JPH05238635A - Paper sheet folding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the finished size of a blank come within a regular dimension, even if the blank size is other than a regular length, by automatically adjusting the folded length of each folded portion. CONSTITUTION:A paper sheet folding device is equipped with a running blank length detecting means 1, which detects the running blank length, a standard blank length setting means 2, which sets the standard blank length per folding pattern, a correction data calculation means 3, which calculates the correction data by comparing the running blank length with the standard blank length, a correction part selection means 4, which selects the folded part to be corrected from among plural parts to be folded, and a folding length correcting means 5, which makes correction of the folded length of the folded portion selected by the correction part selecting means 4 on the basis of the correction data calculated by the correction data calculation means 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper folding device for folding a paper, and more particularly to a paper folding device for folding a paper after copying, which is used by being connected to a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a copying machine, a copy sheet is conveyed from a paper feed section to an image forming section, an image is transferred at the image forming section, and subsequently, the transferred image is fixed,
It is directly discharged to the storage tray and then stored.

By the way, particularly in a copying machine for copying a large original such as a drawing original, there are many cases where copying is performed on a large-sized copy sheet such as A0, A1. If these large-sized copy sheets are stored as they are or if they are handled as large-sized, the storage space becomes large, or the handling thereof is inconvenient, so they are usually folded and stored. However, when the folding of the copy sheet is performed manually, it generally takes a considerable amount of time, and the time required for folding the sheet may be several times the time required for copying.

Under these circumstances, an automatic paper folding device used in connection with a copying machine has been conventionally proposed. Examples of such a paper folding device include Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 46-5909, 49-8319, and 61.
Those disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 226461 are listed.

[0005]

Conventionally, in this type of paper folding apparatus, folding data (standard folding data) such as folding size and folding method is stored in a ROM (control board (printed circuit board) inside the main body). It is stored in the read-only memory). Therefore, when it is desired to change the folding data, the ROM is corrected or the mounting position of the sheet leading edge detection sensor related to the folding work is reset.

Therefore, in the conventional paper folding apparatus, when a paper having a length other than the standard length is carried in, the folding size is fixed, so that the finished size does not fall within the specified size.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to automatically define a finished size by adjusting the length of each folding portion even when a paper having a length other than the standard length is carried in. An object of the present invention is to provide a paper folding device that can be included in the size.

[0008]

The paper folding apparatus according to the present invention, as shown by the functional block in FIG. 2, sets a running paper length detecting means 1 for detecting a running paper length and a standard paper length for each folding pattern. Standard paper length setting means 2, correction data calculation means 3 for calculating correction data by comparing the running paper length and the standard paper length, and a correction section for selecting a folding part to be corrected from a plurality of folding parts. The selecting means 4 and the folding length correcting means 5 for correcting the folding length of the folding portion selected by the correcting portion selecting means 4 based on the correction data calculated by the correction data calculating means 3 are provided. There is.

In this paper folding apparatus, when the running paper length detecting means 1 detects the running paper length, the correction data calculating means 3 compares the running paper length with the standard paper length, and the correction data is obtained as a result of the comparison. Is calculated. When the correction data is calculated, the correction section selecting means 4 selects a folding section to be corrected from the folding sections of the sheet, particularly other adjustment folding sections except the last folding section. When the correction section is selected, the length of the selected folding section is corrected by the folding length correcting means 5. As a result, even when a paper having a length other than the standard length is carried in, the finished size can be automatically set to the specified size. Here, the correction section selecting means 4 can make the finish neat by selecting the adjustment folding section other than the final folding section.

Further, more specifically, the paper folding apparatus of the present invention is such that a pair of feed rollers for feeding a sheet, a first pair of folding rollers, and a second pair of rollers arranged to face the first pair of folding rollers. Folding means having a pair of folding rollers for performing a folding operation by repeating forward and reverse rotations of these roller pairs, a paper running length detecting means for detecting a paper running length on the upstream side of the folding means, and a standard for each folding pattern. Standard paper length setting means for setting the paper length, correction data calculation means for calculating the correction data by comparing the running paper length and the standard paper length, and selecting a folding part to be corrected from a plurality of folding parts. Drive of each folding roller pair of the folding portion so as to correct the folding length of the folding portion selected by the correction portion selecting means and the correction portion selecting means according to the correction data calculated by the correction data calculating means. And a folding control means for controlling between.

In this paper folding apparatus, the paper running length detecting means detects the paper running length on the upstream side of the folding means, and the correction data calculating means compares the paper running length with the standard paper length to calculate correction data. It Then, the correction section selecting means selects a folding section to be corrected from the plurality of folding sections. Next, the folding control means controls the driving time of each folding roller pair of the folding means, and the folding length of the folding portion selected as a result is corrected according to the correction data calculated by the correction data calculating means. It As a result, even when a paper having a length other than the standard length is carried in, the finished size can be automatically set to the specified size.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 8 shows the overall structure of a paper folding device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The paper 21 is fed into the paper folding device 20 from the paper receiving portion 22 through the discharge port at the rear of the copying machine 30. The sheet 21 fed into the main body passes through the registration roller pair 23 and is then folded in the feeding direction at the first folding section 24. After that, the sheet 21 is changed in direction by 90 ° in the sheet direction changing section 25 and then guided to the second folding section 26 having the same configuration as the first folding section 24, where the first folding section 26 is set.
The second folding is performed in the direction perpendicular to the direction of. After that, the paper is discharged to the storage tray 28 through the paper transport unit 27, and is sequentially stacked.

FIG. 7 shows the manual paper feed path of the paper folding device 20. The manual sheet insertion section 50 is provided above the sheet folding device 20. Paper folding device 20
The sheet 21 inserted from the sheet passes through the automatic registration section 51, further passes through the conveying roller pair 52, and then is sent to the first folding section 24 through the sending roller pair 55. A paper detection sensor 53 is provided near the transport roller pair 52, and a paper detection sensor 54 is provided near the feed roller pair 55. On the other hand, the paper 21 sent from the paper receiving unit 22 from the copying machine 30 side is sent to the first folding unit 24 through the conveying roller pair 56, the registration roller pair 23, and the feeding roller pair 55.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the first folding section 24 of the paper folding device 20.

At the entrance of the first folding section 24, the driving roller 1
A feed roller pair 11 including 1a and a pinch roller 11b is arranged. A first folding roller pair 12 and a second folding roller pair 13 are arranged below the feed roller pair 11 so as to face each other in the left and right directions. The first folding roller pair 12 includes a driving roller 12a and a pinch roller 12
and b. Second folding roller pair 13
Is composed of a drive roller 13a and a pinch roller 13b. A paper guide member 15 is arranged between the first pair of folding rollers 12 and the second pair of folding rollers 13, and the paper 21 supplied from the pair of feed rollers 11 is provided.
Is selectively guided to the first folding roller pair 12 or the second folding roller pair 13 along the paper guide plate 16. The paper guide member 15 can be swung left and right around the shaft 14 by a drive mechanism (not shown).

A paper detection sensor 17a is provided near the upstream side of the feed roller pair 11, and the first paper 21 is detected.
The entry into the folding portion 24 is detected. Further, in the vicinity of the outer sides of the first folding roller pair 12 and the second folding roller pair 13, the paper detection sensor 17b,
17c is provided to detect the state in which the paper 21 is nipped by the roller pair.

In the first folding section 24, the paper 21
Is fed into the paper guide member 15 by the feed roller pair 11, and is guided to the first folding roller pair 12 by swinging the paper guide member 15 to the right, for example. At this time, the first folding roller pair 12 is the second folding roller pair 1
3 and 3 rotate in the same direction (normal rotation), nipping the paper 21 and sending it to the left in the figure. Paper 2 at this time
The front end of 1 covers the paper detection sensor 17b, and the paper detection sensor 17b detects this. In this state, the driving of the first folding roller pair 12 is further continued, and the paper detection sensor 1
When a certain time (roller drive continuation time) has elapsed since the time 7b detected the leading edge of the paper 21, the paper guide member 1
At the same time that 5 swings to the right, the rotation directions of the first folding roller pair 12 and the second folding roller pair 13 are reversed. At this point, the folding size is determined. Thereafter, the paper 21 is folded a desired number of times by repeating the forward and reverse rotation operations in the same manner.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the control unit in the paper folding device 20.

This control unit includes a CPU (central processing unit) 4
It has 0. The CPU 40 is connected online with the CPU 31 on the copying machine 30 side as shown in FIG. The CPU 31 sends the folding data designated by the control panel (not shown) to the CPU 40.
The CPU 40 receives the folding data and controls the operation of each unit of the paper folding device 20.

The CPU 40 is connected to each unit of the paper folding device 20 via a bus line 41. Of these, ROM
The (read only memory) 42 stores various programs for controlling the folding operation of this apparatus.
The RAM (random access memory) 43 temporarily stores the correction data of the folding data supplied from the copying machine 30 side, and performs various calculations.

The input port 44 is the paper detection sensor 17a ...
It is an interface for sending out the detection signals of 17c and the paper detection sensors 53, 54 to the CPU 40 via the bus line 41. The output port 46 is the CPU 4
This is an interface for sending the control signal output from 0 to the guide member drive unit 47 and the roller drive unit 48 via the bus line 41. Guide member drive unit 47
Receives the control signal sent from the CPU 40 and swings the paper guide member 15 shown in FIG. The roller driving unit 48 receives the control signal sent from the CPU 40 and receives the control signals from the driving rollers 1 of the folding roller pairs 11 to 13.
The rotation of each of 1a to 13a is controlled according to the folding operation.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which the paper 21 is folded into a predetermined finishing size, and it has an A0 size (specified length L ₁ = 1189).
(mm) paper 21 is folded six times to be A4 size. The length of the binding margin portion 21a is 20
mm. Further, the folding portion of the third layer is the folding adjusting portion 21b.

Here, the actual running paper length L ₁ is 1200.
11 mm to fold up to A4 size
It is necessary to correct the length of any one of the folded portions to be longer by mm.

Next, the operation of correcting the length of the folded portion in the paper folding device 20 will be described separately for the online operation with the copying machine 30 and the offline operation.

In the case of online operation, the running paper length L
₁ is measured on the copying machine 30 side. CPU 40 uses paper 2
The traveling paper length data is received from the CPU 31 on the copying machine 30 side until the paper detection sensor 54 shown in FIG. 7 detects a portion of 190 × 3 = 570 mm from the end of 1. The CPU 40 calculates correction data based on this data, selects the folding adjustment unit 21b to be corrected, and
A control signal is sent to the guide member drive unit 47 and the roller drive unit 48 according to the correction data to control the operations of the guide member 15 and the roller group 49. In other words, if it is the default finishing size, it will be 115
Make 2 mm folds. As a result, as shown in FIG.
The paper 21 having the running paper length L ₁ = 1200 mm can be arranged in a predetermined finished size of A4 size.

Next, for example, when the paper 21 is inserted from the manual paper insertion portion 50 shown in FIG. 7, the off-line operation is performed.

As described above, the sheet 21 inserted from the manual sheet inserting section 50 passes through the automatic registration section 51, further passes through the conveying roller pair 52, and then passes through the feeding roller pair 55 to the first folding section 24. Sent in. Here, the CPU 40 of FIG. 3 receives the detection signals of the paper detection sensor 53 and the paper detection sensor 54 to calculate the running paper length,
Thereafter, the correction operation is performed as in the case of the online operation.
At this time, the distance L between the paper detection sensors 53 and 54 needs to be 190 × 3 = 570 mm at the shortest.

As described above, in the paper folding apparatus of this embodiment, even when a paper having a length other than the standard length is carried in, the correction unit is automatically selected and the folding length of the correction unit is corrected.
The finished size can be put in the specified size, and the subsequent handling becomes easy.

In the above embodiment, the finish is A4 size and the binding margin 21 is 20 mm, but the present invention can be applied to other folding methods or other sizes. Nor. In this case, in the above embodiment, for example, the finish is A4.
If there is no binding margin, the minimum required paper length L is 630 mm in three foldings of 210 mm. If the finish is A5 size and there is no binding margin, L is 148.5 mm. It becomes 445.5 mm by folding.

[0032]

As described above, according to the paper folding apparatus of the present invention, the running paper length detecting means for detecting the running paper length, the standard paper length setting means for setting the standard paper length for each folding pattern, With the correction data calculating means for calculating the correction data by comparing the running paper length and the standard paper length, the correcting portion selecting means for selecting the folding portion to be corrected from the plurality of folding portions, and the correcting portion selecting means. Since a fold length correcting unit for correcting the fold length of the selected fold portion based on the correction data calculated by the correction data calculating unit is provided, when a sheet having a length other than the standard length is carried in. However, there is an effect that the finished size can be automatically put in the specified size, the finished product is beautiful, and the subsequent handling is easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a first folding unit of a paper folding apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of the paper folding apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit of the paper folding apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a connection state between a paper folding device and a control unit of a copying machine.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a folded state of fixed-length paper.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a corrected folded state of a sheet having a length other than the standard length.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram for explaining a traveling state of manual paper.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the entire folding device with a part thereof cut away.

[Explanation of symbols]

17a to 17c ... Paper detection sensor, 20 ... Paper folding device,
21 ... Paper, 21a ... Gutter, 21b ... Fold adjuster, 40 ... CPU (central processing unit), 53, 54 ... Paper detection sensor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tadashi Takei 3-7-1 Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Plant

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A running paper length detecting means for detecting a running paper length, a standard paper length setting means for setting a standard paper length for each folding pattern, and a correction data by comparing the running paper length with the standard paper length. Correction data calculation means for calculating, correction portion selection means for selecting a folding portion to be corrected from a plurality of folding portions, and folding length of the folding portion selected by the correction portion selection means, the correction data calculation means A paper folding apparatus comprising: a fold length correcting unit that corrects based on the correction data calculated by. 2. The correction section selecting means selects an adjustment folding section other than the last folding section.
The described paper folding device. 3. A pair of feed rollers for feeding a sheet, a first pair of folding rollers, and a second pair of folding rollers arranged so as to face the first pair of folding rollers. Folding means for performing a folding operation by repeating forward and reverse of the above, a paper running length detecting means for detecting the paper running length on the upstream side of the folding means, and a standard paper length setting means for setting a standard paper length for each folding pattern. Correction data calculation means for calculating correction data by comparing the running paper length and the standard paper length, a correction portion selection means for selecting a folding portion to be corrected from a plurality of folding portions, and a correction portion selecting means And a folding control means for controlling the driving time of each folding roller pair of the folding means so as to correct the folding length of the folding portion selected by the correction data calculation means according to the correction data. The folding device, characterized in Rukoto.