JP3328920B2 - Staple cartridge attachment / detachment mechanism for 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 a detachable mechanism for attaching and detaching a staple cartridge containing staples to and from a magazine of an apparatus main body in an electric stapler.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional electric stapler of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-2670. This electric stapler drives a driver plate by rotating a cam by an electric motor provided in the apparatus main body and swinging a drive link by the cam,
The staples are driven toward the material to be sewn by the driver plate driven downward.

[0003] In the magazine portion of the apparatus body of the electric stapler, there is provided a concave portion for attaching and detaching a staple cartridge in which sheet-like staples are stacked and stored in multiple stages.
The staples in the loaded staple cartridge are sent to the front end of the magazine portion, and the staples at the front end are driven into the material to be sewn by the driver plate.

As shown in FIG. 6, a conventional staple cartridge 30 is configured such that when a triangular projecting piece 31 protruding from a lower portion of a rear wall thereof is pushed into a magazine section 32 of the apparatus main body from above, the magazine section is pressed. Attachment was performed by engaging a shaft 33 provided at 32. The shaft 33 is urged by a spring 34 and is formed to retreat so as to receive the protruding piece 31 when the staple cartridge 30 is pushed.

[0005] In an electric stapler fixed to a copying machine or the like, the electric stapler may be fixed upside down. In such a system, the staple cartridge is attached by being pushed upward from below in the magazine section.

[0006]

However, since the staple cartridge is loaded with metal staples, the staple cartridge is heavy, and a shock is applied to the staple cartridge during the spelling operation. Therefore, when the staple cartridge 30 is mounted upside down as shown in the figure, when the impact force F is applied in the falling direction (the tangential direction of the circle around the fulcrum A when the staple cartridge 30 is removed) during spelling operation or the like. ,
When a component force F ′ in the direction of removing the staple cartridge 30 is applied, a component force F ″ is generated in the direction of releasing the locked state, and the staple cartridge may be displaced from the shaft.

In order to prevent the staple cartridge from coming off, the force of the spring may be increased. However, if the spring force is increased, a force is required to mount the staple cartridge. Ideally, it is not necessary to require much force at the time of mounting, and it is sufficient to set the spring force to such a degree that it is difficult to come off. However, since the setting is inconsistent, it has been very difficult to solve the problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a staple cartridge attaching / detaching mechanism which can easily attach and detach a staple cartridge and does not come off due to an impact or the like during use.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a staple cartridge attaching / detaching mechanism in an electric stapler according to the present invention includes a staple cartridge in which a sheet-like staple is accommodated in a recess formed inside a magazine section of an apparatus main body. The concave portion is formed in an electric stapler which is detachable, sends out staples in a staple cartridge mounted on the magazine portion to the tip of the magazine portion, and drives the staple at the tip toward a material to be sewn by a driver plate. At the upper rear end of both side walls, the upper surface of the front end is formed obliquely downward and the lower surface is formed diagonally upward to form a triangular convex portion, which is formed rearward, and the upper portion of the staple cartridge is made of a synthetic resin front. The knob consisting of the fixed part of the part and the movable part The lower parts on both sides of the fixed part are integrally connected to each other via a curved connecting part on both sides of the fixed part. On both sides of the movable part, a protruding part extends obliquely below the connecting part, and both protruding parts are formed. lower locking claw and the protruding outward, the stay of
Fix the pull cartridge when pushing it into the recess
Between the movable part and the movable part, and
Rotate the locking claw in the opening direction around
When the hands are released from the fixed and movable parts,
The engagement claw is engaged with the lower surface of the projection by the elasticity of the portion.
Characterized in that that.

[0010]

FIG. 1 shows a main part of an electric stapler, and reference numeral 1 denotes an apparatus main body. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 2A, the apparatus main body 1 has an opening 2 for inserting a material to be sewn which is opened forward at the front of the side wall 1a. Is provided with a spelling table 3, an electric motor (not shown) is arranged at a lower portion of a rear portion of the side wall 1a, and cams 5 operatively connected to the output shaft 4 of the electric motor via gears on both side walls 1a. And a drive link 6 interlocked with the rotation of the cam 5. A driver plate 7 driven by the drive link 6 is provided above the opening 2.

The cam 5 has a non-circular cam groove 5 on the outer surface of the disk.
a, which is fixed to the shaft of the apparatus main body 1 (not shown)
Have been. An intermediate portion of the drive link 6 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 8, and an engagement shaft 9 that engages with the cam groove 5a of the cam 5 is attached to a rear portion thereof. A drive shaft 12 is engaged with 11. Drive shaft 1
2 is vertically movably engaged with a guide hole 13 formed in a side wall 1a of the apparatus main body 1 in a vertical direction, and a driver plate 7 is held on the drive shaft 12.

Further, staples are fed out to the tip of the magazine portion 14 of the apparatus main body 1 by a feeding mechanism, and the staples are formed into a U-shape by a forming mechanism. The staples at the tip are sent to a position below the driver plate 7. . The configuration of the staple feeding mechanism and the forming mechanism of the cartridge may be the same as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-129679.

In the above-described configuration, when the material to be sewn 15 is set on the spelling table 3 at the time of spelling and the switch is turned on, the electric motor 4 is operated, the cam 5 rotates, and the drive link 6 is rotated about the support shaft 8. To drive the driver plate 7 downward to drive the leading staple of the connection staples 16 loaded in the magazine portion 14 toward the material 15 to be sewn, and the driver plate 7 reaches the bottom dead center. Occasionally, the legs of the staple 16 penetrating the material to be sewn 15 are bent by clinch means (not shown) formed on the spelling table 3 to complete the spelling. After the spelling operation is completed, the driver plate 7 returns to the initial top dead center position.

By the way, staples sent to the tip of the magazine section 14 of the apparatus main body 1 are supplied from a staple cartridge. As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), a box-shaped concave portion 17 is formed integrally with the magazine portion 14, and a staple cartridge 18 is attached (or removed) to the concave portion 17. Thus, the sheet-like connected staples 16 stored in the staple cartridge 18 are sent to the front end of the magazine section 14 of the apparatus main body 1.

The attachment / detachment mechanism for attaching the staple cartridge 18 to the recess 17 is constructed as follows. The staple cartridge attaching / detaching mechanism will be described in a state where only the magazine section 14 is separated from the apparatus main body 1.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 3, both side walls 1a forming the concave portion 17 of the magazine portion 14 are formed.
A convex portion 19 projecting rearward is formed on the opening side of. The tip of the projection 19 has a triangular shape, and the upper surface 19a is formed as an obliquely downward slope.

On the other hand, the staple cartridge 18
As shown in FIGS. 2 (b) and 3, the box is made of a synthetic resin and formed in a box shape. The lower part is open and the upper part is closed by a top plate 20. This basic configuration is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-14867.
This is the same as that shown in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 4 (1993) -204, etc., in which a sheet-like connecting staple 16 is loaded. A knob 21 is fixed on the top plate 20. The knob 21 connects a fixed portion 21a made of synthetic resin and a movable portion 21b via a curved connecting portion 22. The movable portion 21b is fixed around the connecting portion 22 by the elasticity of the connecting portion 22. It is formed so as to rotate at an angle. In addition, the movable portion 21
A projecting portion 23 is formed to project obliquely downward from the lower end of b, and a locking claw 24 is formed at the tip of the projecting portion 23. The locking claw 24 is formed so as to be locked to the convex portion 19 when the staple cartridge 18 is pushed into the concave portion 17. Moreover, the direction in which the locking claw 24 is locked to the convex portion 19 by the elasticity of the connecting portion 22 (the closing direction).
When the knob 21 is picked up with a finger, the knob 21 operates in a direction opposite to the locking direction (opening direction) against the elasticity.

According to the attachment / detachment mechanism, when the staple cartridge 18 is mounted on the magazine section 14 of the apparatus main body 1, the staple cartridge 18 is pushed into the concave portion 17 of the magazine section 14. When pushing, the knob 21 is held with the knob 21 as shown in FIG. 4, but since the knob 21 is composed of the fixed portion 21a and the movable portion 21b, the movable portion 21b and the protruding piece 23 are centered around the connecting portion 22 by the gripping force. And the locking claw 24 moves in the opening direction. When pressed in this state, the locking claw 24 of the knob 21 hits the upper surface 19a of the locking portion of the concave portion 17 immediately before the end of the pressing, and locks after being guided along the upper surface 19a of the convex portion 19, As shown in FIG. 5 (same state as in FIG. 1), after the pushing is completed, the locking claw 24 is released
Due to the resilience of 2, the projection 19 is securely locked.

The spring 10 provided behind the concave portion 17 presses and holds the staple cartridge 18 so that the front end position of the staple cartridge 18 does not shift. The spring force may be small.

When the staple cartridge 18 is to be detached, the engagement with the projection 19 of the staple cartridge 18 is easily released by pulling the knob 21 and the staple cartridge 18 can be easily removed with a light force.

According to the mounting mode, the locking claw 24 is formed so as to be operable in the direction opposite to the locking direction against the elasticity of the connecting portion 22 when the knob 21 is picked. In attaching the staple cartridge 18 to the magazine portion 14 of the apparatus main body 1, the movable portion 21b is moved by pinching the knob 21 so that the locking claw 24 is locked to the convex portion 19 of the magazine portion 14, and the same applies when detaching. Move the movable part 21b in the direction to release the lock.
The attachment and detachment of the staple cartridge 18 can be easily performed with a light operating force.

As described above, the locking claw 24 is
Is formed so as to operate in a direction in which the lock is released when the knob is picked, so that when the knob 21 is released by that amount, the locked state can be set to be strong. Even when the staple cartridge 18 is installed upside down and the staple cartridge 18 is inserted into the upper recess 17 from below, the staple cartridge 18 does not come off due to the weight of the staple cartridge 18 or the impact of the spelling operation. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, when the staple cartridge 18 is mounted upside down, an impact force F is applied in a dropping direction (a tangential direction of a circle around the fulcrum A at the time of removal) at the time of spelling operation or the like. Component force F 'in the direction to remove staple cartridge 18
Does not act in the direction to release the locked state. Therefore, a high holding force is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a main part of a staple cartridge attaching / detaching mechanism in an electric stapler according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are perspective views of an apparatus body and a staple cartridge of an electric stapler according to the present invention, respectively.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a magazine section and a staple cartridge.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a mounting mode of a staple cartridge to a magazine unit.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a mounted state of a staple cartridge.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of an attached state of a conventional staple cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 1a Side wall 14 Magazine part 17 Depressed part 18 Staple cartridge 19 Convex part 21 Knob 24 Locking claw

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B25C 5/16 B25C 5/15

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A staple cartridge containing sheet-like staples in a concave portion formed inside a magazine portion of an apparatus main body is detachable from an upper portion, and staples in a staple cartridge mounted on the magazine portion are removed from the magazine. In the electric stapler, which feeds the staples toward the material to be sewn by the driver plate and sends the staples to the material to be sewn, the upper surface of the upper end is obliquely downward and the lower surface is obliquely upward. And a triangular protrusion formed on each of the staple cartridges, and a knob made of a synthetic resin and having a front fixed portion and a rear movable portion is fixed to the upper portion of the staple cartridge. The lower parts on both sides of the movable part are integrally connected via connecting parts curved to both sides of the fixed part. Extending the protrusion portion obliquely downward than binding portion, and the locking claw to the protruded lower end outer surfaces of the protruding portions, push the staple cartridge in the recess Mutoki
Pinch the fixed part and the movable part
Rotating the locking claw in the opening direction about the connecting portion,
When the hand is released from the fixed part and the movable part at the end of pushing
The locking claw is moved to the lower surface of the projection by the elasticity of the connection portion.
Staple cartridge detaching mechanism in the electric stapler, wherein locked to be in.