JP3280070B2 - Paper sheet folding device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
2. Description of the Related Art A paper sheet folding apparatus that folds (so-called Z-fold) is used for folding paper sheets discharged from image forming apparatuses such as various plotters, printers, printing apparatuses, and copying apparatuses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various plotters, printers, printing devices,
In copiers and the like, a piece of paper on which an image or the like is formed by these devices is usually stored as it is in the paper discharge storage means, but sometimes it is used as a filing size or for the purpose of saving storage space. It becomes necessary to fold these pieces of paper in two or three (Z) folds. In particular, in the case of a large-sized paper piece, it is almost always an essential requirement to fold the discharged paper piece in view of the storage space.

A so-called three-roller type is conventionally known as such a sheet folding apparatus.

As is well known, the three-roller system is provided with a main roller capable of normal and reverse rotation downstream of a feed roller, and two driven rollers are rolled on the main roller, and the main roller is appropriately rotated. By rotating the paper forward and reverse, the paper piece is appropriately put in and out of the two contact points (actually, the contact tangent lines) to be folded in two or Z-fold.

[0005]

However, since the paper folding operation is performed by the forward and reverse rotation of the three rollers, the amount of movement of the paper fragment at the paper folding section is large, and the paper fragment is easily damaged.

[0006] Further, when performing processing such as punching or stamping on a paper piece, it is necessary to temporarily stop the paper piece only for that purpose, which is wasteful in time.

The present invention provides a sheet folding apparatus in which the movement of the sheet during the folding operation is small and the sheet is unlikely to be damaged, while processing such as punching can be performed during the folding operation.
An object of the present invention is to provide a paper sheet folding device capable of high-speed processing.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a transporting means for transporting a paper piece, a paper folding means for performing a folding operation while transporting the paper piece transported from the transporting means, A processing unit for performing a process different from the paper folding by the paper folding unit on the paper piece, and after the paper folding unit transports the paper fragment conveyed from the transport unit by a predetermined amount, the transport of the paper fragment by the transport unit is continued. By providing a control means for stopping the paper folding by the paper folding means for a predetermined time and operating the processing means within the predetermined time, high-speed processing is enabled.

[0009] Further, conveying means for conveying the paper piece, paper folding means for folding the paper sheet conveyed by the conveying means, and a first position for guiding the paper sheet conveyed from the conveying means to the paper folding means. And a sheet guide deflection unit that moves between a second position that opens between the transfer unit and the sheet folding unit; and a state in which the sheet guide deflection unit is moved to the first position. After the leading end of the paper sheet conveyed by the conveying means is drawn into the paper folding means, the paper sheet guiding / deflecting means is retracted to the second position, and the speed difference between the conveying means and the paper folding means is reduced. After the sheet is bent and suspended between the conveying means and the sheet folding means, the sheet guide deflecting means is moved to the first position in a state where the conveyance of the sheet is stopped, and the predetermined Pull the part into the paper folding means Allowed by providing a control means for 3 folded pieces of paper and allowed the 3-fold by small amount of movement.

[0010] Further, in a state where the sheet guide deflection unit is moved to the second position by the control unit, the leading end of the sheet conveyed by the conveying unit is suspended by a predetermined amount, and then the sheet guide deflection unit is suspended. Is moved to the first position, and a predetermined portion of the paper sheet is drawn into the paper folding means.
It is also possible to fold a sheet of paper in two.

Furthermore, after the leading end of the paper sheet sent from the paper folding means is drawn into the conveying means while the paper sheet guiding / deflecting means is moved to the first position, the paper sheet guiding / deflecting means is provided. Is retracted to the second position, and a paper sheet is curved and suspended between the transport means and the paper folding means by providing a speed difference between the transport means and the paper folding means. By moving the sheet guide deflection unit to the first position while the conveyance is stopped, and pulling a predetermined part of the sheet into the sheet folding unit,
Folding becomes possible.

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet folding apparatus 10 includes a pair of conveying rollers 12 on the upstream side of an upper guide plate 11 provided substantially horizontally, and a pair of folding rollers 13 on the downstream side. It has. Either the upper or lower part of the paper folding roller pair 13 may be a driving roller, but in this case, the upper one in the figure is a driving roller 13a, and the lower one is a driven roller 13b. And in the figure, the driving roller 1
The clockwise rotation of 3a is defined as a forward rotation, and the counterclockwise rotation is defined as a reverse rotation.

Each of the rollers 13a, 1a of the paper folding roller pair 13
In the drawing of the contact point 3b, the right side of the drawing at the time of the forward rotation of the drive roller 13a draws the paper piece on the right side.

A feed roller pair 1 is provided below the upper guide plate 11.
An inlet-side lower guide plate 14 is provided on the two sides, and an outlet-side lower guide plate 15 is provided on the downstream side of the sheet folding roller pair 13.

A sheet guide deflection member 17 is disposed diagonally below the sheet inlet 16 as shown in FIG.

The paper sheet guiding / deflecting member 17 has a paper sheet inlet 1
A small roller 18 is attached to the end on the 6th side.

The sheet guide deflection member 17 occupies a first position where the small roller 18 is brought close to the sheet inlet 16 as shown in FIG. 1 and a second position which is retreated diagonally downward as shown in FIG. Is configured. The means for this movement can be constituted by a well-known mechanical drive means such as a solenoid or a pneumatic cylinder.

A paper feed sensor 19 for detecting the presence or absence of a paper chip is provided at the entrance side of the feed roller pair 12, and a drawing-in sensor 20 for detecting the leading end of the paper chip is provided near the paper-drawing opening 16. Although not shown, the feed roller pair 12 and the paper folding roller pair 13 are each provided with a well-known rotation number counting means.

On the downstream side of the pair of paper folding rollers 13, a processing means 21 for performing processing such as punching, perforating or stamping a piece of paper using the time during which the paper is temporarily stopped in the tri-fold (Z-fold) mode. Is provided. Such a processing means 21 does not have a problem in its configuration and the like.
It is a feature that such processing is performed during the above-mentioned suspension time without taking time for that purpose.

Further, a control device which operates as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 is provided.

Note that the paper pieces include copy paper, tracing paper, synthetic resin sheets, and the like having sizes such as A4, A3, B5, and B4.

Next, the operation will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 6, in order to cause the apparatus 10 to perform a sheet folding operation, a mode is selected by an operation button (not shown) (step ST01). In the case of Z-folding, the operation shown in FIG. 7 is selected, and in the case of two-folding, the operation shown in FIG. 8 is selected (ST02).

First, the case where the Z-fold mode is selected will be described with reference to FIG.

When the Z-folding mode is selected, it is immediately verified whether or not the sheet guide / deflector 17 is at the first position. If the member 17 is at the first position, the sheet feed sensor 19 is simultaneously detected.
The presence or absence of a paper piece to be processed is verified (steps ST1 and ST2).

When the paper feed sensor 19 is turned on, the feed roller pair 12 is turned on.
Starts to operate and a piece of paper is sent. At this time, the paper feed amount by the feed roller pair 12 is detected by a rotation number counting means (not shown). It is well known that a counter may be incorporated in the control device instead of the rotation number counting means. When the inlet sensor 20 is turned on, the sheet guide deflecting member 17 moves to the second position as shown in FIG. The paper strip feed amount is detected. Then, the sheet folding roller pair 13 temporarily stops at the time when the sheet is fed by a predetermined amount (ST3 to ST8). If necessary processing such as punching is performed on the paper piece during the temporary stop, the required processing can be performed on the stopped paper piece on the exit side lower guide plate 15 (ST).
9 to ST10). If such processing is not necessary, step ST10 is jumped.

On the other hand, during the above-mentioned period, the feed roller pair 12 continues to feed the sheet, and the sheet becomes curved and suspended downward as shown in FIG. When a predetermined rotation speed is detected (ST1)
1) The sheet guide deflection member 17 which has been retracted to the second position diagonally below is returned to the first position (ST12), and the sheet folding roller pair is restarted (ST13). Is drawn into the sheet inlet 16 of the sheet folding roller pair 13. Thus, the paper sheet is fed in a Z-folded state, and the inlet sensor 20 detects the trailing end of the paper sheet.
When the has detected a piece of paper (ST14, ST15), the operation returns to step ST3, and the above operation is repeated.

If there is no sheet at the paper feed sensor 19, the Z-folding operation of the sheet is completed.

Next, a case where the folding mode is selected will be described with reference to FIG.

In the two-fold mode, first, it is verified that the sheet guide deflection member 17 is at the second position (step ST).
20) Also, under the condition that the paper sheet is detected by the paper feed sensor 19 (ST21), the feed roller pair 12 starts the paper sheet feeding operation (at this time, the counting of the number of rotations is started simultaneously) (ST22). .

When the predetermined feed amount is detected (ST2)
3) The piece of paper hangs with the tip facing downward as shown in FIG.
Then, the sheet guide deflecting member 17 moves to the first position as shown in FIG. 5 (ST24), and when the inlet sensor 20 is turned on (ST25), the sheet folding roller pair 13 rotates to draw in the sheet folded in two. (ST26), when the trailing end is detected by the inlet sensor 20 (ST27), the presence or absence of a sheet is detected by the sheet feeding sensor 19 (ST28). When there is a sheet, the process returns to step ST22 to process the next sheet. Operation resumes. If there is no sheet, the sheet folding operation in this mode is completed here.

In the above-described embodiment, the paper is folded and processed in the process of transporting the paper piece from right to left in FIG. 1, but the process is performed in the process of transporting in the reverse direction as shown in FIG. Is also good. That is, the basic structure is almost the same as that of FIG. 1, but the operation is as follows, for example. First, with the sheet guide deflection member 17 moved to the first position, the sheet sent by the feed roller pair 30 is sent to the feed roller pair 12 via the sheet folding roller pair 13 and is pulled in. Thereafter, the sheet guide deflector 17 is retracted to the second position, the sheet is bent and suspended with a speed difference between the feed roller pair 12 and the sheet folding roller pair 13, and the conveyance of the sheet is stopped. In this state, the processing is performed by the processing means 21 and the sheet guide deflection member 17 is moved to the first position, and the sheet folding roller 13 is rotated in reverse to draw a predetermined portion of the sheet into the sheet folding roller 13 and fold the sheet into three. And the paper folding roller 1
3 is rotated forward to the feed roller 12 and discharged.

In FIG. 9, the sheet guide deflection member 17 is shown.
Has been moved in the transport direction, but it is of course possible to apply to the embodiment of FIG.

[0035]

According to the paper sheet folding apparatus of the present invention, the conveying means for conveying the paper sheet, the paper folding means for performing the folding operation while conveying the paper sheet conveyed from the conveying means, and the paper folding means A processing unit for performing processing different from the paper folding on the sheet, and after the paper folding unit conveys the sheet conveyed from the conveyance unit by a predetermined amount, the paper folding is continued while the conveyance of the paper unit by the conveyance unit is continued. Means for stopping the transport of the piece of paper by the means for a predetermined time and the control means for operating the processing means within the predetermined time, so that it is not necessary to separately set a useless time for processing,
Significant savings in paper strip processing time.

[0036]

[0037]

[0038]

[0039]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a paper sheet folding apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation in a Z-fold mode.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an operation in a Z-fold mode.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an operation in a half-fold mode.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an operation in a half-fold mode.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operation of the sheet folding apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a Z-folding operation of the sheet folding apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a folding operation of the paper sheet folding apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a configuration explanatory view of another embodiment of the paper sheet folding apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 paper sheet folding device 12 feed roller pair 13 paper folding roller pair 16 paper sheet inlet 17 paper sheet guide deflection member 21 processing means

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-2-198975 (JP, A) JP-A-61-130149 (JP, A) JP-A-56-24195 (JP, A) (58) Fields studied (Int .Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 45/00-45/30 B65H 37/00-37/06

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transporting means for transporting a paper piece, a paper folding means for performing a folding operation while transporting the paper piece transported from the transporting means, and a processing for performing a processing different from the paper folding by the paper folding means on the paper piece. Means, after the paper folding means conveys the paper piece conveyed from the conveyance means by a predetermined amount, while continuing the conveyance of the paper piece by the conveyance means, stops the conveyance of the paper piece by the paper folding means for a predetermined time, Control means for operating the processing means within the predetermined time period.