JP2020040231A - Sealing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To solve the problem that when not used for a long time, the retained water evaporates from a surface of a moisturizing portion and water cannot be retained properly, resulting in incomplete application of water, and further, when envelopes are continuously conveyed, there is a possibility that coating failure may occur due to a delay in water supply.SOLUTION: Water is applied to an application portion of an envelope which is conveyed by conveying means for conveying the envelope, to which a water-soluble adhesive is applied. In conjunction with the conveyance of the envelope, water is supplied from water supply means for holding and supplying water to the application means, and in conjunction with the conveyance of the envelope for sealing the envelope having water applied to the application portion, water is supplied from the water supply means to the application means for applying water to the application portion of the envelope to which the water-soluble adhesive is applied.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

  The present invention relates to a sealing device for sealing a flap portion of an envelope.

  2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a device for sealing an envelope, a sealing device is known in which an envelope provided with a flap portion is conveyed while the flap portion is glued and pressed to seal the envelope. There is also a sealing device in which a glue member for bonding is preliminarily applied to the flap portion of the envelope, and an envelope which can be bonded by applying water to the portion and re-dissolving it is also available. For example, Patent Literature 1 describes a sealing device including a water application unit that applies water to a glue member applied to a flap portion.

JP 2012-45754 A

  The water application means in the conventional sealing device is provided with a moisturizing portion such as a member wound with a nonwoven fabric or a sponge at a position facing the glue member which has been previously adhered to the flap portion and dried, and from there, the glue member is provided. By applying water, the flap portion is in a state where it can be bonded. In such a water application means, for example, if the water is not used for a long time, the water retained from the surface of the moisturizing portion evaporates and the water cannot be retained properly, and the water application becomes incomplete. There was a fear. In addition, since the supply of water to the moisturizing unit is performed by sucking up water due to the capillary action of the moisturizing unit, when the envelope is continuously conveyed, coating failure may occur due to a delay in water supply.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional technology.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of supplying a sufficient amount of water to a coating portion of an envelope to apply the envelope according to the conveyance of the envelope.

In order to achieve the above object, a sealing device according to one embodiment of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
Conveying means for conveying the envelope,
An application unit that applies water to an application unit on which the water-soluble adhesive of the envelope conveyed by the conveyance unit is applied,
Water supply means for holding and supplying water,
Supply means for supplying water to the coating means from the water supply means in conjunction with the transfer of the envelope by the transfer means,
And sealing means for sealing the envelope on which water is applied to the application section by the application means.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, there is an effect that an envelope can be reliably sealed because sufficient water can be supplied and applied to the application part of an envelope according to conveyance of an envelope.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus including a sealing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a cross section of an image forming apparatus including a sealing device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a top view of the envelope sealed by the sealing device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a partial schematic perspective view of a sealing unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a water application unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a positional relationship between a separation wing portion of a water application unit and an envelope to be conveyed according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state in which a separation wing portion of a water application unit according to the first embodiment enters the folded portion of the envelope and applies water to the glue application unit. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a water supply tank is set in the sealing device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the sealing unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a main part of a sealing unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the sealing unit according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the sealing unit according to the second embodiment. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an envelope and a sealing process in the sealing device according to the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the present embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution of the present invention. .

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus provided with a sealing device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  The paper feed unit 2 is located on the left side of the main body 1, and envelopes separated one by one from the loaded envelopes are transported in the direction of arrow A. The central part is the sealing part 3, where the flap part of the envelope is glued. The right part is a printing unit 4 for printing information such as charges on the sealed envelope. Note that the user can input information and the like necessary for the operation of the apparatus via the operation panel 5.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a cross section of the image forming apparatus including the sealing device according to the first embodiment.

  When the plurality of envelopes 7 are stacked on the paper feed stacking unit 21, the paper feed roller 22 is driven and transported by a drive unit (not shown), and the transported envelope is separated into a single envelope by the separation wall 23. The separated envelope 7 is transported to the sealing unit 3 by an endless transport belt 53 wound around a driving pulley 51 and a driven pulley 52 and a pinch roller 54.

  After the envelope 7 conveyed to the sealing section 3 is coated with water on a glue section 72 of a flap section 71 (FIG. 4) of the envelope described later, the envelope is pressed by the pressing roller 61 in the pressing unit section 6 and sealed.

  The envelope 7 sealed in this way is conveyed to the printing unit 4, and after the charge information and the like are printed by ink droplets ejected from the recording head 110, the envelope 7 is discharged out of the apparatus.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

  Print data and commands input from the external PC 115 are received by the CPU 100 via the interface controller 101. The CPU 100 controls the overall operation of the apparatus, such as reception of print data, printing operation, conveyance and sealing of envelopes, ink ejection and recovery operation of the recording head 110, and the like. After analyzing the received command, the CPU 100 develops the image data of the print data into a bitmap in the image memory 103. In the process performed before printing, the envelope is conveyed by driving the paper feed motor 111 that feeds the envelope 7 via the output port 108 and the motor driving unit 119. The CPU 100 drives the carriage motor 113 via the output port 108 and the motor driving unit 119 to move the recording head 110 to the printing position.

  When printing is performed, the position of the envelope 7 is detected by the media detection sensor 105 in order to determine the timing (recording timing) at which ink is ejected from the recording head 110 to the envelope 7 transported by the transport motor 112. Thereafter, in synchronization with the conveyance of the envelope, the CPU 100 sequentially reads out the image data from the image memory 103 and transfers the read out image data to the printhead 110 via the printhead control circuit 107. The operation of CPU 100 is executed based on a program stored in program ROM 102. The program ROM 102 stores programs and tables corresponding to the control processing. The CPU 100 uses a work RAM 104 as a work memory. Further, the CPU 100 drives the recovery motor 114 via the output port 108 and the motor driving unit 119 during the cleaning and recovery operations of the recording head 110, and performs control such as suction of ink from the recording head 110. Note that the photo interrupter 106 is used to detect a slit in the second embodiment.

  FIG. 4 is a top view of the envelope sealed by the sealing device according to the first embodiment.

  The envelope 7 can be sealed by folding and attaching the flap portion 71. A glue application section 72 on which a water-soluble glue is applied is provided near the tip of the flap section 71. The envelope 7 is sealed by applying water to the glue application section 72 and folding and pressing the flap section 71.

  FIG. 5 is a partial schematic perspective view of the sealing unit 3 according to the first embodiment. Here, some shapes such as bearings are omitted.

  The sealing unit 3 includes a transport roller 31 and a pinch roller 32 for transporting the envelope, a water application unit 33 for applying water to the glue application unit 72 of the envelope 7, a water supply container 38 for storing water supplied to the water application unit 33, and a water supply container. And a water supply tank 9 for supplying water to the water supply tank 38. Here, the envelope 7 is transported in the direction of arrow A, and water is applied to the glue application section 72 of the envelope 7, and then the flap section 71 is pressed by the pressing roller 61 (FIG. 2) provided on the downstream side. Sealing is performed.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the water application section 33 according to the first embodiment.

  The water application section 33 has a separation wing section 34 that enters the flap section 71 of the folded envelope 7, and a brush section 35 that contacts the glue application section 72 of the flap section 71. The brush portion 35 can be in a state in which it contacts the flap portion 71 and a state in which it is separated from the flap portion 71, and is urged by a spring 36 in the direction of arrow B (the direction in which it contacts the glue application portion 72).

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a positional relationship between the separation wings 34 of the water application unit 33 according to the first embodiment and the envelope 7 to be conveyed.

  The separation wing portion 34 is disposed so as to enter the folded portion of the envelope 7 with respect to the envelope 7 conveyed in the direction of arrow A with the flap 71 folded.

  FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state in which the separation wings 34 of the water application unit 33 according to the first embodiment enter the flap 71 serving as the folded portion of the envelope 7 and apply water to the glue application unit 72. It is.

  Here, water is applied to the glue application section 72 by transporting the envelope 7 in a state where the brush section 35 containing water is in contact with the glue application section 72. The brush portion 35 is urged downward (toward the flap 71) by the above-described spring 36, so that the brush portion 35 can reliably contact the glue application portion 72 and apply water.

  FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the water supply tank 9 is set in the sealing device according to the first embodiment.

  In the water supply tank 9, a cap 92 is fastened to a container 91, and the internal water is sealed by a seal member 95. The opening of the cap 92 has a rubber sealing valve 94 and an opening / closing shaft 93 integrated with each other. Normally, a spring 96 urges the opening / closing shaft 93 in the direction of the cap 92 so that the water supply tank 9 is opened. Water inside is sealed. When the water supply tank 9 is set in the sealing section 3, the water supply tank 9 is inserted upside down as shown in FIG. At this time, the tip of the opening / closing shaft 93 is pushed toward the inside of the water supply tank 9 by the abutting portion 39 provided inside the water supply container 38. Thereby, the sealing valve 94 is opened, and water flows from the water supply tank 9 into the water supply container 38. When the water level in the water supply container 38 reaches W, the water supply from the water supply tank 9 is stopped because the water supply tank 9 is closed. When the water is applied to the glue application section 72 and the water is used to lower the water level in the water supply container 38, the water in the water supply tank 9 is supplied to the water supply container 38 accordingly. Thus, the water level in the water supply container 38 can be constantly maintained at the constant water level W until the water in the water supply tank 9 runs out.

  FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a main part of the sealing unit 3 according to the first embodiment.

  A transport motor 112, which is a drive source for transporting the envelope 7, is connected to the rotating shaft of the drive pulley 51 of the transmission belt 37 for transporting the envelope 7 directly or via a gear, and drives the transport motor 112 to rotate. As a result, the envelope 7 is conveyed and the water supply roller 80 (rotary member) rotates. The upper part of the outer periphery of the water supply roller 80 is in contact with the brush part 35 of the water application part 33, and the lower part of the water supply roller 80 is in contact with water stored at a constant water level W in the water supply container 38. A water supply sponge portion 81 (water holding member) capable of holding water is provided on an outer peripheral surface portion of the water supply roller 80. The water supply roller 80 rotates around its shaft portion 82, whereby a water supply container 38 is provided. The water stored in the brush section 35 is supplied to the brush section 35. The shaft 82 of the water supply roller 80 is connected to the conveyance drive of the envelope 7 by the transmission belt 37. Therefore, when the transport motor 112 is driven to rotate and the transport of the envelope 7 is started, the transmission belt 37 moves in the direction of arrow C, whereby the water supply roller 80 is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow D, and water is applied to the brush portion 35. Supplied.

  Since the rotation of the water supply roller 80 is linked with the conveyance of the envelope 7, water can be reliably supplied to the brush portion 35 even when the printing interval on the envelope 7 is long. This can prevent poor sealing of the envelope 7 due to insufficient water supply due to drying or the like.

  Further, since the rotation speed of the water supply roller 80 corresponds to the transport speed of the envelope 7, the amount of water supplied to the brush portion 35 corresponds to the transport speed of the envelope 7. Therefore, even when the envelope 7 is continuously conveyed, the supply of water to the brush portion 35 does not become insufficient.

[Embodiment 2]
The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment only in the configuration of the sealing portion 3, and therefore, the other description is omitted.

  FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a main part of the sealing unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 11, portions common to FIG. 10 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

  In the second embodiment, the water supply sponge portion 84 of the water supply roller 83 is not provided over the entire outer periphery of the water supply roller 83 unlike the water supply sponge portion 81 of the first embodiment. That is, the water supply sponge portion 84 is provided separately at a plurality of opposing (two in this case) locations on the outer periphery of the water supply roller 83. A gear 86 is provided on the transmission belt 37 side of the shaft portion 85, and a light-shielding flag 87 is provided on the opposite side, and these rotate in synchronization with the rotation of the water supply roller 83. A photo interrupter 106 for detecting a slit position of the light shielding flag 87 is provided at a position facing the light shielding flag 87. By detecting the slit position of the light blocking flag 87 in this manner, it is possible to detect whether the water supply sponge portion 84 of the water supply roller 83 is in the state of FIG. 12 or 13. The gear 86 is linked to a clutch 89 having a gear portion, and the rotation of the water supply roller 83 is transmitted by the transmission belt 37. The clutch 89 functions as switching means for switching whether the rotation transmitted by the transmission belt 37 is transmitted to the rotation shaft of the water supply roller 83 or not.

  FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are cross-sectional views of main parts of the sealing unit 3 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 12, the photo interrupter 106 detects light passing through the slit 88 of the light blocking flag 87. The state shown in FIG. 12 is a state where the water supply sponge portion 84 of the water supply roller 83 is not in contact with the water stored in the water supply container 38 and the brush portion 35 and is on standby.

  On the other hand, FIG. 13 shows a state in which the photo interrupter 106 does not detect light passing through the slit 88. The state shown in FIG. 13 is a state in which the water supply sponge portion 84 of the water supply roller 83 is at least partially in contact with the water stored in the water supply container 38 and the brush portion 35.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an envelope and a sealing process in the sealing device according to the second embodiment. Note that the processing shown in this flowchart is achieved by the CPU 100 executing a program stored in the program ROM 102.

  This processing is started when an instruction to convey an envelope is issued. First, in step S1401, the CPU 100 turns on the clutch 89 and starts rotating the conveyance motor 112. In step S1402, the CPU 100 waits for the photo-interrupter 106 to detect the slit 88. That is, the CPU 100 contacts the water sponge 84 of the water supply roller 83 with the water stored in the water supply container 38 as shown in FIG. The process proceeds to S1403 after waiting for the status not to be performed. In step S1403, the CPU 100 turns off the clutch 89 to prevent the rotation of the transport motor 112 from being transmitted to the water supply roller 83, and proceeds to step S1405. This is because it is considered that a sufficient amount of water is supplied to the brush portion 25 so that the brush portion 25 can be sealed in the processing so far, and therefore, excessive supply of moisture to the brush portion 25 is suppressed.

  In step S1404, the CPU 100 determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous conveyance of the envelope. If the CPU 100 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed, the CPU 100 proceeds to step S1405 to transfer the envelope at a place where the envelope can be sealed. The operation is stopped, the envelope is sealed in S1406, and the process proceeds to S1412. Here, since it is assumed that the conveyance and the sealing of the envelope are executed continuously, such processing is executed.

  On the other hand, if the CPU 100 determines in S1404 that the predetermined time has elapsed since the previous conveyance of the envelope, the CPU 100 proceeds to S1407, turns on the clutch 89, transmits the rotation of the conveyance motor 112 to the water supply roller 83, and proceeds to S1408. . This is because when the predetermined time has elapsed, there is a possibility that the supply of water to the brush unit 25 may be insufficient. Therefore, the state shown in FIG. Water is supplied to the section 25. Then, in step S1408, the CPU 100 stops transporting the envelope at a place where the envelope can be sealed, executes sealing of the envelope in step S1409, and proceeds to step S1410.

  In S1410, the CPU 100 determines whether the photo interrupter 106 has detected the slit 88, as in S1402. If the photo interrupter 106 has not detected the slit 88, the process waits for the photo interrupter 106 to detect the slit 88 in S1410. When the photo interrupter 106 detects the slit 88, the process proceeds to S1411, where the CPU 100 turns off the clutch 27 so that the rotation of the transport motor 112 is not transmitted to the water supply roller 83. This means that the rotation of the water supply roller 83 is stopped in a state as shown in FIG. 12 when the transfer and sealing of the envelope are completed. This is performed only when the supply of water to the brush unit 25 is necessary, and usually, is to prevent the supply of water to the brush unit 25 and to suppress the excessive supply of water to the brush unit 25. . Then, the process advances to step S1412, and when the CPU 100 completes the transfer and sealing of the envelope and shifts to the standby state, the CPU 100 stops driving the transfer motor 112 and ends the process.

  By performing such a process, the time interval for transporting the envelope is grasped, and the water supply sponge portion 87 is not brought into contact with water in a standby state of transporting the envelope, so that the transmission of water can be precisely controlled.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to control the amount of water to be transmitted to the brush portion that performs water application, and to reliably apply water to the glue portion of the envelope according to the transport speed of the envelope. . Thereby, good sealing is always possible.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, to make the scope of the present invention public, the following claims are appended.

  Reference numeral 2 denotes a paper feeding unit, 3 denotes a sealing unit, 4 denotes a printing unit, 5 denotes an operation panel, 9 denotes a water supply tank, 33 denotes a water application unit, 35 denotes a brush unit, 38 denotes a water supply container, 72 denotes a glue application unit, and 88 ... Slit, 89 clutch, 100 CPU, 102 program ROM, 112 transport motor

Claims (8)

Conveying means for conveying the envelope,
An application unit that applies water to an application unit on which the water-soluble adhesive of the envelope conveyed by the conveyance unit is applied,
Water supply means for holding and supplying water,
Supply means for supplying water to the coating means from the water supply means in conjunction with the transfer of the envelope by the transfer means,
Sealing means for sealing the envelope coated with water by the application means by the application means,
A sealing device comprising: The water supply means,
A water tank for storing water,
The sealing device according to claim 1, further comprising a water supply container that stores the water supplied from the water supply tank at a water level at which the water comes into contact with a water holding member. The transport unit has a transport motor that is a drive source for transporting the envelope,
The sealing device according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission unit that transmits rotation of the transport motor to the supply unit.   The sealing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the supply unit includes a water holding member that holds water on an outer periphery of the rotating rotating member.   The water holding member can take a first state in which at least one of the water supply unit and the application unit is in contact, and a second state in which neither the water supply unit nor the application unit is in contact. The sealing device according to claim 4, characterized in that:   The sealing device according to claim 5, further comprising a detection unit configured to detect whether the water holding member is in the first state or the second state. A switching unit that switches whether or not the supply unit is interlocked with the conveyance of the envelope by the conveyance unit, or not.
When a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous transport of the envelope, the switching means controls the supply means to control the switching so as to interlock with the transport of the envelope by the transport means. The sealing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that:   The control means may further include, when closing the envelope and transitioning to a standby state, after the supply means is in a state of not contacting any of the water supply means and the coating means, the switching means 8. The sealing device according to claim 7, wherein the supply unit is switched so as not to be linked with the transport of the envelope by the transport unit.

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