JP4377830B2 - Paper folding device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper folding apparatus that can be connected to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile machine and can diffract a plurality of sheets.

Along with image formation, various apparatuses have been proposed that bend an image-formed sheet according to a user's request. Specifically, it has two folding roller pairs and a conveying roller pair that feeds paper to one of the roller pairs, and further includes a deflecting unit that switches the direction in which the paper is folded by one of the folding rollers. As a device capable of alternately diffracting and diffracting a plurality of times successively, the technology described in the following patent document can be given.
JP2004-67266 Japanese Patent No. 3356851 Japanese Patent No. 2849914

  In the invention described in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 23A, the leading end portion of the supplied paper 900 is sandwiched between, for example, the upper roller and the lower roller of the second folding roller pair 230x (this The folding knife 240x guides the leading edge of the paper 900). After that, as shown in FIG. 23B, the first fold portion of the zigzag fold of the paper 900 is guided by the folding knife 250x, and the first folding roller pair 220x is positioned between the upper roller and the lower roller. Next, as shown in FIG. 23 (c), the portion of the paper 900 that becomes the next fold of the zigzag fold is guided by the folding knife 240x, and the upper rollers of the second folding roller pair 230x, It is designed to repeat the operation of holding it between the lower rollers. In Patent Document 1, folding knives 240x and 250x are deflecting means.

  Further, in the invention described in Patent Document 2, when the sheet is folded, for example, after the sheet 315 has passed a predetermined length between the rollers 322 and 324 in FIG. As shown, the driven roller 313 and the extrusion rollers 330a and 330b are moved to the first position. At this time, the sheet 315 between the conveying roller pair 310 and the folding roller group 320 is pushed toward the roller 322 by the push roller 330b as indicated by reference numeral 318a, and the sheet 315 is bent. The central roller 320 rotates in the forward direction. For this reason, as indicated by reference numeral 318b, the bent portion of the sheet 315 is engaged with the roller 332, and a fold is formed. In this way, the sheet 315 can be folded. Thereafter, similarly, the seat 315 can be folded in multiples by appropriately operating the 1/2 rotation clutch. In Patent Document 2, the extrusion rollers 330a and 330b are deflecting means.

  Further, in the invention described in Patent Document 3, at least a pair of rollers that are driven synchronously with each other are provided along the sheet conveyance path, and each of the pair of rollers is engaged with each other by the rotation of the pair of rollers. Accordingly, a concave groove and a projection for making a crease in the direction perpendicular to the paper conveyance direction are provided for the paper. Then, a sheet detection means for detecting the leading edge of the conveyed sheet is provided upstream of the pair of rollers in the sheet conveying direction, and counting is started when the leading edge of the sheet is detected by the sheet detecting means. A counter is provided. At the same time, an ON state is arranged between the pair of rollers and the drive source, and the rotation from the drive source is transmitted to the pair of rollers, and the OFF state is not transmitted to the pair of rollers. Control switching. Further, the present invention is characterized in that a clutch is provided that is controlled to be switched from the off state until then to the on state when the count reaches a predetermined value after the counter starts counting.

However, in the case of the folding device described above, the deflecting means moves to the vicinity of each of the two folding roller pairs, but does not directly contact the folding roller and the paper. For this reason, the sheet bends in an arc shape from the position where the middle part of the sheet is pushed and stopped, and the pair of folding rollers comes into contact with the sheet, and is sandwiched in the nip of the folding roller and folded. The sheet is bent in a circular arc shape, and the force with which the sheet comes into contact with the folding roller when the pair comes into contact with the folding roller is only a restoring force due to the rigidity of the sheet (a force to return from the bent state to the flat state).
Therefore, when the sheet comes into contact with the bending and folding roller pair, the conveying force of the folding roller varies depending on the rigidity of the sheet, that is, the thickness of the sheet (usually thicker sheet has higher rigidity).
Actually, a resistance force is generated when the sheet is bent and bent. When this resistance force is large, when the sheet comes into contact with the bending / folding roller pair, the conveying force of the folding roller is lost and slip occurs, the sheet is further bent between the folding roller and the conveying roller, and finally the thickness of the sheet Will cause the folding position to vary.

Further, when multiple folding is performed by overlapping the number of foldings, a sheet bundle (broken line portion) is formed on the lower surface side of the sheet bent in an arc shape as shown in FIG. At this time, the shape of the paper that is bent in an arc shape is a shape shown by a broken line in FIG. 24, which is naturally different from the bent shape in the first folding.
At this time, the contact position between the pair of folding rollers and the sheet also varies. Further, when the sheet is buckled and folded, the slip amount between the folding roller and the sheet due to the resistance force also varies. That is, the folding position further varies. Further, when folding with the same width, the thickness of the sheet bundle (broken line portion) is most likely to swell and fluctuate near the crease of the sheet, that is, the apex where the sheet bends. This is because the folds are thick paper and thin paper, and the paper bundle is finished thick or the paper bundle is thin, so that the thickness varies more.
As a result, the contact position between the pair of folding rollers and the paper also changes, so that when the paper is buckled and folded, the slip amount between the folding roller and the paper due to the resistance force also changes. That is, the folding position further varies.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a paper folding apparatus that has a high folding accuracy and a high folding accuracy by reducing the variation in folding position between thick paper and thin paper, and further reducing the folding position in single-folding and multiple folding. That is.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, the first and second pairs of folding rollers that fold the paper, the conveying roller pair that feeds the paper to the first and second pairs of folding rollers, Deflecting means for switching the direction in which the sheet is bent by the first and second pairs of folding rollers, and the deflecting means can alternately switch the folding direction and continuously diffract a plurality of times. In the paper folding device, the means brings the paper into contact with the lower folding roller of the folding roller pair on the side where the paper is folded, conveys the folded paper, and the leading edge of the paper is conveyed from the conveying roller pair. Before the leading edge of the sheet arrives, the inner side of the leading edge of the sheet is guided using the deflecting means, and the sheet is brought into contact with the nip portion of the roller and conveyed, thereby achieving the object.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the first and second pair of folding rollers for folding the paper, the pair of conveying rollers for feeding the paper to the first and second pair of folding rollers, Deflecting means for switching the direction in which the sheet is bent by the first and second pairs of folding rollers, and the deflecting means can alternately switch the folding direction and continuously diffract a plurality of times. In the paper folding device, the means brings the paper into contact with the lower folding roller of the folding roller pair on the side where the paper is folded, conveys the folded paper, and the leading edge of the paper is conveyed from the conveying roller pair. Before the leading edge of the paper reaches the leading edge of the paper and the leading edge of the deflecting means to guide the paper, by moving the paper and the deflecting means at the same speed, the paper is brought into contact with the nip portion of the roller, Transport By making, to achieve the object.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the leading edge of the sheet is conveyed from the conveying roller, and before the leading edge of the sheet reaches the folding roller, the deflection means is used to scoop up the leading edge of the sheet, and the leading edge of the sheet enters the nip of the pair of folding rollers. Thus, as shown in FIG. 21, the leading edge of the sheet can be released from the deflecting means in the vicinity of the folding roller, the resistance when entering the nip of the pair of folding rollers is reduced, and the leading edge of the sheet is curled The effect can be reduced, and paper jams, broken ears, etc. can be prevented.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the leading edge of the sheet is conveyed from the conveying roller, and the leading edge of the sheet and the leading end of the deflecting means are in contact with each other before the leading edge of the sheet reaches the folding roller, thereby moving the sheet and the deflecting means simultaneously. By causing the leading edge of the sheet to enter the nip of the pair of folding rollers, as shown in FIG. 21, the leading edge of the sheet can be released from the deflecting means in the vicinity of the folding roller, and resistance when entering the nip of the pair of folding rollers is reduced. Even if the paper tip is curled, the influence can be reduced, and paper jamming, ear folding, etc. can be prevented.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
First, FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a machine in which a paper folding device is mounted on a copying machine.
This figure shows an example in which a paper folding device 1 that is connected to the back surface of the copying machine main body 200 and is folded into an end face of a paper or a bellows is mounted. The paper folding device 1 includes a connecting portion 6 with a main body, an end face folding portion 2 that folds the end surface of the front end of the paper, a paper folding portion 3 that folds the paper into a bellows shape in the transport direction, and a tray that discharges and stacks the folded paper. 13.

On the other hand, an image reading device is arranged in the copying machine main body 200, and a manual paper feed table 208 is arranged below the image reading device. When a sheet is set on the manual sheet feeding table 208, the sheet is temporarily stopped by the registration roll 207 and is supplied to the image forming unit 206 at a timing.
The image forming unit 206 forms a latent image corresponding to image data by a photoconductor (not shown), develops the latent image with toner, transfers the toner to a sheet, and fixes the toner by a fixing device 210. . The recorded paper on which the toner is fixed by the fixing device 210 is discharged to the paper folding device 1 by the recorded paper discharge roll 211 when the paper is folded. When paper folding is not performed, the paper is discharged into the main body by the upper paper discharge roller 209 by a switching claw (not shown).

  Next, when folding the paper, the paper is fed from the recorded paper discharge roll 211 to the paper folding device 1 and fed by the entrance conveyance roller pairs 6 and 7. When folding the end face of the paper, the end face at the front end of the paper is folded by the end face folding portion 2. After the end surface of the sheet is folded by the end surface folding unit 2, the sheet is folded in a bellows shape in the transport direction by the sheet folding unit 3, and the folded sheet is stacked on the tray 13.

2 to 5 are side views showing the operation of the paper folding apparatus 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is a drive configuration diagram of the paper folding device 1, FIGS. 7 and 8 are perspective views showing the configuration of the deflecting means, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the paper folding device.
FIGS. 10 to 16 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure of the present embodiment, and FIGS. 17 to 19 are enlarged views when the sheet of the present embodiment enters the folding roller.
Next, a description will be given of a first embodiment of a paper folding apparatus that folds paper in a bellows shape in the conveyance direction. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the paper folding portion 3 in FIG.
First, in FIG. 2, a leading edge detection sensor 15 that detects the leading edge of the paper P is configured at the entrance of the paper folding unit 3, and the conveyance roller pair 14 is configured on the downstream side thereof. On the downstream side, a pair of folding rollers 11 and 12 that transport the paper in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the transport roller pair 14 transports the paper are configured, and the pair of folding rollers 11 and 12 are rotated forward and reverse in synchronization. Fold the bellows.
A folding width left detection sensor 16 and a folding width right detection sensor 17 are formed outside the pair of folding rollers 11 and 12, respectively, and detect the leading edge of the sheet and the folded end surface of the folded sheet. Further, a lower guide plate 18 is formed between the pair of folding rollers 11 and 12, and the folded sheet end face is guided to the pair of folding rollers 11 and 12.

Next, deflecting means 20 and 21 for switching the guide of the front end of the sheet to the folding roller pair 11 or 12 will be described.
The deflecting means 20 and 21 have arc-shaped trajectories so as to contact the lower folding rollers 11b and 12b, respectively, and the deflecting means 20 and 21 are rotationally driven by the drive gears 22 and 23. The leading edge of the sheet is guided to the vicinity of the folding roller pair 11 and 12 by the deflecting means 20 and 21 and enters the nip of the folding roller pair 11 and 12. At this time, depending on which of the deflecting means 20 and 21 is moved, it is selected which of the folding roller pairs 11 and 12 is to enter the nip of the sheet.
Here, the deflection means 20 for guiding the right folding roller pair 12 is a right deflection means, and the deflection means 21 for guiding the left folding roller pair 11 is a left deflection means.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the deflecting means 20, 21 has a configuration in which the deflecting means 20, 21 guides the inside of the paper to the nip of both the folding roller pairs 11, 12 when the paper is folded. At this time, the rollers 20a and 21a formed at the tips of the deflecting means 20 and 21 come into contact with the lower folding rollers 11b and 12b, respectively.

Next, the configuration of the deflecting means 20 and 21 will be described with reference to FIG. Although FIG. 7 shows the left deflection unit 21, the right deflection unit is also symmetrical and has the same configuration. Side plates having gear portions 21b are arranged on both sides of the left deflection means 21, and a guide plate 21d is provided for connecting the both side plates to guide the leading edge of the paper.
Further, the stay 21e is also formed between the side plates, and the stay 21e has a light shielding plate 21c that shields the deflection means home position sensor (hereinafter referred to as deflection means HP sensor) 24, 25 of FIG. Further, a roller 21a having a width equal to or larger than the maximum sheet width is provided at the front end between both side plates, and the roller 21a is supported not only on both side plates but also on the front end portion 21g of the guide plate 21d as a bearing.

Here, the distal end portion 21g of the guide plate 21d supports the entire width of the roller 21a, but may be partially supported. In addition, although the tip portion 21g is coated with Teflon (registered trademark), a resin material having a low friction coefficient may be used for the guide plate 21d itself. The roller 21a may be a pipe material.
Further, a plurality of rollers 21f are provided on the outer sides of both side plates. As shown in FIG. 8, the roller 21f has rails 60 and 61 formed on both outer sides of the deflecting means 20 and 21 (FIG. 8 shows the rail 60 side), and the deflecting means 20 and 21 are folded downward, respectively. Rail grooves 60a and 60b are formed in an arc shape in the rail 60 so as to come into contact with the rollers 11b and 12b, and the deflecting means 20 and 21 move up and down along a circular locus.
The roller 21f contacts the rail grooves 60a and 60b, the gear portions 20b and 21b of the deflecting means 20 and 21 engage with the drive gears 22 and 23, and the roller 21f rolls in the rail grooves 60a and 60b. Reference numerals 20 and 21 respectively rotate along an arc locus so as to contact and separate from the lower folding rollers 11b and 12b, respectively.

Next, the drive configuration of the paper folding apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the driving roller of the pair of conveying rollers 14 transmits the rotation of the conveying motor 52 via the driving belt 51 by the pulley 50 connected to the end portion, and is driven in the conveying direction (arrow direction in FIG. 6). . Further, a tip detection sensor 15 is configured in the vicinity of the center of the conveyance roller pair 14.

Next, since the driving of the deflecting means 20 and 21 is symmetrical and has the same driving configuration, the left deflecting means 21 will be described here. First, drive gears 23 are connected to the gear portions 21b at both ends of the left deflection means 21, respectively. Since the drive gears 23 at both ends are fixed and driven on the same drive shaft 54, the left deflection means 21 moves in parallel with the same drive shaft 54 as the same drive shaft 54 rotates.
The same drive shaft 54 is connected to a drive pulley 42a via a torque limiter 42b, the drive pulley 42a and the drive pulley 40 are connected and driven by a drive belt 41, and the drive pulley 55 on the same axis as the drive pulley 40 is connected to a drive belt. 37 is connected to the deflection means left motor 36 through 37.

Accordingly, when the deflection means left motor 36 rotates in the arrow direction, the left deflection means 21 moves in the arrow direction. At that time, when a load greater than the rotational load torque of the torque limiter 42b is applied to the left deflection means 21, the sliding is performed while generating torque between the torque limiter 42b and the drive pulley 42a.
Further, a light shielding plate 21c is provided at the end of the left deflection means 21, and the deflection means left HP sensor 25 is shielded from light at the position where the left deflection means 21 is waiting to be lifted, thereby detecting the standby position. Note that the right deflecting means 20 has the same configuration and shows the rotation direction when the right deflecting means 20 is lowered in FIG.

Next, driving of the folding roller pairs 11 and 12 will be described. A driving pulley 35 is connected to the end of the upper folding roller 11a, a driving pulley 33b is connected to the end of the upper folding roller 12a, and the driving pulley 35 and the driving pulley 33b are connected by a driving belt 34. Further, the drive pulley 33a integrated with the drive pulley 33b is connected to the drive pulley 57a via the drive belt 31, and the drive pulley 57b integrated with the drive pulley 57a is further connected to the folding motor 30 via the drive belt 56. It is connected with.
Therefore, when the folding motor 30 rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure. The upper folding rollers 11a and 12a rotate in the direction of the arrow in synchronization.

  Further, a driving belt (not shown) connects the upper folding rollers 11a and 12a and the lower folding rollers 11b and 12b, so that when the folding motor 30 rotates, the folding roller pairs 11 and 12 are synchronized with the upper and lower folding rollers in the conveying direction. It is configured to rotate in the direction. Further, a folding width right detection sensor 17 and a folding width left detection sensor 16 are disposed in the vicinity of the outer center of both folding roller pairs 11 and 12, respectively.

  In the above drive configuration, each motor is controlled by the paper folding controller 100 of FIG. Also, the main body control board 202 receives an input signal such as a folding type and size from the operation unit 201 of the main body, and information is sent to the paper folding controller, and each motor is controlled based on each sensor information to fold the paper. It has become.

Next, a series of paper folding operations of the paper folding device will be described with reference to side views showing the operation of the paper folding device 1 in FIGS. 2 to 5 and flowcharts in FIGS. 10 to 16.
First, when a paper folding signal is input from the main body operation unit 201 in FIG. 9, the signal is sent to the paper folding controller 100 via the main body control board 202. In that case, the process shown in the flowchart of FIG.
First, the transport motor 52 in FIG. 6 is turned on, and the transport roller pair 14 in FIG. 2 starts to rotate in the direction of the arrow (step 10). Next, a sheet is fed from the main body, the leading edge of the sheet passes through the leading edge detection sensor 15, and an ON signal of the leading edge detection sensor 15 is input to the sheet folding controller 100 (step 11). Next, it is determined whether or not the paper folding type signal input from the main body operation unit 201 in FIG. 9 is the paper folding type that the first paper transport is put into the right folding roller pair 12 (step 12).

Here, a case will be described in which the paper folding type signal is the paper folding type in which the first paper transport is inserted into the right folding roller pair 12. Next, the folding motor 30 in FIG. 6 is turned on and rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 (here, forward rotation) (step 13). Next, the deflection means right motor 43 in FIG. 6 is turned on, and the right deflection means 20 in FIG. 2 starts moving from the solid line position toward the broken line position. The rotation direction at this time is assumed to be normal rotation. (Step 14).
At this time, the deflection means right HP sensor 24 is turned off (step 15), and after the drive time T1 seconds when the right deflection means 20 reaches the broken line position from the solid line position, the deflection means right motor 43 is turned off (step 16).

At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the roller 20a at the tip of the right deflection means 20 and the lower folding roller 12b are not in contact with each other, and the right deflection means 20 is stopped with a slight gap. In this state, as shown in FIG. 2, the leading edge of the sheet P enters the nip of the right folding roller pair 12, and the folding width right detection sensor 17 is turned on (step 17).
Thereafter, in order to return the right deflection means 20 to the standby position, the deflection means right motor 43 is turned on in the reverse direction (step 18), the deflection means right HP sensor 24 is turned on (step 19), and the deflection means right motor 43 is turned off. Then (step 20), the right deflection means 20 returns to the standby state at the solid line position in FIG.

Next, after the leading edge of the sheet enters the right folding roller pair 12, it is determined whether or not there is left folding (step 21), and the case where there is left folding will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. (Step 21; Y).
T4 seconds after the folding width right detection sensor 17 is turned on, the folding motor 30 is turned off (step 22). This time, the inside of the sheet is guided to the nip of the left folding roller pair 11, so that the deflection means shown in FIG. The left motor 36 is turned on, and the left deflection means 21 in FIG. 3 starts moving in the direction of the arrow. The rotation direction at this time is assumed to be normal rotation. (Step 23). At this time, the deflection means left HP sensor 25 is turned OFF (step 24).
Simultaneously with the operation of the left deflection means 21, the folding motor is turned on in the reverse direction T3 seconds after the tip detection sensor 15 is turned on as shown in FIG. 3 (step 25). At this time, since the moving speed of the left deflecting means 21 is set faster than the slacking speed of the paper, there is no paper slack as shown by the broken line in FIG. 3, and the paper and the roller 21a at the tip of the left deflecting means 21 come into contact. .

At this time, since the moving speed of the left deflection unit 21 cannot move beyond the slacking speed of the sheet, a load is applied to the torque limiter 42b in FIG. 6, and slipping starts while generating torque between the torque limiter 42b and the drive pulley 42a. . Accordingly, the roller 21a at the tip of the left deflection unit 21 applies tension to the sheet by the amount of idling torque of the torque limiter 42b, and the sheet moves while maintaining the tensioned state, and the tip of the left deflection unit 21 as shown in FIG. The roller 21a brings the paper into contact with the left lower folding roller 11b.
Further, as shown in FIG. 17, the roller 21a at the front end and the lower folding roller 11b are given a pressing force F corresponding to the idling torque of the torque limiter 42b, and the paper P is further slackened like a one-dot chain line to form a loop. The top of the loop is inserted into the nip of the left folding roller pair 11 that rotates in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. 17, and the paper is folded to the left.
The sheet continues to be fed, and the leading edge of the folded sheet reaches the folding width detection sensor 16 and is turned on (step 26). Thereafter, in order to return the left deflection means 21 to the standby position, the deflection means left motor 36 is stopped (step 27), and further turned on in the reverse direction (step 28), and the deflection means left HP sensor 25 is turned on (step 29). Then, the deflection means left motor 36 is turned off (step 30), and the left deflection means 21 returns to the standby state at the solid line position in FIG. 2, and the first folding is completed.

  Here, if it is determined whether or not there is left folding in step 21 in FIG. 10, if there is no folding (step 21; N), the paper discharge direction is on the left folding roller pair 11 side. The paper is discharged after being switched back once, and the folding motor 30 is turned off when the trailing edge of the paper passes through the leading edge detection sensor 15 with the right folding roller pair 12 conveying the paper (step 32). The folding motor 30 is reversely rotated (step 33), the rear end of the sheet is conveyed toward the left folding roller pair 11, and the discharging operation flow C shown in FIG. 16 is entered.

Further, when it is determined whether or not the first sheet conveyance in step 12 in FIG. 10 is the paper folding type to be inserted into the right folding roller pair 12, if it is the paper folding type to be inserted into the left folding roller pair 11 (step 12). N), moving from step 34 to step 52 in the same manner as in the case of entering the pair of folding rollers 12 on the right side of FIGS.
However, if it is determined in step 42 whether or not there is a right fold, if there is no fold (step 42; N), the paper discharge direction is on the left fold roller pair 11 side. Therefore, the discharge operation flow C shown in FIG. 16 is entered as it is.

Here, it is determined whether or not there is repeated folding (step 31, FIG. 13, step 52). When the first folding is on the left side and there is repeated folding, the flow B (FIG. 15) of the right repeated folding is performed. If there is no repeated folding, there is no need to switch back once and then discharge, so the discharge operation flow C is entered as it is (FIG. 16).
Further, when the first fold is on the right side and there are repeated folds, the flow enters the repetitive fold flow A on the left side (FIG. 14), and when there are no repeated folds, it is necessary to switch back once before discharging. Therefore, when the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the leading edge detection sensor 15 and the sheet is turned OFF while the pair of right folding rollers 12 conveys the sheet, the folding motor 30 stops OFF (step 53), and this time the folding motor 30 is reversed (step 54). Then, the rear end of the sheet is conveyed toward the left folding roller pair 11 and enters the discharge operation flow C (FIG. 16).

Next, in the case of the repetitive folding flows A and B, the left folding flow A is almost the same as the first folding flow D and steps 22 to 31, and the timing of reversing the folding motor 30 in step 58 is repeated. In the case of folding, the rotation is reversed T6 seconds after the folding width right detection sensor 17 is turned ON.
Similarly, the right-folding flow B shown in FIG. 15 is almost the same as the processing steps 43 to 52 of the first folding, and when the timing of forward rotation of the folding motor 30 in step 68 is repeated folding, the folding width right detection sensor It is reversed 6 seconds after T16 is turned on.
If there is further repeated folding after that, flow A and B (FIGS. 14 and 15) are repeated. If the final folding is on the right side, the paper discharge direction is on the left folding roller pair 11 side, so switch back once. If the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the leading edge detection sensor 15 and is turned OFF with the pair of right folding rollers 12 conveying the sheet, the folding motor 30 is turned off (step 75). In reverse (step 76), the rear end of the sheet is conveyed toward the left folding roller pair 11 and enters the discharge operation flow C (FIG. 16). If the final fold is on the left side, the discharge operation flow C is entered as it is.

Finally, in the discharge operation flow C, after the trailing edge of the sheet passes the folding width left detection sensor 16 and the folding width left detection sensor 16 is turned off (step 77), the folding motor 30 is stopped (step 78). Stop (step 79) and the discharge is completed.
When the sheet is folded right and folded left and repeatedly in this way, the sheet is folded into a bundle that is nipped by the pair of folding rollers 11 and 12 and conveyed. In such a sheet bundle state, the sheet forms a loop and enters the nip between the pair of folding rollers 11 and 12 as shown in FIGS. .

When the sheet is repeatedly folded, the sheet bundle expands depending on the degree of the folded sheet, and the thickness of the sheet bundle is T in FIG. When the sheet bundle enters the left folding roller pair 11, the leading roller 21a of the left deflection means 21 applies the pressure F corresponding to the idling torque of the torque limiter 42b as shown in FIG. In order to make contact, the thickness of the sheet bundle becomes a thickness T ′ that is close to the thickness obtained by stacking the thicknesses of the sheets themselves by crushing the bulge of the bundle.
From this state, the paper P enters a nip of the pair of left folding rollers 11 that forms a loop as indicated by a one-dot chain line and rotates in the direction of the arrow, is gripped, and the paper is folded to the left.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the paper folded repeatedly in a bellows shape is stacked on the tray 13 by the discharge roller 19, but the paper folded in a bellows shape is further folded in a cross shape into a folder that is vertically and horizontally folded into a certain size. The same applies to the case of use, and the present embodiment can also be used for a folder cross-folding mechanism.

  The first embodiment relates to the control in steps 10 to 16 in the above example. Here, after the paper leading edge detection sensor 15 detects the paper, the folding motor 30 is turned on (step 13), and the right deflection means 20 moves from the solid line position in FIG. 2 toward the solid line position in FIG. 20 (step 14). At this time, the deflection means right HP sensor 24 is turned off (step 15), and the timing of the contact between the leading edge of the right deflection means 20 and the sheet is as shown by the solid line in FIG. The right deflection means 20 is operated so as to guide the traveling direction of the leading edge of the sheet as indicated by the broken line in FIG. Then, the deflection means right motor 43 is operated and turned off as shown in FIG. 21 after T1 seconds of the drive time (step 16). Thereafter, the leading edge of the sheet enters the nip portion of the folding roller pair 12 and performs the same operation.

Next, a second embodiment will be described.
The second embodiment relates to the above control as well as the above implementation. In the above embodiment, after the paper leading edge detection sensor 15 detects the paper, the folding motor 30 is turned on (step 13), and the deflecting means 20 moves from the solid line position in FIG. 2 toward the solid line position in FIG. 21 (step 14). At this time, the deflection means right HP sensor 24 is turned OFF (step 15), and the operation of the deflection means right motor 43 is performed so that the timing when the tip of the right deflection means 20 and the sheet come into contact with each other is as shown by the solid line portion in FIG. Control when to start. Then, the operation speed of the right deflecting means 20 is set to the same speed as the sheet conveyance speed so as to guide the traveling direction of the leading edge of the sheet as indicated by the broken line portion in FIG. Then, the deflection means right motor 43 is operated and turned off as shown in FIG. 21 after T1 seconds of the drive time (step 16). Thereafter, the leading edge of the sheet enters the nip portion of the folding roller pair 12 and performs the same operation as in the above embodiment.

1 is a side view of a paper folding device connected to a copying machine main body according to an embodiment. It is the side view which showed operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus. It is the side view which showed operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus. It is the side view which showed operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus. It is the side view which showed operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus. It is a drive block diagram of a paper folding apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a deflection | deviation means. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a deflection | deviation means. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the paper folding apparatus. It is the flowchart which showed the process sequence of the present Example. It is the flowchart which showed the process sequence of the present Example. It is the flowchart which showed the process sequence of the present Example. It is the flowchart which showed the process sequence of the present Example. It is the flowchart which showed the process sequence of the present Example. It is the flowchart which showed the process sequence of the present Example. It is the flowchart which showed the process sequence of the present Example. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view when a sheet enters a folding roller. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view when a sheet enters a folding roller. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view when a sheet enters a folding roller. It is the side view which showed operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus. It is the side view which showed operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus. It is the side view which showed operation | movement of the paper folding apparatus. It is a figure explaining the prior art of this invention. It is a figure explaining the prior art of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper folding apparatus 2 End surface folding part 3 Paper folding part 11, 12 Folding roller pair 14 Conveying roller pair 15 End detection sensor 16 Folding width left detection sensor 17 Folding width right detection sensor 20, 21 Deflection means 20a, 21a Rollers 24, 25 Deflection means HP sensor 30 Folding motors 36, 43 Deflection means motor 52 Conveyance motor 100 Paper folding controller 200 Copier apparatus main body 201 Operation unit 202 Main body control board

Claims (2)

A first pair and a second pair of folding rollers for folding the paper;
A pair of conveying rollers for feeding paper to the first and second pair of folding rollers;
Deflecting means for switching the direction in which the sheet is folded by the first and second pairs of folding rollers, and the deflecting means can alternately switch the folding direction to continuously diffract a plurality of times. In a paper folding device in which the paper is brought into contact with the lower folding roller of the folding roller pair on the side where the deflection unit folds the paper, the folded paper is conveyed, and folded,
The front end of the paper is transported by the pair of transport rollers, and before the front end of the paper reaches the pair of folding rollers, the deflecting means is used to guide the inner side from the front end of the paper and bring the paper into contact with the nip portion of the roller. A paper folding device characterized by being conveyed. A first pair and a second pair of folding rollers for folding the paper;
A pair of conveying rollers for feeding paper to the first and second pair of folding rollers;
Deflecting means for switching the direction in which the sheet is folded by the first and second pairs of folding rollers, and the deflecting means can alternately switch the folding direction to continuously diffract a plurality of times. In a paper folding device in which the paper is brought into contact with the lower folding roller of the folding roller pair on the side where the deflection unit folds the paper, the folded paper is conveyed, and folded,
The front end of the paper is transported by the pair of transport rollers, and before the front end of the paper reaches the pair of folding rollers, the front end of the paper and the front end of the deflection unit are brought into contact with each other to guide the paper. The paper folding apparatus is characterized in that the paper is brought into contact with the nip portion of the roller by moving the paper and conveyed.

Images