JP3423938B2 - Paper sheet folding device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention folds a piece of paper in two or three.
The present invention relates to a folding device for folding a paper piece (so-called Z-folding), which is used for folding a paper piece discharged from an image forming apparatus such as various plotters, printers, printing apparatuses, and copying apparatuses.

[0002]

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

As a paper piece folding device for such a purpose, a so-called three-roller system is conventionally known.

As is well known in the above-mentioned three-roller system, a main roller capable of forward and reverse rotation is provided on the downstream side of the feed roller, and two driven rollers are brought into rolling contact with this main roller, and the main roller is appropriately used. In this case, the paper is normally or reversely rotated, and a piece of paper is appropriately put in or taken out from the two rolling contact points (actually, the rolling contact line) so as to be folded in half or Z folded.

[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 piece at the paper folding portion is large and the paper piece is easily damaged.

Further, in the case of performing processing such as punching or stamping on a piece of paper, it is necessary to temporarily stop the piece of paper only for that purpose, which is a waste of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper piece folding device in which the movement of the paper piece is small in the paper folding operation and the possibility of damaging the paper piece is small.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and includes a conveying means for conveying a piece of paper and a folding operation of the piece of paper conveyed by the conveying means. A paper folding means for performing, a first position for guiding the paper piece conveyed from the conveying means to the paper folding means, and a second position for opening a space between the conveying means and the paper folding means
The sheet piece guide deflecting means moving between the positions and the sheet piece guide deflecting means moved to the first position, and the leading end of the sheet piece conveyed by the conveying means is drawn into the sheet folding means. After that, the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the second
After retreating to the position, the conveying means and the paper folding means have a speed difference, and the paper piece is curved and suspended between the conveying means and the paper folding means, and then the conveyance of the paper piece is stopped. In a state, the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position, and a control means for causing a predetermined portion of the paper piece to be drawn into the paper folding means and folding the paper piece into three pieces is configured. A paper piece folding device is provided.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and is a conveying means for conveying a piece of paper, and a paper folding means for performing a folding operation of the piece of paper conveyed by the conveying means, It moves between a first position for guiding a predetermined portion including a tip portion of a piece of paper conveyed from the conveying means to the paper folding means, and a second position for opening a space between the conveying means and the paper folding means. The paper piece guide deflecting means and the paper piece guide deflecting means moved to the second position, and after suspending the tip end portion of the paper piece conveyed by the conveying means by a predetermined amount, the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved. A paper piece folding device, comprising: a control means that moves to the first position and draws a predetermined portion of the paper piece into the paper folding means to fold the paper piece in two. is there.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and is a conveying means for conveying a piece of paper, and a paper folding means for performing a folding operation of the piece of paper conveyed by the conveying means, A paper piece guide deflecting means which moves between a first position for guiding the paper piece conveyed from the conveying means to the paper folding means, and a second position which opens between the conveying means and the paper folding means, In the state where the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position, the leading end of the paper piece conveyed by the conveying means is drawn into the paper folding means, and then the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the second position. A state in which the conveyance of the paper piece is stopped after the paper piece is retracted to a position, a speed difference is provided between the conveyance means and the paper folding means, and the paper piece is curved and suspended between the conveyance means and the paper folding means. In the above-mentioned paper piece guide deflection means, Go to position 1, and 3-fold makes three fold mode paper by the paper of a predetermined portion was pulled in the paper folding means, the paper sheet guiding deflection unit the second
In the state where the paper piece is moved to the position, the paper piece guided by the carrying means is suspended by a predetermined amount, and then the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position to move a predetermined portion of the paper piece to the paper sheet. Fold the paper piece into two by pulling it into the folding means 2
There is provided a paper piece folding device, which is configured to have a control means having a folding mode.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art as described above, and has a paper folding means for folding the supplied paper piece and a conveying means for carrying the paper piece sent out from the paper folding means. Means, a first position for guiding the paper piece fed from the paper folding means to the conveying means, and a paper piece guide deflecting means for moving between the second position for opening the space between the paper folding means and the conveying means. With the paper piece guide deflecting means moved to the first position, the leading end of the paper piece sent out from the paper folding means is drawn into the conveying means, and then the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the second position. After retreating to the position, the conveying means and the paper folding means have a speed difference, and the paper piece is curved and suspended between the conveying means and the paper folding means, and then the conveyance of the paper piece is stopped. Guidance on the paper piece in the state The deflecting means is moved to the first position,
A paper piece folding device, comprising: a control means for drawing a predetermined portion of the paper piece into the paper folding means to fold the paper piece into three.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art as described above, and when performing the tri-folding operation of the paper piece in a state where the conveyance of the paper piece by the paper folding means is stopped,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper piece folding device, characterized in that the paper piece conveyance stop portion is provided with a processing means for performing processing different from paper folding.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the paper piece folding device 10 is provided with a conveying means, for example, a pair of feed rollers 12 on the upstream side of a substantially horizontal upper guide plate 11, and a pair of paper folding roller pairs 13 on the downstream side. There is. The upper and lower sides of the pair of paper folding rollers 13 may be drive rollers, but here, the upper side is a drive roller 13a and the lower roller is a driven roller 13b. In the figure, the clockwise rotation of the drive roller 13a is the forward rotation, and the counterclockwise rotation is the reverse rotation.

Each roller 13a, 1 of the paper folding roller pair 13
In the drawing of the contact point of 3b, the right side of the contact point is set as the paper piece inlet 16 because the right side of this contact point draws in the paper piece when the drive roller 13a is normally rotated.

Below the upper guide plate 11, a pair of feed rollers 1 is provided.
An inlet-side lower guide plate 14 is provided on the second side, and an outlet-side lower guide plate 15 is provided on the downstream side of the paper folding roller pair 13.

As shown in the drawing, a paper piece guide deflecting member 17 is arranged obliquely downward from the paper piece inlet 16.

The paper piece guide / deflection member 17 has a paper piece inlet 1.
A small roller 18 is attached to the tip end on the 6 side.

The paper piece guide deflecting member 17 occupies a first position for bringing the small roller 18 close to the paper piece drawing-in port 16 as shown in FIG. 1 and a second position retracted obliquely downward as shown in FIG. Is configured. The means for this movement can be configured by a known mechanical drive means such as a solenoid or a pneumatic cylinder.

A paper feed sensor 19 for detecting the presence / absence of a piece of paper is provided on the entrance side of the feed roller pair 12, and a lead-in sensor 20 for detecting the leading end of the piece of paper is provided in the vicinity of the paper-piece inlet 16. At the same time, although not shown, the feed roller pair 12 and the paper folding roller pair 13 are respectively provided with well-known rotation speed counting means.

On the downstream side of the pair of paper folding rollers 13, a processing means 21 for making a hole in a piece of paper, perforating or stamping the paper piece by utilizing the time during the temporary stop in the tri-folding (Z-folding) mode. Is provided. The processing means 21 as described above does not have a problem in its configuration,
The feature is that such processing is performed during the above-mentioned pause time without taking time for that purpose.

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

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

Next, the operation will be described.

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

First, the case where the Z-folding 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 paper piece guide deflecting member 17 is in the first position, and if the member 17 is in the first position, the paper feed sensor 19 is simultaneously detected.
Whether or not there is a piece of paper to be processed is verified (steps ST1 and ST2).

When the paper feed sensor 19 is turned on, the pair of feed rollers 12
Starts to work and a piece of paper is fed. At this time, the amount of paper feed by the feed roller pair 12 is detected by the rotation number counting means (not shown). It is well known that a counter may be incorporated in the control device instead of the rotation speed counting means. When the pull-in sensor 20 is turned on, the paper piece guide deflecting member 17 moves to the second position as shown in FIG. 2 and the paper folding roller pair 13 is operated to draw in the paper piece, and at the same time, the rotation speed counting means (not shown) is used. The paper feed amount is detected. Then, at the time when the predetermined amount is fed, the pair of paper folding rollers 13 is temporarily stopped (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 part of the paper piece on the exit side lower guide plate 15 which is stopped (ST.
9-ST10). Of course, if such processing is unnecessary, step ST10 is skipped.

On the other hand, even during the above period, the feed roller pair 12 continues to feed the pieces of paper, and the pieces of paper are curved and suspended downward as shown in FIG. When the predetermined rotation speed is detected (ST1
1), the paper piece guide deflecting member 17 retracted to the second position obliquely below is returned to the first position (ST12), the pair of paper folding rollers is restarted (ST13), and at this time, the predetermined position of the paper piece. Is drawn into the paper piece drawing-in port 16 of the paper folding roller pair 13. With this, the paper piece is Z-folded and sent, the lead-in sensor 20 detects the rear end of the paper piece, and the paper feed sensor 19
When the sheet is detected (ST14, 15), the operation returns to step ST3, and the above operation is repeated.

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

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

In the two-fold mode, it is first verified that the paper piece guide deflecting member 17 is in the second position (step ST
20) Further, on condition that the paper feed sensor 19 detects the paper feed (ST21), the feed roller pair 12 starts the feed operation of the paper feed (at this time, the counting of the number of rotations is simultaneously started) (ST22). .

When the predetermined feed amount is detected (ST2
3) The piece of paper is suspended with the tip end facing downward as shown in Fig. 4,
Then, the paper piece guide deflecting member 17 moves to the first position as shown in FIG. 5 (ST24), and when the draw-in sensor 20 is turned on (ST25), the paper folding roller pair 13 rotates, and the paper piece is folded in two. (ST26), when the trailing edge is detected by the pull-in port sensor 20 (ST27), the presence or absence of the paper piece is verified by the paper feed sensor 19 (ST28). If the paper piece exists, the process returns to step ST22, and the process for the next paper is performed. The operation is restarted. If there is no piece of paper, the paper folding operation in this mode is completed here.

In the above embodiment, the paper piece is folded and processed in the process of conveying the paper piece from the right side to the left side in FIG. 1, but it is processed in the process of conveying it in the opposite direction as shown in FIG. 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 paper piece guide deflecting member 17 being moved to the first position, the paper piece sent by the feed roller pair 30 is sent to the feed roller pair 12 via the paper folding roller pair 13 and drawn. After that, the paper piece guide deflecting member 17 is retracted to the second position, a speed difference is provided between the feed roller pair 12 and the paper folding roller pair 13 to suspend the paper piece in a curved manner, and then the conveyance of the paper piece is stopped. In this state, processing is performed by the processing means 21, the paper piece guide deflecting member 17 is moved to the first position, the paper folding roller 13 is reversed, and a predetermined portion of the paper piece is drawn into the paper folding roller 13 to be folded in three. And the paper folding roller 1
3 is rotated in the normal direction and fed to the feed roller 12 and discharged.

By the way, in FIG. 9, the paper piece guide deflection member 17 is shown.
Is moved in the carrying direction, but it is naturally applicable to the embodiment of FIG.

[0035]

According to the paper piece folding device of the present invention, the paper folding means for folding the supplied paper piece, and the paper folding means at the conveying stop portion of the paper piece when the paper folding means stops the conveyance during the paper folding operation. Since the processing means for performing different processing is provided, it is not necessary to separately set a wasteful time for processing, and it is possible to remarkably save the processing time of the paper piece.

Further, a conveying means for conveying the paper piece, a paper folding means for folding the paper piece conveyed by the conveying means, and a first position for guiding the paper piece conveyed from the conveying means to the paper folding means. , And a sheet piece guide deflecting means that moves between a second position that opens between the conveying means and the paper folding means, and the state where the sheet piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position, After the leading end of the piece of paper conveyed by the conveying means is drawn into the paper folding means, the paper piece guide deflecting means is retracted to the second position, and the speed difference is generated between the conveying means and the paper folding means. The paper piece is bent and suspended between the conveying means and the paper folding means, and then the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position in a state where the conveyance of the paper piece is stopped. Pull the part into the paper folding means By so by providing a control means for trifold the paper, paper of moves can trifold small, little damage the paper.

Further, in a state in which the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the second position, the front end portion of the paper piece conveyed by the conveying means is suspended by a predetermined amount, and then the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position. By providing a control unit that moves to the position 1 and draws a predetermined portion of the paper piece into the paper folding unit to fold the paper piece in two, it is possible to fold the paper piece in two with a small amount of movement.

Further, the paper piece guide deflecting means is provided with the first means.
In the state of being moved to the position of, after pulling the leading end of the piece of paper conveyed by the conveying means into the paper folding means,
The paper piece guide deflecting means is retracted to the second position, a speed difference is provided between the conveying means and the paper folding means, and the paper piece is curved and suspended between the conveying means and the paper folding means. After that, the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position with the transportation of the paper piece stopped, and a predetermined part of the paper piece is drawn into the paper folding means to fold the paper piece in three-fold mode. In the state where the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the second position, the tip end portion of the paper piece conveyed by the conveying means is suspended by a predetermined amount, and then the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position. By providing a control means having a two-fold mode in which a predetermined portion of the paper piece is pulled into the paper folding means and the paper piece is folded in two, three-fold and two-fold can be performed with a small movement amount.

Further, a paper folding means for folding the supplied paper piece, a conveying means for conveying the paper piece sent out from the paper folding means, and a first means for guiding the paper piece sent out from the paper folding means to the conveying means. , And a paper piece guide deflecting means that moves between a second position that opens the space between the paper folding means and the conveying means, and a state in which the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position. After pulling the leading end of the paper piece sent out from the paper folding means into the conveying means, the paper piece guide deflecting means is retracted to the second position, and the speed between the conveying means and the paper folding means is increased. After the paper piece is curved and suspended between the conveying means and the paper folding means with a difference, the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position with the conveyance of the paper piece stopped, The specified part is the paper Ri also by providing a control means not to 3-fold the piece of paper with drawn into the means, can be achieved trifold with a small amount of movement.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a paper piece folding device.

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

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

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

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation in the half-fold mode.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operation of the paper sheet folding device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a Z-folding operation of the paper piece folding device.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a half-folding operation of the paper piece folding device.

FIG. 9 is a structural explanatory view of another embodiment of the paper piece folding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Paper folding device 12 Feed roller pair 13 Pair of paper folding rollers 16 Paper entry port 17 Paper guide deflection member 21 Processing means

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-49-51014 (JP, A) JP-A-63-1676 (JP, A) JP-A-2-198975 (JP, A) Actual development Sho-53- 144998 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 45/26 B65H 5/06 B65H 5/36

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A conveying means for conveying a piece of paper, a paper folding means for folding the piece of paper conveyed by the conveying means, and a first position for guiding the piece of paper conveyed from the conveying means to the paper folding means. , And a sheet piece guide deflecting means that moves between a second position that opens the space between the conveying means and the paper folding means, and the state where the sheet piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position, After the leading end of the piece of paper conveyed by the conveying means is drawn into the paper folding means, the paper piece guide deflecting means is retracted to the second position, and the speed difference is generated between the conveying means and the paper folding means. The paper piece is bent and suspended between the conveying means and the paper folding means, and then the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position in a state where the conveyance of the paper piece is stopped. Pull the part into the paper folding means Paper folding apparatus characterized by comprising a control means for trifold the paper. 2. A conveying means for conveying a piece of paper, a paper folding means for performing a folding operation of the piece of paper conveyed by the conveying means, and a predetermined portion including a leading end portion of the piece of paper conveyed from the conveying means. A sheet guide guiding means for moving between a first position leading to the means and a second position for opening the conveying means and the paper folding means, and the sheet guide guiding means to the second position. In the moved state, after suspending the front end portion of the paper piece conveyed by the conveying means by a predetermined amount, the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position, and the predetermined portion of the paper piece is moved to the paper folding means. A paper piece folding device, comprising: a control means for retracting the paper piece into two. 3. Conveying means for conveying a piece of paper, paper folding means for folding the piece of paper conveyed by the conveying means, and a first position for guiding the piece of paper conveyed from the conveying means to the paper folding means. , And a sheet piece guide deflecting means that moves between a second position that opens the space between the conveying means and the paper folding means, and the state where the sheet piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position, After the leading end of the piece of paper conveyed by the conveying means is drawn into the paper folding means, the paper piece guide deflecting means is retracted to the second position, and the speed difference is generated between the conveying means and the paper folding means. The paper piece is bent and suspended between the conveying means and the paper folding means, and then the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position in a state where the conveyance of the paper piece is stopped. Pull the part into the paper folding means And 3-fold mode causes trifold the paper, in a state of moving the paper guide deflecting means to said second position,
After suspending the front end portion of the paper piece conveyed by the conveying means by a predetermined amount, the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position, and a predetermined portion of the paper piece is drawn into the paper folding means to move the paper piece into two. A paper piece folding device, comprising: a control unit having a two-fold mode for folding. 4. A paper folding means for folding the supplied paper piece, a conveying means for conveying the paper piece sent out from the paper folding means, and a first means for guiding the paper piece sent out from the paper folding means to the conveying means. And a sheet piece guide deflecting means that moves between a second position that opens between the paper folding means and the conveying means, and a state in which the sheet piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position. After pulling the leading end of the paper piece sent out from the paper folding means into the conveying means, the paper piece guide deflecting means is retracted to the second position, and the speed between the conveying means and the paper folding means is increased. After the paper piece is curved and suspended between the conveying means and the paper folding means with a difference, the paper piece guide deflecting means is moved to the first position with the conveyance of the paper piece stopped, The specified part is the paper folding Paper folding apparatus characterized by comprising retracted allowed by the control means for trifold the paper on. 5. A processing means for performing processing different from the paper folding at a portion where the transportation of the paper piece is stopped when the paper piece is folded in three while the transportation of the paper piece by the paper folding means is stopped. 5. The paper piece folding device according to claim 1, 3, or 4.