JP3211632B2 - Electric stapler - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric stapler, and more particularly, to an electric stapler provided with a function for detecting a driving failure such as buckling of a staple.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a stapler is used, staples cannot penetrate the paper due to defective staple molding or an excessive number of papers, and the staples buckle. May cause trouble. In particular, in a copying machine or the like in which a copying apparatus and an electric stapler are integrally incorporated, if the discovery of a driving failure is delayed, an unbound booklet will be continuously fed. Therefore, if a means for detecting a driving failure of the electric stapler is provided, the above-described situation can be promptly dealt with, and a decrease in office efficiency can be prevented.

Heretofore, as such a driving failure detecting means, there has been known a driving failure detecting means for monitoring a driving current of a motor and detecting occurrence of a driving failure by a change in a current value due to an increase in a motor load at the time of the driving failure. .

[0004]

The load and drive current of the motor of the electric stapler fluctuate greatly depending on the number of sheets to be bound. In particular, the drive current when binding most booklets and the drive current when staples buckle are almost equal. Therefore, in the conventionally proposed means for detecting a driving failure based on a change in current value, an overload state such as a driver lock due to a staple jam can be detected, but it is difficult to detect buckling of the staple.

[0005] In view of the above, a technical problem to be solved arises in that buckling of staples can be detected immediately to enable quick response and prevent a decrease in work efficiency. The purpose is to solve the problem.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention meet the electric stapler is driven by an actuator such as a motor
The electric stapler detects the speed of the driver.
Container and means for detecting the thickness of the booklet to be spelled are provided.
On the other hand, the speed of the driver that matches the thickness of the booklet
Set the measurement time of the degree in multiple stages to match the thickness of each booklet.
Control means for automatically selecting the measurement time
Speed determination means, and the speed determination means
The selected speed measurement when the driver is normal
The reference value corresponding to the abnormality judgment reference time slightly longer than the time
Is set, the speed determination means of the driver, the speed of the driver successively compared with a reference value, the detection rate reference value
Control means set to perform error processing when the velocity below
It is intended to provide an electric stapler characterized in that it has been shaken.

[0007] In the above invention, the plurality of stages set measurement time to provide an electric stapler measuring time <br/> corresponding to the thickness of each booklet by the selecting means such as a changeover switch is selected Things.

[0008] The electric stapler of the present invention is, for example, a dry stapler.
Check the thickness of switches, etc. that contact the surface of the booklet in
The thickness of the booklet is automatically detected by the dispenser. Meanwhile, each
The measurement time of the driver speed corresponding to the thickness of the booklet
Since it is set in multiple stages, the selection means
The measurement time corresponding to the detected booklet thickness is selected.
You. In addition, a driver speed determination means is provided.
The speed judging means includes the selected value when the driver is normal.
Equivalent to the abnormality judgment reference time slightly longer than the measured speed measurement time
Is set. Therefore, when performing a one-cycle operation in which the driver of the electric stapler descends from the upper home position, presses against the clincher unit and stops after stopping, it descends from the home position and stops at the clincher unit. The speed of the driver up to this time is sequentially compared with the reference value by the speed determination means. When the detected speed of the driver falls below the reference value, it is determined that a driving failure such as staple buckling has occurred.

[0009]

[0010]

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a chassis of the electric stapler 1, and a first link arm 4 is attached to a shaft 3 at a rear portion of the frame 2.
And a staple guide 5 are pivotally connected to each other so as to be vertically rotatable. A motor 6 is disposed below the shaft 3.
Is transmitted to a reduction gear mechanism (not shown).

Eccentric shaft 8 of gear 7 at the forefront of reduction gear mechanism
The connecting plate 9 is loosely fitted to the
Are connected via a compression coil spring 10. The rotation of the gear 7 is converted into a vertical movement of the connecting plate 9, and the first link arm 4 and the staple guide 5
Moves downward and upward from the upper standby position shown in FIG. At this time, the staple guide 5 comes into pressure contact with the clincher section 11 at the front of the frame, drives the staples, then rises and stops, and a one-cycle spelling operation is performed.

The staple guide 5 is provided with a conveyor belt (not shown) from the rear to near the front end.
The conveyor belt rotates in conjunction with the elevating operation of the link arm 4 by the reduction gear mechanism. The lower surface of the staple cartridge 12 mounted on the rear upper surface of the staple guide 5 is open, and the lowermost staple sheet stacked in the staple cartridge 12 contacts the conveyor belt and is sequentially transported forward.

At the rear of the staple guide 5, a staple sensor (not shown), which is a reflective photosensor, is embedded with its light emitting direction facing upward, and a staple sheet in the staple cartridge 12 located above the staple sensor. Is detected by reflected light.

A driver 14 and a forming plate 15 are respectively slidably mounted on the rear side of the face plate 13 at the end of the staple guide 5 so as to be vertically slidable. , 15a are engaged with holes 4a provided on the left and right side surfaces of the link arm 4, respectively.

A shaft 1 provided on the front side surface of the frame 2
6, a second link arm 17 is pivotally mounted. A pin 19 provided at an intermediate portion of the first link arm 4 is inserted into an elongated hole 18 provided at an intermediate portion of the second link arm 17, and 1
And the second link arms 4 and 17 are connected. Second
The distal end of the link arm 17 is bifurcated into upper and lower parts and protrudes rearward of the frame 2, and a slit plate 20 is provided between the upper and lower distal ends.

A plurality of slits 21 having an axis 16 as a radiation center are arranged in an arc shape at equal angular intervals on the slit plate 20, and light emitted from a photointerrupter 23 attached to a rear portion of the frame 2 via a bracket 22 is provided. The unit and the light receiving unit face each other with the slit plate 20 interposed therebetween.

At the time of the spelling operation of the electric stapler 1, the first
The link arm 4 and the second link arm 17 are linked to each other, and the slit plate 20 is lowered and raised, and the optical path of the photointerrupter 23 is interrupted by the rotation of the slit plate 20 like a general rotary encoder, and the pulse A signal is input to the control unit.

FIG. 2 shows a circuit block of the electric stapler 1, wherein a photo interrupter 23, a staple sensor 24,
Also, a paper detection switch 25 disposed near the clincher unit 11 for detecting insertion of a paper, and a home position sensor 26 are connected to the control unit 27. The home position sensor 26 includes a cam plate and a micro switch or a rotary light shielding plate and a photo interrupter provided in a reduction gear mechanism, and includes first and second link arms 4 and 1.
It is detected whether or not the staple guide 7 and the staple guide 5 are at the upper standby position. When the completion of one cycle of operation is detected, the motor 6 stops.

The control unit 27 controls the motor 6 and the display unit 28 according to the output state of each sensor and switch, and executes a spelling operation, a message display, and the like. The memory 29 of the control unit 27 stores measurement time data of a plurality of stages when measuring the speed of the driver 14.
By setting 0, the measurement time of the timer unit 31 can be selected according to the thickness of the paper to be bound.

In the clock counter 32, which is the speed determination means of the driver 14, a reference clock pulse number corresponding to an abnormality determination reference time slightly longer than the on / off cycle time of the photointerrupter 23 during normal operation of the driver 14 is set. . When the electric stapler 1 is started, the clock counter 32 starts counting clock pulses, and in a normal operation, the operation is reset by the output pulse signal of the photointerrupter 23 and restarts counting before the reference clock pulse number is counted up. . When the number of reference clock pulses is counted up, that is, when the speed of the driver 14 decreases and the output frequency of the photointerrupter 23 falls below an allowable range, it is determined that an error has occurred.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the amount of displacement of the driver 14 and the time. The time t _CYCLE from the start to the stop of one cycle is set to the number of paper sheets except for an abnormal situation such as when the driver is locked or when the driver is idle. Regardless, it is almost constant.

At the start of spelling, the link arms 4 and 17 and the staple guide 5 are lowered and the first link arm 4
The driver 14 engaging the staple drives the leading staple on the staple guide 5 into the paper, and the forming plate 15 forms the rear row of staples in a gate shape.

The amount of displacement and the time required for the driver 14 to drive the staples into the paper and stop the lowering thereof differ depending on the number of papers. After the driver 14 stops, the connecting plate 9 further compresses the compression coil spring 10 to lower the bottom dead center. After descending to the ascending stroke, the driver 14 separates from the paper and rises. Then, the home position sensor 26 detects that the link arms 4 and 17 have reached the upper standby position, the motor 6 stops, and the one-cycle spelling operation ends.

For example, as shown in FIG.
And displacement measurement time t in units of 10 _Ten, T₂₀, T₃₀, T
₄₀, T₅₀And pause time t_W10, T_W20, T_W30, T_W40,
t_{W5 0}Time data consisting of
Data is selected by the changeover switch 30.

Next, the buckling detection operation will be described with reference to FIGS. First, when paper insertion is detected by the paper detection switch 25, the motor 6 is started.
1) The timer unit 31 starts counting the selected time, and the clock counter 32 starts counting the reference clock pulse (step 102).

Immediately after the start of timing, the process proceeds from step 103 to step 104. If a reset pulse is input from the photointerrupter 23 before counting the number of reference clock pulses for abnormality determination (step 105), the count value is reset by an ON signal. Then, the counting is restarted (step 106), and the process returns to step 103.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the driver 14 is operating normally, the above-described routine is repeated by the reset pulse S _RESET of the photo interrupter 23,
Proceeds from step 103 to step 107 when the forward measurement time t _n has passed. Then, after a preset pause time t _wn , that is, a time period during which the driver 14 is stopped by pressing against the paper, steps 108 to 102 are executed.
Return performs backward driver speed measurement as well as the forward path as described above, and ends when the backward measuring time t _n has passed (step 110).

As shown in FIG. 6, when buckling b occurs, the speed of the driver 14 decreases extremely due to the reaction force of the staple immediately before the staple buckles, and then buckles at once. Is reduced below the allowable range, and the reset pulse S of the photointerrupter 23 is reduced.
_When the frequency of _RESET decreases and the clock counter 32 counts up the number of reference clock pulses, step 1
From step 04, the process proceeds to step 111 to perform error display and restart prohibition processing. Further, when the speed of the driver 14 is decreased due to a staple jam or the like on the return path, the abnormality is detected and error processing is executed in the same manner.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration which is adapted to detect the thickness of the booklet P to spell wearing the microswitch 33 to the distal end portion lower face of the staple guide 5. In the figure,
The time from when the electric stapler 1 is activated and the staple guide 5 is lowered to when the microswitch 33 contacts the surface of the booklet P and is turned on, or the amount of displacement detected by the slit plate 20 and the photointerrupter 23 described above. The thickness of P is detected, and the control unit 27 automatically selects suitable measurement times t _n and t _wn from the measurement time data in the memory 29 based on the detected thickness.

The detector for detecting the displacement of the driver 14 may be any type of detector other than the optical type, such as a differential transformer, and is not particularly limited. Also,
When the electric stapler is built in the copying machine, the control circuit and the display unit of the copying machine perform the above control and display, and the measuring time is selected according to the number of copies data. Various modifications can be made within the scope, and the present invention naturally extends to those modifications.

[0032]

As described in detail in the above embodiment, the present invention makes contact with the surface of a booklet in cooperation with a driver , for example.
The thickness of the booklet is automatically determined by a thickness detector such as a touching switch.
Detect dynamically. On the other hand, dry paper corresponding to the thickness of each booklet
The speed measurement time of the bus is set in multiple stages in advance.
Corresponds to the thickness of the booklet detected by the selection means.
Measurement time is selected. Also, the driver's speed judgment
A step is provided, and the speed determination means has a driver's correctness.
Slightly longer than the selected speed measurement time at all times
A reference value corresponding to the abnormality determination reference time is set.
Therefore, the driver of the electric stapler is
After descending from the station and pressing against the clincher and stopping
One cycle of movement to the upper home position
When performing a descent from the home position and clincher
The speed of the driver until it stops at the section is the speed judgment
Means for successively comparing with the reference value to detect a driver
When the speed drops below the reference value, the staples will buckle.
Etc. are determined to be defective. As such, the present invention
Electric stapler is a booklet where the speed of the driver should be bound
Is sequentially compared with a reference value corresponding to the thickness of the
Staple buckling is judged when it falls below the reference value
Therefore , it is possible to reliably detect a driving failure regardless of the number of sheets to be bound.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an electric stapler, showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the electric stapler shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing a relationship between displacement of a driver of the electric stapler and time.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for detecting a driving failure of the electric stapler shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a change in driver speed during normal operation.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a change in speed of a driver when buckling occurs.

[7] explanation view of the staple guide part.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 electric stapler 4 first link arm 5 staple guide 14 driver 16 shaft 17 second link arm 18 long hole 19 pin 20 slit plate 21 slit 23 photo interrupter 27 control unit 33 micro switch

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electric stapler driven by an actuator such as a motor , the electric stapler comprising a stapler.
A detector that detects the speed of the driver and the thickness of the booklet to be spelled
And a means for detecting
Set the speed measurement time of the driver that matches the thickness in multiple stages.
Automatically select the measurement time that matches the thickness of each booklet
And control means for determining the speed of the driver are provided.
And the speed determination means is provided when the driver is normal.
Judgment that is slightly longer than the selected speed measurement time
A reference value corresponding to the reference time is set, and the driver
The speed determining means, the speed of the driver successively compared with a reference value, <br/> electric stapler, wherein a control means for detecting speed error processing is executed in the case of less than the speed reference value is provided . 2. The measurement time set in the plurality of stages is switched.
By the selection means such as a switch, the electric stapler according to claim 1, wherein the measurement time which corresponds to the thickness of each booklet was so that selected.