JPH05319684A - Paper piece folding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely fold a paper piece without using an expensive means by curving and oscillating the paper piece by the speed difference between a pair of rollers and a carrying means, and guiding the curved part to another roller pair by a paper piece changing member. CONSTITUTION:When Z-folding is selected by mode selection, a paper piece is first fed by the rotation of a feed roller pair 12, the rotation of a first roller 15 is started by ON of a first sensor 18, and the paper piece is drawn into a first contact A. When the feed of a determined quantity of the paper piece is detected, then, the first roller 15 is once stopped, the paper piece is curved on a second contact B side while rotating a paper piece deflecting member 20 counterclockwise by the continuous feed of the paper piece. At the point of time when the feed roller pair 12 is rotated by a determined rotating number, it is once stopped, and the first roller 15 is reversely rotated to draw the paper piece on the second contact B side. Thereafter, the first roller 15 is again positively rotated, the paper piece pressing the deflecting member 22 is brought up and drawn into the first contact A to provide a Z-fold paper piece.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper piece folding device for folding a paper piece in two or three (so-called Z-folding) with one main roller and two rollers rollingly contacting the main roller. , A printer, a printing machine, a copying machine, etc., and is used to fold an image-formed piece of paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various paper piece folding devices have been proposed and put into practical use for receiving a paper piece on which an image is formed by an image forming apparatus such as a plotter, a printer, a printing machine, or a copying machine and folding the paper piece in two or three. Has been done.

Above all, a roller-type folding device which is folded by inserting a plurality of roller pairs at a proper time is widely used because it has a relatively simple structure, does not occupy a space, and can be manufactured at low cost.

Although various combinations of rollers are possible, the most typical combination is shown in FIG.

This configuration comprises a pair of feed rollers 1 and two pairs of paper folding rollers 2 and 3, and the paper sheet P fed by the feed roller pair 1 is first paired with the first paper folding roller pair 2. Then, the paper folding roller pair 2 is reversely rotated, or the feeding operation by the feed roller pair 1 is continued while the rotation is stopped to cause downward bending as shown in FIG. Then, the resulting bending point P1 is inserted into the second paper folding roller pair 3 so that the sheet can be folded in half.

When the sheet is folded in half, the second paper folding roller pair 3 is reversely rotated, or the roller pair 3 is stopped and the feeding roller pair continues to feed the paper piece, as shown in FIG. Causes an upward curve. Therefore, by inserting the curved point P2 into the first pair of paper folding rollers 2, it becomes possible to fold in three.

However, it is obvious that the paper piece does not move conveniently in the free space as shown in the drawing, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, for example, it is fed from the feed roller pair 1. The guide 4 as shown in FIG. 11 is required just to guide the leading end of the paper piece P to the first paper folding roller pair 2.

However, the guide 4 cannot be provided so close to the paper folding roller pair 2 as much. This is because if they are installed too close to each other, the curvature as shown in FIG. 9 cannot be generated.

On the other hand, it is obvious that the guide 5 is also required to guide the curved point P1 to the second paper folding roller pair 3.

[0010]

By the way, if the guides 4 are provided too far apart, the leading end of the paper piece P will not properly enter the paper folding roller pair 2, and a jam will occur at this portion.

On the other hand, if only the guides 4 and 5 are fixedly provided, the curved point P1 or P2 of the piece of paper P cannot enter the roller pairs 3 and 2 well, and the roller pairs 2 and 5 are too much.
It is necessary to bring the guide close to the entrance of 3. For this reason, conventionally, the guides 4 and 5 themselves are of a movable type using power such as a solenoid, or in addition to a fixed guide,
Similarly, a deflection means using power such as a solenoid was also provided.

The present invention is made by paying attention to the above-mentioned conventional problems, and can be manufactured at low cost without using power.
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a paper piece folding device capable of reliably guiding the paper piece to each paper folding roller pair.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first roller for transporting a piece of paper and a first roller.
The second roller and the third roller whose peripheral surfaces are in contact with the rollers, and the conveying means for supplying the paper piece between the first roller and the second roller, and are supplied from the conveying means. After the paper piece has been conveyed by a predetermined amount by the first roller and the second roller, the paper piece is curved by providing a speed difference between the first and second rollers and the conveying means, and the curve is formed. -Folding mode in which a part is gripped between the first roller and the third roller and carried out, and the curved part is gripped between the first roller and the third roller After that, a speed difference is provided between the first and third rollers and the conveying means to bend the paper piece, and the curved portion is gripped between the first roller and the second roller. Control means having a tri-folding mode for carrying out by carrying out, or said carrying Said paper supplied from the stage first
After a predetermined amount is conveyed by the first roller and the second roller, the paper piece is curved by providing a speed difference between the first and second rollers and the conveying means, and the curved portion is formed by the first portion.
Between the second roller and the third roller, 2
After a predetermined amount of the paper piece supplied from the control means for folding and carrying out or the conveying means is conveyed by the first roller and the second roller, the first and second rollers and the conveying means are conveyed. The paper piece is curved with a speed difference between the first and the third rollers, and the curved portion is gripped between the first roller and the third roller, and then the first and third rollers and the conveyance roller. A control means for bending the paper piece with a speed difference between the bending means and the bending means, gripping the bending portion between the first roller and the second roller, folding in three, and carrying out. The paper piece supplied from the conveying unit is the first
Guiding between said roller and said second roller,
A piece of paper that is swung by a piece of paper that bends due to the speed difference between the first and second rollers and the conveying means, and guides the curved portion of the piece of paper between the first roller and the third roller. A deflection member was provided.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the paper piece folding device 10 has a pair of guide plates 11 for guiding the paper piece from an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer. It should be noted that the paper pieces include copying papers such as A4, A3, B5 and B4, tracing paper, synthetic resin sheets and the like.

A feed roller pair 12 for receiving and feeding the above-mentioned piece of paper is arranged near the entrance of the guide plate pair 11.
This feed roller pair 12 has a one-way clutch (OW)
Is incorporated so that it can freely rotate when pulled by a piece of paper from the downstream side, and a rotation number counting means (not shown) for detecting the feed amount of the piece of paper is attached. Further, immediately before the feed roller pair 12, a paper feed sensor 13 for detecting the presence or absence of a piece of paper is arranged.

The guide plate pair 11 is composed of an upper guide plate 11a and a lower guide plate 11b, and has an opening on the inlet side to receive a piece of paper, and the downstream opening 14 is also the above-mentioned. It is formed so as to have a larger spread than the spread on the inlet side.

A first roller (main roller) 15 which faces the opening 14 and rotates forward and backward for folding the paper, and a second roller 16 which is in rolling contact with the first roller 15 at a first contact A. Similarly, the first roller 15 and the third roller 17 rollingly contacting at the second contact B are provided.

However, the first contact point A is provided almost on the extension line of the pair of guide plates as shown in FIG.
The upper guide plate 11a is configured to open toward this first contact.

On the other hand, the third roller 17 is arranged so that the second contact B is located slightly below, and the lower guide plate 11b is arranged to face the second contact. The first roller 15 is provided with a rotational speed cant unit for detecting the feed amount of the paper piece, and the first contact A
A first sensor 18 for detecting a piece of paper is provided at the end of the upper guide plate 11a immediately before, and a second sensor 19 is provided at the end of the lower guide plate 11b immediately before the second contact B. ..

Then, in the vicinity of the base of the expansion of the opening of the guide plate pair 11, the paper piece deflecting member 2 which is an essential part of the present invention.
0 is provided.

The paper piece deflecting member 20 is swingably supported by a shaft 21, and further, a deflecting section 22 for contacting and deflecting the paper piece.
And a weight portion 23 integrated with the deflection portion 22.

The paper piece folding device 10 is further provided with a selection means for selecting the two-fold mode and the Z-fold mode, and a control device for controlling the operation of each of the rollers according to each mode.

Next, the operation of the apparatus 10 will be described with reference to the configuration and operation explanatory diagrams of FIGS. 1 to 4 and the flow charts of FIGS. 5 to 7.

First, when the paper folding operation is performed by the apparatus 10 as shown in FIG. 5, the mode is selected by a selector switch (not shown) (step ST01). And Z
In case of folding, go to FIG. 6, and in case of folding in half, see FIG.
The operation shown in is selected (ST02).

First, the case where the Z-fold (tri-fold) mode is selected will be described.

First, the paper feed sensor 13 verifies the presence of a piece of paper to be processed (ST1), and the paper feed sensor 13 is checked.
The feed roller pair 12 is rotated by turning on (ST2). At this time, the amount of paper feed by the feed roller pair 12 is detected by a rotation speed counting means (not shown).

Then, when the first sensor 18 is turned on, the first roller 15 starts to rotate, and the paper piece is drawn into the first contact A (ST3). At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the front end of the paper piece advances by pushing away the deflecting portion 22 of the paper piece deflecting member 20.

The first roller 15 is temporarily stopped at the time when the predetermined amount is fed (ST6). During this time, the feed roller pair 12 continues to convey the paper piece, and the paper piece is bent while rotating the paper piece deflecting member 20 in the counterclockwise direction in the drawing as shown in FIG. 3, and the curved end portion is moved to the second contact point B. Be directed. Then, when the feed roller pair 12 has rotated by a predetermined number of rotations, it is temporarily stopped (ST7, 8), the first roller 15 is rotated in the reverse direction (ST9), and the piece of paper is pulled toward the second contact.
At this time, since the feed roller pair 12 has OW, it follows the paper piece.

When the first roller 15 reversely rotates by a predetermined amount (ST10), the normal rotation starts again this time (ST1).
1). Due to this resumption of normal rotation, the paper piece pressing the deflecting portion 22 against the turning force of the weight portion 23 is lifted upward as shown in FIG. 4, and is drawn to the first contact point A. Then, the second sensor 19 detects the trailing edge of the piece of paper, and at the same time, the paper feed sensor 13 verifies the presence of the piece of paper. If there is a piece of paper, the above operation is repeated from ST2 (ST12, 1
3) If there is no piece of paper, the Z-folding operation is completed.

Next, a case in which the folding in half is selected will be described.

As shown in the flow chart of FIG. 7, when the paper feed sensor 13 is turned on in step ST20, the same operation is performed in step ST28.
Up to ST of the flowchart of the Z-folding operation
It is the same as that from 1 to ST9. However, it is natural that the predetermined feed amount differs depending on the folding mode for the same paper piece size.

The paper piece folded in half by the first roller 15 is discharged from the second contact B side by the reverse rotation of the first roller 15 as it is, and the rear end of the paper piece is detected by the second sensor 19. The presence / absence of a piece of paper is verified in step S21. If there is a piece of paper, the process proceeds to step ST21. If not, the folding operation is completed (ST29, 30).

In step ST5 (ST24 in the case of folding in half), the first roller 15 is stopped after the predetermined amount of the piece of paper has been fed to the first contact A, and the bending of the piece of paper is limited to the feed roller pair 12 side. It was done by sending
The feed roller pair 12 is stopped, and the first roller 15
It is also possible to execute it by the reverse operation of.
Needless to say, the operation of the device is not limited to the above description without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Further, the feed roller pair 12 is used to feed a predetermined amount of paper.
Alternatively, the rotation number counting means attached to the first roller 15 may be used, but it goes without saying that this may be performed by a timer built in the control device.

In the above embodiment, the turning force of the paper piece deflecting means 20 is constructed based on gravity, but it may be constructed by spring means. In such a structure, the weight portion 23 in the above embodiment is not necessary, of course. Alternatively, it may be formed of an elastically deformable synthetic resin sheet.

[0037]

According to the paper piece folding device of the present invention, the first roller for conveying the paper piece, the second and third rollers whose peripheral surfaces are in contact with the first roller, and the first roller are provided. A conveyance means for supplying a paper piece between the roller and the second roller, and after conveying the paper piece supplied from the conveyance means by a predetermined amount by the first roller and the second roller, There is a speed difference between the first and second rollers and the conveying means to bend the paper piece, and the curved portion is gripped between the first roller and the third roller. In the two-fold mode for carrying out, and after the curved portion is gripped between the first roller and the third roller, a speed difference is generated between the first and third rollers and the conveying means. By holding it, the paper piece is curved, and this curved portion is bent by the first roller. After a control unit having a three-fold mode in which it is gripped between the second roller and carried out, or after a predetermined amount of the paper piece supplied from the carrying unit is carried by the first roller and the second roller , The first and second rollers and the conveying means are made to have a speed difference to bend the paper piece, and the curved portion is gripped between the first roller and the third roller. After the predetermined amount is conveyed by the first roller and the second roller, the paper piece supplied from the control means that folds it in half and carries it out, or the conveying means, and then conveys it with the first and second rollers. The piece of paper is bent with a speed difference between the means and the bent portion, and the bent portion is gripped between the first roller and the third roller, and then the first and third rollers There is a speed difference between the transport means and the paper strip. The curved portion is gripped between the first roller and the second roller, and the control means is provided to fold it in three and carry it out. The paper piece supplied from the conveying means is fed to the first roller. Between the first and second rollers and the conveying means, and is swung by the paper piece that bends due to the speed difference between the first and second rollers and the conveying means, and the curved portion of the paper piece is moved to the first portion. Since the paper piece deflecting member for guiding between the roller and the third roller is provided, an expensive solenoid or other means is not required,
It can be manufactured at low cost, and moreover, the piece of paper can be reliably guided to the vicinity of the contact point of each pair of paper folding rollers, and there is no fear of the leading edge of the paper or jamming, and it can be surely folded in three or two.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is likewise an operation explanatory view.

FIG. 3 is also an operation explanatory diagram.

FIG. 4 is a similar operation explanatory diagram.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the operation of the paper sheet folding device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a Z-folding operation of the paper piece folding device.

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

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory diagram of a conventional device.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory diagram of a conventional device.

FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram of a conventional device.

FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory diagram of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Paper Folding Device 11 Guide Plate Pair 12 Feed Roller Pair 14 Opening 15 First Roller (Main Roller) 16 Second Roller 17 Third Roller 20 Paper Roll Deflection Member A First Contact Point B Second Contact Point

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first roller that conveys a piece of paper, second and third rollers whose peripheral surfaces are in contact with the first roller, and between the first roller and the second roller. A conveying means for supplying a piece of paper, and a predetermined amount of the piece of paper supplied from the conveying means for being conveyed by the first roller and the second roller, and then the first and second rollers and the conveying means. A two-fold mode in which a paper piece is curved with a speed difference between the curved portions, the curved portion is gripped between the first roller and the third roller, and is carried out, and the curved portion is the first portion. After being gripped between the first roller and the third roller,
Has a three-fold mode in which a speed difference is provided between the roller and the conveying means to bend the paper piece, and the curved portion is gripped between the first roller and the second roller and carried out. The control unit guides the paper piece supplied from the conveying unit between the first roller and the second roller, and
A paper piece deflecting member that swings by a paper piece that bends due to a speed difference between the second roller and the conveying unit and that guides the curved portion of the paper piece between the first roller and the third roller. A paper piece folding device characterized by being provided. 2. A first roller that conveys a piece of paper; second and third rollers whose peripheral surfaces are in contact with the first roller; and between the first roller and the second roller. A conveying means for supplying a piece of paper, and a predetermined amount of the piece of paper supplied from the conveying means for being conveyed by the first roller and the second roller, and then the first and second rollers and the conveying means. A control unit that bends the paper piece with a speed difference between the curved portions, holds the curved portion between the first roller and the third roller, folds the paper in two, and carries it out. While guiding the supplied paper piece between the first roller and the second roller,
A paper piece deflecting member that swings by a paper piece that bends due to a speed difference between the second roller and the conveying unit and that guides the curved portion of the paper piece between the first roller and the third roller. A paper piece folding device characterized by being provided. 3. A first roller that conveys a piece of paper; second and third rollers whose peripheral surfaces are in contact with the first roller; and between the first roller and the second roller. A conveying means for supplying a piece of paper, and a predetermined amount of the piece of paper supplied from the conveying means for being conveyed by the first roller and the second roller, and then the first and second rollers and the conveying means. There is a speed difference between them to bend the paper piece, and the curved portion is gripped between the first roller and the third roller, and then the first and third rollers and the conveying means. A control unit that bends the paper piece with a speed difference between the first and second rollers, and holds the curved portion between the first roller and the second roller to fold it in three and carry it out. A piece of paper supplied from the means between the first roller and the second roller In addition to guiding in between,
A paper piece deflecting member that swings by a paper piece that bends due to a speed difference between the second roller and the conveying unit and that guides the curved portion of the paper piece between the first roller and the third roller. A paper piece folding device characterized by being provided.