JP3230317B2 - Paper 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 sheet folding method for reliably folding a continuous sheet having periodic folds fed from an image forming unit in an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, continuous paper having periodic folds used in image forming apparatuses such as printers and copiers has been developed.
When the image forming section is subjected to the image forming process and is fed out, at a terminal portion, for example, a swing guide 61 as shown in FIG. 10 is used to sequentially fold and stack the table 64 of the stacker section according to the fold. I have. That is, at the end of conveyance, the continuous paper A passes through a paper guide 62 provided in a fixed state, and a feed roller 63 disposed in front of the paper guide 62.
The paper is guided by a swing guide 61 provided below the paper guide 62, and is swung back and forth in accordance with the fold cycle of the paper guide 62 so as to be regularly folded alternately on the paper receiving table 64 of the stacker unit.

[0003]

However, in the conventional paper folding apparatus configured as described above, there is no guide in the paper path from the fixed paper guide 62 to the swing guide 61. Therefore, the feeding of the continuous paper A discharged through the swing guide 61 is performed by the swing guide 6.
1 is dependent on the feed operation by the feed roller 63 before. Therefore, when the swinging angle of the swing guide 61 increases, the fed-out paper exhibits a phenomenon in which the load (mainly, frictional resistance) received from the swing guide 61 increases and the running becomes unstable. When such an unstable running state occurs, there is a problem that the paper slips at the feed roller 63, or the paper is not moved in the swing guide 61 and the paper is likely to be jammed.

Further, when barcode printing is performed on paper, for example, the damage to the paper is increased,
Wavy phenomenon occurs on the printed paper. When the continuous paper A is fed out and the above-described folding process is performed at the end of conveyance, paper jam is likely to occur because the paper cannot be moved smoothly in the swing guide 61 as described above.

[0005] The present invention solves such problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous sheet folding apparatus having a function of allowing a sheet fed by a feed roller to be folded through a swing guide without running instability and preventing occurrence of a sheet jam.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A paper folding apparatus according to the present invention configured to achieve the above-mentioned object is a continuous paper folding apparatus as shown in FIG. 1 which shows the principle configuration of the present invention. to transfer part of the swing guide to swing at the required swing angle and the delivery side of the feed low-La for feeding the the paper,
The paper folding apparatus that has been provided with a pair of paper guides
In this case, the tip of the paper guide is
It is provided by extending inside, and only the extending portion is swung.
It is characterized by being movable following the movement of the guide .

[0007]

In the paper folding apparatus according to the present invention having the above-described structure, a pair of paper guides (1) is provided at the transfer section where the continuous paper (4) fed by the feed roller (3) is transferred to the swing guide (1). 2), the paper guide (2) is always guided into the swing guide (1), and the paper guide (2) always follows the movement of the swing guide (1). , The load acting on the continuous paper (4) is reduced, and the paper is smoothly fed without causing an unstable running state. Therefore, the continuous sheet (4) is continuously and alternately folded according to the fold.

In the paper folding apparatus of the present invention, when the paper guide (2) made of a flexible sheet is provided, the base end of the paper guide (2) is fixed with the feed roller (3). It is preferable that the paper guide (2) can be stably supported by being fixed to the paper guide portion (5). In some cases, the base end of the paper guide (2) is fixed in the swing guide (1) to fix the paper. You may make it hold | maintain movably at the guide part (5) side. Further, the paper guide (2) may be configured such that two movable ends are formed diagonally in the width direction and two sheets are attached to each other such that the diagonally formed movable ends are opposed to each other. Is preferably formed in a comb-teeth shape, because the contact load when the paper leaves the paper guide (2) can be reduced. Furthermore, it is preferable to provide a plurality of ridges bulging in the width direction on the inner surface of the swing guide (1) in the width direction because frictional resistance with the paper to be fed can be reduced. Further, a feed roller is provided at the tip of the swing guide (1), and power is transmitted to the feed roller from a single driving device or a paper transport system, and a feeder roller (3) provided on the fixed paper guide portion is fed out. It is preferable to make the paper correspond to the speed because the paper can be positively discharged. When the base end of the paper guide (2) is attached to the swing guide (1), the movable end of the paper guide (2) is movable by a guide regulating member attached to the fixed paper guide (5). It is preferable to be held at.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a specific embodiment of a paper folding apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. An example of a paper folding device according to the present invention is shown in FIG. The sheet folding device 10 swings at a required swing angle on a delivery side which is fed by a feed roller 23 attached to a fixed paper guide 21 provided at a feeding portion of a printed continuous sheet A (hereinafter simply referred to as a sheet). A guide 11 and a paper guide 13 formed of a flexible sheet whose lower end is provided at a transfer portion a with the feeding side of the feed roller 23 and follows the swing guide 11 are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, for example, the swing guide 11 is provided below a fixed paper guide 21 provided at the end of a discharge section where the printed paper A is sent out by a conveying means of an image forming apparatus (not shown). On the side, an upper end is attached to a rotating shaft 12 supported by a frame of a body (not shown), and is provided so as to swing in a front-rear direction (a front-back direction of the paper A) at a required angle. The swing guide 11 is opened up and down by opposing two plates (metal plates) each having an inclined surface whose upper half is widened upward and connected at both ends in the width direction by a side plate at a required interval. The stationary paper guide 21 is formed so that the neutral line in the swing direction in the hanging state substantially coincides with the paper A sending vertical line of the fixed paper guide 21. This swing guide 11
Are pulleys 16a wound and transmitted by the motor 15,
By rotating the rotation shaft 12 at a required rotation angle by the rotation of the rotation shafts 16b and 16c, a required angle swing can be performed.

The paper guide 13 is a sheet A formed between the lower end of the fixed paper guide 21 located above the swing guide 11 and the swing guide 11 as described above.
Is provided at the transfer section a. And this paper guide 1
Reference numeral 3 denotes a length in which the base end portion 13 ′ is fixed to the fixed paper guide 21 with two flexible sheets sandwiching the movement path of the paper A, and the movable end portion 13 ″ is inserted inside the swing guide 11. The flexible sheet constituting the paper guide 13 may be a sheet of synthetic resin such as polyester or polypropylene, or an extremely thin sheet of metal. The paper guide 13 is preferably reinforced by appropriately lining the base end 13 'with a reinforcing material.

According to the sheet folding apparatus 10 having such a configuration, the sheet A on which an image has been formed receives a driving force from a conveyance system of the sheet A in an image forming apparatus such as a printer and is driven to rotate at a predetermined speed. As shown in FIG. 7, the sheet is guided by the fixed sheet guide 21 by the fixed sheet guide 21, and is fed into the swing guide 11 while being sandwiched by the sheet guide 13 having flexibility. Therefore, even if the swing guide 11 swings at a required angle by the drive of the motor 15, the paper guide 13 can follow the swing of the swing guide 11 and displace the movable portion of the paper guide 13 in an arc shape. The paper A can be sent out stably without the stagnation of the paper A on the moving path. Then, the sheet A is shaken down to a required width by the swing guide 11, is folded alternately on both sides according to the fold, and is stacked on the table 25. The plurality of pressing rollers 24 arranged opposite to the feed roller 23 are pressed against the feed roller 23 side by a known means (not shown) to smoothly feed the paper A therebetween.

Since the paper guide 13 is formed of a flexible sheet, the swing guide 11 is formed as described above.
As a result, the movable end portion 13 ″ is brought into close contact with the sheet A and a load is applied to the traveling of the sheet A. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Is formed in the shape of a comb tooth, it is possible to reduce the load of the paper A coming out of the paper guide leading end due to the close contact at the leading end portion. As shown in FIG. 5, the movable end portion 13b "of the paper guide 13b is cut obliquely in the width direction, and two sheets are attached so that the cut lines are opposite to each other. Since the movable end portions 13b ″ of 13b can be shifted from each other in the entire width, they can be prevented from sticking together, and the load acting on the paper A can be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 8, the paper guide 13 has its base end 13 'fixed to the inside of the swing guide 11, and the movable end 13 "on the fixed paper guide side, for example, in the width direction. Since the paper guide 13 is movably held by the guide rollers 17, 17, the distance between the paper guides 13 is kept constant, and the load of the paper A at the guide portion during traveling is reduced as described above. Each of the guide rollers 17, 17 is rotatably supported by a bearing (not shown) outside the fixed paper guide 21.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the swing guide 11 is composed of two metal plates 11a, 11a.
An oval (not limited to this shape) ridge 1 in the moving direction of the paper A inside (only one side is shown for convenience)
By bulging 1b at a plurality of locations at appropriate intervals, it is useful for reducing the frictional load between the paper A and the swing guide 11. At the same time, the rigidity of the swing guide 11 can be increased.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, a pair of second feed rollers 18 are attached to the tip of the swing guide 11 in parallel with each other.
For example, the driving force is transmitted by belt conduction from a feed roller 23 (first feed roller) attached to the fixed paper guide 21 to a relay pulley (not shown) provided on the rotating shaft 12 to the fixed paper guide 21. By setting the peripheral speeds of the second feed rollers 18, 18 to be slightly higher than the peripheral speed of the first feed roller 23, the sheet A is loosened in the swing guide 11. Can be prevented. The second feed rollers 18, 18 can be driven by providing a single drive.

In the above description, a specific example of a paper guide formed of a flexible sheet has been described. However, a deformable strip may be used. FIG.
(a) and (b) show a paper guide 1 using a chain 13f.
It is a specific example of 3C and a paper guide 13D. Paper guide 1
3C is a horizontal member 13g made of, for example, a metal plate having a length corresponding to the width dimension corresponding to the above-described swing guide 11 and a required length (length required to be received in the above-described swing guide 11 (see FIG. 3)). Multiple chain 13f aligned
It is composed of And the plurality of chains 13
f has one end fixedly attached to the horizontal member 13g at a required interval, and is hung. The paper guide 13D has a length such that the lower part can be received in the swing guide 11 by fixing a chain 13f of a required length to both ends and an intermediate part at a required interval to a horizontal member 13g similar to that described above. It is in a state of hanging down. In the figure, four chains 13f of a required length are connected at both ends to the horizontal members 13f.
g, and may be hung as shown in FIG.

The paper guides 13C, 13 having such a configuration are described.
In the case of D, the horizontal member 13g is fixed to the fixed paper guide portion (see FIG. 3), and the leading end of the chain 13f is used by hanging it in the swing guide 11 as in the case of using the above-mentioned flexible sheet. Can be As the chain 13f, a known ball chain, a chain in which links are linked, or the like can be used. Further, the chain 13f may be made of either synthetic resin or metal. In the case of using a metal chain, connecting a ground wire from the horizontal member 13g to a main body frame (not shown) of the image forming apparatus also has an effect of removing static electricity of paper.

It should be noted that the swing guide 1 in this embodiment is
1 is a swing guide (1) of the present invention,
Denotes a paper guide (2), the feed roller 23 corresponds to the feed roller (3), the paper A corresponds to the continuous paper (4), and the fixed paper guide 21 corresponds to the fixed paper guide (5).

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a sheet folding apparatus having a swing guide, paper jam in the swing guide can be prevented, and the sheet can be folded accurately without any trouble.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a principle configuration of a paper folding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of one embodiment of a paper folding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of an embodiment of the paper folding device.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing another embodiment of the paper guide.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing another embodiment of the paper guide.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a part of another example of the swing guide used in the present invention, wherein (a) is a partially omitted front view and (b) is a side view.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation mode of an embodiment of the paper folding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view of a main part of another embodiment of the paper folding apparatus according to the present invention, in which an operation mode is also described.

FIG. 9 is a main part longitudinal sectional view of another embodiment of the paper folding apparatus according to the present invention, showing an operation mode together.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing another embodiment of the paper guide.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an operation mode of a conventional sheet folding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,11 swing guide 2,13,13a, 13b, 13C, 13D paper guide 3,23 feed roller 4, A continuous paper 5,21 fixed paper guide 11a swing guide plate 11b ridge 12 rotary shaft 13 'paper guide 13 ", 13b" Movable end of paper guide 13f Chain used for paper guide 13g Horizontal member 18 Feed roller attached to tip of swing guide 22 Rotary shaft 25 Table

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] 1. A swing Guy and feed <br/> Ri-out side of the feed rows La of feeding the continuous for paper swings required swing angle
The delivery portion of the de, that provided a pair of paper guides
In the paper folding device, the leading end of the paper guide extends inside the swing guide.
It is provided by extending, only the extending portion of the swing guide
A paper folding device characterized by being movable following movement . Wherein said sheet guide is fed low proximal portion
Sheet folding apparatus according to claim 1, la is fixed to the fixed paper guide part provided. Wherein said sheet guide is fixed a base end portion to the swing <br/> the guide, the movable end portion the stationary paper guide part
The paper folding device according to claim 1, which is held on the side . 4. The sheet folding device according to claim 3 wherein the movable end portion of the paper guide is held movably by a guide regulating member that is attached to the stationary sheet guide unit. Wherein said sheet guide is two sheets formed the movable end obliquely in the width direction, or a movable end portion claims attached to alignment oriented to reciprocal 1 2 A paper folding device according to claim 1. Wherein said sheet guide is paper folding apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, the movable portion is formed in a comb shape. Wherein said Claim paper guides are formed by very thin sheets of a sheet or metal synthetic resin 1 to 6
A paper folding device according to any one of the above. Wherein said sheet guide is formed by a transverse member proximal end portion attached <br/> to the swing guide, at required intervals thien of required length is fixed at one end to the transverse member The sheet folding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet folding device has a structure in which a plurality of sheets are suspended. Wherein said swing guide is sheet folding Ri folding device use according to claim 1 is provided plural rows of ridges in the width direction are bulged in the direction of movement of the paper on both the inner surface. Wherein said swing guide is a feed roller is provided at its distal end, claim 1 to which power from a single drive motor or the paper transport system to the feed roller is adapted to be driven is transmitted or use paper according to 7
In fold folding apparatus.