JP2022045756A - Bonding device - Google Patents

Abstract

To lower a possibility that when products of the same kind are successively formed, a user handles the products in a wrong way.SOLUTION: There is provided a bonding device which forms adhesive images of a powder adhesive on sheets being carried, and folds, heats and presses the sheets after the adhesive images are fixed. The bonding device is so controlled in the formation of the adhesive image so that a first adhesive image is formed on a first sheet and a second adhesive image different from the first adhesive image is formed on a second sheet following the first sheet.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

The present invention relates to an adhesive device that forms an image of a powder adhesive on a sheet.

Patent Documents 1 to 4 disclose an apparatus for adhering toner to a sheet to form a toner image and adhering a powder adhesive to the sheet, for example, in an electrophotographic process. The sheet to which the powder adhesive is attached is folded, then heated and pressurized. As a result, the facing regions of the folded sheets are adhered to each other, and a bag material as a product is created. The bag material with an opening can be used as a container for storing articles such as medicines, small items, souvenirs or tickets. The bag material having no opening can be used, for example, as a sealed envelope (also referred to as a crimping document) for concealing the information printed on the inner side surface until it is opened.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-171607 JP-A-2007-193004 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-36957 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-162029

However, in the above-mentioned existing device, when the same kind of deliverables are continuously created, the user may mistake the deliverables.

The present invention is intended to provide an apparatus capable of suppressing the possibility of misunderstanding of deliverables by a user.

According to one embodiment, the adhesive device fixes the image forming means for forming an adhesive image of powder adhesive on the conveyed sheet and the adhesive image formed on the sheet by the image forming means on the sheet. A fixing means, a folding means provided on the downstream side of the fixing means in the transport direction of the sheet, and a folding means for folding the sheet, a heating means for heating and pressurizing the sheet folded by the folding means, and a first method. The image is formed so as to form a first adhesive image on the sheet of the above and a second adhesive image different from the first adhesive image on the second sheet following the first sheet. A control means for controlling the forming means is provided.

According to another aspect, the adhesive device comprises an image forming means for forming a toner image and an adhesive image of a powder adhesive on a conveyed sheet, and the toner image and the bonding formed on the sheet by the image forming means. The fixing means for fixing the agent image to the sheet, the folding means provided on the downstream side of the fixing means in the transport direction of the sheet, and the folding means for folding the sheet, and the sheet folded by the folding means are heated and used. When the heating means for pressurizing and the same type of toner image are continuously formed on two or more sheets, the first toner image is formed on the first sheet in the first orientation, and the first sheet is formed on the first sheet. A control means for controlling the image forming means so that a second toner image of the same type as the first toner image is formed on the subsequent second sheet in a second orientation different from the first orientation. , Equipped with.

According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the possibility of the user mistaking the deliverables when the same kind of deliverables are continuously created.

The block diagram of the image forming apparatus by one Embodiment. The block diagram of the process cartridge according to one Embodiment. An explanatory diagram of processing in a folding machine according to an embodiment. The figure which shows the positional relationship between the powders adhering to a sheet by one Embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the adhesive image and the toner image which are related to a certain deliverable. The figure which shows the appearance of forming the adhesive image of the same pattern over a plurality of sheets as a comparative example. The figure which shows how different adhesive images are formed between sheets according to one Embodiment. The figure which shows how different adhesive images are formed between sheets according to one Embodiment. The figure which shows how different adhesive images are formed between sheets according to one Embodiment. The figure which shows the mode that the direction of a toner image is changed according to the direction of the opening of a bag material according to one Embodiment. The figure which shows how the toner image is formed in different directions between sheets according to one modification.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although a plurality of features are described in the embodiment, not all of the plurality of features are essential for the invention, and the plurality of features may be arbitrarily combined. Further, in the attached drawings, the same or similar configurations are given the same reference numbers, and duplicate explanations are omitted.

<1. Outline of the device>
Here, as one embodiment of the adhesive device, an example of an image forming device capable of forming both a toner image and an adhesive image on a sheet will be described. However, the mechanism described below can also be applied to an adhesive device that adheres only an adhesive without forming a toner image on a sheet, unless otherwise explained.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus 1 that forms an image by an electrophotographic process according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1 includes an image forming unit 10 which is an image forming means, and a post-processing unit 30. Based on the image data, the image forming unit 10 forms a toner image on the sheet P previously stored in the cassette 8 and conveyed along the conveying path, and adheres the powder adhesive to the sheet P. The powder adhesive adhering to the sheet P forms a certain two-dimensional pattern, and the image is called an adhesive image. As used herein, the term "powder" shall include toner and powder adhesive. Further, the term "image" or "powder image" shall include a toner image and an adhesive image. The image forming unit 10 includes four process cartridges 7n, 7y, 7m and 7c, and a primary transfer roller 4 corresponding to each of the process cartridges 7n, 7y, 7m and 7c. The process cartridges 7n, 7y, 7m, and 7c are replacement parts for the image forming apparatus 1, and are configured to be detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus 1.

The configurations of the process cartridges 7n, 7y, 7m and 7c are the same, and are collectively referred to as the process cartridge 7 below. However, different types of powder are stored in the process cartridges 7y, 7m and 7c and the process cartridge 7n. Specifically, the powder type "toner" is stored in the process cartridges 7y, 7m and 7c, and the powder type "powder adhesive" is stored in the process cartridge 7n. The colors of the toner stored in the process cartridges 7y, 7m and 7c are yellow, magenta and cyan, respectively.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the process cartridge 7. The process cartridge 7 includes a photoconductor unit CC and a developing unit DT. The photoconductor unit CC includes a photoconductor 101, a charging roller 102, and a cleaning member 103, and the developing unit DT includes the remaining members shown in FIG. The photoconductor 101 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction in the figure when the image is formed. The charging roller 102 outputs the charging voltage to charge the surface of the photoconductor 101 to a uniform potential. The surface of the charged photoconductor 101 is exposed to the laser beam emitted by the scanner unit 2 (FIG. 1), whereby an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor 101.

The accommodating portion 104 of the developing unit DT accommodates the powder (toner or powder adhesive) to be supplied to the supply roller 106 and the developing roller 105. The transport member 108 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction (arrow f direction) in the figure. As a result, the powder stored in the storage unit 104 is agitated and conveyed to the developing room 109. The supply roller 106 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction in the figure to supply the powder to the developing roller 105 and strip the powder remaining on the developing roller 105 from the developing roller 105. The developing blade 107 is provided to regulate the thickness of the powder on the developing roller 105. The developing roller 105 is rotationally driven in the counterclockwise direction shown in the figure and outputs a developing voltage. Due to the development voltage, the powder carried by the developing roller 105 adheres to the electrostatic latent image (exposure region) of the photoconductor 101. That is, the developing roller 105 supplies the powder to the photoconductor while rotating. As a result, in the case of the process cartridges 7y, 7m and 7c, yellow, magenta and cyan toner images are formed on the photoconductor 101. Further, in the case of the process cartridge 7n, an adhesive image is formed on the photoconductor 101. The photoconductor 101 carries the formed image (toner image or adhesive image). Although not shown in the figure, the process cartridge 7 may further include a non-volatile memory for storing information such as the usage history of the process cartridge 7 and the remaining amount of powder.

Returning to FIG. 1, the primary transfer roller 4 provided corresponding to each process cartridge 7 transfers the powder image of each photoconductor 101 to the transfer belt 3 by outputting the primary transfer voltage. The transfer belt 3 is rotationally driven in the counterclockwise direction (V direction) in the figure when the image is formed. By superimposing the toner images formed on the photoconductors 101 of the process cartridges 7y, 7m and 7c and transferring them to the transfer belt 3, colors other than yellow, magenta and cyan can be formed. For example, black can be formed as a process black overlaid with yellow, magenta, and cyan toners. The powder image transferred to the transfer belt 3 is conveyed to the opposite position of the secondary transfer roller 5.

The sheet P stored in the cassette 8 is fed to the main transport path 1 m and transported to the opposite position of the secondary transfer roller 5. The secondary transfer roller 5 transfers the powder image of the transfer belt 3 to the sheet P by outputting the secondary transfer voltage. As described above, the process cartridge 7, the primary transfer roller 4, the scanner unit 2, the transfer belt 3, and the secondary transfer roller 5 form an image forming portion for forming a powder image on the sheet P.

After the transfer of the powder image, the sheet P is transferred to the first fixing device 6. The first fixing device 6 heats and pressurizes the sheet P to fix the powder image on the sheet P. When forming a powder image on both sides of the sheet P, the flapper 33 is set in a direction for guiding the sheet P to the nip portion between the first discharge roller 34a and the intermediate roller 34b, as shown by the dotted line in the figure. .. Then, the sheet P is sandwiched and conveyed toward the discharge tray 13 by the first discharge roller 34a and the intermediate roller 34b. When the rear end of the sheet P exceeds the flapper 33, the rotation directions of the first discharge roller 34a and the intermediate roller 34b are switched in the opposite directions. Further, as shown by the solid line in the figure, the flapper 33 is set in the direction in which the sheet P is guided to the double-sided transport path 1r. After that, the sheet P is conveyed again to the opposite position of the secondary transfer roller 5 which is the image forming position (transfer position) via the double-sided transfer path 1r.

After the sheet P having the powder image formed on both sides, or the sheet P having the powder image formed on one side when the powder image is formed only on one side of the sheet P, has passed through the first fixing device 6. , It is sandwiched and conveyed by the second discharge roller 34c and the intermediate roller 34b. At this time, as shown by the solid line in the figure, the flapper 33 is set in the direction of guiding the sheet P to the nip portion between the second discharge roller 34c and the intermediate roller 34b.

The sheet P on which the adhesive image is not formed and does not require post-treatment by the post-treatment unit 30 is discharged to the discharge tray 13. At this time, the flapper 13a is set in the direction in which the sheet P is guided to the tray 13, as shown by the broken line in the figure. On the other hand, the sheet P on which the adhesive image is formed and requires post-treatment by the post-treatment unit 30 is conveyed toward the intermediate path 15 of the post-treatment unit 30. At this time, the flapper 13a is set in the direction in which the sheet P is guided to the intermediate path 15 as shown by the solid line in the figure.

The post-processing unit 30 provided on the downstream side of the first fixing device 6 in the transport direction includes a folding device 31, a second fixing device 32, and a discharging unit 35. In the folding device 31, a folding process for folding the sheet P is executed. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the folding process. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the sheet P is sandwiched and conveyed in the intermediate path 15 by the first guide roller 31c and the second guide roller 31d. When the tip q of the sheet P passes through the positions of the first guide roller 31c and the second guide roller 31d, the tip q of the sheet P is guided downward in the figure by the guide wall 31f (FIG. 3B). Then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the tip q of the sheet P is pulled in by the first folding roller 31a and the second guide roller 31d facing each other and comes into contact with the wall 31g of the pulling portion 31e. After that, the sheet P is pushed by the first guide roller 31c and the second guide roller 31d, and proceeds to the back of the retracting portion 31e while sliding in contact with the wall 31g. Then, as shown in FIG. 3C, the tip q abuts on the end portion 31h of the retracting portion 31e. As shown in FIG. 1, the retracting portion 31e is formed substantially parallel to the intermediate path 15 on the lower side of the intermediate path 15, and at the stage of FIG. 3C, the sheet P is the second guide roller 31d. It wraps around and bends in a U shape.

When the sheet P is further pushed by the first guide roller 31c and the second guide roller 31d from the state of FIG. 3C, the intermediate position r of the sheet P is bent as shown in FIG. 3D. When the bending intermediate position r comes into contact with the second folding roller 31b, the intermediate position r of the sheet P becomes the first folding roller due to the frictional force received from the second folding roller 31b as shown in FIG. 3 (E). It is drawn into the nip portion between the 31a and the second folding roller 31b. Then, as shown in FIG. 3F, the sheet P is sandwiched and conveyed by the first folding roller 31a and the second folding roller 31b in a state of being folded with the intermediate position r as a crease, and the intermediate position r is on the tip side. Is discharged from the folding device 31.

Assuming that the length of the sheet P in the transport direction is L, the depth N (FIG. 3 (E)) of the retractable portion 31e can be set to L / 2. The depth N of the pull-in portion 31e is the distance from the nip portion between the first folding roller 31a and the second folding roller 31b to the end portion 31h of the pull-in portion 31e. By setting the depth N in this way, in the folding device 31, a process of folding the sheet P in half (middle folding) is performed at a position half of the sheet P in the transport direction. The depth N of the retracted portion 31e is not limited to half the length L of the sheet P in the transport direction. The depth N of the retracted portion 31e can be arbitrarily adjusted according to the position of the crease of the sheet P.

The configuration of the folding device 31 is not limited to the configuration of FIG. For example, a folding mechanism that forms a crease by pressing the blade against the sheet P and pushing it into the nip portion of the roller pair can be used. Further, the folding process is not limited to the folding process in two, and the folding process such as Z folding and tri-folding can be executed. Since the folding device 31 of the present embodiment is composed of a rotating roller and a fixed pull-in portion 31e, the drive mechanism can be simplified as compared with a folding mechanism using a blade that reciprocates. Further, since the folding machine 31 of the present embodiment may be provided with a pull-in portion 31e having a depth N of half the sheet length in addition to the four rollers, the post-processing unit 30 can be downsized.

Returning to FIG. 1, the sheet P that has passed through the folding device 31 is conveyed to the second fixing device 32. The second fuser 32 has a fixing configuration similar to that of the first fuser 6. Specifically, the second fixing device 32 has a heating roller 32b as a heating member and a pressure roller 32a as a pressure member. The heating roller 32b is heated by a heating element such as a halogen lamp or a ceramic heater or an induction heating type heating mechanism. The pressurizing roller 32a is pressed against the heating roller 32a by an urging member such as a spring, and pressurizes the sheet P passing through the nip portion (crimping nip) between the heating roller 32b and the pressurizing roller 32a. Generates pressure.

The sheet P folded by the folding device 31 is heated and pressurized by the second fixing device 32. That is, the second fixing device 32 heats and remelts the powder adhesive that adheres to the sheet P to form an adhesive image, and brings the opposite regions of the folded sheets P into close contact with each other by pressure. After passing through the second fixing device 32, the powder adhesive Tn cools and hardens, so that the regions facing each other across the crease of the sheet P adhere to each other. The sheet P that has passed through the second fuser 32 is discharged to the discharge unit 35.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, the powder image is transferred to the transfer belt 3 in the order of the process cartridges 7n, 7y, 7m, and 7c. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when the toner images of three colors and the adhesive image are superimposed, the adhesive image of the powder adhesive Tn becomes the lowest layer (the layer in contact with the transfer belt 3) on the transfer belt 3, and the adhesive image is on top of the transfer belt 3. Toner images of yellow (Ty), magenta (Tm), and cyan (Tc) are superposed on the surface in order. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the adhesive image is the uppermost layer on the sheet P. Since the adhesive image is the uppermost layer, the facing regions of the folded sheets P can be adhered to each other by the second fixing device 32.

As the toners Ty, Tm and Tc, various known toners can be used. For example, a toner using a thermoplastic resin as a binder resin can be used. Further, a toner using a polyester resin, a vinyl resin, an acrylic resin, a styrene acrylic resin or the like can also be used. Further, the toner may contain a colorant, a magnetic material, a charge control agent, a wax, and an external additive.

As the powder adhesive Tn, a powder adhesive containing a thermoplastic resin can be used. Further, the powder adhesive Tn is a known heat of polyester resin, vinyl resin, acrylic resin, styrene acrylic resin, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyolefin, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin, ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer resin and the like. It may contain a plastic resin. Further, the powder adhesive Tn may contain wax. Specifically, for example, it may contain an ester wax which is an ester of an alcohol and an acid, a hydrocarbon wax such as a paraffin wax, or the like. Further, the powder adhesive Tn may also contain a colorant. As the colorant, known colorants such as a black colorant, a yellow colorant, a magenta colorant, and a cyan colorant can be used. The content of the colorant in the powder adhesive Tn can be 1.0% by mass or less. Further, the content of the colorant in the powder adhesive Tn can be 0.1% by mass or less. Further, the powder adhesive Tn may contain a magnetic substance, a charge control agent, a wax, and an external additive.

When the powder adhesive Tn is attached to the sheet P by using the electrophotographic method as described above, for example, the weight average particle size of the powder adhesive Tn should be 5.0 μm or more and 30 μm or less. Can be used. A toner used for printing can also be used as the powder adhesive Tn as long as it satisfies the adhesiveness.

The control unit 100 of the image forming apparatus 1 controls the entire image forming apparatus 1. For example, the control unit 100 controls the operation of the above-mentioned image forming unit for forming at least one of the toner image and the adhesive image on the sheet P. In particular, in the present embodiment, the control unit 100 forms an image such that different adhesive images are formed on two sheets to be continuously processed, in which the user may misunderstand the deliverable. Control the operation of the means. The control of the image forming operation performed by the control unit 100 will be described in detail later. The control unit 100 may include a processor for executing a computer program and a memory for storing the computer program. The memory of the control unit 100 may store data indicating an image formation pattern of the adhesive image described later.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a product that can be produced by the image forming apparatus 1 and an example of an adhesive image and a toner image related to the product. In the example of FIG. 5A, the sheet P is composed of two regions 52a and 52b with the crease 51 as a boundary. A toner image 53 surrounded by a dotted rectangle is formed on the back surface of the region 52a. Further, an adhesive image shown by shaded diagonal lines is formed across the two regions 52a. This adhesive image has an image forming pattern (so-called U-shaped pattern) in which the adhesive is adhered to three sides of the sheet P, excluding the upper side of the two sides parallel to the transport direction H.

When the sheet P of FIG. 5A is folded in two at the crease 51 and the folded sheet P is heated and pressed by the second fuser 32, the powder adhesives in which the opposite regions 52a and 52b are once melted are melted. Adheres by the action of. Since the adhesive is not adhered to the upper side of the two sides parallel to the transport direction H, the sheet P becomes a bag-shaped product 55 having an opening as shown in FIG. 5 (B). .. The deliverable 55 may be, for example, a drug bag on which the name of the drug and other information for accommodating the drug prescribed in the pharmacy are printed. In this way, the image forming apparatus 1 is used to form the toner image and bond with the powder adhesive non-stop (that is, collectively in one job) in order to easily and quickly create the deliverable 55. Can be used.

Although not shown in FIG. 5, the toner image 53 may include a common portion and a variable data portion. The common part is a part where the same content is printed over a plurality of deliverables, and the variable data part is a part where different contents are printed for each deliverable. In the example of the medicine bag, a heading such as "internal medicine" and precautions independent of the patient may be printed in the common part, and the name of the patient and the name of the medicine to be contained may be printed in the variable data part.

The deliverable produced by using the image forming apparatus 1 is not limited to the medicine bag. For example, the deliverable may be a bag for accommodating any item such as small items, souvenirs or tickets. The deliverable may also be a sealed envelope with information to be kept secret printed on the inside, such as a pay slip. In the case of a sealed envelope, unlike the example of FIG. 5A, the image formation pattern of the adhesive image is a pattern in which powder adhesive is adhered to all four sides of the sheet P (so-called square-shaped pattern). ) Can be.

<2. Basic principle>
Here, consider creating a plurality of deliverables from a plurality of sheets in succession. By always forming an adhesive image of the same pattern on each sheet, features such as the appearance and feel of the resulting deliverable will be uniform across all deliverables. However, if it is not desirable for the user to misunderstand the deliverables, the uniform characteristics of the deliverables are rather disadvantageous in usability. As an example, one or more medicine bags created by user U1 for patient X and one or more medicine bags created by user U2 for patient Y are continuously discharged to the discharge unit 35 of the image forming apparatus 1. It shall be. If the appearance and feel of the discharged medicine bag are uniform, the user U1 or the user U2 may mistakenly take out the medicine bag created by another user when removing the medicine bag from the discharge unit 35. As another example, even in the case of sealed envelopes, it is required to prevent misunderstanding of deliverables and reduce the risk that information to be kept secret is revealed to the wrong person.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the control unit 100 forms a first adhesive image on the first sheet, and a second sheet different from the first adhesive image is formed on the second sheet following the first sheet. The operation for forming the adhesive image in the image forming portion is controlled so as to form the adhesive image of. When a bag material with an opening is created, for example, the first adhesive image has an image forming pattern for creating a bag material with an opening oriented in the first direction. On the other hand, the second adhesive image may have an image forming pattern for creating a bag material having an opening oriented in a second direction different from the first direction. In this case, the orientation of the opening of the created bag material is a clue for the user to accurately take out the deliverable. In addition to (or instead of) the orientation of the openings, between the first adhesive image and the second adhesive image, for example, the size or shape of the glue margin (the area where the powder adhesive actually adheres) It may be different.

As an example, the first sheet is the sheet processed for the first job of the first user, the second sheet is the second job of the second user different from the first user. It may be a sheet processed for the second job following the first job. In this case, each user can prevent the deliverables from being misunderstood by taking out the deliverables from the discharge unit 35, taking care not to mix the deliverables having different opening directions, for example. As another example, the first sheet and the second sheet are processed for the first job and the second job following the first job, respectively, regardless of whether the job issuing user is the same. Sheet may be used. In this case, the user can easily identify the deliverables created for different jobs, for example based on the different orientations of the openings.

<3. Comparative Examples and Examples>
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which an adhesive image having the same pattern is always formed over a plurality of sheets as a comparative example. FIG. 6 shows seven sheets P1 to P7 that are processed continuously. Sheets P1 and P2 are sheets processed based on job J1 issued by user U1. The sheets P3 and P4 are sheets that are processed based on the job J2 issued by the user U1 next to the sheet P2. The sheets P5 and P6 are sheets that are processed based on the job J3 issued by the user U2 next to the sheet P4. The sheet P7 is a sheet that is processed based on the job J4 issued by the user U2 after the sheet P6. In the comparative example of FIG. 6, for all of these sheets, an adhesive having a U-shaped pattern for adhering the adhesive to three sides except one on the right side of the two sides parallel to the transport direction H. An image is formed. When each sheet is folded at the creases shown by the alternate long and short dash line in the figure, heated and pressurized, a bag material having an opening facing to the right in the figure is created. As a result, since the seven deliverables are uniform in appearance and touch, the user U1 cannot easily distinguish between the bag material based on his own job and the bag material based on the job of user U2 (user U2). The same is true). Further, it is not easy for the user U1 to distinguish between the bag material based on the job J1 and the bag material based on the job J2 (the same applies to the jobs J3 and J4 of the user U2).

7 to 9 show how different adhesive images are formed between the sheets according to the present embodiment. In the example of FIG. 7, the image for adhering the adhesive to the sheets P1 to P4 processed based on the job of the user U1 on the three sides excluding the one on the right side of the two sides parallel to the transport direction H. An adhesive image having the formation pattern N1 is formed. After folding, heating and pressurizing, the sheets P1 to P4 become a bag material having an opening facing to the right in the drawing. On the other hand, the sheets P5 to P7 processed based on the job of the user U2 are provided with an image forming pattern N2 for adhering an adhesive to three sides other than the left side of the two sides parallel to the transport direction H. The adhesive image to have is formed. After folding, heating and pressurizing, the sheets P5 to P7 become a bag material having an opening facing to the left in the drawing. That is, the opening of the bag material created from the sheets P1 to P4 and the opening of the bag material created from the sheets P5 to P7 are both orthogonal to the transport direction H, but face each other in opposite directions. By changing the image formation pattern of the adhesive image in this way, it is possible to cause a difference in the appearance and tactile sensation of the product, and to suppress the misplacement of the bag material between the user U1 and the user U2.

In the example of FIG. 8, an adhesive image having an image forming pattern N1 is formed on the sheets P1 and P2 based on the job J1 of the user U1, and an image is formed on the sheets P3 and P4 based on the job J2 of the same user U1. An adhesive image with pattern N2 is formed. Next, an adhesive image having an image forming pattern N1 is formed on the sheets P5 and P6 based on the job J3 of the user U2, and an adhesive having an image forming pattern N2 on the sheet P7 based on the job J4 of the same user U2. An image is formed. After folding, heating and pressurizing, the sheets P1, P2, P5 and P6 become a bag material having an opening facing to the right in the figure. On the other hand, the sheets P3, P4 and P7 are bag materials having an opening facing to the left in the drawing. By changing the image formation pattern of the adhesive image in this way, it is possible to suppress not only the difference in bag material between users but also the difference in bag material between jobs of the same user.

In the example of FIG. 9, an adhesive image having an image forming pattern N1 is formed on the sheets P1 and P2 based on the job J1 of the user U1. Next, an adhesive image having an image forming pattern N3 is formed on the sheets P3 and P4 based on the job J2 of the user U1. The image forming patterns N1 and N3 are both patterns for adhering the adhesive to the three sides excluding the right side in the figure. However, focusing on the left side, which is the bottom of the bag material, the width W2 of the glue margin of the image forming pattern N3 is larger than the width W1 of the glue margin of the image forming pattern N1. After folding, heating and pressurizing, the sheets P1 to P4 become a bag material having an opening facing to the right in the figure, but due to the difference in the width of the bottom of the bag material, the user U1 is based on the job J1. It is possible to distinguish between the created bag material and the bag material created based on job J2. Further, based on the job J3 of the user U2, an adhesive image having the image forming pattern N2 is formed on the sheets P5 and P6. Next, an adhesive image having an image forming pattern N4 is formed on the sheet P7 based on the job J4 of the user U2. The image forming patterns N2 and N4 are both patterns for adhering the adhesive to the three sides excluding the left side in the figure. However, focusing on the right side, which is the bottom of the bag material, the width W2 of the glue margin of the image forming pattern N4 is larger than the width W1 of the glue margin of the image forming pattern N2. After folding, heating and pressurizing, the sheets P5 to P7 become a bag material having an opening facing to the left in the figure, but due to the difference in the width of the bottom of the bag material, the user U2 is based on the job J3. It is possible to distinguish between the created bag material and the bag material created based on the job J4.

In general, the wider the width of the glue margin, the stronger the adhesive force and the stronger the bag material can be produced, but the smaller the capacity of the bag material is. Therefore, the width of the glue margin may be adaptively determined according to the use of the deliverable. When an A4 size sheet is used, for example, by setting the width of the glue margin to 5 mm, it is possible to produce a bag material having strength suitable for many uses.

7 to 9 mainly show an example of changing the adhesive image at the timing of switching between the user or the job, but the timing of the change of the adhesive image formed on the sheet is limited to the above-mentioned example. It does not have to be, and it may be at any timing. For example, in the case where a toner image is further formed on each sheet, when the toner image includes a common portion and a variable data portion, the control unit 100 changes the adhesive image at the timing when the contents of the variable data portion are switched. You may. Further, the control unit 100 may simply change the adhesive image for each sheet regardless of the job and the user. The image formation pattern of the adhesive image may be switched between two or more arbitrary number of candidate patterns. Further, an image forming pattern of an adhesive image unique to each user may be set in advance, and an adhesive image having an image forming pattern different for each user may be formed on each sheet according to the setting.

As described above, the image forming portion of the image forming apparatus 1 can further form a toner image on each sheet as well as an adhesive image. The control unit 100 may control the image forming unit so as to change the direction of the toner image formed on each sheet according to the direction of the opening of the bag material to be created. FIG. 10 shows an example of controlling the orientation of such a toner image. FIG. 10 shows four sheets P11 to P14 that are processed continuously. An adhesive image having an image forming pattern N1 is formed on the inner surface of each of the sheets P11 and P12 when folded, and a toner image 111 is formed on the outer surface. After folding, heating and pressurizing, the sheets P11 and P12 have an opening facing to the right in the drawing, and become a bag material on which the toner image 111 is printed on the outer surface. Next, an adhesive image having an image forming pattern N2 is formed on the inner surface of each of the sheets P13 and P14 when folded, and a toner image 112 is formed on the outer surface. After folding, heating and pressurizing, the sheets P13 and P14 have an opening facing to the left in the drawing, and become a bag material on which the toner image 112 is printed on the outer surface. The toner images 111 and 112 are, for example, images of the same type having a common portion 120a displaying common contents, except that the contents of the variable data portion 120b differ between the toner image 111 and the toner image 112. Since it is not easy for the user to distinguish the toner images 111 and 112 at first glance, there is a possibility that these deliverables may be mistaken for each other. However, by changing the direction of the opening of the bag material as in the example of FIG. 10, the possibility of misunderstanding can be suppressed. Further, by changing the orientation of the toner image according to the change in the orientation of the opening of the bag material, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the printed content is seen by the user in an inappropriate orientation when the bag material is used.

<4. Modification example>
In the previous section, an example in which the image forming apparatus 1 creates a bag material having an opening as a deliverable has been described. On the other hand, when a sealed envelope is created as a deliverable, the powder adhesive is adhered to all four sides of the sheet, and the deliverable has no openings. In this case, the control unit 100 may suppress the misunderstanding of the deliverable by the user by changing the direction of the toner image. Specifically, in one modification, when the control unit 100 continuously forms a toner image of the same type on two or more sheets, the control unit 100 displays the first toner image in the first orientation on the first sheet. The image forming unit is controlled so as to form and form the second toner image on the second sheet in the second orientation. Here, the first toner image and the second toner image are, for example, the same type of toner images including common portions. Further, the second orientation is at least different from the first orientation, for example, 180 ° opposite to the first orientation.

FIG. 11 shows how the toner images are formed in different directions between the sheets according to the present modification. FIG. 11 shows four sheets P21 to P24 that are processed continuously. An adhesive image having an image forming pattern N5 is formed on the inner surface of each of the sheets P21 to P24 when folded. The image forming pattern N5 is a pattern in which an adhesive is adhered to the four sides of each sheet. Therefore, after folding, heating and pressurizing, each sheet becomes a bag material having no opening. A toner image 211 is formed on the outer surface of the sheets P21 and P22 when folded. On the other hand, the toner image 212 is formed on the outer surface of the sheets P23 and P24 when folded. The toner image 212 is an image of the same type as the toner image 211, except that the toner image 211 and the toner image 212 are oriented in opposite directions to each other. Although not shown in FIG. 11, for example, another toner image displaying information to be concealed is formed on the inner surface of the sheets P21 to P24. Here, it is assumed that the third toner image formed on the inner side surfaces of the sheets P21 and P22 contains different contents from the fourth toner image formed on the inner side surfaces of the sheets P23 and P24. Since the deliverables formed from the sheets P21 to P24 do not have an opening, the user cannot recognize the difference in the concealed content of the inner surface based on the orientation of the opening. Also, the user cannot recognize the difference in the concealed content of the inner surface based on the information displayed on the outer surface. However, according to this modification, the user can recognize the difference in the contents of the inner surface based on the orientation of the toner image on the outer surface, thereby suppressing the possibility of mistaking different deliverables. obtain.

Also in this modification, the timing for changing the direction of the toner image is not limited to the above-mentioned example, and may be any timing. For example, the orientation of the toner image may change at the timing of switching between the user or the job. Further, when the toner image on the outer surface includes the common portion and the variable data portion, the control unit 100 may change the direction of the toner image at the timing when the content of the variable data portion is switched. Further, the control unit 100 may simply change the direction of the toner image for each sheet. The orientation of the toner image is not limited to 180 ° rotation around the center of the sheet as in the illustrated example, and may be rotated at any angle around any point.

<5. Summary>
Up to this point, embodiments of the technique according to the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. According to the above-described embodiment, the two sheets are continuously processed in an adhesive device that forms an adhesive image of a powder adhesive on a sheet, folds the sheet after fixing the adhesive image, and heats and pressurizes the sheet. The formation of the adhesive image is controlled so as to form the adhesive image. According to such a configuration, there is a difference in appearance or tactile sensation between the deliverables made from the two sheets due to the difference in the adhesive image. Therefore, when the same kind of deliverables are continuously made. It is possible to suppress the possibility of misunderstanding of deliverables by the user.

As an example, of the above two sheets, the first sheet is processed for the first job, and the second sheet is processed for the second job following the first job. May be. In this case, since there is a difference in appearance or tactile sensation between the deliverables created based on different jobs, it is possible to suppress the possibility of misunderstanding of the deliverables of different jobs. As another example, the first sheet of the above two sheets is the sheet processed for the job of the first user, and the second sheet is the job of the second user different from the first user. It may be a sheet to be processed for. In this case, since there is a difference in appearance or tactile sensation between the deliverables created for different users, it is possible to suppress the possibility of the deliverables being misunderstood among the users.

According to the above-described embodiment, the first adhesive image is an image for creating a bag material having an opening facing in the first direction (for example, excluding one of two sides parallel to the transport direction). , An image in which the adhesive is attached to the three sides of each sheet). Further, the second adhesive image is an image for creating a bag material having an opening facing in a second direction different from the first direction (for example, the other of two sides parallel to the transport direction). Except, an image in which an adhesive is attached to three sides of each sheet) may be used. In this case, the orientation of the opening of the bag material as a deliverable produced from the above two sheets will be different. Therefore, the user can take out an appropriate deliverable from the discharge tray by using the orientation of the opening as a clue. Typically, the first and second directions are orthogonal to the sheet transport direction and are opposite to each other. By reversing the direction of the opening of the product in this way, it is possible to make the user perceive a clear difference in the appearance or tactile sensation of the product.

According to the above-described embodiment, the adhesive device can further form a toner image on each sheet, and changes the orientation of the toner image formed on each sheet according to the orientation of the opening of the bag material to be created. As such, the formation of the toner image may be controlled. Such a configuration ensures that the toner image is visible to the user in the proper orientation when the bag material is used as a deliverable. The user can also appropriately distinguish the deliverables by using the orientation of the toner image as a clue.

According to the above-described embodiment, the toner image formed on the two sheets may be a toner image including a common portion and a variable data portion, and the contents of the variable data portion are different. In applications where prevention of misunderstandings is strongly required due to differences in variable data parts, the possibility of misunderstandings can be suppressed by creating differences in appearance or tactile sensation between deliverables according to the method described above. , Especially beneficial.

According to the above-mentioned modification, when a toner image and an adhesive image are formed on a sheet and the same type of toner image is continuously formed on two or more sheets in an adhesive device that folds the sheet to heat and pressurize the sheet. , The same kind of toner images are formed on the first and second sheets in different orientations. According to such a configuration, the user can appropriately distinguish between the two deliverables by using the difference in the orientation of the toner image between the deliverables created from the first and second sheets as a clue. For example, by changing the orientation of the toner image formed on the outer surface of the deliverable, even if the user cannot directly see the content printed and concealed on the inner surface of the deliverable, those having different contents. It is possible to reduce the possibility that the user will mistake the deliverable.

<6. Other embodiments>
In the above embodiment, a program that realizes one or more functions is supplied to a system or an apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or the apparatus read and execute the program. It is also feasible in the form. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

The invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, a claim is attached to publicize the scope of the invention.

1: Image forming device (adhesive device), 6: First fixing device (fixing means), 7n, 7y, 7m, 7c: Process cartridge (image forming means), 31: Folding device (folding means), 32: Second Fixer 32 (heating means), 100: Control unit (control means)

Claims (12)

An image-forming means for forming an adhesive image of a powder adhesive on a sheet to be conveyed,
A fixing means for fixing the adhesive image formed on the sheet by the image forming means to the sheet.
A folding means provided on the downstream side of the fixing means in the transport direction of the sheet to fold the sheet, and a folding means.
A heating means that heats and pressurizes the sheet folded by the folding means, and
A first adhesive image is formed on the first sheet, and a second adhesive image different from the first adhesive image is formed on the second sheet following the first sheet. A control means for controlling the image forming means and a control means
An adhesive device, characterized in that it comprises. The first sheet is a sheet to be processed for the first job.
The second sheet is a sheet processed for a second job following the first job.
The adhesive device according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive device is characterized by the above. The first sheet is a sheet processed for the job of the first user.
The second sheet is a sheet processed for a job of a second user different from the first user.
The adhesive device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. The first adhesive image is an image for creating a bag material having an opening facing in the first direction.
The second adhesive image is an image for creating a bag material having an opening oriented in a second direction different from the first direction.
The adhesive device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the adhesive device is characterized by the above. The adhesive device according to claim 4, wherein the first direction and the second direction are orthogonal to the transport direction and are opposite to each other. The first adhesive image is an image in which an adhesive is adhered to three sides of each sheet except for one of the two sides parallel to the transport direction.
The second adhesive image is an image in which the adhesive is adhered to the three sides of each sheet, excluding the other of the two sides parallel to the transport direction.
The adhesive device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that. The image forming means can further form a toner image on each sheet, and the image forming means can further form a toner image.
The control means controls the image forming means so as to change the orientation of the toner image formed on each sheet according to the orientation of the opening of the bag material to be created.
The adhesive device according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that. Each of the first toner image formed on the first sheet and the second toner image formed on the second sheet includes a common portion and a variable data portion, and the content of the variable data portion is described above. The adhesive device according to claim 7, wherein the first toner image and the second toner image are different from each other. An image forming means for forming a toner image and an adhesive image of a powder adhesive on a sheet to be conveyed, and an image forming means.
A fixing means for fixing the toner image and the adhesive image formed on the sheet by the image forming means to the sheet.
A folding means provided on the downstream side of the fixing means in the transport direction of the sheet to fold the sheet, and a folding means.
A heating means that heats and pressurizes the sheet folded by the folding means, and
When the same type of toner image is continuously formed on two or more sheets, the first toner image is formed on the first sheet in the first orientation, and the second sheet following the first sheet is formed. A control means for controlling the image forming means so as to form a second toner image of the same type as the first toner image in a second direction different from the first direction.
An adhesive device, characterized in that it comprises. The adhesive image is formed on the inner surface of each sheet when folded by the folding means.
The first toner image and the second toner image are formed on the surfaces of the first sheet and the second sheet, which are outside when folded by the folding means, respectively.
9. The adhesive device according to claim 9. A third toner image is further formed on the inner surface of the first sheet.
A fourth toner image different from the third toner image is further formed on the inner surface of the second sheet.
10. The adhesive device according to claim 10. The adhesive device according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the adhesive image is an image in which an adhesive is adhered to four sides of each sheet.

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