JP2013018605A - Sealing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an envelope supply device that can solve the problem of tilt transfer of envelopes, and a sealing apparatus.SOLUTION: The envelope supply device includes: a placement table on which the plurality of envelopes are to be placed; a carrier roller 31 which carries the envelopes, placed on the placement table, to a downstream side; a plurality of loosening roller 32 which are provided at intervals in a carrying width direction orthogonal to a carrying direction, which are urged to the side of the carrier roller 31 by individually independent springs 37, and which are individually brought closer to or away from the carrier roller 31; and a loosening pressure adjusting means 40 for adjusting an urging force of each spring 37 for each loosening roller 32.

Description

  The present invention relates to an envelope supply device that conveys an envelope in which contents such as a booklet are enclosed to a processing unit, and a sealing device that includes the envelope supply device.

  Conventionally, a sealing device has been developed that automatically applies glue, forms a crease in a flap, folds the flap, and adheres it to the envelope body side in contrast to a manual sealing operation (Patent Documents 1 and 2). .

  The sealing device includes, for example, an envelope supply unit that supplies an envelope, a crease forming unit that forms a fold in the flap, a glue application unit that applies glue to the flap, and a seal that folds the flap and attaches it to the envelope body And a plurality of transport roller mechanisms for transporting the envelope.

JP 2006-151518 A JP-A-9-175089

  In a conventional sealing device, when an envelope enclosing the contents is transported, if the thickness of the contents changes in the transport width direction and only a part of the thickness increases, The force with which the roller presses the envelope is weakened, the envelope cannot be properly conveyed, and there is a problem of the tilting of the envelope, and the crease at the crease forming part and the glue application at the glue application part are applied obliquely to the envelope. The trouble that it is done occurs.

  The objective of this invention is providing the envelope supply apparatus and sealing apparatus which can solve the problem of the inclination of an envelope.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a mounting table on which a plurality of envelopes are mounted, a transport roller that transports the envelopes placed on the mounting table to the downstream side, and a transport width orthogonal to the transport direction. A plurality of rollers are provided at intervals in the direction, and are urged toward the conveying roller by independent springs, and the separating roller is individually moved close to and away from the conveying roller, and the urging force of each spring is adjusted for each roller. The present invention relates to an envelope supply device comprising a firing pressure adjusting means.

The present invention can employ the following configuration in the envelope supply device.
(A) a roller holder that rotatably supports the roller spindle of the roller,
One end portion of the spring is locked to the roller holder, and the other end portion is locked to a fixed wall of the apparatus main body, and the rolling pressure adjusting means can adjust the biasing force of the spring. A locking member for locking to the holder is provided.

(B) The locking member locks the roller holder against the urging force of the spring, and separates the winding roller from the conveying roller.

(C) The locking member is constituted by a screw or a cam mechanism.

(D) A thickness sensor that detects thickness information in the conveyance width direction of the envelope sandwiched between the conveyance roller and the rolling roller, and individual winding pressure adjustment based on the thickness information detected by the thickness sensor Control means.

(E) Based on the thickness information in the conveyance width direction of the envelope input from the operation panel, individual punching pressure adjusting means are controlled.

(F) The wrapping pressure adjusting means urges the urging force of the spring that urges the urging roller corresponding to a portion where the envelope is thick in the conveyance width direction, and urges the urging roller corresponding to a portion thinner than the portion. The biasing force of the spring is adjusted to be substantially equal to or weakened.

Moreover, this invention is a sealing apparatus provided with the envelope supply apparatus which has said each structure.

Further, the present invention provides a mounting table on which the envelope is mounted, a transport roller that transports the envelope mounted on the mounting table to the downstream side, and a width of the envelope that is provided on the mounting table. A guide plate on the mounting table, comprising a pair of guide plates, a glue application unit that applies glue to the envelope conveyed by the conveying roller from the mounting table, and a sealing unit that seals the glue-coated envelope. The sealing device is characterized in that a guide plate position sensor for detecting a position in the width direction is provided, and the application position of glue on the envelope in the glue application unit is controlled based on the detection result of the guide plate position sensor.

The present invention can employ the following configuration in the sealing device.
(A) The guide plate includes a motor and moving means for moving the guide plate in the transport width direction by driving the motor.

(1) According to the present invention, when the envelope enclosing the contents is transported, when the thickness of the contents changes in the transport width direction and only a part of the thickness is increased, the biasing force of each spring is controlled by the rolling pressure adjusting means. Can be adjusted for each roller, and the force with which the roller presses the envelope can be made substantially equal to prevent the envelope from tilting.

(2) A roller holder that rotatably supports the roller spindle of the roller is provided, and one end of the spring is locked to the roller holder, and the other end is locked to a fixed wall of the apparatus main body. The spring pressure adjusting means can easily adjust the urging force of the spring with a simple configuration when the urging force of the spring is provided with a locking member that is locked to the roller holder so that the urging force of the spring can be adjusted. .

(3) The locking member locks the roller holder against the urging force of the spring, and corresponds to a portion where the thickness of the envelope is thick when the separation roller is separated from the conveying roller. The energizing force of the spring of the rolling roller is weakened, and the envelope can be separated by the rolling roller corresponding to the thinner part of the envelope.

(4) When the locking member is configured by a screw or a cam mechanism, the biasing force of the envelope spring can be easily adjusted with a simple configuration.

(5) Thickness sensor for detecting thickness information in the conveyance width direction of the envelope sandwiched between the conveyance roller and the separation roller, and individual adjustment of the separation pressure based on the thickness information detected by the thickness sensor When controlling the means, the biasing force of the spring can be adjusted according to the thickness of the envelope in the width direction, and the envelope can be properly separated and conveyed.

(6) When controlling the individual pressure adjusting means based on the thickness information in the conveyance width direction of the envelope input from the operation panel, adjust the biasing force of the spring according to the input value of the user. Operability is improved.

(7) The punching pressure adjusting means biases the biasing force of the spring that biases the tearing roller corresponding to a portion where the envelope is thick in the conveyance width direction, and biases the punching roller corresponding to a portion thinner than the portion. When adjusted to be substantially equal to or weaker than the biasing force of the spring, the biasing forces of the springs of the plurality of rolling rollers are substantially equal or thick when the thickness differs in the width direction of the envelope. Since the urging force of the spring is smaller in the roller corresponding to the thinner portion than in the roller corresponding to the portion, the skew of the envelope can be further reduced.

(8) The sealing device provided with the envelope supply device having each configuration described above can appropriately separate envelopes having different thicknesses in the width direction, convey them one by one, and perform a sealing process.

(9) Further, according to the present invention, a guide plate position sensor for detecting the position of the guide plate in the conveyance width direction on the mounting table is provided, and based on the detection result of the guide plate position sensor, the envelope is applied to the envelope in the glue application unit. Since the glue application position is controlled, the user can adjust the envelope placement position on the placement table according to the difference in the thickness of the envelope, and change the glue application position based on this adjusted position. The envelopes can be properly conveyed one by one, and the sealing process can be performed accurately.

(10) When the guide plate includes a motor and a moving unit that moves the guide plate in the conveyance width direction by driving the motor, the position of the guide plate can be automatically adjusted, and the thickness in the width direction of the envelope Even if there are places with different lengths, sealing can be easily performed.

It is the whole sealing device perspective view provided with the envelope supply device concerning the present invention. It is a top view inside the sealing apparatus of FIG. It is II sectional drawing of FIG. It is the II-II cross-sectional enlarged view of FIG. It is a partial expansion perspective view of a roller mechanism. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of a roller mechanism. It is III-III sectional drawing of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the usage condition of a roller mechanism. It is sectional drawing which shows the usage condition of the roller mechanism of the envelope supply apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a top view inside the envelope supply apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is an IV-IV cross-sectional enlarged view of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the usage condition of the rolling roller mechanism of the said envelope supply apparatus.

(First embodiment)
1 to 3 show the overall configuration of a sealing device including an envelope supply device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire sealing device K. FIG. In FIG. 1, the transport path of the envelope N is a reciprocating type (or switchback type) having a forward path and a return path, the forward path transport direction is indicated by an arrow F1, and the return path transport direction is indicated by an arrow F2. . For convenience of explanation, the forward conveyance direction F1 side will be referred to as the “front side” of the apparatus, and the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction F1 (and F2) will be referred to as the conveyance width direction W.

  In the sealing device K, an envelope supply unit 2 for loading an unsealed envelope N is provided on the upper rear side of the main body case 4, and an envelope receiving unit 3 for loading the envelope N discharged after sealing is provided on the lower step. Is provided. An operation panel 5 is provided on one end of the main body case 4 in the transport width direction W.

  2 is a plan view of the inside of the apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line II in FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, the main body case 4 is a roller that also serves as a first transport roller mechanism in order from the rear side. Positioning that also serves as the mechanism 11, the second transport roller mechanism 12, the sealing section 13 that also serves as the third transport roller mechanism, the glue application section 14, the crease forming section 15, and the fourth transport roller mechanism A roller mechanism 16 is provided. The envelope supply device 1 includes an envelope supply unit 2, a rolling roller mechanism 11, and a second transport roller mechanism 12.

(Envelope supply unit 2)
2 and 3, the envelope supply unit 2 includes a mounting table 21 on which a plurality of envelopes N are mounted, and a pair of left and right guide plates 22 that are provided on the mounting table 21 and regulate both ends in the width direction of the envelope N. A plurality of supply rollers 23 projecting upward from openings formed in the mounting table 21 are provided, and a number of cut grooves extending in the conveyance width direction W are formed on the surface of the supply rollers 23. The pair of guide plates 22 is connected to a front plate 19 with which the front end edge of the envelope N placed on the placement table 21 abuts, and the guide plate 22 moves in the conveyance width direction W on the upper surface of the front plate 19. A knob 18 is provided for fixing the guide plate 22 after the movement. At the lower front end and lower rear end of the guide plate 22, there are provided guide rods 72 that are respectively inserted into guide plate guide openings 77 provided on the mounting table 21 and extend downward, and the pair of guide plates 22 is an envelope. The position in the conveyance width direction W can be adjusted according to the size of N.

  Each supply roller 23 is connected to a first drive motor 26 via a gear transmission mechanism 24 and a first belt transmission mechanism 25 provided at one end in the conveyance width direction W, and the first drive motor 26 As a result, all the supply rollers 23 rotate synchronously.

(Rolling roller mechanism 11)
4 is a cross-sectional view of the roller mechanism 11 that also serves as the first transport roller mechanism, and FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the roller mechanism 11. 4 and 5, the whirling roller mechanism 11 includes a transporting roller 31 disposed on the lower side of the forward transporting path and a whirling roller 32 disposed on the upper side of the transporting roller 31. The conveying roller 31 is placed on the placing table 21 and further conveys the envelope N conveyed by the supply roller 23 to the downstream side. As shown in FIG. 4, four roller rollers 32 are arranged at intervals in the conveyance width direction W, and the conveyance rollers 31 are also positions corresponding to the respective roller rollers 32 at intervals in the conveyance width direction W. There are four of them.

  In FIG. 4, four transport rollers 31 are fixed to a common drive shaft 33. The drive shaft 33 is rotatably supported by the left and right side walls 30, and one end side in the axial direction is at the end. The gear transmission mechanism 24 is connected. That is, the four transport rollers 31 are configured to rotate integrally with a common drive shaft 33 and to rotate synchronously with the supply roller 23 via the gear transmission mechanism 24.

  On the other hand, the roller 32 is supported on each independent roller support 34 via a one-way clutch 35 so as to be rotatable in only one direction. Each roller support 34 is fixed to a roller holder 36. Has been. The dimension of each roller 32 in the conveyance width direction W is smaller than the dimension of the conveyance roller 31 in the conveyance width direction W.

  In FIG. 5, the conveyance roller 31 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow A1 together with the drive shaft 33 so as to send the envelope N in the forward conveyance direction F1.

  The roller support shaft 34 of the roller 32 is supported by the front lower end portion of the roller holder 36. The roller 32 can be rotated around the roller support 34 only in the direction of arrow B1 by the action of the one-way clutch 35. It is configured not to rotate in the reverse direction. The lower end of the roller holder 36 is supported by the swing support shaft 38 so as to be swingable, and swings in the directions of the arrows C1 and C2. Thereby, each roller 32 and roller support shaft 34 can swing independently around the swing support shaft 38 in the vertical direction. That is, with respect to the conveying roller 31, the four roller rollers 32 can be independently moved up and down in the vertical direction.

  The rear upper end of each roller holder 36 is engaged with a rear end of a spring 37 constituted by a coil spring. The spring 37 extends forward, and the front end is fixed to a fixed wall 39 laid on the left and right side walls 30. It is locked to. That is, a spring 37 is stretched between the rear upper end portion of the roller holder 36 and the front fixed wall 39 to urge each roller holder 36 around the swing shaft 38 toward the conveying roller 31 in the direction of arrow C1. Then, it is brought into contact with the conveying roller 31.

A rolling pressure adjusting means 40 is provided at the front upper end of the roller holder 36. The rolling pressure adjusting means 40 includes a locking member 44 that is locked to the roller holder 36, and the locking member 44 has the roller holder 36 against the urging force of the spring 37 and the swing shaft 38 as an axis. The roller 32 is moved away from the conveying roller 31 by swinging in the direction of arrow C2. In the present embodiment, the locking member 44 is constituted by a screw 46, and the screw 46 is installed through a protruding wall portion 47 protruding upward from the fixed wall 39 of the apparatus main body 54. A female screw hole 50 into which the screw 46 is screwed is formed in the protruding wall portion 47, and the rear end portion of the screw 46 is in contact with a contact portion 48 protruding upward from the front upper end portion of the roller holder 36. . In FIG. 6, by manually rotating the screw 46 shown in FIG. 6 (a), the screw 46 is screwed back as shown in FIG. 6 (b), and the rear end of the screw 46 is abutted. By pushing the contact portion 48, the roller holder 36 rotates in the direction of the arrow C 2 around the swing shaft 38 against the biasing force of the spring 37, and the separating roller 31 is separated from the conveying roller 31 by a predetermined amount L.

(Second transport mechanism 12)
In FIG. 3, the second transport roller mechanism 12 includes a transport roller 41 disposed below the forward transport path and a pressing roller 42 disposed above the transport roller 41. 41 is formed so as to extend over substantially the entire width in the conveyance width direction W of the conveyance path, and four pressing rollers 42 are arranged at intervals in the conveyance width direction W, similarly to the rolling roller 32. Although not shown in the drawings, the roller support shafts of the four pressing rollers 42 are rotatably supported by roller holders like the roller 32, and the roller holders swing around the swing shaft. It is free.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the drive shaft of the transport roller 41 is rotatably supported by the left and right side walls 30, and one end in the axial direction is connected to the second belt transmission mechanism 45, and the second belt transmission. The mechanism 45 is connected to the second drive motor 49 shown in FIG.

(Sealing part 13)
The sealing unit 13 includes a conveyance roller 51 disposed on the lower side of the conveyance path of the forward / return path, a pressing roller 52 disposed on the upper side of the conveyance roller 51, and an envelope detection sensor 58. Both the transport roller 51 and the pressing roller 52 are formed so as to cover substantially the entire width in the transport width direction W of the transport path. The drive shaft of the conveying roller 51 is rotatably supported by the left and right side walls 30, and one end in the axial direction is connected to the third belt transmission mechanism 69. The third belt transmission mechanism 69 is shown in FIG. 3 drive motors 70.
ing.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the envelope detection sensor 58 has a light emitting element and a light receiving element installed above and below the envelope conveyance path. In FIG. 2, a pair of the envelope detection sensors 58 are arranged at intervals in the conveyance width direction W, and the presence or absence of passage of the envelope N is detected by detecting passage of the rear end (or front end) of the envelope N. In addition, the skew of the envelope N due to the difference in detection timing between the left and right detection sensors 58 and the count start position for determining the envelope stop position in the crease forming unit 15 and the glue applying unit 14 are detected.

(Glue application part 14)
7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. The glue application unit 14 includes a slider 63 movably supported by upper and lower guide rails 61 and 62 extending in the transport width direction W, a cassette holder 64 supported by the slider 63 so as to be movable up and down, and a cassette holder 64. A tape glue cassette 65 detachably attached and a glue base 66 disposed below the tape glue cassette 65 are provided. The guide rails 61 and 62 are supported on the left and right side walls of the holding case 60. The slider 63 is connected to a belt-type drive mechanism 67 laid in parallel with the guide rail 62, and the cassette holder 64 is connected to a lift drive motor 68 disposed in the slider 63.

  The tape glue cassette 65 is lowered from the raised position at the operation start position on the one end side in the conveyance width direction W, and the pressure roller 75 presses the tape glue against the upper surface of the glue base 66 at the lowered position. By moving the cassette 65 to the other end side in the conveyance width direction W, the adhesive of the tape glue is applied to the flap Na of the envelope N while rotating the pressure roller 75 by friction. Then, after reaching the other end end position in the transport width direction W, it rises to the ascending position, moves from the other end end position in the transport width direction W, and returns to the work start position.

(Fold forming part 15)
In FIG. 3, the crease forming unit 15 includes a lower die 81 disposed so as to be adjacent to the pasting direction F <b> 1 side of the pasting base 66 of the glue applying unit 14, and an upper die 82 that faces the lower die 81 from above. The lower die 81 is formed with a substantially V-shaped crease forming recess 81a, and the upper die 82 is formed in a thick plate shape that can be fitted into the recess 81a. The upper mold 82 is fixed to the upper end portion of a lift frame 83 that can be lifted and lowered by a lift means 84.

(Positioning roller mechanism 16)
In FIG. 3, the positioning roller mechanism 16 that also serves as a fourth transport roller mechanism is disposed on the front side of the fold forming portion 15, and includes a transport roller 91 disposed on the lower side of the transport path, and a transport roller. It is comprised from the pressing roller 92 which opposes 91 from upper direction. The drive shaft of the transport roller 91 is rotatably supported by the left and right side walls 30, one end in the axial direction is connected to the third belt transmission mechanism 69, and the transport roller 91 is sealed by driving of the third drive motor 70. It is comprised so that it may rotate synchronously with the conveyance roller 51 of the stop part 13.

(Sealing work)
In the sealing operation, the flap Na located on the rear end side of the envelope N in FIG. 3 is loaded on the mounting table 21 of the envelope supply unit 2 with the adhesive surface of the flap Na facing upward and the flap Na opened. . The loaded envelopes N are supplied from the lowest position in the forward conveyance direction F <b> 1 by the rotation of the supply roller 23, and are separated one by one by the rolling roller mechanism 11.

In FIG. 5, in the rolling roller mechanism 11, the envelope N is sandwiched between the conveying roller 31 and the separating roller 32, and the conveying roller 31 rotates in the direction of arrow A1, whereas the separating roller 32 is in the direction of arrow B1. It rotates only, and does not rotate in the direction opposite to the arrow B1. Thereby, even if the envelope N is double fed, only the lower envelope N is supplied and the upper envelope N is stopped. That is, the envelopes N are separated one by one.

For separating the envelope N, the envelope N is sandwiched between the conveying roller 31 and the separating roller 32, so that the separating roller 32 is lifted against the urging force of the spring 37, and the roller holder 36 moves the swing shaft 38. It rotates in the direction of arrow C2 as an axis. If the contents of the envelope N are relatively thick, such as a booklet, a strip of paper that is stacked a predetermined number of times, a CD in a case, a liquid sample, or a promotional sample, the thickness of the envelope N in the width direction of the envelope N It will be different. As a result, among the four roller rollers 32 in the conveyance width direction W, some of the roller rollers 32 corresponding to the locations where the thickness of the envelope N is increased are farther away from the conveyance roller 31 than the other roller rollers 32. The amount of rotation in the direction of the arrow C2 with the pivot shaft 38 as the center is increased. Then, the urging force of the spring 37 is increased and decreased, the clamping pressure of a part of the rolling rollers 32 becomes stronger than the others, and the envelope N is conveyed while being inclined.

Therefore, the user adjusts the urging force of the spring 37 at the location where the envelope N is thickened by the rolling pressure adjusting means 40. At that time, the screw 46 corresponding to the thickened portion of the envelope N that needs to be adjusted is rotated to swing the roller holder 36 in the direction of the arrow C2, so that the thickened portion of the envelope N as shown in FIG. The distance L between the separating roller 32a and the conveying roller 31 is made longer than the thickness of the envelope N. As a result, even if the thickness differs in the width direction of the envelope N, the envelope N is separated one by one by the rolling roller 32b corresponding to the thin portion of the envelope N without causing any strength in the force to sandwich the envelope N. Therefore, the inclination of the envelope N can be prevented.

The envelope N separated into one sheet in the rolling roller mechanism 11 is conveyed to the sealing unit 13 by the second conveying roller mechanism 12. The sealing portion 13 that also serves as the third transport roller mechanism is further transported in the forward transport direction F1 and passes through the paste applying portion 14 and the crease forming portion 15 so that most of the envelope N is located above and below the positioning roller mechanism 16. The flaps Na sandwiched between the rollers 91 and 92 and stopped at a predetermined position where the flap Na at the rear end of the envelope N has reached the glue receiving table 66 of the glue applying unit 14.

  In the stopped state, in the glue application unit 14, the flap Na of the envelope N is positioned on the glue receiving table 66 of the glue application unit 14, and the root (fold formation position) of the flap Na is positioned in the crease formation unit 15. The rollers 91 and 92 of the positioning roller mechanism 16 are stopped and held at predetermined positions. First, the upper mold 82 of the crease forming portion 15 is lowered to an intermediate position, and the flap Na is stabilized in a horizontal state by lightly pressing the base of the flap Na, and is pressed against the gluing table 66, followed by applying glue. The tape glue cassette 65 of the section 14 is lowered to the lowered position, and in the lowered position, the pressure roller 75 presses the tape glue against the upper surface of the glue base 66, and then the tape glue cassette 65 is moved to the other end side in the conveyance width direction W. The tape glue is applied to the flap Na of the envelope N while rotating the pressure roller 75 by friction.

After completion of the gluing step, the upper mold 82 of the crease forming part 15 is further lowered from the intermediate position to the lowest position, thereby forming a crease at the base of the flap Na and tilting the flap Na upward.

  Thereafter, the rollers 91 and 92 of the positioning roller mechanism 16 and the rollers 51 and 52 of the sealing portion are reversed, so that the envelope N is transported in the backward transport direction F2 and between the rollers 51 and 52 of the sealing portion 13. By passing, the flap Na is stuck to the envelope body Nb and discharged to the envelope receiver 3.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 9 shows a modification of the roller mechanism 11. In FIG. 9, the rolling pressure adjusting means 40 a includes a cam mechanism 54 that rotates by driving of a motor (not shown) instead of the screw 46, and the cam mechanism 54 is brought into contact with the front end portion of the roller holder 36. is set up. In addition, a thickness sensor 55 is newly provided. The thickness sensor 55 detects thickness information in the conveyance width direction W of the envelope N sandwiched between the conveyance roller 31 and the rolling roller 32.

In FIG. 9, the thickness sensor 55 includes a reflection plate 56 installed on the rear surface of the roller holder 36 and a reflection type sensor 57 installed behind the reflection plate 56. The light emitted from the element is reflected by the reflecting plate 56 and received by the light receiving element of the reflective sensor 57, and the distance between the roller holder 36 and the reflective sensor 57 installation position is detected. Since the swing amount of the roller holder 36 changes according to the thickness F of the envelope N sandwiched between the conveying roller 31 and the separating roller 32, the distance of the roller holder 36 from the installation position of the reflective sensor 57 is detected. Thus, the thickness information of the envelope N is obtained.

Based on the thickness information detected by the thickness sensor 55, the individual punching pressure adjusting means 40a is controlled. When the thickness of the envelope N is different in the width direction, the envelope N reaching the roller mechanism 11 is sandwiched between the conveying roller 31 and the roller 32 as shown by a one-dot chain line in FIG. Stop at once. Then, the amount of upward displacement of the four roller rollers 32 is calculated based on the detection value of the thickness sensor 55, and the distribution of the thickness F in the width direction of the envelope N is obtained. Based on the obtained thickness information, it is determined whether or not each motor is to be driven, and the roller 32 corresponding to a portion thicker than the other portion of the envelope N by a predetermined amount or more is conveyed with the roller 32. It is swung until the distance L between the rollers 31 becomes longer than the thickness F of the envelope N. As a result, the envelope N is separated by the separating roller 32 corresponding to the portion having a small thickness in the width direction, and only one envelope N can be conveyed downstream, and the contents of the envelope N are thick in the width direction. Even if the distance is different, it can be properly conveyed without skew.

(Third embodiment)
10 and 11 show a modification of the envelope supply unit 2, FIG. 10 is a part of a plan view of the modified envelope supply unit 2a, and FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. is there. 10 and 11, a guide plate position sensor 59 is provided below the guide plate 22a of the envelope supply unit 2a. The guide plate position sensor 59 detects the position in the transport width direction W of the guide plate 22 a on the mounting table 21. The lower end portion of each guide rod 72a that passes through a guide plate guide opening 77 provided at the lower rear end of the guide plate 22a and extends downward is bent forward under the envelope N placement surface of the placement table 21. Are connected to racks 73 that extend in the transport width direction W. The lower surface of each rack 73 meshes with a pinion 74 installed at a substantially central portion in the transport width direction W of the rack 73, and the rotation amount of the pinion 74 is detected by a potentiometer 76.

The glue application unit 14 controls the application position of the glue to the envelope N in the glue application part 14 based on the detection result of the guide plate position sensor 59.

When sealing using the sealing device Ka according to the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the envelope Nc is thickened only in a part in the width direction, such as a bag binding portion of a catalog. When there is a portion T, the position of the envelope Nc placed on the placing table 21 is adjusted in advance to an appropriate position by the user. The proper position is a position moved from the center to either the left or right side so that the portion T where the envelope Nc is thicker than the other does not come into contact with the plurality of rolling rollers 32. FIG. 12 shows a case where the envelope Nc is moved to the left side.

Then, the user places the envelope Nc on the mounting table 21 at a position where the envelope Nc has moved to the left or right from the center, and the pair of guide plates 22a have both ends in the width direction of the envelope Nc as shown in FIG. It is moved to the abutting position, aligned, and fixed to the position by the rotation of the knob 18. As the guide plate 22a moves, the rack 73 moves in the conveyance width direction W, rotates the pinion 74, and the amount of rotation of the pinion 74 is measured by the potentiometer 76, whereby the guide plate 22a on the mounting table 21 is measured. The position in the transport width direction W is detected.

When the envelope Nc on the mounting table 21 is supplied from the mounting table 21 in the forward conveyance direction F1 by the rotation of the supply roller 23 and reaches the rolling roller mechanism 11, the portion T where the thickness of the envelope N is thicker than the others. However, they pass through without being in contact with the rolling roller 32 and are separated one by one by the rolling roller 32 corresponding to the thin portion. In this way, since the rolling roller 32 does not come into contact with the thick portion T of the envelope Nc, the envelope Nc can be clamped by the biasing force of the substantially equivalent spring 37 by the rolling roller 32 corresponding to the thin portion of the envelope Nc. Then, the envelopes Nc can be separated one by one by the rolling roller 32 corresponding to the thin portion of the envelope Nc, and the inclination of the envelope Nc can be prevented.

The envelope Nc separated into one sheet in the rolling roller mechanism 11 passes through the second conveying roller mechanism 12 and the sealing portion 13 to reach the glue applying portion 14 and the glue is applied to the upper surface of the flap Na. At this time, the position of applying the glue of the tape glue is moved in the transport width direction W in accordance with the detection result of the guide plate 22a, and from one end of the flap Na located at a position deviated from the center to the other end. Apply glue.

As a result, even when the envelope Nc is placed at a position deviated from the center of the placement table 21, the glue application position on the envelope Nc in the glue application unit 14 is controlled based on the detection result of the guide plate position sensor 59. By doing so, the glue application position of the tape glue cassette 65 can be moved by the same amount as the movement amount in the transport width direction W on the mounting table 21, the glue can be properly applied without protruding from the flap, and sealing processing can be performed. it can.

  In each of the above embodiments, the four roller rollers 32 and the conveyance roller 31 are arranged in the conveyance width direction W with an interval therebetween. However, in the envelope supply device of the present invention, the separation rollers are spaced in the conveyance width direction. A plurality may be provided, and may be two, three, or five or more. Further, although the roller holder 36 that rotatably supports the roller support shaft 38 of the roller 32 is provided, the roller may be supported by other configurations. Further, one end of the spring 37 is locked to the roller holder 36 and the other end is locked to the fixed wall 39 of the apparatus main body. However, the spring may be locked by another mechanism. For example, the spring may be locked to a roller support shaft that extends to the side of the roller.

Further, the punching pressure adjusting means 40 includes a locking member 44 that is locked to the roller holder 36. The locking member 44 is configured by the screw 46 or the cam mechanism 54, but other configurations may be used. Further, the locking member 44 swings the roller holder 36 against the urging force of the spring 37 and swings the roller roller 36 about the swing shaft 38, thereby separating the separation roller 32 from the transport roller 31. The spring may be locked in the direction of increasing the biasing force to prevent double feeding of thin envelopes.

Further, the rolling pressure adjusting means 40, 40a is configured to manually rotate and adjust the screw 46, or to automatically drive and control the motor based on the thickness information detected by the thickness sensor 55. However, instead of these, control may be performed based on the thickness information in the conveyance width direction of the envelope input from the operation panel, or the thickness information may be obtained by measuring the distance between the rolling roller and the conveyance roller. Good. In addition, the thickness sensor 55 is configured by the reflection plate 56 and the reflection type sensor 57, but may have other configurations.

Further, the punching pressure adjusting means 40, 40a adjusts the urging force of the spring 37 so that the punching roller 32 at the thickened portion of the envelope N has a height L that does not contact the envelope N, so as to handle the thinned portion. Although the envelope N is separated by the roller 32, the urging force of the spring that urges the separating roller at the thickened portion of the envelope N is adjusted to be substantially equal to the urging force of the spring that urges the other separating rollers. Or may be adjusted to weaken by a predetermined amount. Thereby, the contact pressure between the roller and the envelope can be adjusted, and the envelopes can be easily separated one by one.

Further, the guide plates 22 and 22a are provided with a knob 18 and manually moved in the conveyance width direction W, and fixed at a predetermined position by the rotation of the knob 18. However, instead of this, the motor and the driving of the motor are used. It is good also as providing the moving means which moves a guide board to a conveyance width direction.

In the above-described embodiment, the reciprocating sealing device K having the forward path and the backward path is described. However, the present invention is also applicable to a sealing apparatus having a through-type transport path having only one transport direction. . In addition, the envelope supply device 1 is configured by the envelope supply unit 2, the rolling roller mechanism 11, and the second conveyance roller mechanism 12, but the second conveyance roller mechanism can be omitted. Moreover, although it used for the sealing apparatus which apply | coats glue to the flap of the envelope N supplied with the envelope supply apparatus 1 and seals it, it is not limited to this, Even if it uses it for the post-process of an enclosure machine, for example It is also possible to use it when supplying envelopes to an address and content confirmation device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Envelope supply part 5 Operation panel 12 2nd conveyance roller mechanism 13 Sealing part 14 Glue application part 15 Fold formation part 16 Positioning roller mechanism (4th conveyance roller mechanism)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Mounting stand 22 Guide plate 31 Conveying roller 32 Rolling roller 34 Roller spindle 36 Roller holder 37 Spring 39 Fixed wall 40 Rolling pressure adjusting means 46 Screw 54 Cam mechanism 55 Thickness sensor 59 Guide plate position sensor N Envelope Na Flap

Claims (10)

A plurality of mounting tables on which a plurality of envelopes are mounted, a transport roller for transporting the envelopes placed on the mounting table to the downstream side, and a plurality of them provided at intervals in a transport width direction perpendicular to the transport direction. It is provided with a separating roller that is urged to the conveying roller side by an independent spring, is individually moved close to and away from the conveying roller, and a separating pressure adjusting means that adjusts the urging force of each spring for each roller. Envelope supply device. A roller holder that rotatably supports the roller spindle of the roller is provided, and one end of the spring is locked to the roller holder, and the other end is locked to a fixed wall of the apparatus main body. The envelope supply device according to claim 1, wherein the punching pressure adjusting means includes a locking member that locks the roller holder so that the biasing force of the spring can be adjusted. The envelope supply device according to claim 2, wherein the locking member locks the roller holder against the urging force of the spring and separates the winding roller from the conveying roller. The envelope supply device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the locking member includes a screw or a cam mechanism. A thickness sensor that detects thickness information in the conveyance width direction of the envelope sandwiched between the conveyance roller and the rolling roller, and controls the individual pressure adjustment means based on the thickness information detected by the thickness sensor. The envelope supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein The envelope supply according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the individual punching pressure adjusting means is controlled on the basis of thickness information in the conveyance width direction of the envelope input from the operation panel. apparatus. The winding pressure adjusting means is configured to bias the biasing force of the spring that biases the winding roller corresponding to a portion where the thickness of the envelope in the conveyance width direction is thick to bias the winding roller corresponding to a portion thinner than the portion. The envelope supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the envelope supply device is adjusted so as to be substantially equal to or weaker than the urging force. A sealing device comprising the envelope supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. A mounting table on which the envelope is mounted; a transport roller that transports the envelope mounted on the mounting table to the downstream side; a pair of guide plates that are provided on the mounting table and regulate both ends in the width direction of the envelope; , Including a glue application unit that applies glue to the envelope conveyed by the conveyance roller from the mounting table, and a sealing unit that seals the glue-coated envelope, and detects the position of the guide plate in the conveyance width direction on the mounting table And a guide plate position sensor for controlling the application position of glue on the envelope in the glue application section based on the detection result of the guide plate position sensor. The sealing device according to claim 9, wherein the guide plate includes a motor and a moving unit that moves the guide plate in the conveyance width direction by driving the motor.

Images