JP4655832B2 - Booklet binding device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a bookbinding apparatus for producing a booklet having a cover.

  In recent years, color electrophotographic image forming apparatuses have come to be used in place of conventional printing apparatuses, taking advantage of small lot handling, quick delivery, and low cost. In addition, a booklet binding device that forms a sheet bundle by aligning a predetermined number of sheets on which images have been formed by the image forming apparatus, applies glue to the back of the sheet bundle, and adheres cover sheets to create a booklet. It has come to be used.

In such booklet bookbinding apparatus, for the purpose of improving workability and quality, when bonding the cover, the sheet bundle end surface opposite to the bonding surface can be easily aligned with the cover end surface, and An apparatus capable of firmly bonding a sheet bundle and a cover is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-209753 A

  However, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, application is performed while the application roller for applying the adhesive is in contact with the entire length of the back surface of the sheet bundle. In this case, the adhesive protrudes. There is a possibility that the protruding adhesive may cause problems such as adhering to other booklets or other documents, or the user may feel uncomfortable when the protruding adhesive is touched.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a bookbinding apparatus that can create a high-quality booklet.

The object of the present invention can be achieved by the following constitution.
(1)
Clamping means for clamping the sheet bundle;
An application member for applying an adhesive to the back surface of the sheet bundle clamped by the clamping means;
Moving means for relatively moving the clamping means and the application member in order to apply an adhesive to the back surface of the sheet bundle;
Contact / separation means for moving the application member in the contact / separation direction with respect to the back surface of the sheet bundle;
A cover pasting means for pasting a cover sheet on the back of the sheet bundle coated with adhesive;
Detection means provided on the application member for detecting both sides of the sheet bundle orthogonal to the back surface of the sheet bundle;
When the moving means is operated and adhesive is applied to the back surface of the sheet bundle, the detection information on the both sides of the detection means, or the detection information on the sides on the application start side of the both sides The contact member is controlled based on the size information of the sheet bundle, and the adhesive is applied to the portion excluding the predetermined regions at both ends of the back side of the sheet bundle as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the back side of the sheet bundle. Control means for applying ,
A booklet binding apparatus characterized by comprising:

  According to the above (1), when the adhesive is applied to the back surface of the sheet bundle, the application member is provided in a portion excluding the predetermined regions at both ends of the back surface of the sheet bundle as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the back surface of the sheet bundle. By controlling the contact / separation means so as to come into contact, the adhesive sticks out from the edge of the back side of the sheet bundle to which the adhesive has been applied, and sticks to other booklets or other documents, or sticks out. It is possible to prevent the user from touching the adhesive and feel uncomfortable and to produce a high-quality booklet.

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

  The description in this column does not limit the technical scope of the claims or the meaning of terms. Moreover, the assertive description in the following embodiments of the present invention shows the best mode, and does not limit the meaning or technical scope of the terms of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an entire image forming system in which a booklet binding apparatus B according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to an image forming apparatus A.

  First, the image forming apparatus A will be described.

  The image forming apparatus A forms an image on a sheet as a transfer material by an electrophotographic method, and includes an image forming unit A1, a document conveying device A2, and an image reading unit A3.

  In the image forming unit A1, a charging device 2, an exposure device 3, a developing device 4, a transfer device 5A, a separating device 5B, and a cleaning device 6 are arranged around the drum-shaped photoconductor 1, and these electrophotographic process devices are used. Charging, exposure, development and transfer are performed to form a toner image on the photoreceptor 1 and an image is formed on the paper S.

  The sheets S are stored in three sheet feed trays 7A. The sheets S are fed one by one from these sheet feed trays 7A, and the toner image on the photoreceptor 1 is transferred to the sheets S by the transfer device 5A. Is done.

  The toner image transferred to the paper S passes through the fixing device 8 and is fixed. The fixed sheet S is discharged from the discharge roller 7C or conveyed to the refeed path 7E.

  In face-up paper discharge, the switching gate 7D advances the paper S straight. In face-down paper discharge and double-sided image formation, the switching gate 7D guides the paper S downward.

  In face-down paper discharge, the paper S is guided downward, then switched back and conveyed upward, and discharged from the paper discharge roller 7C.

  In the double-sided image formation, the paper S is guided downward, and after reversing the front and back by the fit back, the paper S is re-fed to the transfer unit where the transfer device 5A is disposed through the re-feed path 7E, and the back image is transferred. Thereafter, the fixing device 8 performs fixing processing and discharges the paper.

  The document transport device A2 transports documents one by one to the reading position. The image reading unit A3 reads an image of the document conveyed by the document conveying device A2 or the document placed on the document table 9, and generates an image signal.

  Next, the outline of the booklet binding apparatus B will be described with reference to FIG.

  The booklet binding apparatus B is an apparatus that forms a booklet S3 by bundling a plurality of sheets S sent from the image forming apparatus A into a sheet bundle S1, and joining a cover sheet (hereinafter simply referred to as a cover) S2 to the sheet bundle S1. is there.

  The bookbinding apparatus B collects and clamps the sheets S fed one by one or several by one at the transport unit 10 that transports the sheets S discharged from the image forming apparatus A to the sheet discharge tray 20 or the sheet reversing unit 40. It has a clamping means 50, a coating means 60 for applying an adhesive such as hot melt on the back surface of the sheet bundle S1, a cover storage section 70 for storing the cover S2, a cover support means 80 for supporting the cover, and a booklet discharge section 100.

  The paper S discharged from the image forming apparatus A is discharged to the paper discharge tray 20 through the discharge path 12 by the switching gate 11 provided in the transport unit 10 or is transported to the paper reversing unit 40. The paper S is discharged to the paper discharge tray 20 when not in the bookbinding mode.

  In the bookbinding mode, the paper S is transported to the paper reversing unit 40 through the transport path 13, and after being switched back in the paper reversing unit 40, is transported to the clamping means 50. When the set number of sheets S are stacked on the clamping means 50, the sheet bundle S1 is held in a substantially vertical state.

  An adhesive is applied by the applying means 60 to the lower surface of the sheet bundle S1 held in the vertical state.

  The cover sheet S2 fed from the cover sheet storage unit 70 and supported by the cover sheet support unit 80 is lifted into contact with and adhered to the sheet bundle S1 coated with the adhesive.

  The booklet S3 created by bonding the cover sheet S2 to the sheet bundle S1 is discharged and collected in the booklet discharge unit 100.

  Hereinafter, the bookbinding apparatus B in the bookbinding mode will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of the bookbinding apparatus B.

  The sheet S transported on the transport path 13 is transported obliquely upward by the transport rollers 401 and 402, and after being lifted on the inclined reversing plate 403, is transported downward by the reverse rotation of the transport roller 402 and hits the stopper 404 to stop. To do.

  When a predetermined number of sheets S are stacked on the reversing plate 403, the transported rollers 405 separated from each other are nipped and transported downward, and the transported sheet S is supported by the support plate 502 and the abutment. The clamp means 50 having the plate 503 is supported in an inclined state.

  As will be described later, after clamping the sheet bundle S1, the inclined clamping means 50 is in a vertical state, an adhesive is applied to the back surface of the sheet bundle S1, the cover sheet S2 is adhered, and a booklet S3 is completed. During the time period until the clamping means 50 returns to the tilted state, the sheet S cannot be fed to the clamping means 50. Therefore, the conveyed sheet S needs to be kept on standby by the reversing plate 403. The number of sheets kept on the plate 403 is the predetermined number described above.

  After the booklet S3 is produced and the clamp means 50 returns to the oblique state, the sheets S can be accumulated in the clamp means 50, and therefore set in the operation of the image forming apparatus A and the display means A5 (see FIG. 1). The sheet S sent by the transport roller 401 is sent to the clamping means 50 one by one by the transport roller 402 until the set number of sheets for producing the booklet S3 is reached.

  After the accumulated number of the clamp means 50 reaches the set number, the sheet bundle S1 is clamped between the support plate 502 by the operation of the clamp plate 504 by a drive means (not shown), and the clamp means 50 rotates the shaft 505 as the rotation axis. As a result, the posture is changed from the tilted state to the vertical state.

  When the sheet bundle S1 is converted into the vertical state, the abutting plate 503 is retracted, and the application unit 60 moves in the direction perpendicular to the sheet surface of FIG. 2 to apply the adhesive to the back surface of the sheet bundle S1.

  Subsequently, the cover sheet S2 conveyed in advance by the feed roller 702 and the like from the sheet feed tray 701 of the cover sheet storage unit 70 provided in the lower part of the booklet bookbinding apparatus B and placed in a horizontal state by the cover sheet support means 80 is moved up and down. 90, the sheet is raised until it contacts the back surface of the sheet bundle S1, is bonded to the sheet bundle S1, becomes a booklet S3, and is discharged to the booklet discharge unit 100.

  Next, a detailed process for producing the booklet S3 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As described above, in FIG. 3A, the sheet S conveyed from the image forming apparatus A is conveyed obliquely upward by the conveying rollers 401 and 402 and accumulated in the sheet reversing unit 40 until a predetermined number of sheets is reached. Thereafter, the sheet is conveyed obliquely downward by the feeding roller 405 and accumulated on the support plate 502 of the clamp means 50.

  Subsequently, after the sheets S are stacked on the support plate 502 and reach the set number, the posture of the sheet bundle S1 is changed from the oblique state to the vertical state, the butting plate 503 is retracted, and the coating means 60 is shown in FIG. The adhesive such as hot melt is applied to the back surface SA of the sheet bundle S1 while moving in a direction orthogonal to the sheet surface 3 (see FIG. 3B).

  The configuration and operation of the application unit 60 will be described later.

  As shown in the lower part of FIG. 3 (c), in parallel with the above-described series of operations, the cover sheet S2 fed from the cover sheet storage unit 70 (see FIG. 2) is pulled to a predetermined position by the cover sheet drawing rollers 801 and 802. Placed in a horizontal state.

  When the application of the adhesive to the back surface SA of the sheet bundle S1 is completed, the cover supporting means 80 is raised by the lifting / lowering means 90 (see FIG. 2) until the fixing plate 803 contacts the back surface SA of the sheet bundle S1 via the cover sheet S2. To do.

  In addition, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 3C, in order to prevent the cover sheet S2 from being pulled by a pair of bending members 804 provided above the fixed plate 803 and the cover sheet drawing rollers 801 and 802, the cover sheet supporting means. The nip between the cover drawing rollers 801 and 802 is released in conjunction with the rise of 80.

  When the fixing plate 803 comes into contact with the back surface SA of the sheet bundle S1, as shown in FIG. 4A, the pair of folding members 804 move toward each other, and the cover sheet S2 and the sheet bundle S1 are square-shaped. After bonding to the shape, it returns to the initial position.

  After completion of the bonding between the cover sheet S2 and the sheet bundle S1, the cover support means 80 starts to descend, and in conjunction with this, the driven roller support levers 805 and 806 of the cover drawing rollers 801 and 802 are respectively counterclockwise in FIG. The cover support levers 807 and 808 rotate in the counterclockwise and clockwise directions in FIG. 4 and support the cover S2.

  As will be described later, the cover support means 80 moves in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 4 in order to receive and discharge the booklet S3 on which the booklet transport conveyor 810 is produced. At this time, the booklet transport conveyor 810 and the cover S2 are moved. It descends to a position where it does not contact the tip of

  When the lowering of the cover sheet support means 80 is completed, the pair of booklet transport conveyors 810 that have been retracted outside the length (width) of the sheet bundle S1 as viewed in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 4 supports the sheet bundle S1. And move toward each other (see FIG. 4B).

  After the movement of the booklet transport conveyor 810 is completed, the booklet transport conveyor 810 approaches the back surface SA of the sheet bundle S1 and stops in order to reduce the impact when the booklet S3 falls on the booklet transport conveyor 810 (FIG. 4C). reference).

  After the cover sheet support means 80 is stopped, the clamp of the sheet bundle S1 by the clamp plate 504 is released, and the booklet S3 falls on the booklet transport conveyor 810 (see FIG. 5A). At this time, the cover support lever 808 has returned to the horizontal position, which is the initial position.

  After the booklet S3 falls on the booklet transport conveyor 810, the cover support means 80 starts to descend, and the booklet S3 is placed on the booklet transport conveyor 810 rotating in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The sheet is conveyed while falling with the back surface SA at the top (see FIG. 5B), and is eventually laid down on the booklet conveying conveyor 810 and discharged (see FIG. 5C).

  When the discharge of the booklet S3 is completed, each member described above returns to the initial position.

  Next, the coating means 60 that is a feature of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8.

  6 is a plan view of the coating means 60 shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from above, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line YY in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, reference numeral 601 denotes an application roller which is an application member for applying an adhesive, and is rotatably supported by a first box-shaped first oscillating body 602, as shown in FIG. Part of the adhesive AD such as hot melt stored in the first rocking body 602 and melted by the heater 603 is immersed.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, reference numeral 604 denotes a leveling roller for leveling the adhesive applied to the back surface SA of the sheet bundle S1, and is rotatably supported by a second box-shaped oscillator 605 having a substantially box shape. The gear G1 is fixed to the rotation shaft 604A of the leveling roller 604.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the gear G1 meshes with the gear G3 fixed to the rotating shaft 601A of the application roller 601 via the idle gear G2, and is held by the second rocking body 605 as shown in FIG. It meshes with a gear G4 fixed to the output shaft of the coating motor M1.

  Thereby, the rotation of the application motor M1 is transmitted to the application roller 601 and the leveling roller 604.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, reference numeral 606 denotes a substantially box-shaped coating body provided outside the second rocking body 605, and the second rocking shaft 607 fixed to the second rocking body 605 can freely rotate. I support it.

  Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, four slide bearings 608 are provided on the upper part of the coating body 606, and the slide shafts 609 and 610 are slidably engaged with these slide bearings 608. The slide shafts 609 and 610 are arranged so that the application body 606 can move in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, reference numeral 611 denotes a belt for sliding the application main body 606, and one portion of the belt 611 is fixed to one of the slide bearings 608 via a coupling member 612.

  The belt 611 is stretched around pulleys 613 and 614 provided in parallel with the slide shafts 609 and 610, and the drive is transmitted to the pulley 614 from the moving motor M2.

  As shown in FIG. 8, 615 is a first solenoid for swinging the first rocking body 602 counterclockwise in FIG. It is fixed to. Reference numeral 616 denotes a second solenoid for oscillating the second oscillating body 605 in the clockwise direction of FIG. Has been.

  As apparent from FIG. 8, when the first solenoid 615 and the second solenoid 616 are energized and the plungers of the solenoids pop out, the outer peripheral surfaces of the application roller 601 and the leveling roller 604 become the same height. The plunger strokes of the first solenoid 615 and the second solenoid 616 are set so as to contact the back surface SA of the sheet bundle S1.

  As shown in FIG. 8, reference numeral 617 denotes detection means for detecting both sides SS1 and SS2 of the sheet bundle S1 orthogonal to the back surface SA of the sheet bundle S1, and is provided integrally in the moving direction of the arrow of the coating body 606. It has been.

  Similarly, in FIG. 8, reference numeral 618 denotes a regulating plate for regulating the amount of the adhesive AD carried on the coating roller 601, and is installed with a certain gap with respect to the coating roller 601. Reference numeral 619 denotes a removing plate for removing the adhesive AD adhering to the leveling roller 604 and is in contact with the leveling roller 604 with a constant pressure.

  Both the application roller 601 and the leveling roller 604 are set to rotate in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

  The application roller 601 includes a bar heater (not shown).

  As is clear from the above description, the clamping means 50 includes a clamp plate 504, a support plate 502, etc., the coating means 60 includes a coating roller 601, a leveling roller 604, a coating motor M1, and the like, and the moving means 61 includes a slide bearing. 608, slide shafts 609 and 610, a belt 611, a moving motor M2, and the like, the contact / separation means 62 includes a first solenoid 615, the leveling member contact / separation means 63 includes a second solenoid 616, and the cover support means 80 Cover sheet drawing rollers 801 and 802, a fixing plate 803, a bending member 804, driven roller support levers 807 and 808, and a booklet transport conveyor 810, and a cover sheet pasting unit 81 includes a cover sheet support unit 80 and an elevating unit 90.

  Next, a control configuration of the booklet binding apparatus B having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

  B1 is a control unit of the booklet binding apparatus B, and includes a control unit of the booklet binding apparatus B and a storage unit that stores various data, a CPU that executes control based on the control procedure and data stored in the storage unit, and the like. Has been.

  The control unit B1 is configured to be able to communicate with the control unit A4 of the host image forming apparatus A through the interface B2, and information such as the size and the set number of sheets is transmitted. The detection means 617 is connected to the input side of the control means B1, and the clamp means 50, the coating motor M1, the moving motor M2, the first solenoid 615, the second solenoid 616, and the like are connected to the output side.

  Next, a procedure for applying the adhesive in the booklet binding apparatus B having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a process in which the application roller 601 and the leveling roller 604 are in contact with the back surface SA of the sheet bundle S1.

  The application unit 60 stands by at the initial position on the left side of FIG. 10 while the application motor M1 rotates.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, when the posture of the sheet bundle S1 is changed to the vertical state by the clamping unit 50, the moving motor M2 (see FIG. 6) rotates and the coating unit 60 moves to the right in FIG. To start.

  As the application unit 60 moves, the first solenoid 615 is activated after a predetermined time (T1) since the detection unit 617 detects the side SS1 of the sheet bundle S1 (see FIG. 8), and the end of the back surface SA. The coating roller 601 comes into contact with the back surface SA from the inside of the predetermined area from the part, and coating is started. That is, the non-application area L1 is formed.

  Simultaneously with the operation of the first solenoid 615, the second solenoid 616 is operated, and the leveling roller 604 is also raised to the leveling position.

  After a predetermined time (T2) has elapsed since the application main body 606 has moved and the detection means 617 has detected the side SS2 of the sheet bundle S1, the first solenoid 615 is deactivated and the application roller 601 is moved to the back of the sheet bundle S1. A non-application area L2 is formed apart from SA.

  Similarly, after a predetermined time (T3) has elapsed since the detection means 617 detects the side SS2, the second solenoid 616 is deactivated, and the leveling roller 604 is separated from the rear surface SA to end the leveling operation.

  In the return stroke after the application and leveling operations are performed, the application roller 601 and the leveling roller 604 are controlled to be separated from the back surface SA and return to the initial position.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

  When the adhesive is applied to the back surface SA of the sheet bundle, the application roller 601 is applied to a portion excluding predetermined regions (L1 and L2 in FIG. 10) at both ends of the back surface SA of the sheet bundle as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the back surface SA of the sheet bundle. By controlling the first solenoid 615 and the second solenoid 616 so that the leveling roller 604 comes into contact, a high-quality booklet is produced without the adhesive sticking out from the end of the back surface SA of the sheet bundle. I can do it.

  The non-application areas L1 and L2 can be set to optimum areas by experiments or the like while considering the material of the adhesive, the application amount, and the like.

  In addition to the present embodiment, for example, the following embodiment can be adopted.

  Instead of moving the application member, it is also possible to apply the adhesive to the back surface of the sheet bundle by moving the clamping means.

  -It is possible to omit the leveling roller and to use only the application member.

  It is also possible to control the contact / separation means or the leveling member contact / separation means based on the detection information of the application start side of both sides of the sheet bundle and the sheet bundle size information.

  Instead of using the detection means for detecting the side of the sheet bundle, as shown in FIG. 11, a reference point K is provided outside the back surface SA of the sheet bundle S1 in the direction in which the clamping means and the coating member move relative to each other. The distance information D1 and D2 from the reference point K to both ends of the back surface SA of the sheet bundle S1 is converted into the number of pulses of the moving motor M2 (see FIG. 6) composed of a pulse motor. It is also possible to control the contact / separation means.

  Alternatively, the distance information D1 from the reference point K to the side (edge) SS1 on the application start side of both sides SS1 and SS2 and the size information D3 of the sheet bundle S1 are converted into the number of pulses of the pulse motor, Based on this, it is also possible to control the contact / separation means or the leveling member contact / separation means.

1 is a schematic diagram of an entire image forming system in which a bookbinding apparatus is connected to an image forming apparatus. Front sectional drawing of a bookbinding apparatus. Explanatory drawing (1) of the process in which a booklet is produced. Explanatory drawing (2) of the process in which a booklet is produced. Explanatory drawing (3) of the process in which a booklet is produced. The top view which looked at the application means 60 shown in FIG. 1 from upper direction. XX sectional drawing of FIG. YY sectional drawing of FIG. The control block diagram of a booklet bookbinding apparatus. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process in which an application roller and a leveling roller are separated from and contacting the back side of a sheet bundle. Another embodiment for controlling contact / separation means or leveling member contact / separation means.

Explanation of symbols

A image forming apparatus A1 image forming section A2 document conveying apparatus A3 image reading section A4 image forming apparatus control means A5 operation and display means B bookbinding apparatus B1 control means B2 interface L1, L2 non-coating area M1 coating motor M2 moving motor S paper S1 Sheet bundle S2 Cover sheet S3 Booklet SS1, SS2 Side 10 Conveying section 20 Discharge tray 40 Sheet reversing section 50 Clamping means 60 Application means 61 Moving means 70 Cover sheet storage section 80 Cover sheet supporting means 81 Cover sheet attaching means 90 Lifting means 100 Booklet Discharge unit 401, 402 Conveying roller 403 Reversing plate 404 Stopper 405 Feeding roller 502 Support plate 503 Abutting plate 504 Clamp plate 505 Rotating shaft 601 Application roller 602 First oscillating body 603 Heater 604 Leveling roller 605 Second oscillating body 606 Application Body 607 Second swing shaft 608 Slide bearing 609, 610 Slide shaft 611 Belt 612 Coupling member 613, 614 Pulley 615 First solenoid 616 Second solenoid 617 Detection means 618 Restriction plate 619 Removal plate 701 Feed tray 702 Delivery roller 801, 802 Cover drawing roller 803 Fixed plate 804 Bending member 805, 806 Driven roller support lever 807, 808 Cover support lever 810 Booklet transport conveyor

Claims (1)

Clamping means for clamping the sheet bundle;
An application member for applying an adhesive to the back surface of the sheet bundle clamped by the clamping means;
Moving means for relatively moving the clamping means and the application member in order to apply an adhesive to the back surface of the sheet bundle;
Contact / separation means for moving the application member in the contact / separation direction with respect to the back surface of the sheet bundle;
A cover pasting means for pasting a cover sheet on the back of the sheet bundle coated with adhesive;
Detection means provided on the application member for detecting both sides of the sheet bundle orthogonal to the back surface of the sheet bundle;
When the moving means is operated and adhesive is applied to the back surface of the sheet bundle, the detection information on the both sides of the detection means, or the detection information on the sides on the application start side of the both sides The contact member is controlled based on the size information of the sheet bundle, and the adhesive is applied to the portion excluding the predetermined regions at both ends of the back side of the sheet bundle as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the back side of the sheet bundle. Control means for applying ,
A booklet binding apparatus characterized by comprising:

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