JPH02111501A - Wire stitching device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To constitute a compact and high reliable general purpose stitcher structure by a structure wherein a wire feeding amount regulating means and a controlling means, which puts both a bending means and a clinching means into actuation only when a detecting means detects the presence of wire, are provided. CONSTITUTION:When the length of 2l2 of wire member is required in response to the thickness of paper, a second conveying roller feeds wire member 2 by the length of {2l2-(L1-L2)}. After that, a cutter part is shifted by the distance of L2 in the Z2 direction so as to cut the wire member at the shifted position. As for bending, the wire member is bent in the form of U by shifting a former 20 downwards in order to be engaged with a bending block 22. After that, the U-shaped wire member is pushed downwards with a plunger 21 so as to pierced through sheet members and then bent by an anvil in order to stitch the sheet members. In addition, a sensor means 17, which detects the presence or absence of wire, permits the starting of the actuations of the former and of the plunger only when the wire is 'present'.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an apparatus for cutting and binding continuous wire according to the thickness of the sort.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, staplers and the like have been commercialized as means for binding sheets and other accumulated items of this type. A stapler is a device that uses a biasing means such as a spring to position a needle that has been bent in advance into a U-shape at a predetermined position, and then staples each needle at the tip into the collected material using a needle driving means. or,
There is a device in which unbent needles are lined up like a belt, the tip of which is formed into a U-shape, and then the stitches are stitched.

Regarding the wire stitcher, please refer to USP4358.
As described in Nos. 040゜4358042, 4416046, etc., one continuous wire is cut with a wire cutter, the cut wire is formed into a U-shape, hammered into paper, and bent to remove the accumulated material. It has a binding structure.

[Problem that the invention is trying to solve]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional stapler, the length of the needle does not change even with changes in the accumulated material, and if the length of the needle is adjusted to suit the binding of a small number of sheets, the length of the needle foot will change when binding a large number of sheets. If the holding force is insufficient and the holding force is weakened, or if the length of the needle is set to suit a large number of sheets, the length of the needle foot will be excessive when binding a small number of sheets, and the needle foot will stick out again to the collection surface after clinching, or the needle foot will become too long. Since the length of the structure does not change depending on the thickness of the accumulated object, there is a drawback that the thickness of the accumulated object is limited.

In order to eliminate these drawbacks, a wire stitcher was proposed that could change the length of the stitched wire depending on the thickness of the collected items, but the basic mechanism of a device that satisfies this configuration is complicated. Moreover, the device itself becomes very large, and if you try to incorporate this device into a finisher, etc. that is installed downstream of a copying system, the stitcher itself is large, so it will be difficult to configure the device such as a finisher. It was becoming a bottleneck in my progress.

[Means for Solving the Problems (and Effects)] The stitcher device of the present invention improves the wire feeding mechanism, simplifies the mechanism for varying the needle foot length, and rationalizes the wire storage method and position distribution. As a result, a compact and highly reliable general-purpose stitcher configuration has been made possible.

〔Example〕

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 are front, right, and top views of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention (wire storage, bobbin attachment/detachment). Reference numeral 2 denotes a wire member for binding the accumulated items 1 such as sheets, and 3 a bobbin for storing the wire member 2. The bobbin is movable in the thrust direction relative to the support shaft 4,
The configuration is such that the wire can always be supplied to a feeding part at a constant position regardless of the thrust position of the wire wound around the bobbin 3. 5.6 is equipped with a first feed roller, and is a pair of feed rollers driven on both sides, both of which have driving force (it is also possible to use a driven roller on one side, but the first feed roller in this example
The pair of feed rollers was driven on both sides in order to obtain a reliable conveying force when a large amount of wire was stored in the bobbin.

). Further, 7 is a direction changing roller which, in this embodiment, plays the role of a tensioner for changing the direction in which the wire is conveyed to a substantially perpendicular direction. The position is wire sensor 1
It is located downstream of 2. This is to make the space of the stitcher itself more compact. 8 is a shutter member, and when the cover 201 is closed, the tip 201' of the cover engages with the tip of the shutter 8, lowering the entire shutter, and immediately allowing the wire to move forward. . Note that even if the cover is opened while the wire is already being fed, the shutter 8 and the wire 2 will touch each other and the shutter will not return to the upper position shown in FIG. 5, 8a. When replenishing the wire, the user first places the tip of the wire against the shutter 8 and then closes the cover 201. With the cover closed, the first wire sensor 12 detects the presence of the wire, and when the second wire sensor 17 detects the absence of the wire, it is determined that it is time to replace the wire, and a drive system (not shown) is activated to send the wire to a predetermined position. Returning to the original state here, see Figure 4, the support shaft 4 holding the bobbin 3.
is caulked to the rotating plate 101, and the rotating plate 112
is supported by a shaft 113 on a rotating base plate 105,
Further, the torsion coil spring 114 applies force to the side where the bobbin closes. Further, 104 is a holding member that holds the support shaft 4 by the spring force of the mold.

Next 107. 108 is a pair of swinging rollers, and when the wire 3 is not clamped (that is, there is no wire) and the second wire sensor 16 detects the absence of a wire, the swinging arm 106 is retracted to the position 106. There is. The swing arm has a swing center at 106a. Fan gear 1o6 (b
) has its center at 106 (a) and is fixed to a swinging arm 106, and when it receives the driving force of a motor (not shown),
The fan gear rotates via the gear 107, and the swing arm 106
oscillates at the same time. During normal wire feeding, the swing arm 106 is positioned at 106'. At this time, the swing position microswitch 110 is in the ON state.

Next, the second feed roller pair 14. 15, and 14. from a drive source (not shown). The wire member 2 is pulled and held at this portion of the wire 15 which receives the driving force. Naturally, the rollers should be made of a material with a high coefficient of friction. Further, in order to regulate the thrust position of the wire to some extent by the flange of the second feed roller 14, the roller width is made to have a play of about the wire width + α. In addition, any kinks or curls in the wire are corrected by the nip of the roller pressure contact portion. 16 is a second wire sensor. Here, the process of feeding the wire to the bending position after replacing the bobbin 3 will be explained. First, to replace the bobbin, a predetermined amount of the wire member 2 is wound around the bobbin 3, and the rear end of the wire is fixed to the bobbin 3, so in the final state, the second feed roller 14
, 15, the wire will not be conveyed tightly even if it is pulled. For this reason, the third wire sensor located at the most downstream cannot detect the presence of a wire even after receiving the feed roller ON signal, and therefore issues a wire-absent signal. At this time, a no-wire or abnormality signal is issued to a control circuit (not shown), and a display is lit on a display section (not shown). The user replenishes the wire or handles the jam according to the display.

First, when the cover 201 is opened, the pressure contact state is released because the first feed roller 5 is supported on the cover 201 side. In this state, the wire tip is still in pressure contact with the second pair of feed rollers 14,15 and the pair of swinging rollers 107,108. Also, the swing arm 106 is
' in position. When the user confirms that the wire member 2 is missing, the user disengages the pachinko fitting between the support shaft 4 and the holding member 104 and rotates in the Y direction in FIG. 1 in order to remove the bobbin 3. At this time, since the bobbin 3 moves in the direction in which the wire member 2 is pulled, the second feed roller pair 14. The tip of the wire is pulled out from 15, and then the swinging roller pair 10 is pulled out.
7. The tip is also pulled out from 108. Then, the bobbin is pulled out from one end of the support shaft 4 and replaced with a new bobbin. The user attaches the tip of the wire to the shutter member 8
(The shutter will be in the state 88 when the cover is opened and there is no wire.)

When the cover 201 is closed, the shutter 8 is retracted from the wire passage (8a→8). Further, when the joint micro switch 203 is turned on, the first wire sensor 12 detects the presence of a wire, and the second wire sensor 16 becomes in the absence of a wire, a control circuit (not shown) indicates that the wire has been replenished. It recognizes it and issues a wire feed signal. This wire feed signal causes the swing arm 106 to return from the state 106' to the state 106. 1
When the state returns to state 06, the home position microswitch 109 is turned on, and this signal activates the wire feed drive (not shown). When the first feed roller pair 5, 6 and the swinging feed roller pair pass the position detection sensor 111 at the tip of the rotating wire by a control circuit (not shown), the swinging arm (not shown) stops rotating at the same time as the swinging feed roller pair stops rotating. The drive motor rotates and drives the gear 107. fan gear 1
06b to the swing arm 106. The swinging arm 106 swings around 106a, but the circumferential speed of swinging and the first
Since the wire is fed at the same speed by the pair of feed rollers 5 and 6, the wire is transported to the position 106' while being held by the swinging rollers 107 and 108 without being sagged or under tension. When the swing arm reaches the 106' position, the swing position microswitch 110 is turned on, and this signal is received by the swing roller pair 1.
07'108' starts rotating again, and at the same time, the second feed port-ra pair 14. 15 also starts rotating.

When the tip of the wire is detected by the second wire sensor 16, it temporarily stops and waits. (Home position of the wire) Next, before the process of feeding the wire by a predetermined amount, information on the thickness of the accumulated material must be recognized, but this is done using the sheet number signal from the system machine, which will be described later. It is possible to estimate the thickness and receive the signal to determine the amount of wire feed. Also, if you do not use this stitcher by connecting it to the system unit, you can use it for example 2 to 10 sheets, 11 sheets.
~20 pieces.

The thickness of the accumulated material is divided into five stages of 21 to 30 sheets, 31 to 40 sheets, and 41 to 50 sheets using a switching lever or the like in the stitcher (not shown). The wire feed length may be determined based on this information. Feed 1 is controlled by a clock disk rotating synchronously with the second pair of feed rollers 14.15.

Wire feeding is achieved through the above process, but if a feeding failure occurs during wire feeding, cut the defective part of the wire with a manual cutter (not shown) and use the same method as wire replenishment. Bring the tip of the wire to the home position.

Stitch Length Adjustment Mechanism> As shown in FIG. 1, the wire member is conveyed by the second conveyance roller to FIG. 6 (1). Here, the staples are arbitrarily fed in accordance with the thickness of the paper to be bound. For example, when the thickness of the paper to be bound is thin, the feeding of a wire member is shown in Figure 6 1) ~
3) The case where the paper thickness to be bound is thick is shown in Fig. 6 4) to 6). First, if the paper thickness is thin, detecting this paper thickness requires
For example, when the stapler of the present invention is used in a post-processing device of a copying machine, it is possible to detect the number of copies input to the copying machine.

At this time, first, based on the number of sheets information, the second conveyance roller uses a feed amount (21!) that is uniquely determined for the number of sheets (thickness).
r +L + ), feed a piece of wire into this second
The conveyance roller controls the wire feed amount using a clock disk, a photo sensor, etc. (not shown). When the second conveyance roller sends out the wire member to the position (2I!, +L,), the drive is cut off and the second conveyance roller stops (FIG. 6, 2)). Thereafter, a portion of the cutter consisting of the cutter and the cutter stand is moved by L1 in the direction of arrow Z1 by the illustrated rack and pinion mechanism or the like. This amount is determined depending on the thickness of the paper. This feed ff1L is the amount of movement of the cutter section from the home position. Furthermore, 1
01 is a micro SW that detects the home position of a part of the cutter. After the state shown in FIG. 6 (3), the cutter 19 moves downward via a drive system (not shown) to cut the wire member 2. After that, a piece of wire is bent into a ``mouth'' shape, and the process is followed by binding.This makes it possible to control the length of the wire by sorting it to the center.

Further, while information on changing the paper thickness for binding is not input, a part of the cutter is stopped at this position, and the wire member 2 is transported by 21' by the second transport roller 14 and cut here. .

Next, we will explain what happens when information to change the paper thickness for binding is input (for example, when the paper thickness is thicker than above). first,
A portion of the cutter moves to the home position as shown in FIG. 6 (4). The tip of the wire member 2 is located at a length Ll from the cutter stand. The feed amount of the wire member is determined by the paper thickness change information, but for example, when a wire member length of 212 is required for the paper thickness, the moving amount L2 of the cutter part is known. In order to send out the wire 212, the second conveying roller must transport the wire member 1212.
(LI L2) The configuration is such that 1 minute is sent. After that, a part of the cutter is moved in the L2 direction in the 22 direction as shown in Fig. 6).
Move and cut a piece of wire at this position. After this,
A wire member is bent into a “■” shape and a clinch operation is performed for binding.

As described above, unless information is input to change the thickness of the paper to be striated, a portion of the cutter does not move from this position, and the second conveyance roller moves the wire member to 2I! Transported for 2 minutes.

As explained above, the configuration is such that the feed amount of the wire member and the center distribution of the wire member are controlled based on the previous information on the paper thickness. Furthermore, since the thickness varies depending on the type of paper even if the number of sheets is the same, it is possible to control the feeding amount of the wire member by obtaining this information, for example, via the copying machine main body, etc.

In addition, although it has been shown above that paper thickness detection is obtained as prior information from, for example, a copying machine, when using the present stitcher as a standalone unit, a manual changeover switch is used to detect paper thickness, for example, from 2 sheets to 20 sheets, or from 21 sheets to 40 sheets. It is also possible to control the length of each wire member by dividing it into three stages, such as from 41 pieces to 50 pieces.

Further, the pair of rollers of the second conveyance roller is pressurized in order to correct deformation of the wire.

As shown in FIG. 7, the wire member is guided by the second conveyance roller to the cutter table 18 and sent to a midway position of the bending block 22. Until this state is reached, the second
As shown in the figure, the bending block 22 is retracted around the fulcrum 27 as shown by the two-dot chain line, and when the wire member reaches the position shown in Figure 7, the bending block 22 is bent via a solenoid (not shown). The block swings and the second
The solid line shown in the figure shows a configuration in which a wire member is inserted into the groove. A wire member is fed to an arbitrary position while being sandwiched between bending blocks.

After the feeding is completed, the wire holding member 102 swings around 103 to hold down the wire member. (FIG. 2) After this, the wire member is cut.

<Part of the cutter> A part of the cutter that cuts the wire material sent out by the second conveyance roller 14 is explained (.

The cutter 19 and cutter stand 18, which form part of the cutter, are shown in FIGS. 8 1) and 2). The cutter slides across the cutter table to cut a piece of wire. Also, the cutter can be automatic or manual, but Z3. Z4
It is movable in both directions, which prevents wear and damage to the cutter and improves its durability.

In addition, the cutter stand had a hole slightly larger than the wire member, so that the wire member would not be exposed by the wire stand when cutting the wire.

The wire piece cut by the cutter is bent into a ``mouth'' shape in the next process and moves on to the clinching process for binding.

<Bending and clinching section> Figures 1) and 2) show the bending process and wire clinching process.

Regarding bending, the former 20 moves downward and engages with the bending block 22 to bend a piece of wire into a "■" shape using a known method. After the bending is completed, the plunger 21 moves the wire into a "■" shape. One wire member is pushed downward and penetrates the sheet member, and the wire member is bent by an anvil to perform binding.

In addition, 17 is a sensor means for detecting the presence or absence of a wire,
The structure allows the former and plunger to start operating only when the wire is present. (This sensor means confirms that a wire member has been sent to a predetermined position.) [Effects of the invention] As described above, the wire path arrangement from the wire storage method to the wire bending part, and the wire feeding method. of rollers,
By determining the wire cutting length, positioning the wire to the cutting position, and making the bending mechanism more compact, it is possible to construct a highly reliable and compact general-purpose stitcher.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are diagrams showing embodiments of the present invention, Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram of wire feeding operation, and Figures 7 and 8 are diagrams of the present invention. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the main part of the present invention. 3・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
Between... songs, concave songs, concave gaps, song hohin 5.6...
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・Concave piece No. 1
Feed roller pair 8・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
...Concave curve, between songs, between songs... Shutter 14
．． 15・・・・・・・・・Between concave songs... Concave song 2nd Send c
+ -la (tI9・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
・・・・・・・・・・・・Concave interlude/Cutter 2
2... Between concave curves... concave curves... tune pending block Figure 6 (υ Figure 6 (2)

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) A storage means for storing the wire, a transport means for transporting the wire from the storage section, a cutter means for cutting the transported wire to an arbitrary length, and a wire bending means arranged in the transport path. A straightening means for straightening, a wire feed amount adjusting means for varying the length of the wire in accordance with the thickness of the paper to be bound, and a bending means for bending the wire cut by the cutter means into a "■"shape; a wire clinching means for passing the wire bent by the bending means through the paper and bending the wire; a detection means for detecting whether the wire has been conveyed to the bending means; and a detection means for detecting that the wire is present. A wire sewing device comprising control means for operating said bending means and said clinching means. (2) The wire sewing device according to claim 1, wherein the wire storage portion has a structure in which the bobbin around which the wire is wound is movable in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wire travels. (3) The wire sewing device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one pair of correction rollers for correcting wire deformation in the conveyance path from the wire storage section to the bending section. (4) To make the length of the wire variable according to the paper thickness,
The wire sewing device according to claim 1, wherein the wire cutter section is movable in the same direction as the wire feeding direction. (5) The wire sewing device according to claim 1, further comprising a retracting means for retracting the bending means from the transport path during wire transport. (6) Claim 1 having a wire holding means for holding the wire when the wire is sent to the bending part.
Wire sewing device as described in section.