JP3118317B2 - Continuous form folding device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a folding apparatus that folds a continuous form that is sent at regular intervals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A continuous form used in a printing apparatus or the like has folds for cutting or folding such as perforations at a predetermined length, and ends processing such as printing, and the processing section returns to the processing section. The continuous form to be sent out is subjected to some force to be folded and deposited at the fold.

In a conventional continuous form folding apparatus, a belt conveyor is arranged in a U-shape on both lower sides of a transfer means comprising a feed roller, and the vicinity of a fold of a continuous form sent from the transfer means is alternately changed by the belt conveyor. (See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-1305)
4) By the blowing means provided on both lower sides of the transfer means,
The continuous form sent from the transfer means is alternately sprayed in the left and right direction, folded using the folding habit of the continuous form, and deposited on the stacking surface (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-158642), provided below the transfer means. The continuous form sent from the transfer means is alternately swung to the left and right by the swinging plate, and folded using the folding habit of the continuous form (JP-A-57-98462). An impeller provided with a plurality of blades is provided to catch a fold of a continuous form dropped from the transfer means and press it against a stacking surface (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-49226). A combination of a moving plate and impellers provided on both sides of a stacking surface (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-163252) is known.

However, any of the above prior arts requires a large installation space, it is difficult to realize high-speed folding, the configuration is relatively complicated,
The pressing effect of the fold is small and the reliability is limited,
And so on.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous form folding apparatus which can be installed in a small space with a simple structure, can realize high-speed folding, and has high reliability. I do. It is another object of the present invention to provide a continuous form folding apparatus that can handle a plurality of types of continuous forms having different fold distances, that is, a plurality of types of paper sizes.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a folding device according to the present invention comprises a stacking surface for stacking the continuous form to be transferred, downstream of a transfer means for transferring the continuous form. Is provided so as to intersect the feed direction of the transfer means, and is pressed against a tip of an arm member having an equal length which extends in a direction opposite to each other from a rotation shaft provided between the transfer means and the support member. When a pair of rotating arms including members (for example, those having a roller shape) are provided, each pressing member approaches the stacking surface of the receiving member along the feeding direction by the transfer means with the rotation of the rotating shaft. The rolling arm is arranged so that the distance between the rolling points with respect to the stacking surface of the pressing members of both rotating arms is substantially equal to the distance between the folds of the continuous form.

Further, the transfer means is provided so as to send out the continuous form in the horizontal direction, the receiving member is provided so that the stacking surface is vertical, and the transfer means and the rolling pressure point of the rollers of both rotating arms are provided. A guide plate is provided at each vertex of the triangle, and is provided between the transfer means and a rolling point of the lower rotating arm with respect to the receiving member. Is characterized in that a locking portion for locking the starting end of the continuous form is provided.

Further, the transfer means is provided so as to send out the continuous form in the vertical direction, the receiving member is provided so that the stacking surface is horizontal, and the transfer means and the rolling contact points of the pressure contact members of both rotating arms are provided. Is provided at each vertex of the triangle, and blowing means is provided for blowing air in the direction of the rolling point until the starting end of the continuous form sent out from the transferring means reaches one of the rolling points.

Further, the receiving member is constituted by a rotating belt conveyor, and a guide and a roller are provided at one end thereof for discharging a continuous form folded and accumulated on the stacking surface with the rotation of the receiving member. The arm pressure contact member is characterized in that it is a pressing roller.

[0010]

The continuous form sent out from the transfer means is guided to the stacking surface by the press-contact member attached to the tip of the arm member as the rotating arms arranged on both sides of the moving surface rotate. . The leading end of the continuous form is guided by a pressure contact member,
In addition, since the continuous form further fed by the transfer means has no escape space, the continuous form is curved while extending toward the other end of the stacking surface. A guide member of another rotating arm guides the subsequent portion of the continuous form in the direction of the stacking surface and is folded at a fold, and the fold is pressed to a rolling point by the press member.
That is, the fold is pressed against the stacking surface by the pressure contact member, and the folding is reliably performed. Thereafter, the guide of the one rotating arm to the stacking surface by the pressing member and the pressing to the compaction point and the guide of the other rotating arm to the stacking surface by the pressing member and the pressing to the compaction point, It is done alternately.

[0011]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing a configuration example of the folding device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line S-S of FIG.

The folding device according to the present embodiment includes a transfer means F for transferring a continuous form (hereinafter simply referred to as a sheet) having perforations, and a stacking surface T for stacking the transferred sheet.
a and a pair of rotating arms A1, A2
And a guide plate G.

The transfer means F feeds the paper into the folding device at a constant speed, and includes, for example, a feed roller, that is, a feed roller r1 and a pressing roller r2.

The rotating arms A1 and A2 include a rotating shaft 21 provided at a predetermined position between the transfer means F and the receiving member T,
Arm members 22a and 22b of equal length extending in opposite directions of the rotating shaft, and rollers 23a and 23b as an example of a pressure contact member rotatably provided at the tip of each arm member.
And A plurality of arm members 22a and 22b (five in FIG. 2) are provided at appropriate intervals in the axial direction of the rotating shaft 21, and rollers 23a and 23b are provided at the tip of each arm member.

The rotating arms A1 and A2 are arranged on opposite sides of the sheet feeding surface of the transfer means F, and are rotated along the feeding direction of the transfer means. The rollers are arranged so as to alternately approach the stacking surface Ta of the receiving member T and roll on the stacking surface, and the distance L1 between the rolling points P1 and P2 with respect to the stacking surface of the rollers of both rotating arms is , The distance between the folds L0 of the sheet (see FIG. 8). Distance L2, L between transfer means F and compaction point
3 is slightly larger than L0. The contact point P0 between the rollers r1 and r2 of the transfer means F and the two compaction points P1 and P2 are located at each vertex of the triangle.

The guide plate G extends linearly from the vicinity of the transfer means F to the rolling point P1. Guide plate G
As shown in FIG. 2, each of the guide members is formed in a comb-like shape and is located between a plurality of receiving members T provided at appropriate intervals. 24 for locking the leading edge of the paper fed from
Is formed.

On the upper side of the upper part of the guide plate G, a transfer means F
An auxiliary guide plate Ga is provided for directing the paper sent from the printer in the direction of the guide plate G. However, since the sheet sent from the transfer means tends to move downward by its own weight, the sheet advances in a desired direction without the auxiliary guide plate Ga. An auxiliary guide plate Gb for guiding a sheet folded upward is also provided between the transfer means F and the upper rolling point P2.

A leading end detector (not shown) for detecting that the leading end of the sheet sent from the transport means F has reached near the leading end of the guide plate G is provided with an obstacle to the rotation of the roller of the rotating arm A1. It is provided in a position where it does not become.

One of the features of this embodiment in the above construction is that the transfer means F and the two rotating arms A1 and A2 are always rotated at a predetermined speed.
The distances L2 and L3 to P2 are slightly larger than the distance L0 between the folds of the paper, and the distance L1 between the upper and lower rolling points is almost equal to the distance L0 between the folds of the paper. The rolling point is at the apex of the triangle, and after one roller of the rotating arm guides the paper in the direction of the stacking surface, the roller of the other rotating arm takes over and guides the sheet in the direction of the stacking surface. The two rotating arms are rotated at a predetermined timing so that at the same time as the other rollers of the rotating arm press the folds of the paper against the stacking surface at the point of compaction, and thereafter. Is to repeat the same operation.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3A shows the positions of the rotating arms A1 and A2 at the beginning of the operation of the folding device of this embodiment. That is, the arm members are held in a state where the arm members are parallel to the guide plates G and Gb, so that the sheet 5b can be smoothly fed from the transfer means F.

As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the leading end of the paper 5b sent out from the transfer means F in the horizontal direction slides on the upper surface of the guide plate G by its own weight, and the guide surface and the receiving member are moved. When reaching the intersection with T, the motor (not shown) for driving the rotating arm starts rotating based on the output of the detection signal from the starting end detector. As a result, the rotating arm A1 is rotated in a predetermined direction, the starting end of the sheet is locked at the intersection of the guide plate and the receiving member, and the sheet is continuously sent out from the transfer means F. A blank sheet is raised from the guide plate G by one roller 23a of the rotating rotating arm A1 and is guided in the direction of the stacking surface Ta, and the portion behind the roller 23a hangs down due to its own weight and is curved.

After a predetermined period of time from the start of rotation of the previous rotating arm A1, the other rotating arm A2 starts to rotate.
As shown in FIG. 3 (c), the back surface of the curved portion is similarly guided in the direction of the deposition surface Ta by the roller 23a of another rotating arm A2, and further rotated as shown in FIG. 3 (d). The roller 23a moves the paper to the rolling pressure point P2.
Is pressed. In this case, the distance relations L0, L1 to L3 are set such that a fold such as a perforation is located at a portion of the sheet pressed by the rolling pressure point P2. Therefore,
The sheet is reliably folded at the fold and pressed on the stacking surface Ta.

In parallel with this, the lower rotating arm A
The first roller 23a is guided in the direction of the stacking surface by the roller 23a of the upper rotating arm A2, and guides the back surface of the curved sheet in the direction of the stacking surface.
Due to the rotation of the roller A1, the other roller 23b of the lower rotary arm A1 presses the next fold of the sheet to the lower rolling point P1.

Thereafter, similarly, one of the rotating arms A2
Roller 23b guides the sheet in the direction of the stacking surface, and when the continuously fed sheet is curved, the other rotating arm A1
The roller 23a continuously guides the sheet toward the stacking surface and presses the fold against the stacking surface, so that the folded sheet is reliably stacked on the stacking surface.

In the illustrated preferred embodiment, since the arm members 22a and 22b have spring properties, even if the number of folds increases sequentially according to the number of rotations of the rotating arms A1 and A2, for example, It has the ability to hold up to 1-10 folds. In order to cope with the number of folds exceeding this, a mechanism for sequentially moving the receiving member T to the left in FIG. 1 according to the number of rotations of the rotating arm may be provided.

Further, when a belt conveyor as shown in the figure is used for the receiving member T, the belt conveyor (T) is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. Then, the folded sheet can be discharged. In this case, the roller 23a or 23b of each rotating arm functions as a pressing roller. FE is a transfer means for discharging, and Gc is a guide plate G
A guide plate provided on an extension of b, Gd is an added guide plate.

In the final folding state, one of the rollers of the two rotating arms can fix both ends of the sheet at the upper and lower rolling points as shown in FIG. This is effective for smooth discharge by T.

FIG. 4 shows a case where the number of times of sheet folding is an even number.
(E ') As shown in (e "), after the final folding is performed by the rotating arm A1 and the fold is fixed, the rotating arm A2 is used.
And the rollers are used to fix the trailing end of the sheet to bring it into the same state as that shown in FIG. When the number of times of folding of the sheet is an odd number, as shown in FIGS. 5 (e ') and 5 (e "), the final folding is performed by the rotating arm A2, the fold is fixed, and then the rotating arm is rotated. The roller A1 is idled, and the rear end of the sheet is fixed by the rollers so that the same state as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the guide plates G and Ga are
By rotating the supporting point 27 in a predetermined range and changing its mounting position, the distance between the transfer means F and the compaction point on the stacking surface Ta of the receiving member T and the distance between the upper and lower compaction points are determined. L1 can be set in accordance with the paper size, for example, ^3.5〃 , ^4〃 , ^4.5〃 . Therefore, by selecting the fixing position of the guide plate according to the sheet size to be used, any of the sheets can be reliably folded at an appropriate position.

In the above-described embodiment, the paper is sent out from the transfer means in the horizontal direction. However, the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, feeds the paper 5b from the transfer means F in the vertical direction. It can also be applied when issuing. In this case, it is preferable to provide a blowing means B for moving the leading end of the paper hanging from the transport means between the rotating arms A1 and A2 in the direction of the left or right guide plate G or Gb.

Next, as an example of the use of the folding device of the present invention, a letter creating device provided with the folding device will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 8, the letter-making device comprises a cutting device 1, a folding device 2 of the present invention, an enclosed-item supply device 3, and a sealing device 4. The continuous form 5a is provided with horizontal perforations for folding and cutting at regular intervals. Also,
In the continuous form 5a, data (name, address, various notification data) for each individual is printed by a print output device (not shown). The continuous form 5a is conveyed by a pin tractor (not shown) by the cutting device 1, and cut at a horizontal perforation in a data section (a fixed size or an arbitrary size) for each individual. The cut unit form 5b is conveyed to the folding device 2 of the present invention, and folded in a zigzag manner with the surface on which the address and address of personal data are written facing downward (toward the envelope window). Be folded. The folded form 5c is conveyed to the enclosed supply device 3, and a leaflet, a pamphlet or the like 6 is supplied as an enclosed required for each individual. afterwards,
The continuous form is conveyed to the enclosing and sealing device 4, inserted into the window opening envelope 7 for each set (8a), sealed, and stacked (8b).

The enclosed material supply device 3 may not be provided.
The folding unit in the folding device 2 may be in a form of being folded at a plurality of folds as shown in a circle C.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, a receiving member and a pair of rotating arms are provided downstream of the transfer means used in the conventional apparatus, with a predetermined distance between the fold distance of the sheet. Since it is sufficient to arrange them in relation to each other, the structure is relatively simple, it can be installed in a small installation space, and since it is folded by rotating a pair of rotating arms, high-speed folding can be realized. Since the pressing member of the rotating arm presses the fold, high reliability regarding folding can be obtained.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the pressing at the fold can be reliably performed according to the size of the continuous form to be used.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a system utilizing wind can be similarly applied.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the continuous form folded on the stacking surface can be easily discharged using the rotating arm.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a configuration example of a folding device.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line SS in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the embodiment device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a final fold when the number of folds is an even number.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a final fold when the number of folds is an odd number.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing adaptability to various paper sizes.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a main part showing another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of use of the folding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 F Transfer means (feed roller) G, Ga, Gb Guide plate A1, A2 Rotating arm 21 Rotating shaft 22a, 22b Arm member 23a, 23b Roller T Receiving member Ta Stacking surface P1, P2 Rolling point Lo Fold distance L1 Distance between compaction points L2, L3 Distance between transfer means and compaction points

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Mitsuo Nagaoka 4-3, Jonai, Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture Inside Shinko Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (72) Toshiaki Kuraoka 1-312, Ofuna, Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture (56) References JP-A-3-23161 (JP, A) JP-A-57-163252 (JP, A) JP-A-55-44421 (JP, A) JP-A-59-123049 (JP, U) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 45/101

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transfer means, a receiving member, and a pair of rotary arms, wherein the transfer means transfers a continuous form at a constant speed. The member has a stacking surface for stacking the continuous form transferred by the transfer unit, and is provided so as to intersect with the feeding direction of the transfer unit. A pressure contact member is provided at the tip of an equal-length arm member extending in a direction opposite to each other from a rotation shaft provided between the transfer means and the receiving member, and each pressure contact member is moved by the rotation of the rotation shaft. , And the distance between the rolling points of the two rotating arms with respect to the stacking surface of the press-contacting member is substantially equal to the distance between the folds of the continuous form. A continuous book, which is arranged so as to become Of the folding device. 2. The transfer means is provided so as to send out the continuous form in a horizontal direction, the receiving member is provided so that the stacking surface is vertical, and the transfer means and the rolling contact points of the pressure contact members of both rotating arms are provided. Are provided at each vertex of the triangle, and a guide plate is provided between the transfer means and the rolling point of the lower rotating arm with respect to the receiving member. The rolling point of the pressing member is provided at the tip of the guide plate. 2. The continuous form folding device according to claim 1, further comprising a locking portion for locking a start end of the continuous form in the vicinity. 3. A guide plate is mounted so as to be rotatable about a fulcrum provided on an upper portion thereof, and the distance from the transfer means to an intersection between the guide plate and the stacking surface of the receiving member is set to be the size of a continuous form. 3. The continuous form folding device according to claim 2, wherein the folding device can be adjusted according to the following. 4. The transfer means is provided so as to send out the continuous form in a vertical direction, the receiving member is provided so that the stacking surface is horizontal, and the transfer means and the rolling contact points of the pressure contact members of both rotating arms are provided. Is provided at each vertex of the triangle, and blowing means is provided for blowing air in the direction of the rolling point until the starting end of the continuous form sent from the transferring means reaches one of the rolling points. Item 2. The continuous form folding device according to Item 1. 5. A receiving member is constituted by a rotating belt conveyor, and a guide and a roller are provided at one end thereof for discharging the continuous form folded and accumulated on the stacking surface as the receiving member rotates, and a rotating arm is provided. 5. The continuous form folding device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is a pressing roller.