JPH10120285A - Paper handling device, electric stapler, and stapling method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the maximum thickness of a paper stack which can be stapled by adding a flywheel so that a stapler can penetrate a comparatively thick paper stack so as to increase effective output of an electrical motor and store energy, in particular, before it is engaged with the paper stack. SOLUTION: A stapler mechanism 11 oscillates and drives an idling lever 37 through gears 32 to 35 by driving a motor 31, and a hitting plate 41 is moved downward through a pin 39 due to the movement of this lever 37. The hitting plate 41 presses a staple against a paper stack 47 to pierce it through, and the staple is bent in a receive plate of a collet 51. In this case, a flywheel 55 is attached to an output shaft of the motor 31. Energy generated when the motor 31 is accelerated is absorbed by the flywheel 55, energy before the staple is driven is stored, and the paper stack 47 having large thickness can be tightened by utilizing the large quantity of energy.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electric motor driving device. In particular, the present invention relates to increasing the output of a marginal power receiving motor with the help of inertia provided by a flywheel, for example, when driving staples.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plurality of sheets are output as a result of the operation of a processing device such as an electrophotographic printer. Generally, these processing devices cause the paper to undergo a first process, such as printing, and then be discharged to an output stage. In many cases, it is convenient to have a printer or other processing device staple multiple sheets.

The present invention may be used in a wide variety of applications, including staplers unrelated to larger processing equipment, but will be described with reference to an electrophotographic printer. Printer is a "mail box processing output device" that allows printer output to be classified by category
It has. Mailbox processing may be enough to finish the print job. However, in some cases it may be advantageous to provide a staple driving option in the printing operation so that the staple driving process is one of the options for printer output.

[0004] The staple driving operation starts by compressing the paper stack under pressure. Next, a driving operation of driving a staple into the paper stack is performed. After the driving operation, the staple is bent. That is, the end of the staple is folded by pressing it against the end stop functioning as a collet. Pressing, driving, and pre-bending operations are almost continuous, so by applying the same force, compression, driving,
And a pre-bending operation occurs. Furthermore, because a fixed collet is used, the staples continue to be driven into the paper during the pre-bending operation. The paper stack continues to apply friction to the staples during the pre-bend operation, even if the actual driving operation is completed. Thus, one mechanism allows for compression, hammering, and bend operations.

[0005] The compression operation can be further divided into three functions. The staple motor must first accelerate the drive from the home position to engage the stapler head with the paper stack. Next, the paper is pressed down gently. This is typically performed by a sleeve that guides the staples. Next, the staples engage the paper and continue to compress the paper, which means that the paper is further compressed where the staples are to be penetrated. The main difference between the press operations is that the press is performed by a staple guide that initially presses the paper stack, and then the staple driving mechanism engages the paper with the staples.
It is to be continued.

[0006] One type of stapler is a stapler.
It utilizes a gear to drive the hammer and an electric motor to drive the lost motion mechanism. The electric motor is the main power source and the staple-hammer function is a driving device that drives the stapler. Activation of the electric motor causes the hammer to fall through the staple guide onto the leading staple of the staple supply. The staple guide falls with the hammer, hits the paper stack, and continues to guide the staples and press it against the paper stack. The hammer is spring loaded away from the driving position.

[0007] The power consumption of an electric stapler motor is large initially when the motor starts, but decreases quickly and remains there until the stapler engages the paper. As the stapler continues to perform compression, driving, and folding operations, the power consumption of the motor increases again. Immediately after the motor is started and when the paper is engaged, the load on the motor is very small, so that the power consumption of the motor is considerably reduced.

[0008] The driving cycle of a linear motor electric stapler is similar, except that the movement of the hammer is proportional to the movement of the linear motor.

[0009] During operation of the electric stapler, it is necessary to supply sufficient power to drive the staple into and through a sheet of maximum thickness in anticipation of the use of the stapler. In this case, 75 g / m ² (20 lb.) copy paper or 10 g
0.1 g such as 5 g / m ² (28 lb.) type paper
It is intended to penetrate 20 sheets of 3 mm (5.1 mil) paper. The maximum number varies depending on the application,
In the past, the ability to penetrate a large number of sheets was determined primarily by the maximum power consumption of the stapler. If greater penetration capability was desired, larger motors and / or larger power supplies were required.

In some devices, this power supply is used for the output classification mechanism, but the power supply is expected to vary depending on the processing device. When staplers were designed to penetrate thick paper, they tended to leave significant indentations or "footprints" in thin stacks, such as two to four sheets of standard weight. It is often desirable to reduce indentations on the paper.

In the case of electronically controlled devices, as the maximum power consumption increases, it is necessary for the power supply to be able to cope with the increase in current. Wiring to the stapler must be sized to handle the increasing loads. If the stapler operates simultaneously with the main energy consuming components of the electrophotographic printer, the line power must be sufficient to provide the additional current the stapler draws. Providing more powerful staplers requires larger equipment and higher associated costs.

In the present invention, a marginal power receiving stapler that receives a minimum power supply is used. This is a stapler
This is because the combination of the motor and the power supply for the stapler is not sufficient to reliably perform the staple driving operation on the sheet medium having the predetermined maximum thickness without further improvement in the mechanism of the stapler. The term "minimal" indicates that the device does not function as intended (or without modification according to the invention) or does not function reliably as intended. Since this intentional operation includes the ability to exceed specifications under test conditions, the marginal power receiving device may or may not be able to staple a predetermined number of sheets. If the performance of the device is not satisfactory according to our test criteria, it is deemed to be insufficient irrespective of whether the device can prove to stapling the specified number of sheets. .

Various mechanical devices have been used to increase the impact of electric machines. These tend to complicate the mechanism and often increase noise. Ideally, a stapler capable of penetrating a sheet of significant thickness at the output of a printer would be quiet enough to be acceptable in an office environment, even if staple driving is a frequently used feature. Should. In other words, it is unacceptable for the stapler of the printer to produce the sound of a carpenter's tack hammer.

It is desirable to increase the maximum capacity of the stapler without significantly increasing the time required to complete the stapling cycle. While the time to complete a staple driving cycle is not significant when compared to a full printing time cycle in an electrophotographic printer, the additional time of staple driving is often reduced while the user is waiting by the printer. , Where the user notices. Therefore, this time should not be extended.

Consideration in selecting a particular stapler mechanism for use in a printer is the convenience of designing the printer output to be adapted to the stapler and the power consumption. The stapler advantageously receives power from an existing power source. Although it is possible to drive the stapler with higher currents, this requires the provision of a larger power supply or energy storage device such as a capacitor. As discussed above, providing a larger power supply increases the cost of providing the required power handling capability. In addition, the larger power supply can significantly increase the overall power consumption of the printer's output mechanism, and possibly the entire printer. In the case of energy storage devices, this increases costs as a result of the required capacitor or battery size, as well as the need for proper switching circuitry.

By controlling the power supply to the motor, it is also possible to increase the capacity of the electric stapler.
In some cases, this can be performed without changing the internal circuit configuration of the motor. However, this requires additional costs for such control circuitry. It is also possible to increase the stapler's capabilities by redesigning the stapler to apply more force by "stagging down" the stapler. As a result, the operation of the stapler slows down. This deceleration of motion affects all driving operations, whether or not a particular driving operation requires the addition of force.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to increase the maximum thickness of a stack of paper that can be driven by an automatic stapler. It is another object of the present invention to increase the capacity of a motor to utilize a relatively small capacity electric motor and drive staples into a thickened stack. It is also an object of the present invention to increase the stapler's peak current or power consumption,
It is to do this. Another object of the present invention is to reduce the cost of the device to a value close to that required to optimize staple driving into a relatively thin stack, but nonetheless significantly increase the thickness. And a staple driving operation for the stack. Still another object of the present invention is to provide
An object of the present invention is to enable selective stapling without significantly increasing the complexity of the stapler and without significantly increasing the complexity of the control circuit.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a stapler for a paper handling device that is capable of receiving limited power in combination with its power supply. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus such as an electrophotographic printer used in connection with the preferred embodiment by doing so without significantly increasing the cost or complexity of the stapler itself. It is an object of the invention to make it possible to incorporate the stapler without a corresponding increase in the capacity of the power supply for the device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a stapler that reliably performs its function without significantly increasing cost. To this end, yet another object of the present invention is to provide a stapler motor that is activated and significantly increases the load on the stapler motor caused by the stapler engaging a stack of paper or other media sheets. It is to make effective use of the time between the increase.

[0019]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, a stapler is driven by an electric motor which adds a flywheel to increase the effective output of the stapler to penetrate a relatively thick stack of paper. This allows the stapler to store energy during its operating cycle, especially before engagement with the paper stack. The motor is powered at a predetermined EMF and a predetermined maximum current.

By selecting a stapler that is optimally sized for a small stack of paper, the increased cost required to be able to increase the capacity for a thicker stack of paper is due to the higher capacity of the stapler or the larger stack. This is offset by the cost avoidance associated with providing a larger power supply.

For a particular stapler, the motor is
With a thickness of 0.13 mm (5.71 mil), 75 g / m ² (2
(0 lb.) required a current of 1.3 amps at 24 volts for normal operation of stapling 2 to 10 sheets of paper. The pulse duration is 370-400m
s. By adding a flywheel, the stapler weighs 75 g / m ² (20 lb.) or 105 g.
0.13 mm with a specification of 28 lb./m ² (28 lb.)
(5.1 mil) thick paper can be passed through. As a result, the thickness of the sheet through which staples can penetrate increases.

The thickness of the piercing stack depends on the physical ability of the staples to remain straight during the piercing operation and on the paper that may approach or exceed the force that can be applied by sequential drive cycles. Limited by increasing friction. The shape of the staple also limits the stapler. In order to hold all the sheets together, it is necessary to bend the legs.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention relates to a stapler mechanism 11 shown in FIGS. In a preferred embodiment, the stapler mechanism 11 is used in the output classifier 13 of the printer shown in FIG. The output classifier 13 has a plurality of output trays 17. In general, sheet media, which are sheets processed by a printer, are selectively discharged to different output trays 17. This configuration allows the printer to have a "mailbox" output that selectively feeds the printed sheets into different slots.

Although the stapler of the present invention forms part of the output classifier 13, the present invention may be practiced separately from a printer or output classifier 13.
The stapler comprises a body 23 (shown in FIG. 2) mounted on a stapler carrier 25. The stapler carrier 25 is preferably mounted on the first output tray 17 of the output classifier 13. This is, of course, obvious, because the staple-bound print results are pre-bundled, as opposed to a discrete group of sheets.

As an alternative, it is possible to provide a staple driving function so that a print result stapled can be discharged to an arbitrary output tray 17. Alternatively, if output classifier 13 and output tray 17 are aligned to receive print media from a printer, stapler carrier 25 is aligned such that stapler carrier 25 and its particular tray 17 are aligned. It is possible to arrange. In this case, when the tray 17 receives the printed sheet medium, the stapler mechanism 11
The print media stacked underneath are aligned.

FIG. 2 shows a typical electric stapler mechanism 11 used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. In a preferred embodiment, the stapler body 23 is angled above the discharge tray,
By moving from the discharge tray 17 at the same angle,
A staple driving operation is to be performed. For convenience, the direction of movement of the motor toward the tray is considered "down", and the direction of movement away from the tray is considered "up". However, it should be understood that the "up" and "down" criteria differ from the vertical by the angle of the discharge tray. Since the present invention does not directly depend on the position of the discharge tray, the variation angle is 360 degrees.
Up to ゜ is possible.

The stapler mechanism 11 includes a motor 31, and gears 32, 33, 34, and 35.
We support these. The idle motion lever 37 is driven by the gears 32 to 35. The lever 37 activates the pin 39 to directly engage the striking plate 41 and move it downward. The pin 39 indirectly engages the forming plate 45, that is, when the striking plate 41 moves by a certain distance, the pin 39 engages the forming plate 45, and the latter starts to move. The striking plate 41 is a staple (not shown)
Is pressed against the paper stack 47 while the forming plate bends another staple for use. A ratchet mechanism (not shown) for operating a roller (not shown) is also attached to the idle motion lever 37, and the roller feeds the staple rack to the front of the stapler. The gear 35 makes one revolution per staple cycle.

The striking plate 41 moves down and engages individual staples from a staple supply, driving the staples down and through the stack 47. On the opposite side of the striking plate 41, the collet 5
1 is attached. This is the part of the stapler that receives the staples after the staples have penetrated the paper. As the striking plate 41 continues to push the staples down, the tray of the collet 51 bends the staples, thereby allowing the stapler 11 to complete the "bend first" operation.

The flywheel 55 has a flyhole 55 mounted on the output shaft of the motor 31. The flywheel 55 therefore absorbs energy (momentum) when the motor 31 accelerates, and releases energy when the motor 31 decelerates.

The stapler 11 achieves its purpose as a result of the force of the motor 31 driving the striking plate 41. In the preferred embodiment, the motor 31 is a DC motor, but it is also possible to provide an AC motor. Motor operates according to the _{following: T ind = KφI A (1} ) E A = Kφω (2) I A = (V T -E A) / R A (3), where, T _ind is induced torque, I _A the magnetic coil currents, E _a is induced EMF (voltage), omega is angular velocity, the V _T applied EMF, R _a is a magnetic coil resistance.

When ω is a predetermined load (T _load ), V
_Let it be the speed of the motor 31 at _T. If T _load increases, omega decreases, as a result, E _A drops. This is shown in equation (2). For stable conditions, T _ind
= T _load . This is shown in equation (1). If it is not possible to increase enough to reach the I _A to the condition T _ind = T _load, occurs stopped. In that case, T _ind <T _load
In this situation, the motor 31 is brought into a state where the stapler stops and therefore the staple driving function is no longer continued.

Thus, if the load increases discontinuously over time, the current will follow this behavior and the motor will be able to drive staples until T _ind is less than the value required to move the staples. . With each step of the staple driving operation, the demand for current continues to increase even if the preceding step has already been completed.
This is because the motor produces an electromagnetic induction action even if the motor is decelerated in the preceding step. (Inductors reject steep current changes).

In the preferred embodiment, 1.34 amps was determined to be the desired maximum current supplied to the stapler mechanism 11. This current level was selected so that the existing power supply could be used to power the stapler mechanism 11. This current is 370-400m
s of pulse duration.

If there is no flywheel 55, the motor 3
Even if this power supply is performed for 1, it is 0.13 mm,
75 g / m ² (20 lb.) copy paper, or 10
It turned out that it was not enough to staple 20 sheets of 5 g / m ² (28 lb.) type paper. The pulse duration can be extended to complete the pre-bend operation, but if the stack is thick enough, the motor stops and ω goes to zero. As a result, 370-400ms
Does not complete the staple driving operation.

[0035] When ordered by the energy conservation law is as ^{_{follows: IΩ 1 2 = Mθ + IΩ}} 2 2 where, I = the reduced mass moment of inertia Omega ₁ = stapling before the motor shaft in the motor shaft angular velocity M = through the kinetic energy M.theta = paper stack system before the torque theta = implantation angle of rotation Omega ₂ = post-stapling motor angular velocity Iomega ₁ ² = staple motor shaft during stapling of the motor shaft, bending the wire as it is evident from the kinetic energy above equation system after energy Iomega ₂ ² = stapling used for energy available for driving staples ^{_{Mθ = I (ω 1 2 -ω}} 2 2), the initial angular velocity, The motor is fixed and the final speed is set within a predetermined time. If you want to move from the pull driving position, it must be different from zero. According to the present invention, the energy available for staple driving is increased by increasing the mass moment of inertia, since it increases the squared difference in angular velocity. Increasing the mass moment of inertia is implemented by adding a flywheel 55.

FIG. 4 shows the current supplied to the motor over time. When the motor 31 is started, as the motor 31 is started from the displayed rest position in t _1, initially, a large current is drawn. This current draw decreases as the rotational speed of the motor 31 increases. t
At the point indicated by ₂ , the motor 31 has reached its maximum RPM (revolutions per minute) and its acceleration is greatly reduced. Motor will continue to accelerate beyond the time displayed by t _2, current draw is estimated to decrease significantly. At time t _3, load on the motor 31 increases. Load to a peak that appears at t _4, continues to increase from the time displayed at t _5, decreases until the completion of the cycle of the mechanism of the stapler 11, which is displayed by the time t _6. The initial period of t _{1 to} t ₃ , especially t _{1 to} t ₂
Represents the time during which the current to the motor 31 is used to increase the speed and the momentum of the motor 31. By providing the flywheel 55, a significant amount of energy is consumed during the period, which energy is stored in the rotational momentum of the flywheel 41. t
During the time between the initial engagement of the paper at ₃ and the maximum load on the motor 35 at t _4, the momentum of the flywheel 55 decreases, and more force is applied for driving the stapler 11, especially the striking plate 41. Added. The amount of momentum imparted to the stapler mechanism by flywheel 55 is generally added to the force provided by powering motor 31. This is particularly applicable when the speed ω of the motor 31 decreases due to a load for performing the staple driving operation. Even if a flywheel 55 is provided and connected directly to the motor shaft 57, the motor speed will still decrease when the load exceeds the capacity of the motor 31.

At t ₁ , the motor 31 is initially under a heavy load, but the flywheel 55 shows no particular problem. Unlike peak load at t _4, as the acceleration of the motor 31 becomes gentle by the flywheel 55, the motor 31 and the flywheel 5
5 exercise freely.

The momentum supplied to the flywheel 55 is in the initial period t ₁ -t ₂ and, to a lesser extent, t ₂
The ~t _3, supplied by the motor 31. This increases the load applied to the motor during said time t ₁ ~t _3. Period t ₅ ~t ₆ where the motor 31 is again accelerated also present, but in the period t ₄ ~t _5, there is a possibility that the motor 31 is accelerated. As a result, the flywheel 55 also accelerates, but is not considered important because the load on the stapler 11 at that point is reduced.

The above description particularly relates to a preferred embodiment of a rotary motor for driving a stapler used in an output mechanism of a printer. The concepts of the present invention can be used for other applications. For example, the techniques of the present invention can be used to drive staples with an electric linear or pneumatic motor, or to drive staples other than sheet media.
This technique can be used for other types of output. Therefore, the present invention should be construed as being limited in scope by the appended claims. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be exemplified.

Embodiment 1 A method for operating a stapler (11) to drive staples into a medium (47), comprising: a. Energy is given to the prime mover (31) and the prime mover (3
1) and staple driving mechanism (23, 32-41)
Initiating a staple driving operation by accelerating b. Storing energy in the inertial mass (45); c. Continuing to energize the prime mover (31) during the increasing load that decelerates the prime mover (31) caused by the staple driving mechanism (23, 32-41) performing staple driving; d. When the prime mover (31) decelerates during operation of the staple driving mechanism (23, 32-41), the inertia mass (45)
A staple driving method, comprising converting the energy stored in the staple into a mechanical force and applying the energy to a staple driving mechanism (23, 32-41).

(Embodiment 2) Further, the inertial mass (45)
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method includes using a flywheel attached to the electric motor drive. (Embodiment 3) Further, a. Using an electric motor as a prime mover (31); b. Staple driving mechanisms (23, 32-4) against peak loads for a given maximum stack of media (47).
Staple driving mechanism (23, 32-4), which is not sufficient to drive 1) and cause staple driving, but against an averaged load throughout the operating cycle.
In order to provide said energy at a power level sufficient to drive 1), a current is supplied to the motor and the motor (3)
1) increasing the speed during an acceleration period before the peak load is reached and decreasing the speed during a period subsequent to the acceleration period; c. 2. A staple driving device according to claim 1, further comprising the step of providing an additional force during said reduction in speed using a flywheel mounted on an electric motor drive as an inertial mass (45). Method.

(Embodiment 4) An electric stapler (11), comprising: a. An electric motor receiving power from a power source; b. By activating the motor in response to the bias of the motor before the staple driving mechanism (23, 32-41) reaches the peak load, the staple can be stapled during the peak load at a predetermined maximum load value for the stapler. The motor, which has insufficient or minimal ability to drive the driving mechanisms (23, 32-41), increases in speed during the acceleration period before peak load is reached, and then follows the acceleration period. A staple driving mechanism (23, 32-41) for reducing the speed during a period of time c. The motor is connected to a motor and accumulates inertial energy during the acceleration period. When the motor is decelerated by a load from the staple driving mechanism (23, 32-41), the stored energy is reduced by the staple driving mechanism ( 23, 32 to 41) inertial mass (45)
Includes an electric stapler.

(Embodiment 5) Paper discharge output,
A sheet medium (4
7) a sheet handling device comprising receiving and stapling a sheet medium (47) with a staple; A power supply for powering at least some components of the paper handling device; b. An electric motor that receives power from a power source to cause minimal operation of the stapler (11) under a predetermined load; c. By activating the motor in response to the bias of the motor before the staple driving mechanism (23, 32-41) reaches the peak load during one operating cycle, the motor is accelerated before reaching the peak load. Increase the speed during the period, and then decelerate during the period following the acceleration period,
A staple driving mechanism (23, 32-41); d. The motor is connected to a motor and accumulates inertial energy during the acceleration period. When the motor is decelerated by a load from the staple driving mechanism (23, 32-41), the stored energy is reduced by the staple driving mechanism ( 23, 32 to 41) inertial mass (45)
, A paper handling device.

(Embodiment 6) The electric stapler according to embodiment 4, characterized in that the inertial mass (45) includes a flywheel attached to a rotating part of the electric motor.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates an output section of a printer with a stapler, as in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a stapler mechanism used in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the stapler mechanism of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the current supplied to the stapler with a maximum limit on the available current.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 staple driving mechanism (stapling mechanism) 13 output classifier 23 stapler main body 25 stapler carrier 31 motor 32 gear 33 gear 34 gear 35 gear 37 idle motion lever 39 pin 41 striking plate 45 forming plate 47 stack 51 collet 55 flywheel

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for operating a stapler to drive staples into a medium, comprising: a. Initiating a staple driving operation by energizing the prime mover to accelerate the prime mover and the staple driving mechanism; b. Storing energy in the inertial mass; c. Continuing to energize the prime mover during the increasing load of the prime mover resulting from the staple driving mechanism stapling; d. A staple driving method, comprising the step of converting energy stored in an inertial mass into mechanical force and applying the energy to a staple driving mechanism when the prime mover decelerates during operation of the staple driving mechanism.