPU
PR Image forming device Z3 Additional folding part ZF Paper folding device

JP 2004-262625 A JP 2008-94611 A

Claims (8)

Folding processing means for performing folding processing on the paper that is carried in;
An additional folding processing means for performing additional folding processing on the folded paper sheet;
A paper folding device having
The sheet folding apparatus, wherein the additional folding processing unit includes a plurality of roller pairs, and includes a separating unit that separates the plurality of roller pairs when performing additional folding with the plurality of roller pairs. The sheet folding device according to claim 1,
Control means for controlling the separation means;
The paper folding apparatus, wherein the control means separates an arbitrary roller pair among the plurality of roller pairs. The sheet folding device according to claim 2,
The plurality of roller pairs are provided in multiple stages such that the nips of the roller pairs are positioned in parallel with the front end of the sheet conveyance direction,
The control means pressurizes when the crease portion of the paper passes, and sequentially performs an operation of separating after the crease passes according to the transport operation with respect to the roller pair arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side in the paper transport direction. A sheet folding apparatus characterized by the above. The sheet folding device according to claim 3,
A detecting means for detecting a front end position of the paper in a front stage in the conveying direction of the plurality of roller pairs;
The sheet folding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets a timing of separating the roller pairs sequentially executed based on a detection output of the detection unit. The sheet folding device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The sheet folding device according to claim 1, wherein the separating unit changes a separation distance according to a folding type. The sheet folding device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The sheet folding device according to claim 1, wherein the separating means changes the pressure according to the type of folding.   An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet folding device according to claim 1. Folding processing means for performing folding processing on the paper that is carried in;
An additional folding processing means including a plurality of pairs of rollers for performing further folding processing on the folded paper sheet;
With
A paper folding method, wherein when the additional folding is performed by the plurality of roller pairs, the crease portions are pressed by the plurality of roller pairs, and the pressure is released from the paper portions.

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