JPH10162117A - Device and method for counting sheet-like article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and method for counting sheet-like articles with high reliability. SOLUTION: The sheet-like article counting device having a counting means 8, which counts sheet-like articles 1 conveyed by a conveying means 4, is equipped with a sheet stopper 7, which operates once the counting means 8 counts the sheet-like articles up to a specific number to section the flow of the sheet-like articles 1 being conveyed to every specific number of articles, and the counting means 8 is provided on the upstream side from the sheet stopper at a distance, which is an integral multiple of the sheet article conveyance interval 8d) from the position of the sheet stopper 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for counting sheets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Sheets 1 such as printing books and other papers are
As shown in FIG. 5, pre-processing means 3 such as a rotary press and a folding machine.
Then, the sheet is conveyed to the sheet-like material accumulating unit 5 by the conveying unit 4 in a folded state or the like. In the accumulation processing device 5, the sheet-like materials 1 are accumulated by a predetermined number and bound by bands.

[0005] As shown in FIG. 5, a sheet 1 is partially and continuously conveyed on a conveying means 4 in a superposed state. In order to accumulate the sheet-like objects 1 by a predetermined number, before the accumulation, first, the sheet-like objects 1 are pressed by the sheet stopper 7 provided at a halfway position in the conveying direction of the conveying means 4 and conveyed by the predetermined number. The flow of the sheet-like material 1 inside is divided.

[0004] The operation of the sheet stopper 7 is controlled by using information on the number of sheets 1 printed by the rotary press, and based on the fact that a certain number of sheets have been printed by the rotary press. The sheet stopper 7 presses the sheet 1.

[0005]

However, even if it is known that a certain amount has been printed by the rotary press, since the distance between the rotary press and the sheet stopper 7 is large, etc., the sheet stopper 7 is moved based on the distance. It is very difficult to operate precisely in time. Further, since the sheet-like material 1 may be extracted for inspection between the rotary press and the sheet stopper 7, the number of printings on the rotary press and the number of sheets conveyed to the position of the sheet stopper 7 may not match. It is impossible to perform accurate operation control based on incorrect information.

For this reason, the number of sheets to be separated by the sheet stopper 7 does not always match the number of sheets actually separated, and it has been difficult to accurately determine the number of bound sheets. Moreover, depending on the sheet-like material, 1
Since the price per sheet is very high, the inconsistency in the number of sheets is a serious problem. Therefore, in order to grasp the exact number of sheets, the number of sheets being conveyed is automatically counted one by one by a laser counter (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-215211).

However, even if the counting by the laser counter is accurate, it is very difficult to match the timing from the detection by the laser counter to the activation of the sheet stopper. In addition, the laser counter counts by detecting the edge of the sheet-like material being conveyed, but cannot accurately and reliably detect the edge of the thin sheet-like material. It is very difficult, and the flow of the sheet-like material may be disturbed during conveyance, which may hinder counting.

Therefore, inaccurate counting may be performed, and there is still a problem in stacking sheet-like objects every predetermined number of sheets. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a highly reliable sheet-like article counting apparatus and method.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above objects, the present invention has the following technical means. That is, a feature of the sheet-like object counting device according to the present invention is a sheet-like object counting device having a counting means for counting the number of sheet-like materials conveyed by the conveying means, and the predetermined number of sheets is counted by the counting means. A sheet stopper that operates based on the detection that the sheet has been conveyed and that divides the flow of the sheet during conveyance into the predetermined number of sheets, wherein the counting unit includes the sheet stopper on an upstream side of the sheet stopper; The point is that it is provided at a distance of an integral multiple of the sheet conveyance interval from the position.

In this case, the interval between the counting means and the sheet stopper is set to an integral multiple of the sheet-like object conveyance interval,
By performing counting at such a position, it is easy to adjust the operation timing of the sheet stopper. Therefore, the sheet stopper can accurately separate the flow of the sheet material based on the count of the counting means, and the number of sheets and the number of sheets accumulate coincide with the count of the counting means.
Therefore, the counting means has high counting reliability.

Also, a feature of the counting device according to the present invention is that a first means for counting the number of sheets being conveyed by a conveying means.
Counting means, and second counting means for counting the number of sheets being conveyed at an upstream position of the first counting means,
There is also provided a first verification unit that compares the number counted by the first counting unit with the number counted by the second counting unit and verifies the number counted by both counting units.

In this case, the counting by one counting means (first counting means) is verified by the counting by the other counting means (second counting means), and is generated between the first counting means and the second counting means. If the counts of the two counting means do not match due to the disturbance of the sheet-like material, it can be treated as an abnormal state. Therefore, the reliability of counting in a state where the counting by both counting means coincides is high.

Further, a feature of the counting method according to the present invention is that
Count the number of sheet-like objects supplied to the conveying means, count the number of sheet-like objects conveyed by the conveying means, and extract the number of sheet-like objects conveyed during conveyance, and count the number of sheet-like objects supplied to the conveying means. The point is that the number of conveyed sheets after extraction is calculated from the number of sheets and the number of sheets extracted. In this case, even if the sheet material being conveyed is removed for the reason of inspection or the like, the number of conveyed sheet materials after the removal can be grasped.

According to the present invention, in a sheet counting apparatus for discharging a sheet-like material which is discharged from a printing means and transported by a transporting means, the sheet-like material is conveyed downstream of a position where the transporting sheet-like material is removed. A downstream counting means for counting the number of sheets, an upstream counting means for counting the number of sheets upstream of the position where the sheet is extracted, a number counted by the downstream counting means and a number counted by the upstream counting means. A number-of-sheets calculating means for calculating the number of sheets to be extracted, and a number-of-sheets printed by the printing means, and a number-of-conveyance calculating means for calculating the number of conveyed sheets after the number of sheets extracted from the number of sheet-like objects. May be provided.

In this case, the number of sheets to be extracted can be calculated by counting the number of sheets upstream and downstream of the extraction position, and the number of sheets to be conveyed after the extraction by subtracting the number of sheets extracted from the number of printed sheets. Can be grasped. Furthermore, in the sheet counting method according to the present invention, the number of sheets conveyed to the sheet accumulating means by the conveying means is counted, and the sheets accumulated by the sheet accumulating means are counted. The weight of the sheet is measured, and the number of sheets obtained by counting can be verified from the weight and the unit weight of the sheet.

In this case, the number of sheets obtained by the counting is verified based on the actual weight of the sheet-like materials subjected to the stacking process, so that the reliability of the number of sheets obtained by the counting is improved. Here, the verification of the number of sheet-like objects obtained by counting is performed by calculating the expected weight of the accumulated sheet-like object from the number of sheets and the unit weight of the sheet-like object, and obtaining the expected weight and the weighing. By comparing the weight with the weight.

In the sheet counting apparatus according to the present invention, the counting means for counting the number of sheets conveyed to the sheet accumulating apparatus by the conveying means, and the sheet accumulating means for counting the number of sheets conveyed by the conveying means. It is provided with a weighing means for measuring the weight of the sheet material subjected to the accumulation processing, and a second verification means for verifying the number of the sheet material obtained by the counting means from the weight and the unit weight of the sheet material. Things.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a sheet-like material processing apparatus 2 which employs a sheet-like material 1 counting device and method according to the present invention. The sheet-like material 1 such as paper is printed and folded, and the sheet-like material discharged from the pre-processing means 3 is conveyed to the sheet-like material accumulating means 5 by the conveying means 4 to be bound. Is obtained.

The preprocessing means 3 comprises printing means such as a rotary press for printing a sheet material, and folding means for folding the printed sheet material into two folds. Then, the printed and folded sheet is discharged to the conveying means 4 side. The transport unit 4 includes a plurality of belt conveyors 6 for transporting the sheet material 1 supplied from the preprocessing unit 3 to the stacking unit 5. The position A shown in FIG. 1 in the transport means 4 is a position where the sheet-like material 1 being transported is extracted for inspection. The extraction operation may be performed manually by an operator, or an appropriate means such as an extraction device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H7-24424 filed by the present applicant may be employed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet 1 is conveyed continuously in a partially overlapping manner on the conveying means 4, and the sheet 1 is located above the intermediate position of the conveying means 4 in the conveying direction. A sheet stopper 7 is provided for pressing the sheet and dividing the flow into a predetermined number of sheets. By being pressed by the sheet stopper 7, the sheet-like material 1 being conveyed is divided so as to have a predetermined interval for each predetermined number of small bundles, and is conveyed to the accumulation processing means 5. The stacking processing unit 5 stacks the conveyed folded sheet-like objects as a predetermined number of small bundles. This small bundle is made into a large bundle B stacked in a predetermined number of stages so that the fold side is sequentially located on the opposite side so that the bulk on one side is not increased by the fold, and the bundle is subjected to a binding process using a band or the like and discharged. You.

The sheet stopper 7 operates based on the count of the first counting means 8 provided at the upstream position. The first counting means 8 is composed of a laser counter connected to the information processing device 9, and the information processing device 9 pulses displacement caused by a step of an edge of each sheet-like material 1 based on a signal from the laser counter. And the number of the pulses is counted to count the number of sheets 1 on the conveying means 4. The information processing apparatus 9 includes a sheet stopper control unit 10. When the number of the sheets 1 reaches a predetermined number, the sheet stopper 1 reaches the position of the sheet stopper 7. After a certain time until the sheet stopper 7
Activate Here, the interval L between the first counting means 8 and the sheet stopper 7 is set to an integral multiple of the sheet-like object transport interval d. For this reason, it is easy to improve the accuracy of the operation timing of the sheet stopper 7. That is, for example, when the interval L between the first counting means 8 and the sheet stopper 7 is set to X times the sheet transport interval d, the X-th pulse is generated after the sheet 1 reaches the predetermined number. When it is detected, the sheet 1 to be pressed is almost conveyed to the position of the sheet stopper 7. Therefore, after reaching the predetermined number of sheets, the timing control for actually operating the sheet stopper 7 can be easily performed by a pulse counter or a timer.

Here, the sheet conveyance interval d is
The interval between edges of the sheet 1 being conveyed (positions where pulses are detected as edges by the first counting means 8). On the upstream side of the first counting means 8, a second counting means 11 is provided. The second counting means 11 is composed of a laser counter or the like, like the first counting means 8, and the sheet-like material 1 being conveyed at a position upstream of the first counting means 8.
Is counted. The counting by the first counting unit 8 and the second counting unit 11 is performed by the first verification unit 1 included in the information processing device 9.
2. In the normal state,
Since the sheet-like material 1 flows at a constant pitch, the counting by the two counting means 8 and 11 coincides. However, when the flow of the sheet-like material 1 is disturbed between the first counting means 8 and the second counting means 11, there is a difference between the counting by the two counting means 8 and 11. The first verification unit 12 determines that the difference between the counts is abnormal, and generates an abnormal signal. The occurrence of this abnormal signal alerts the operator,
The abnormal signal is used for production management of the sheet-like material as production management information.

The first counting means 8 (the second counting means 1)
As shown in FIG. 2, 1) can be provided in plural in the width direction of the sheet-like material 1 (direction orthogonal to the conveying direction), for example, two as shown in the drawing. By providing a plurality of counting means 8 in the width direction and comparing the respective counts, the counting accuracy is improved. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the first counting means 8 (the second counting means 11) can count the sheet-like material 1 conveyed from both upper and lower directions. Also in this case, the accuracy of the counting is improved by comparing the respective countings. The upper first counting means 8
It is preferable that the first counting means 8 provided below and below the first counting means 8 have an interval equal to the conveying interval d of the sheet in the conveying direction as shown in FIG.

The number C of sheet-like objects counted by the first counting means 8 (the set value of the number of sheets in a large bundle) is
To the weight calculation means 13. The weight calculating means 13 calculates the expected weight M of the large bundle B from the unit weight m of the sheet-like material given in advance. The unit weight m of the sheet material is measured by the weighing means 14 to a weight (for example, 150) of a fixed number (for example, 50) of the sheet materials 1.
0g), and inputting the number of sheets (50 sheets) to the weighing means 14 to calculate (1500).
g ÷ 50 sheets = 30 g / sheet). Furthermore, the weight (hereinafter referred to as “tare weight”) of the paper placed above and below the large bundle B and the band that binds the large bundle B (hereinafter referred to as “tare weight”) is measured in advance and stored.

On the other hand, the large bundle B
The sheet-like material 1 is discharged to the measuring means 14 side,
The actual weight MM of the large bundle B is measured by the measuring means 14. The expected weight M and the actual weight MM are compared and verified by the second verification means 15 of the information processing device 9, and if the predicted weight M matches the weight obtained by subtracting the tare weight from the actual weight MM, counting is performed. It is determined that the counting of the means 8 and 11 and the operation of the sheet stopper 7 are accurate. If the two weights do not match, it is determined that the state is abnormal, and an abnormal signal is generated.

The verification of the number C of sheets counted by the first counting means 8 does not have to be performed by comparing the weights. That is, the verification may be performed by calculating the number of large bundles CC from the actual weight MM, the unit weight m, and the tare weight, and comparing the calculated number CC with the counted number C. Further, the weight calculation means 13 and the second verification means 15
May be provided in the weighing means 14 instead of the information processing device 9.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The main difference from the above embodiment is that an upstream counting means is provided upstream of a sheet-like material extracting position A. 3 in that a counting means 20 is provided. Note that, in the present embodiment, portions common to the first embodiment are denoted by common reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. Third
The counting means 20 counts the number of the sheet-like materials 1 being conveyed at a position before the extraction is performed. The sampling number calculation means 21 provided in the information processing device 9
The difference between the number counted by the counting means 20 and the number counted by the first counting means 8 as the downstream-side counting means is obtained as the number R of sheets to be removed.

The number R of sheets to be extracted is used as production management information for grasping the number of sheets to be extracted in a production management system or the like. Further, the number of conveyed sheets D is calculated from the difference between the number of sheets R extracted and the number of sheets P printed from the number-of-prints counting means 23 of the rotary press (preprocessing means 3). Used to do. The calculated number of conveyed sheets D is compared with the number counted by the first counting means 8 by the third verification means 24,
Used to verify counting by

Further, the sheet stopper 7 may be operated based on the calculated number of conveyed sheets. further,
As the downstream-side counting means, the second counting means 11 may be used, or the counting by the third counting means 20 may be directly used for verification of the first counting means 8 such as the second counting means 11. Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

[0030]

As described above, the sheet counting apparatus or method according to the present invention enables highly reliable counting.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a sheet processing apparatus employing a sheet counting apparatus and method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state in which a plurality of counting means are provided in a width direction of a sheet-like material.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which counting means are provided at vertical positions of a sheet-like material.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a sheet-like material processing apparatus employing a sheet-like material counting apparatus and method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 sheet-like material 2 sheet-like material processing apparatus 3 pre-processing means 4 transport means 5 stacking processing means 7 sheet stopper 8 first counting means 11 second counting means 12 first verification means 13 weight calculation means 14 weighing means 15 second verification Means 20 Third counting means 21 Extraction number calculation means 22 Conveyance number calculation means 23 Printing number counting means R Number of extractions P Number of printings D Number of conveyances

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on front page (72) Inventor Kazuaki Nakachi 2-13-44 Fujinosato, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka Gunze Co., Ltd. SOZ Business Unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A sheet counting device having a counting means (8) for counting the number of sheets (1) conveyed by a conveying means (4), wherein the counting means (8) determines a predetermined number of sheets. The counting means (8) is provided with a sheet stopper (7) which operates based on the detection that the number of sheets has been conveyed and divides the flow of the sheet-like material (1) during conveyance into the predetermined number of sheets. A sheet-like object provided at an upstream side of the sheet stopper (7) at a distance (L) that is an integral multiple of the sheet-like object conveyance interval (d) from the position of the sheet stopper (7). Counting device. 2. A first counting means (8) for counting the number of sheets (1) being conveyed by a conveying means (4), and a sheet being conveyed at an upstream position of the first counting means (8). A second counting means (11) for counting the number of articles (1); comparing the number counted by the first counting means (8) with the number counted by the second counting means (11); A first verifying means (12) for verifying the number of sheets counted by both counting means (8, 11). 3. Counting the number (P) of sheets (1) supplied to the conveying means (4), and counting the number of sheets (1) conveyed by the conveying means (4) during the conveyance. The number (R) of the sheets extracted is counted, and the number of sheets (1) supplied to the conveying means (4) and the number of sheets (R) extracted are conveyed after being extracted. A counting method for a sheet-like object, comprising calculating the number of sheets (D). 4. A transport means (4) discharged from a printing means.
The sheet-like article (1) being conveyed by the conveying means (4)
Downstream counting means (8) for counting the number of sheet-like objects downstream of the position (A) where the sheet is extracted, and upstream for counting the number of sheet-like objects (1) upstream of the position (A) where the sheet is extracted Counting means (20); sampling number calculating means (21) for calculating the number of sheets (R) to be extracted from the number counted by the upstream counting means (8) and the number counted by the downstream counting means (20); The number of sheets (P) printed by the printing means,
An apparatus for counting sheet-like objects, comprising: a number-of-conveyance calculating means (22) for calculating the number of conveyed sheets (D) after extraction from the number (R) of sheets extracted. 5. The number (C) of sheets (1) conveyed to a sheet-like material accumulating means (5) by a conveying means (4) is counted, and the number of sheets (C) is counted by said sheet-like substance accumulating means (5). The weight (MM) of the sheet material subjected to the accumulation processing is weighed, and the number (C) of the sheet material obtained by counting is calculated from the weight (MM) and the unit weight (m) of the sheet material. A counting method for a sheet-like object, characterized by verifying. 6. The verification of the number of sheets (C) obtained by the counting is performed based on the number of sheets (C) and the unit weight (m) of the sheets, and the expected weight of the sheet processed by stacking is calculated. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein (M) is calculated and the expected weight (M) is compared with the weight (MM) obtained by weighing.
The counting method of the sheet-like material described in the above. 7. A counting means (8) for counting the number of sheets (C) conveyed to a sheet-like material processing apparatus (5) by a conveying means (4); 5) measuring means (1) for measuring the weight (MM) of the sheet-like material integrated and processed
4) The second verification means (15) for verifying the number (C) of the sheet-like objects obtained by the counting means (8) from the weight (MM) and the unit weight (m) of the sheet-like objects. A sheet-like object counting device, comprising: