JPH0776460A - Paper folding machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a paper folding machine wherein the cost of a paper folding roller is low and the overall depth is short, and moreover, which rarely causes paper jamming. CONSTITUTION:A paper folding machine P is provided with first and second rollers 1 and 2, which can rotate in normal and reverse direction, in vertical direction and nearly perpendicularly provided with front and rear guide plates 3 and 4 in front and rear of both rollers 1 and 2. Leaf springs 5, 5, and 5 are provided in the cylindrical face of the first roller 1. Stoppers 6, 7, and 8 are provided on the lower sections of the guide plate 3 and 4, and an actuator 9 is provided on an upper section of the guide plate 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper folding apparatus, and more specifically, it is used in combination with an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and is used for half-folding and Z-folding on paper on which an image is formed. The present invention relates to a paper folding device for performing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a paper folding apparatus of this type, a first roller which is disposed substantially horizontally and rotates, and a roller which is disposed substantially horizontally in front of the first roller and rotates in contact with the first roller. It is known that a second roller and a third roller that is arranged substantially horizontally in front of the second roller and that rotates in contact with the second roller are known.

In such a paper folding apparatus, when half-folding is designated, the paper is passed between the first roller and the second roller in a state where the paper is bent at a position approximately half of its length. After making a crease, make a second paper with the crease as the tip.
After passing between the roller and the third roller, the sheet is discharged in a half-fold shape. On the other hand, when Z-folding is designated, the paper is bent at a predetermined position and is passed between the first roller and the second roller to make a crease, and the paper is once separated from both rollers, and then the With the fold behind, the paper is bent at another predetermined position, and is passed between the second roller and the third roller to make another fold, and the sheet is discharged in the Z-fold form. The rotation directions of the first to third rollers of such a paper folding device are constant.

[0004]

Such a paper folding apparatus uses three rollers for folding the paper, which is high in manufacturing cost, large in size, and jammed with the rollers. There is a disadvantage that there is a large possibility that An object of the present invention is to provide a paper folding device which has a low manufacturing cost, is small in size, and is less likely to cause a paper jam with a roller.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a paper folding apparatus for half-folding and Z-folding a paper on which an image is formed, which is arranged substantially horizontally and is capable of forward and reverse rotation. A roller, a second roller disposed substantially horizontally below the first roller and capable of rotating in forward and reverse directions in contact with the first roller, and provided substantially vertically in front of these rollers, before guiding the paper. A guide plate, a rear guide plate which is provided substantially vertically behind both rollers and guides the paper, a holder portion which is provided on the cylindrical surface of the first roller and holds one end of the paper in contact with the same surface, and A stopper provided on the lower part of the guide plate, which abuts the other end of the paper held by the holder part of the first roller to prevent downward movement thereof, and when half-folding is designated, By rotating both rollers forward and passing the paper between both rollers from the front to the back, 2 substantially folded in half, whereas, when Z-folding is designated, by passing from the front paper between the rollers rearward first rotated forward to the rollers, the paper at a predetermined position
Control means for controlling the rotation of both rollers by folding the paper in two and then rotating both rollers in reverse so that the paper is passed between the rollers from the rear to the front so that the paper is folded in two at another predetermined position. The present invention relates to a paper folding device including:

[0006]

The number of rollers for folding the paper is one less than the conventional one, that is, the first roller and the second roller, and both rollers are arranged vertically. Therefore, the cost of the roller is reduced, and the depth dimension of the device is smaller than before. Further, since the number of rollers is two, the risk of paper jamming is reduced as compared with the conventional case. The front guide plate and the rear guide plate are preferably provided such that their upper portions are closer to the rollers and their respective lower portions are farther from the rollers. The holder portion provided on the cylindrical surface of the first roller holds one end of the paper in contact with the same surface. Then, together with the stopper provided on each guide plate, the paper is bent and guided between the rollers.

If there are two kinds of paper sizes, for example, A3 and B4, two stoppers are provided at positions corresponding to each size, for example, retractable. As the control means, a microcomputer including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, etc., or a combination of such a microcomputer and an actuator for determining the reverse rotation timing of both rollers is used.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to this.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a paper folding device P used in combination with a copying machine is arranged horizontally and is straight.
A reversely rotatable first roller 1, a second roller 2 horizontally arranged below the first roller 1, contacting the first roller 1 and capable of forward / reverse rotation, and substantially in front of both rollers 1 and 2. A front guide plate 3 that is vertically provided to guide the paper (paper on which an image is formed by copying) and a rear guide plate 4 that is provided substantially vertically behind both rollers 1 and 2 and that guides the paper are provided. ing.

Both rollers 1 and 2 have the same length and the same diameter. Each of the guide plates 3 and 4 is bent at the lower edge portion into a substantially V shape. The height of the front guide plate 3 is lower than that of the rear guide plate 4. Each of the guide plates 3 and 4 is arranged so that an upper part thereof is closer to the second roller 2 and a lower part thereof is farther from the second roller 2.

On the cylindrical surface of the first roller 1, there is a rectangular leaf spring 5 as a holder for holding one end of the paper which is in contact with the same surface.
Are welded and three are provided horizontally at equal intervals. At the lower part of the front guide plate 3, there is provided a B4 paper half-folding stopper 6 protruding from the outer surface side to the inner surface side so as to be retractable.
When the other end of the B4 paper whose one end is held by the leaf springs 5, 5, 5 of the first roller 1 comes into contact with the stopper 6, the stopper 6 blocks the downward movement of the B4 paper. Below the stopper 6 of the front guide plate 3, a B4 paper Z-folding first stopper 7 is similarly provided.

A second stopper 8 for B4 paper Z-folding is similarly provided under the rear guide plate 4. Rear guide plate 4
An actuator 9 forming a part of the control means is provided on the upper part of the. The actuator 9 is for determining the reverse rotation timing of both rollers 1 and 2.

A pair of upper and lower paper carry-in rollers 10 and 10 are provided on the upper front side of the front guide plate 3, and the paper carried in from the carry-in port 11 is guided by the rollers 10 and 10. An entrance deflecting plate 12 is rotatably provided between the rollers 10 and 10 and the front guide plate 3.

A pair of upper and lower paper carry-out rollers 13 and 13 are provided above the paper carry-in rollers 10 and 10 so that the rollers 13 and 13 discharge the paper to the outside through the carry-out port 14. Rollers 13 and 13 and the first roller 1
An intermediate deflector plate 15 is rotatably provided between and.

A guide roller body 16 having a pair of front and rear rollers is provided above the first roller 1 so as to be able to move up and down. The guide roller body 16 applies one end of the paper carried in from the carry-in port 11 toward the first roller 1 by the paper carrying-in rollers 10, 10, the entrance deflecting plate 12, and the intermediate deflecting plate 15 to the leaf springs 5.5. Guide with 5 so that it can be held securely.

Although not shown, the microcomputer constituting the main part of the control means is a CPU, RAM and ROM.
Be equipped with. Then, based on the paper detection signal from the actuator 9, the rollers 1 and 2 are instructed to rotate in the reverse direction. The operation of the paper folding device P configured as above will be described below.

In the case of half-folding When it is desired to carry out the B4 paper by half-folding it, the paper folding device P operates as shown in FIGS. In FIG.
First, the B4 paper 20 is fed from the carry-in port 11 to the rollers 10 and 10,
It is guided to the entrance deflecting plate 12 and the intermediate deflecting plate 15 and carried in, and one end (front end) thereof contacts the upper front part of the cylindrical surface of the first roller 1 in the stopped state. At this time, the guide roller body 16 descends and its roller pair is in contact with the first roller 1. Therefore, the B4 paper 2 that has been brought in
One end of 0 is sandwiched between the pair of rollers of the guide roller body 16 and the first roller 1, and also digs into the lower side of the leaf springs 5, 5, 5, and is securely held by the first roller 1.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the guide roller 16
When the rollers rise and move away from the first roller 1, both rollers 1 and 2
Starts to rotate forward. Here, the normal rotation means that the first roller 1 rotates counterclockwise and the second roller 2 rotates clockwise, respectively. The B4 paper 20 held by the first roller 1 by the leaf springs 5, 5, 5 of the first roller 1 is guided downward while abutting on the front guide plate 3, and abuts on the stopper 6 having the other end protruding. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the B4 paper 20 starts to bend toward both rollers 1 and 2 at a half position in the longitudinal direction.

Then, the B4 paper 20 passes between the rollers 1 and 2 and exits backward. As a result, the B4 paper 20 is folded to have a B5 size, and is conveyed upward while contacting the rear guide plate 4.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the B4 paper 20 is folded above the first roller 1 with the creases first, and then the intermediate deflector plate 15 is formed.
And is guided to the intermediate deflecting plate 15 which is rotated so as to face the predetermined direction, and is sandwiched between the paper carry-out rollers 13 and 13. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, one end of the B4 paper 20 is disengaged from the leaf springs 5, 5, 5 of the rotating first roller 1,
The four-sheet paper 20 is discharged to the outside of the paper folding device P via the rollers 13 and 13 and the carry-out port 14.

In the case of Z-folding When the B4 sheet is to be Z-folded and carried out, the paper folding device P operates as shown in FIGS. 7 to 11. In FIG. 7, the operation until the B4 paper 20 is carried in from the carry-in port 11 and one end of the B4 paper 20 is held by the leaf springs 5, 5, 5 of the first roller 1 in the stopped state is the same as in the case of the half-folding. Is the same.

The B4 paper 20 held by the first roller 1 by the leaf springs 5, 5, 5 of the first roller 1 is guided downward while abutting on the front guide plate 3, and the other end is projected.
Abut the stopper 7. At this time, the stopper 6 is retracted to the outside of the front guide plate 3 so as not to get in the way.

Then, the B4 paper 20 begins to bend toward both rollers 1 and 2 at the first predetermined position as shown in FIG. Then, the B4 paper 20 passes between the rollers 1 and 2 and exits rearward to make a first fold. The B4 paper 20 with the first crease is conveyed upward while coming into contact with the rear guide plate 4, and then the fold portion comes into contact with the actuator 9 as shown in FIG.

Then, a paper detection signal is emitted from the actuator 9 and input to the microcomputer. Then, the microcomputer issues an instruction to stop both rollers 1 and 2 and then reversely rotate them. After both rollers 1 and 2 are temporarily stopped, they start reverse rotation.

As a result, the B4 paper 20 is placed on the rear guide plate 4
Is guided to the lower side while abutting against, and abuts on the second stopper 8 having the other end protruding. Then, the B4 paper 20 is shown in FIG.
As shown in 0, it starts to bend toward both rollers 1 and 2 at the second predetermined position.

Then, the B-paper 20 passes between the rollers 1 and 2 and exits to the front to make a second crease. At this time, the first fold is sandwiched between the rollers 1 and 2 and becomes more firm.

Then, as shown in FIG. 11, B4 paper 20
Moves toward the intermediate deflecting plate 15 and is guided to the intermediate deflecting plate 15 which is rotated so as to face a predetermined direction, and the paper carry-out roller 13
It is sandwiched between 13. Then, one end of the B4 paper 20 is disengaged from the leaf springs 5, 5, 5, of the rotating first roller 1, and the B4 paper 20 is discharged to the outside of the paper folding device P via the rollers 13, 13 and the carry-out port 14. .

Although not shown in the above embodiment, when half-folding and Z-folding are performed also on A3 size paper, a stopper for that purpose may be additionally provided.

In this paper folding device P, there are two rollers for folding the paper, a first roller 1 and a second roller 2, and these rollers 1 and 2 are arranged vertically. Therefore, the cost of the paper folding roller is lower and the depth dimension of the device is smaller than that of the conventional paper folding apparatus in which three rollers are arranged in front and back for folding the paper. Further, since the two rollers 1 and 2 fold the paper, the possibility of paper jamming is reduced as compared with the conventional case.

[0030]

Since the paper folding device according to the present invention is configured as described above, the cost of the paper folding roller is reduced, the depth dimension of the device can be reduced, and paper jamming can be prevented. The risk of occurrence can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view of a paper folding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially omitted perspective view of the device.

FIG. 3 is a structural explanatory view showing a first stage when half-folding is performed by the same device.

FIG. 4 is a structural explanatory view showing a second stage when half-folding is performed by the same device.

FIG. 5 is a structural explanatory view showing a third stage when half-folding is performed by the same device.

FIG. 6 is a structural explanatory view showing a final stage when half-folding is performed by the same device.

FIG. 7 is a structural explanatory view showing a first stage when Z-folding is performed by the same device.

FIG. 8 is a structural explanatory view showing a second stage when Z-folding is performed by the same device.

FIG. 9 is a structural explanatory view showing a third step when Z-folding is performed by the same device.

FIG. 10 is a structural explanatory view showing a fourth step when Z-folding is performed by the same device.

FIG. 11 is a structural explanatory view showing a final stage when Z-folding is performed by the apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 1st roller 2 2nd roller 3 Front guide plate 4 Rear guide plate 5 Leaf spring (holder part) 6 B4 paper half-folding stopper 7 B4 paper Z-folding first stopper 8 B4 paper Z-folding second stopper 9 Actuator (Control Unit) 10 Paper Intake Roller 11 Inlet 12 Inlet Deflection Plate 13 Paper Outgoing Roller 14 Outlet 15 Intermediate Deflection Plate 16 Guide Roller Body

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A paper folding device for half-folding and Z-folding a paper on which an image is formed, the first roller being arranged substantially horizontally and capable of forward and reverse rotation, and a first roller of the first roller. A second roller that is disposed substantially horizontally below and is in contact with the first roller and can rotate forward and backward, a front guide plate that is provided substantially vertically in front of these rollers and guides the paper, and a rear of both rollers. A vertical guide plate for guiding the paper, a cylindrical surface of the first roller, a holder part for holding one end of the paper in contact with the same surface, and a lower part of each guide plate, The first roller is provided with a stopper that abuts the other end of the paper held by the holder part to prevent the paper from moving downward. Further, when half-folding is designated, both rollers are rotated in the forward direction. Fold the paper in half by passing the When Z-folding is specified, first, both rollers are rotated in the forward direction to pass the paper between the rollers from the front to the rear, so that the paper is folded in two at a predetermined position, and then both rollers are rotated in the reverse direction to rotate the paper. A paper folding device comprising a control means for controlling the rotation of both rollers so that the paper is folded in two at other predetermined locations by passing the rollers from the rear side to the front side.