JPH0717192A - Initialization method of sealing film of automatic sealing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform automatically joining of unwinding tip parts of a biaxial roll film at an appropriate position and registration between a joint and the tip of a document to be sealed at the time of fresh charge of the film or restoration after release of a jam. CONSTITUTION:A tray 6 of an aligning part B3 is moved to a downstream side under a vacant state based on initialization command, a movable roller 17 of a mounter is moved downstream and a biaxial roll film which is under a piled up state is delivered up to a space between conveyor rollers 18 whose nip is opened state. The nip of the conveyor roller is closed, conveyor roller is turned and the delivered film is conveyed away until a cutting position detecting mark provided on the film is detected by a film sensor S2. Based on detection of the cutting position detecting mark, a rotation of the conveyor roller 18 is stopped and the biaxial roll film is welded and cut off at the rear of a part where it is piled up each other.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for initializing a sealing film in an automatic sealing machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sealing film, which is formed by joining rewinding tips of a biaxial roll film, is installed so as to block a transfer path of a tray on which documents are loaded, and the film is fed out by advancing the tray. Along with sandwiching the leading end of the film and the leading end of the document between the transport rollers, the tray is retracted, and while transporting the film and the document by the transport rollers, the document is covered with the film. , Weld the edges of the film that extends outward from both sides in the width direction of the document, and further weld and cut the film immediately after the rear end of the document to create a sealed product in which the document is enclosed in a film bag, An automatic sealing machine has been proposed in which the sealed material is discharged outside the machine.

[0003]

In the automatic sealing machine according to the above-mentioned proposal, the biaxial roll film constituting the sealing film is housed outside the machine in the two roll film housing portions of the film cartridge, respectively. After that, the rewinding tip of each roll film is attracted, and after being joined with an adhesive tape or an adhesive, the roll film is shrunk into the roll film in the accommodation part of each roll film so that no slack remains.
The film cartridge (hereinafter referred to as a cartridge) was installed in the aircraft.

Therefore, when joining with an adhesive tape or an adhesive, it is necessary to carry out the joining manually so that the direction and the edge of the rewinding end portions of both roll films are matched, so that the sealing is performed. It takes a lot of time and time to initialize the new film for use when it is newly loaded or when it is recovered after jam processing. This type of manual initialization work is not only disliked by the operator but also reduces the processing efficiency of the automatic sealing machine. Therefore, in the automatic sealing machine using a biaxial roll film, the initialization of the sealing film is performed. There is a demand for automation.

Thus, according to the present invention, the document is fed toward the sealing film formed by joining the rewinding tips of the biaxial roll film, the document is covered from the front and back, and both sides of the film are covered. In an automatic sealing machine that seals by welding, cutting and sealing the film before and after the document, the operator only needs to perform a minimum of simple work when initializing when loading a new film or restoring after jam processing. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for initializing a film for sealing in which the rewinding tips of the films are automatically joined to each other.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the method of the present invention is such that each roll film accommodating portion of a cartridge accommodates a biaxial roll film having a cutting position detection mark. And 2
With the unwinding ends of the roll film of the shaft extending toward the other roll film accommodating portion of each other and being superposed on the downstream surface of the fixed roller provided in the film cartridge, the cartridge is mounted on the mounter of the automatic sealing machine. Detachably mounted on the mounter, and based on the input of the initialization command, the tray of the alignment unit is moved to the downstream side in an empty state, so that the movable roller provided in the mounter overcomes the biasing force and moves in the downstream direction. Move and move to the above 2
The roll film of the shaft is fed out between the transport rollers in the nip open state, the nip of the transport roller is closed, and the transport roller is rotated to provide the cutting position detection mark provided on the film. The sheet is conveyed until it is detected by a film sensor provided between the conveying roller and the welding and cutting means, and the rotation of the conveying roller is stopped based on the detection of the cutting position detection mark.
The roll film of the shaft is welded and cut behind the overlapped portion, the nip of the conveying roller is opened, and the return force of the movable roller causes the film to be joined by the welding and cutting means to be near the opening of the cartridge. It is characterized by retreating to.

[0007]

According to the method of the present invention, when the roll film is set in the cartridge in a predetermined overlapping state and the cartridge is loaded in the film supply section, the initialization command is issued after the film is newly loaded or the jam is cleared. When input, the control unit moves the tray of the alignment unit to the downstream side, and the film of the film supply unit is fed by the tray. Next, the feeding roller of the sealing unit conveys the fed film until the cutting position detection mark provided on the film is detected. Then, the film is welded and cut by the welding and cutting means at a position corresponding to the cutting position detection mark. The film on the downstream side of the welding and cutting means separated by this cutting is discharged to the outside of the machine by the discharging roller. Further, in the film on the upstream side of the welding cutting means,
A tip with the appropriate joint is created. Then, the joining mechanism at the leading end is returned to the position corresponding to the center of the opening of the cartridge by the tension mechanism including the fixed roller and the movable roller provided in the film supply section.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a heat roller is used as the welding means for welding the left and right ends of the film, and a heat cutter is used as the welding cutting means for cutting the film in predetermined lengths, but the present invention is not limited to this. Not something. For example, it is possible to use high-frequency irradiation means for the welding means at the left and right ends and a combination of high-frequency irradiation means and room-temperature cutting means for the welding cutting means.

FIG. 1 is an automatic system in which a document is covered with a biaxial roll film, the films extending from the left and right ends of the document are welded, and the film is welded and cut before and after the document to be sealed. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an example of a specific configuration of the automatic sealing machine, mainly showing a drive system as a center of a schematic configuration of the sealing machine.

In FIG. 2, A is an upstream device for discharging a document. The upstream device A is designated by, for example, an image recording device such as a facsimile receiver, a copying machine, or a printer that records an image on a sheet at that time and discharges the sheets one by one, or a printed document that has been accumulated. It is a document feeding device that continuously discharges up to a specified number of sheets. The automatic sealing machine B according to the present invention is used by being connected to the document discharge port of the upstream apparatus A. As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic sealing machine B is generally composed of a taking-in section B1, an upper discharging section B2, a matching section B3, a film supplying section B4, a sealing section B5, and a lower discharging section B6. , These are provided in the housing 1 as shown in FIG.

The take-in section B1 takes in the document P discharged from the document discharge port of the upstream apparatus A into the sealing machine B.
And a motor ICM for rotating the take-in roller 2 in a predetermined direction
And the gate 3 for switching the traveling direction of the document captured by the capture roller 2 to the direction of the upper discharge portion B2 or the alignment portion B3.
And a drive unit for rotating the gate 3 upward and downward, for example, a solenoid FLSOL. The capture section B1 is provided with a sensor S1 for detecting the presence / absence of a document to be captured.

When the non-processing mode is designated by the mode selector switch of the operation unit (not shown) provided in the sealing machine,
The solenoid FLSOL is excited to keep the gate rotated to the lower side. When the gate 3 is on the lower side, the document P taken in by the take-in roller 2 is stacked on the upper discharge tray 5 via the upper discharge roller 4 constituting the upper discharge part B2.

On the other hand, when the processing mode is designated, the solenoid FLSOL is in the non-excited state and the gate 3 is held on the upper side. Therefore, the captured document flies toward the matching section B3 on the downstream side. The matching section B3 is
It has a tray 6, an alignment roller 7, a gate 8, a clamper 9, a tray moving unit 10, an electric stapler 11, and a stapler moving unit 12.

The tray 6 has a stacking surface for stacking documents to be taken in, and a side wall 6a which stands up on one side of the stacking surface and serves as a widthwise alignment reference surface for documents. The aligning roller 7 is moved by a solenoid ALSOL between a position close to the stacking surface of the tray 6 and a position separated from it, and
It is rotated in a fixed direction by the motor ALM. The alignment roller 7 close to the stacking surface is provided so as to rotate the motor ALM to obliquely feed the document flying from the take-in roller 2 to the upper surface of the tray 6 toward the side wall of the tray.

The gate 8 is movably attached to a frame (not shown) below the front end of the tray 6, and is constantly urged in the upright direction by urging means (not shown) such as a spring. is there. Then, when the tray 6 is at the home position (retracted position), the gate 8 stands up above the upper surface of the tray to serve as the alignment reference surface for all the edges of the document. In this way, the document landed on the tray upper surface is obliquely fed on the tray upper surface by the aligning roller 7, the side edge of the document is stopped by the side wall 6a of the tray, and the front end is stopped by the gate 8 so that the entire document is Be aligned.

On the side wall 6a side of the tray 6, a clamper (paper pressing means) for holding the document in the tray 6 in the front and rear direction every time one document is aligned on the tray.
9 is provided. This clamper is composed of a pressing piece 9a that comes into contact with and separates from the upper surface of the tray, and a solenoid PCSOL that causes the pressing piece to come into contact with and separate from the pressing piece.

The tray moving means 10 reciprocates the tray 6 in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIGS. 1 and 2), and includes a reversible motor TRM and front and rear pulleys 10a, 1a.
Belt 10c hung around 0b and tray 6 into belt 1
0c, a connecting piece 10d, a guide shaft 10e for guiding the tray in the front-rear direction at a predetermined angle, and an engaging piece 10f for engaging the tray 6 with the guide shaft.
Is controlled and driven by a control unit described later to move the tray 6 back and forth between a retracted position shown by a solid line in FIG. 2 and a forward position where a front end portion of the tray 6 exists between conveyance rollers 18 described later. It is like this.

The electric stapler 11 includes the side wall 6 of the tray 6.
It is provided on the side opposite to a. This is for binding the aligned document at a predetermined position. As described above, when the document P stacked on the tray 6, aligned by the aligning roller 7 and the gate 8 and pressed by the clamper 9 has the binding mode specified in advance in the operation unit, the alignment is completed. The binding is performed based on the binding command signal output later. Since the structure of the electric stapler itself is known, detailed illustration is omitted.

This stapler 11 also has a motor ST.
M, the front and rear pulleys 12a and 12b, the belt 12c, and the connecting piece 12d separate moving means 12 to move back and forth. The stapler 11 has a home position at the front part of the tray 6 in the retracted position (moved backward for convenience in FIG. 1), and one of the documents aligned on the tray. When binding the front side portion, the binding operation is performed at the home position, and when binding at the central portion and / or the rear portion of one side of the document, the motor S is used.
After moving to the predetermined position by TM, the binding operation is performed. In this case, the tray moving means 10 also advances the tray at the same time and moves relative to the stapler, thereby achieving alignment on the tray, shortening the time required for binding as much as possible, and downsizing the apparatus. .

A film supply section B4 is provided on the downstream side of the matching section B2. The film supply section B4 has a cartridge 14 in which a sealing film 13 is loaded. This sealing film 13 is in the form in which the rewinding tips of the biaxial roll films 13a and 13b are joined together as shown in FIG. When the method of the invention is used, before being loaded into the cartridge 14, the biaxial roll film 13
a and 13b are cores 15a and 15b, as shown in FIG.
Roll films 13a and 13b respectively wound on the
It has a form in which the support shafts 15c, 15d, 15c ', 15d' are pushed into the core of the roll film, and the rewinding tips of the roll films are not joined.

The cartridge 14 is, as shown in FIG.
A semi-cylindrical roll film accommodating portion (hereinafter, referred to as “opening 14a” in the center and opening in the downstream direction on both upper and lower sides of the opening 14a
The roll films 13a and 13b are respectively rewound by a length substantially equal to the distance from one film accommodating part to the other film accommodating part. Bearings 14d and 14e, which are accommodated in the respective film accommodating portions 14b and 14c from the opening surface side of the cartridge 14 in the extended state, and are formed at both ends of the film accommodating portions 14b and 14c.
The film support shafts 15c and 15d are rotatably supported and set.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cartridge 14 is provided with a plurality of fixed rollers 17a between the film accommodating portions 14b and 14c and the opening 14a at appropriate intervals. The cartridge 14
The roll films 13a and 13b accommodated in the above are vertically stacked so that the extended portions cover the upper surfaces of the fixed rollers 17a on both sides of the cartridge, whereby the setting of the film on the cartridge is completed. It does not matter which of the films 13a and 13b has a vertical relationship.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are views for explaining a state in which the roll film is mounted on the cartridge 14 and then on the automatic sealing machine. As shown in the figure, the cartridge 14 has an engaging protrusion 14f formed at the lower end thereof.
The mounter 16 attached to the sealing machine is engaged with a locking hole 16a formed at the lower end of the mounter 16, and the cartridge 14
The engaging protrusion 14g formed at the upper end of the mount 16 is engaged with the engaging protrusion 16b formed at the upper end of the mounter 16 to be detachably attached. FIG. 8 shows a state in which the cartridge 14 is mounted on the mounter 16.

The mounter 16 has fixed rollers 17b near both sides of the central opening 16c corresponding to the opening 14a of the cartridge, and on both sides of the fixing roller 17b in the upstream direction by a biasing means such as a spring (not shown). The plurality of urged movable rollers 17c are attached to the cartridge 14
It is movably arranged in a direction parallel to the opening direction of the opening 14a between the fixed rollers 17a. The fixed roller 17a, 17b and the movable roller 17c constitute a tension mechanism 17 that gives a buffering action and a tensioning action to the film in the cartridge.

As a result, the roll films 13a, 13
When the cartridge 14 accommodating b in the state where the extension portions thereof are overlapped with each other is mounted on the mounter 16, as shown in FIG. 9A, the roll films 13a and 13b are fixed to the fixed rollers 17a, 17b and 17d and movable. The roller 17c holds it in a meandering shape, and holds it, and
When the mounter 16 is held in the sealing position as shown in FIG. 8 and described later, the document transfer path of the tray 6 is orthogonally cut off.

The fixed roller 17d provided on the opposite side of the opening 16c of the movable roller 17c of the mounter 16 corresponds to the fixed roller 17a closest to the roll films 13a and 13b of the cartridge. As a result, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, when the cartridge 14 loaded with the film is mounted on the mounter, the roll films 13a and 13b are held between the fixed rollers 17a and 17d, and the roll film 13a and 13b is moved downstream from the advancing tray 6 or the conveying roller 18 described later. When receiving a directional force, the film accommodating portions 14b and 14c
9A, the back tension applied to the film 13 from the tension mechanism 17 does not easily pull it out when the force from the tray or the conveyance roller is released, as shown in FIG. 9A. .
In order to suppress the pulling out of the film due to the back tension, instead of using the fixed rollers 17a and 17d, the support shafts 15c 'and 15d' and the bearings 14d,
It is also possible to achieve the same purpose by appropriately setting the frictional force due to 14e.

As shown in FIG. 6, the mounter 16 is supported by a cartridge holding member 23 fixed to a drawer 31, which will be described later, so as to be vertically movable. The cartridge holding member 23 moves up and down between the position where the film loaded in the cartridge 14 blocks the document transfer path, that is, the sealed position, and the position where the cartridge is retracted downward from the document transfer path, that is, the non-sealed position. It has a movable length, extends from the upper part to the lower part in the sealing machine, and has a frame member 25 provided with guide grooves 24 facing each other on both sides, and the mounter 16 has both side faces. It has a guide roller 26 which is fitted in the guide groove 24 and rolls. Then, the wire 28 is wound around the rotation shaft of the motor FCM provided in the drawer 31 and the pulleys 27 provided at the lower part and the upper part of the cartridge holding member 23, and the mounter 16 is attached to the wire via the connecting piece 29. It is connected.

When the sealing mode is designated by the mode changeover switch of the operation section, the motor FCM is normally rotated so that the cartridge 14 has the tray 14 at the center of the opening 14a as shown by the solid line in FIG. 6 is moved up to the sealing position (FIG. 8 shows the position at this time) which coincides with the document conveyance path by No. 6, and when the non-sealing mode is designated, the motor FCM reverses and the chain line in FIG. As shown, the cartridge 14 is lowered to the unsealed position where it retracts below the document transport path.

A sealing section B5 is provided on the downstream side of the film supply section B4. This sealing unit sandwiches the film 13 covering the document from above and below and conveys the film, and every time the sensor S2 detects the cutting position detection mark of the film 13, the film is welded and cut (heat cut).
A heat cutter 19 for heating and a heat roller 20 for welding (heat sealing) both sides of the film 13 which covers the document from both front and back sides.

Discharge section B6 provided on the downstream side of the sealing section
Is a discharge roller 21 for discharging the sealed material formed by heat cutting by the heat cutter 19 and heat sealing by the heat roller 20 to the outside of the housing 1, and a lower discharge tray 22 for accumulating the discharged sealed material. It consists of

Then, the transport roller 18 and the heat roller 2
The common transport motor MM for rotating them in a predetermined direction is connected to the 0 and the discharge roller 21, and the transport roller 18 composed of a driving roller and a driven roller for opening and closing them with respect to the transport surface. A nip drive means, for example, a motor TAM and a known cam and follower are connected to each other, and the heat cutter 19 has a cutting blade 19 constituting the heat cutter 19.
a drive unit for pressing the a and the pedestal 19b toward each other,
For example, the motor HCM is connected to a known cam and follower, and further, a drive unit for bringing the heat roller 20 into and out of contact with the conveying surface, for example, the motor HRM is connected to a known cam and cam follower. A heater HC for generating heat at a temperature capable of melting the film 13 is built in the cutting blade 19a of the heat cutter, and the heat roller 20
The heating roller 20a also has a built-in heater HR that generates heat to a temperature at which the film can be welded.

The automatic sealing machine B is provided with at least sensors S2 and S3 in addition to the sensor S1 of the take-in section B1. The sensor S2 serves both to detect the leading edge of the film, to detect a cutting position detection mark 6 provided on the film, which will be described later, and an end mark described later, which is provided on the film. It can be detected that the film 13 is started to be fed out from the film supply section B4 by the transport roller 18, that the welding cutting position is reached, or that the film 13 is running out. Further, the sensor S3 is for detecting that the conveyed film and document have passed through the sealing portion B5, and is provided in the vicinity of the discharge roller 21.

In the automatic sealing machine according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 10, the upstream device A and the sensors S1 to S3 are provided in the interface circuit 100, and the motors ICM, ALM, STM which are the driving means, respectively. , TRM, FC
M, MM, TAM, DRM, HCM, HRM, solenoids FLSOL, ALSOL, PCSOL, heater HC,
The HR is connected to the interface circuit 100 via a drive circuit (not shown) for driving each of them, and the interface circuit is a central processing control unit CPU,
Microcomputer 2 including storage unit ROM and RAM
It is connected to 00.

The CPU, as a function realizing means, is a capture control means 2 for designating a capture direction of the gate 3 of the capture section B1.
01, alignment control means 202 for controlling the rotation and lifting timing and rotation of the alignment roller 7, stapler control means 203 for controlling the operation of the electric stapler 11 and the stapler moving means 12, tray control means 204 for controlling the tray moving means 10, The transport roller 18 and the heat roller 2
0 and the discharge roller 21, which is common to the transport motor MM, a transport control unit 205, a film feeding control unit 206 that controls film feeding through the nip opening / closing control of the transport roller by the motor TAM, and a cartridge moving unit FCM of the film feeding unit. Retreat control means 207, heat cutter control means 208 for controlling the opening / closing drive section HCM of the heat cutter 19, and heat roller control means 20 for controlling the open / close drive section HRM of the heat roller 20.
9, jam detecting means 210 and film remaining amount detecting means 2
Have 11.

The jam detecting means 210 determines that a jam has occurred and outputs a jam detection signal when the sealed-end detection signal is not input from the sensor S3 within a predetermined time from the time when the film leading edge detection signal is input from the sensor S2.

As shown in FIG. 11, the film sensor S2
Uses a transmissive photoelectric sensor including a light emitting element PHe and a light receiving element PHr arranged on opposite sides of the film transport surface, and one roll film 13a used as a front side film of the sealing film 13. Is provided with a transparent address window 131 for each predetermined length, and a cutting position detection mark (hereinafter, simply referred to as a registration mark) 132 composed of a band-shaped transparent portion extending in the entire width direction of the film. Except for the portions 131 and the registration marks 132, the recorded content of the document covered with this film over the entire length is printed with a predetermined density (light transmittance) d1 that is invisible to the outside, and wound around the core 15a. One side when the remaining length of the roll film 13a becomes the length of several sealed items due to consumption, in other words, to a predetermined length on the starting side. Are printed in dark density d2 than the end mark 133 is earlier concentration d1. The sensor S2 may be separately installed for register mark detection and end mark detection. The entire surface of the roll film 13b used as the back film is the density d1.
The one printed in is used.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 12, depending on the presence / absence of a film, the presence / absence of a registration mark, and the presence / absence of a film remaining between the transport roller 18 and the heat cutter 19, as shown in FIG.
Output level L1 clearly different from the light receiving element of sensor S2
~ L4 is obtained. L1 has no film, and L2 has film 13a and film 13b.
When the registration mark of “a” is detected, L3 has the front and back films, and when the registration mark of the film 13a is not detected,
And L4 are the respective output levels when the film is running low.

When the output level of the sensor S2 is L2, the conveyance control means 205 of the CPU stops the rotation of the conveyance roller 18, and the welding cutting control means 208 drives the heat cutter opening / closing motor HCM. There is. Further, the film remaining amount detecting means 211 is a sensor S
When the output level of 2 is L4, the remaining amount detection signal is output.

Further, in the automatic sealing machine according to the present invention, the operation section is provided with the initialization button 301, and the initialization command signal when the initialization button is pressed is also transmitted via the interface circuit 100. Given to the CPU. Further, the display unit 302 is connected to the interface circuit 100. The CPU, based on the remaining amount detection signal from the film remaining amount detection unit 211, displays the display unit 302.
The remaining film is displayed on to notify the operator of the film shortage. Further, the CPU causes the display unit 302 to display that a jam has occurred, based on the jam detection signal from the jam detection unit 210.

Then, the initialization button 301 is loaded at the time of newly loading the film having the above-described structure or at the time of restoration after the jam is cleared.
The operation when is pressed will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13. FIG. 13 is a time chart showing the operation of the automatic sealing machine when the initialization button 301 is pressed.

The initialization button 301 is pressed when a new film is loaded after the film 13 is consumed or when the film is restored after the jam is released. Before that, as described above, each film accommodating portion of the cartridge 14 is pressed. 14b, 1
4c shows the destination window 13 on one side, as shown in FIGS.
1, the registration mark 132, and the end mark 133 (see FIG.
1)) and a roll film 13b printed on the other side so that it cannot be seen through, and the roll film 13a is overlaid on the other side so as to cover the fixed roller 17a at the downstream opening surface of the cartridge 13. 8, the cartridge 14 is attached to the mounter 16 of the film supply section B4 of the automatic sealing machine, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9A, it is held in a meandering curve between the fixed roller 17a and the movable roller 17c.

The initialization button 301 is pressed after the preparation state is completed. Then, when the initialization button 301 is pressed, the clamper 9a, the transport roller 18, the heat cutter 19, and the heat roller 20 are held in the open state. Further, the heat cutter control means 208 prepares heat cut by supplying power to the heater of the cutting blade 19a of the heat cutter to preheat.

On the other hand, the CPU starts the execution of the initialization program and first rotates the tray control means 204 motor TRM to move the tray 6 in the retracted position shown by the solid line in FIG. ) Is advanced to the advance position indicated by the chain line, and the roll films 13a and 13b in the superposed state of the cartridge are fed out. At this time, the movable roller 17c of the tension mechanism is moved in the downstream direction as shown in FIG. 9 (b). In addition, the rolled roll films 13a and 13b are folded in two by the tray to be further stacked (a total of four sheets are stacked), and the front end portion of the films is placed between the transport rollers 18 whose nip is open. Located in.

Then, the transport control means 205 closes the nip of the transport rollers based on the end of the advance of the tray. As a result, the leading end of the roll film delivered by the tray is held between the transport rollers. Since the front end of the tray is notched at the portion corresponding to each transport roller, only the film is transported by the transport roller 1 when the nip of the transport roller is closed.
Be held in 8. The tray 6 is retracted to the initial position at the same time when the film is clamped.

Subsequent to the nip closing operation of the transport rollers, the transport control means 205 starts the rotation of the transport motor MM, so that the roll films 13a, 1 held by the transport rollers are held.
As shown in FIG. 9B, 3b is conveyed downstream by the conveying rollers.

The film sensor S2 detects the leading edge of the film from the output level of the light receiving element PHr, and the rotation of the transport roller continues to cause the roll film 4
The overlapped portion passes through the nip portion of the transport roller 18, and the upper roll film 13a and the lower roll film 13
When the registration mark 132 arrives at the film sensor S2 and is detected after the two sheets b and b are overlapped, the conveyance roller 1
The rotation of the transport motor MM is stopped with the nip 8 being closed. Subsequently, the heat cutter control means 208 moves the cutting blade 19a and the pedestal 19b of the heat cutter close to each other to weld and cut the two stacked roll films 13a and 13b which are stopped at the registration mark.

By this welding cutting, the two roll film cartridges are separated into a portion downstream of the registration mark 132 and a portion upstream of the registration mark, including a portion overlapped with each other. Then, the separated portion on the downstream side is discharged onto the discharge tray 22 by the discharge roller 21 by the subsequent rotation of the transport motor MM.

The portion upstream of the registration mark 132 is welded and cut to form a joint portion 13c (see FIG. 3) between the leading ends of the two roll films at the cut portion. Then, after the heat cutting is completed, the transport control unit 205
When the nip of the transport roller 18 is opened by the above, back tension is received from the movable roller 17c of the tension mechanism of the film supply unit, and the joining portion 13c is retracted to a position corresponding to the center of the opening 14a of the cartridge 14. . In this state, the initialization of this automatic sealing machine is completed, and in response to the discharge of the document from the upstream apparatus A, the necessary operation becomes possible.

Next, although not directly related to the subject matter of the present invention, the operation of the automatic sealing machine after the initialization is completed will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 22. 14
Is a time chart for explaining the operation of the capture unit when a document discharge signal is input from the upstream device, and FIG. 15 is a time chart for explaining the operation when the binding mode is designated.
FIG. 16 is a time chart explaining the operation of the sealing unit when the sealing mode is designated. 17 shows the initial state of the automatic sealing machine, FIG. 18 shows the film feeding process, FIG. 19 shows the film and document holding process, FIG. 20 shows the tray retracting and film and document conveying process, and FIG. 21 shows the heat cutting process. A cross-sectional view and FIG. 22 are sealing parts obtained by automatic sealing.

In the initial state, as shown in FIG. 17, the tray 6 is in the retracted position, and the transport roller 18, the blade 19a forming the heat cutter 19, the pedestal 19b, and the heat roller 20 are all open. In addition, since it is normally in the sealing mode, the retreat control means 207 holds the cartridge 14 in the sealing position. When it is started based on the document discharge signal, first, the document P from the upstream device A is taken in, the taken document is aligned, and the heat cutter 19 and the heat roller 20 are warmed up.

In the process of fetching the document, the fetch control means 201 and the matching control means 202 operate to rotate the fetch motor ICM to gate the document discharged from the upstream device as shown in FIG. Take in toward the matching portion B3 by 3. When the sensor S1 detects the leading edge of the document, the solenoid FLSOL is excited for a predetermined time to rotate the gate 3 to the lower side, so that the document flies and is loaded on the tray 6 while forming a corrugate.

Then, the alignment motor ALM is rotated a predetermined time after the sensor S1 detects the leading edge of the document to prepare for alignment, and the alignment roller 7 is moved to the upper surface of the tray after the sensor S1 detects the trailing edge of the document. Direction,
The documents stacked on the tray are fed at an angle to align them.
The clamper 9a is lowered before the rise of the aligning roller to return the aligned document to the tray. This document acquisition / alignment is performed each time each document is ejected, until the prescribed number of documents have been ejected from the upstream device A.

When the acquisition matching of a predetermined number of documents is completed,
After pressing with the clamper 9a as shown in FIG. 15, the stapler control means 203 is activated. Stapler control means 20
3 binds in only the front portion, the rear portion, or both of the one side of the document in accordance with the designated binding position for the document. To explain one example, when binding the front portion, the stapler 11 is moved slightly backward by the motor STM and stopped, and the stapler 11 is driven to bind. When the rear portion is also bound, the tray control means 204 also operates and the motor T
The RM is started to rotate, the tray 6 is moved forward, and when the stapler 11 and the tray 6 reach a predetermined position due to relative movement, both are stopped and the stapler 11 is driven to bind the rear portion. After finishing the predetermined binding, the motor STM is rotated in the reverse direction to return the stapler to the front position which is the home position.

When the predetermined binding is completed, as shown in FIG. 16, the tray control means 204 causes the tray motor TRM to rotate normally to move the tray 6 forward to start the conveyance of the document in the direction of the sealing portion. . Tray 6 has document P on it
With the clamper held in the aligned state, as shown in FIG. 18, the gate 8 is moved forward while being advanced, and the document is conveyed to the film supply section B4 on the downstream side.

The tray 6 has a cartridge 14 at the front end thereof.
To the center of the opening 14a of the film 13 so that the joint between the front surface side film 13a and the back surface side film 13b of the film 13 is aligned with the center of the opening, and the tension mechanism 17 lightly taps to stand by in a tensioned state. 18 is pushed to the downstream direction, and as shown in FIG.
3 is fed out, and in the state in which the front and back surfaces of the front part of the document are covered with the film, the film and the front part of the document are transferred to between the transport rollers 18 in the separated state, and stopped at the forward position.

In this state, the film supply control means 206
Is operated to close the transport roller 18 that has been opened via the nip drive unit TAM as shown in FIG. 19 to hold the film and the document, and at the same time to open the clamper 9, the tray control unit 204 The tray 6 is returned to the intermediate position where the gate 8 does not stand up again. After that, the transport control unit 205 rotates the transport motor MM and rotates the transport roller 18 almost at the same time when the tray starts to move backward, and transports the film and the document. Following this, the heat roller control means 209 warmed up previously closes the pressure roller 20a and the heating roller 20b of the heat roller 20, and continuously heat seals both sides of the conveyed film.

When the trailing edge of the conveyed document P passes through the gate 8, the tray 6 is completely returned to the retracted position as shown in FIG. At that time, the gate 8 returns by the action of a return spring (not shown), and returns to the standing state. As a result, the next document P can be loaded on the tray 6.

The sensor S2 detects the light transmittance of one side of the film 13 conveyed to the downstream side by the conveying roller 18 and gives the output voltage to the control section 200 via the interface 100. The department monitors the presence or absence of a film, the presence or absence of a registration mark 132, and the presence or absence of a film shortage.

Returning to FIG. 16, first, the transport control means 205 stops the rotation of the transport motor MM and the heat roller control means 209 is stopped based on the detection of the registration mark 132 of the film by the sensor S2. In order to prevent overheating shrinkage due to the continuous contact of the film with the heat roller, the heat roller 20 is opened, and subsequently,
As shown in FIG. 21, the heat cut control means 208
The cutting blade 19a and the pedestal 19b of the heat cutter 19 are closed, and the film 13 is heat-cut by the registration mark 132.

After the heat cutting, the film supply control means 206 opens the conveying roller 18 which has been closed until then through the nip driving means TAM, then rotates the conveying motor MM again and closes the heat roller 20 again. At the time of heat cutting, the unsealed parts on both sides of the film between the heat cutter and the heat roller are sealed.

As a result, both sides are heat-sealed (13) on the downstream side of the heat cutter 19 as shown in FIG.
3) Then, the front and back are heat cut (134) at the portion of the registration mark 132, and the sealed article SM in which the document P is sealed in the film bag having the address window 131 on the surface is obtained. The sealed material SM is discharged to the lower discharge tray 22 by the discharge roller 21 of the lower discharge portion B6.

As shown in FIG. 21, the front surface film 13a and the back surface film 13b of the heat-cut film 13 on the upstream side of the heat cutter 19 are welded by the heat cutter 19 at their tips. Since the back tension is applied by the tension applying mechanism 17 provided in the film supply section, the film returns to its original position.

When the mode is switched to the non-sealing mode by the mote changeover switch (not shown) provided in the operating section of the sealing machine B, the retreat control means 207 gives a normal rotation drive signal to the motor FCM to turn it on. It is rotated and the cartridge 14 is lowered via the mounter 16 to the retracted position shown by the chain line in FIG.

Therefore, the set of documents taken in and aligned by the aligning unit B3 by the capturing unit B1 is the stapler 11
After being bound by the tray 6, the tray 6 is moved forward between the transport rollers 18, and the transport roller is closed and rotated at the same time, so that the document passes between the heat cutter 19 and the heat roller 20 in the separated state, and then the discharge roller. It is discharged onto the discharge tray 22 by 21. When the non-sealing mode is designated, the heating roller of the heat roller is not heated.

The cartridge 14, the carrying roller 18, the heat cutter 19, and the heat roller 20 are unitized into a drawer 31, as shown in FIG. The discharge roller 21 may be attached to the drawer 31 in the same manner.

Guide rollers 32 are provided on the front surface and the bottom surface of the drawer 31.
Is fitted to a guide rail 33 provided on the housing 1 side so as to extend in the vertical direction in FIG. A handle 34 is provided on the front side of the drawer 31, and when the handle 34 is pulled, the guide roller 31 rolls in the guide rail 33 and the drawer 31 is pulled out to the front side. .

Then, with the drawer 31 pulled out to the front side, the cartridge 14 is removed from the cartridge holding member 23, and a new film is replenished to the cartridge holding member 23, or a film jammed between the transport roller 18 and the discharge roller 21 is carried out. And documents can be excluded.

In place of the handle 34, the drawer 31 has
Alternatively, together with this, a pinion (not shown) fixed to the rotation shaft of a drawer motor DRM (only shown in FIG. 8) using a reversible motor provided in the housing 1, and a rack provided in the drawer 31 and meshing with the pinion (not shown). Alternatively, the drawer 31 may be pulled out by providing a drawer moving means composed of (3) and rotating the drawer motor in a predetermined direction.

By the way, the drawer 31 may be pulled out for replenishment when the film is consumed, or may be pulled out for clearing a jam when a jam occurs. Regarding the film consumption, when the output level L4 of the sensor S2 shown in FIG.
11 judges that the film is short, and based on this, the display unit 30
0 is set to indicate the film remaining amount.

Regarding the occurrence of a jam, the jam detecting means 211 judges that a jam has occurred and outputs it when the following conditions are met. That is, as shown in FIG. 16, the tray 6 holding the documents is clamped by a predetermined time t1 from the start of the rotation of the transport motor MM after the advance, that is, by the rotation of the transport roller 18 with the nip closed as shown in FIG. If the sensor S2 does not detect the leading edge of the film even if the time required for the leading edge of the film to reach the sensor S2 has elapsed, it is determined that the film has jammed. Also, the jam detecting means 211 detects the sensor even if a predetermined time t2 has passed since the rotation start of the carry motor MM, that is, a time required for the registration mark of the film carried by the carry roller to reach the sensor S2. When S2 does not detect the registration mark 132, it is judged that the film is jammed. Further, after the heat cutting by the heat cutter 19, the nip of the conveying roller is opened for a predetermined time t3,
That is, even if the time required for the upstream film held by the transport roller during heat cutting to return to the upstream direction due to the back tension from the tension mechanism due to the opening of the nip of the transport roller has elapsed, the sensor S
If 2 still detects the film, it will determine that the film is jammed. With any of the above causes, when the occurrence of a jam is detected, the fact is displayed on the display unit 302.

Therefore, when the film remaining amount is displayed, the operator manually suspends the operation of the automatic sealing machine before the number of seals that can be created from the time when the remaining film is displayed to the end of the film is reached, and the main body door is closed. The drawer 31 is opened, the cartridge 14 is removed from the mounter 16, the residual film of the cartridge 14 is taken out, and a new roll film as shown in FIG. 3 is accommodated in the film accommodating portions 14b and 14c. Then, the above-mentioned film initialization is performed, and immediately when a jam is displayed, the automatic sealing machine is stopped by the control of the CPU,
After manually clearing the jam, the above-mentioned film is initialized according to the state of the film, so that the automatic sealing machine can be easily restored.

It should be noted that accommodating portions 37 and 38 for accommodating the spare cartridge 14S are provided at both lower corners of the housing 1, and the film 13 of the cartridge 14 loaded on the cartridge holding member 23 is used up. If the cartridge 14S is housed in the housing portion 37 or 38,
Are taken out from the opening on the front side and loaded on the cartridge holding member 23, and new empty spare cartridges 14S are replenished in the empty storage portions 37, 38.

Further, regulating members 39 and 40 are provided at the bottoms of the accommodating portions 37 and 38 so as to regulate the attitude and orientation of the cartridge 14S when accommodated therein to be the same as when the cartridge 14S is mounted on the cartridge holding member 23. Yes, accommodation section 3
The direction of the cartridge 14S taken out of the cartridges 6 and 37 is regulated when the cartridges 14S are accommodated in the accommodating portions 37 and 38 so that the cartridges 14S are loaded onto the cartridge holding member 23 in the same orientation. It should be noted that the accommodating portion 41 can accommodate a spare roll film 13S for replenishing the empty cartridge 14 or 14S. The spare roll film may be stored in the storage portions 37 and 38.

[0074]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the film is newly loaded or restored after the jam is cleared, the rewinding tip of the biaxial roll film is extended by a necessary amount and stacked on the cartridge. Simply attach the cartridge to the film supply section in the aligned state, and press the initialization button to join the tip ends at the appropriate positions on the roll film, and the junction corresponds to the center of the cartridge opening. Since it is returned to the predetermined initial position, the initialization of positioning the leading end portion of the film at the position where the leading edge of the sealing film and the leading edge of the document to be sealed coincide with each other is automatically performed. Therefore, not only the complicated manual work of aligning and aligning the rewinding front end portion of the roll film is not required, but also the effect that the job recovery is quickly performed when the film is replenished or the jam occurs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a schematic configuration of an example of an automatic sealing machine using the method of the present invention, focusing on a drive system.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a specific configuration of the enclosed machine.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a form in use of the sealing film.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a form of a biaxial roll film before being loaded in a cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating loading of a cartridge and a biaxial roll film to the cartridge.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the relationship among a cartridge, a mounter, and a cartridge holding member that form a film supply unit.

FIG. 7 is an exploded side view for explaining the attachment / detachment relationship between the cartridge, the roll film, and the mounter.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the cartridge is mounted on the mounter.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the initialization process separately for the first half and the second half.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a control system of the automatic sealing machine.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a sealing film and a detection unit.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram similarly illustrating a detection principle.

FIG. 13 is a time chart explaining the operation at the time of film initialization.

FIG. 14 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the document import process.

FIG. 15 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the stapling process by the stapler.

FIG. 16 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the sealing process by the sealing unit.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing an initial state during operation of the automatic sealing machine.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view showing a film feeding process in the same manner.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view showing a process of holding a film and a document.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view showing a tray retracting step and a film and document conveying step.

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view showing a heat cutting step.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the completed sealed product.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A upstream device B sealing machine B1 intake section B3 matching section B4 film supply section B5 sealing section 6 tray 10 tray moving means 13 sealing film 13a, 13b roll film 14 cartridge 14b, 14c film accommodating section MM transport motor 18 transport roller 19 heat cutter (welding cutting means) 20 heat roller (welding means) S2 film sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An aligning unit for stacking and aligning documents discharged from an upstream device on a tray, and moving the tray to the downstream side to transfer the document is joined to a rewinding front end of a biaxial roll film. Holding the sealing film so as to block the end of the transfer path of the document by the tray, and the film supply unit for feeding the film by the downstream movement of the tray, and the fed film, the film of the document A conveying roller that conveys while covering the front and back surfaces, a welding means that welds edges of the conveyed film that extend to both widthwise outer sides of the document, and a film that covers the document immediately after the rear end of the document. A welding cutting means for welding and cutting, and a sealing portion formed by the welding cutting, which includes a discharge roller for discharging the sealed material in which a document is enclosed in a film bag to the outside of the machine, the aligning portion, and In an automatic sealing machine equipped with a control section for controlling a sealing section, (A) the film supply section is configured such that a film cartridge into which the biaxial roll film is loaded, and the film cartridge is detachably attached to the main body of the automatic sealing machine. And a mounter for holding, the film cartridge has an opening for moving the tray in the center, roll film accommodating portions on both sides of the opening, and the roll film accommodating portions from the opening in the downstream direction. The opening surface to be opened has a plurality of fixing rollers for guiding each at a position where the opening is not closed, and the mounter has upstream and downstream portions between the fixing rollers of the film cartridge held by the mounting roller. A plurality of movable rollers that are movably supported in the direction, and a bias that constantly elastically biases each movable roller in the upstream direction. (B) In each roll film storage portion of the film cartridge, one roll film stores a biaxial roll film having a cutting position detection mark, and the biaxial roll film With the rewinding ends of the film rolls extending in the direction of the other roll film accommodating portion and being superposed on the downstream surface of the fixed roller, the film cartridge is mounted on the mounter, and based on the input of the initialization command. By moving the tray of the aligning section to the downstream side in an empty state, the movable roller overcomes the urging force of the urging means to move in the downstream direction, and the biaxial rolls in the superposed state. The film is fed out between the transfer rollers in the nip open state of the sealing part, the nip of the transfer roller is closed, and the transfer roller is rotated to move the film. The fed film is conveyed until the cutting position detection mark provided on the film is detected by the sensor provided between the conveyance roller and the welding cutting means, based on the detection of the cutting position detection mark, The rotation of the transport roller is stopped, and the biaxial roll films are welded and cut behind the overlapped portion by the fusion cutting means, the nip of the transport roller is opened, and the return force of the movable roller causes A method for initializing a sealing film in an automatic sealing machine, wherein a joint portion of the film by the welding cutting means is retracted to near the opening of the film cartridge.