JPS58139967A - Sheet folding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a stable folding even for a short folding size by folding conveyed sheets by a folding means to accumulate successively on an accumulation table and pressing folded lines of the folded sheets by a pressing means. CONSTITUTION:Before using, length guides 11, paper-face sensors 12, and fold belts 6 are arranged at positions corresponding to the folding size of sheets 1, and at the same time, the position of a swing fin 5 is determined. The sheets 1 discharged from a printer part pass through stacker rollers 3, and are folded toward guides 11 by the cooperation of the horizontal oscillation of the swing fin 5 by the drive of a motor and the rotation of the right and left fold belts 6 to be accumulated on a table 38. At this stage, folding lines of the folded sheets 1 are pressed by the operation of presses 11 vertically oscillated by the rotation of eccentric cams 9 for ensuring a stable folding.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sheet folding device for folding sheets of continuous recording paper such as continuous slip paper (hereinafter referred to as paper) and stacking the folded sheets on a loading platform such as a table.

The following is an explanation using a line printer as an example.

Generally, in line printers, paper is stored in a paper box after being folded along the folding perforations in advance, is transported along a predetermined path, printed, and then folded again along the original folding lines and stacked. It is.

However, paper output from modern high-speed non-impact printers undergoes various processes that stretch the creases, so when folding the paper again, the creases bulge, making it difficult to fold the paper properly.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above conventional problems and provides a sheet folding device that can always perform stable and accurate folding of paper from the beginning to the end of paper transport, even if the fold size of the paper is short. This is what we provide.

That is, the present invention, which achieves the above object, provides a sheet folding device that sequentially folds and stacks sheets on a stacking platform, which includes a sheet folding means for folding sheets being conveyed, and a stacking platform for sequentially stacking the sheets folded by the means. and a press means for compressing the creases of the folded sheet.

An example of a seat folding device using an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, an outline of a printer device to which the present invention can be applied will be explained using FIG.

In the figure, A is a charging section, B is a laser information recording fogging section, and C is a developing section, which are arranged on the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 8, and form an image on the photoreceptor drum E according to the information to be recorded. do. On the other hand, the long paper P is folded and stored in the paper box S along the perforations. This long paper P is transported along a predetermined path by a tractor T, a guide G, and a roller H, and after the image on the drum E is transferred at the print section E, this image is fixed at the fixing section R. Ru. The paper P on which an image corresponding to the recorded information has been formed in this manner is further conveyed and folded and stored in the folding device F.

Now, FIG. 2 and FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) are a perspective view and a side view, respectively, of a seat folding device F to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

In the figure, 1 is a printed sheet of paper fed into the folding device F, 2 is a guide plate, and 3 is a stacker roller that feeds the fed sheet 1 in the F direction.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a paper presence/absence sensor such as a photoelectric sensor for detecting the starting edge and presence/absence of the paper l fed by the stacker roller 3. Furthermore, 5 is a swing fin that distributes the paper l left and right, and 6 is a swing fin that feeds and folds the paper l that has been distributed left and right by the swing fin 5 using frictional force.
The fold belt is constructed from a perspective view (partially omitted and only two belts are shown). Note that this belt 6 passes through an opening 10b of a press 10, which will be described later, and extends to the side end of the blade plate 39. 7 is a pulley that drives this 2 old belt 6, 8 is a pulley driven by the fold belt 6, 8a and 8 are other driven idler pulleys, and 9 is an eccentric fixed on the same axis 9a as this driven pulley 8. It's a cam. In addition, lO is a press guided by an E lower guide mechanism (not shown) on the movable side plate 13, and an eccentric cam 9
The folded sheet of paper is vibrated vertically by the rotation of
is compressed and folded, while being retracted to the inside of the fold belt 6. That is, the press 10 is a press lO
The spring 10a tensioned between the belt 6 and the length guide 11 applies a pulling force in the r direction, and when the belt 6 moves up and down by the eccentric cam 9 rotating in synchronization with the belt 6. The tensile force of the spring 10a and the weight of the press 10 press the crease of the paper l to fold the paper.Furthermore, 11 is a length that regulates the length of the paper and guides the loaded paper so that it does not fall. Three pairs of guides are provided on the left and right in the longitudinal direction so as to be movable along cutouts 39a of the blade plate 39, which will be described later (note that the guide in the center is not shown). Further, 12 is a paper surface sensor such as a photoelectric sensor, which is provided on the movable side plate 13 and detects the folded surface of the paper, and 12 is a light projector for the paper surface sensor, which is also provided on the movable side plate 13. Here, two sets of sensors 12 and floodlights 12 are used, and are installed parallel to the paper folding surface (FIG. 3(b)).
is the shaft 8b of the driven pulley 8 and the idler pulley 8
The movable side plate 14 on which the shaft 9a, the press 10, the length guide 11, and the paper surface sensor 12 are assembled is fixed to the side plate (not shown) at 45 degrees in order to move the movable side plate 13 in parallel at an angle of 45 degrees. It is a guide shaft. Reference numeral 15 designates a drive belt 28 that moves the movable side plate 13 up and down along the guide shaft 14, and a size setting motor such as a DC servo motor that is driven via a worm reducer 16. 17 is a position sensor such as a potentiometer for detecting the position of the movable side plate 13; 18 is a driving power source for the size setting motor 15; and 19 is paper size information input from a paper size input mechanism (not shown). Further, 20 is a control circuit that compares the output of the position sensor 17 with respect to the folding dimension specified in the paper size information 19, and controls the drive power source 18 of the DC servo motor 15 so that the contents match. This is a fold motor such as an AC induction motor that rotates the drive pulley 7 and stacker roller 3 of the fold belt 6 in a predetermined direction and rotates the circumferential speed (2) of the fold belt 6 at a speed 20 to 30 times higher than the printing speed V1. Furthermore, 22 is a slip clutch such as a powder clutch that slips the increased rotation speed of the motor 21 and transmits it to the stacker roller 3 to control the tension between the printer side and the stacker roller 3. Also, 23 is a power source for the motor 21, 24
is the power supply of the slip clutch 22, 25 is the motor power supply 2
3 and a control circuit for controlling the supply timing of the slip clutch electric current s24, 26 a swing guide that slides the swing fin 5 in the vertical direction, and 27 a swing guide 2 rotatably supported on an unillustrated side plate of the folding device.
6 rotation axis. Reference numeral 28 denotes a moving belt stretched on both sides of the swing guide 26 to move the swing fin 5 vertically in parallel, and to which the swing fin 5 is fixed. Furthermore, 29, 30, and 31 are a DC servo motor, etc., which are driven by an attached drive belt, a reduction gear, and a relay belt to transmit the movement of the movable side plate 13 to the swing fin 5 at a speed of about 173. swing motor; 33 is an angle sensor such as a rotary encoder that detects the rotation angle of the output shaft of the DC servo motor; 34 is a speed sensor such as a rotary encoder that detects the rotation speed of the output shaft of the DC servo motor; 35 is a DC servo A power supply for the motor 32; 36 a control circuit for controlling the rotation direction, start/stop timing, and rotation speed of the DC servo motor 32;
7 is a switch panel shown in FIG. The above is related to paper folding.

Note that in FIG. 2, the belt 6 is partially omitted from illustration, and the brace 10 and guide 11 are provided over almost the entire width of the blade plate 39, but are illustrated partially broken. . Further, as shown in FIG. 3, these are provided at both left and right ends.

Additionally, table relationships are shown.

Reference numeral 38 indicates a table whose central portion protrudes in a semicircular shape in the longitudinal direction; 39 indicates a blade plate rotatably attached to the table 38 via a rotating shaft 39', and is kept substantially horizontal when no paper is placed on it; 40 indicates a It is a spring that elastically supports the blade plate 38 substantially in the main body, and is elastically deformed when the folds of the stacked sheets of paper are subjected to a force that increases and expands, thereby acting to close the blade plate 39 downward. be. (The paper is loaded,
The state in which the vane plate 39 is closed downward is shown in FIG. 3(a) by the two-dot chain line). Further, 41 is a light shielding plate attached to each of the blade plates 39 provided at both ends of the table 38 in order to shield the optical axis 12a of the paper surface sensor 12 from light in the initial stage of folding. It is provided opposite to one side edge of the paper to be processed. Further, 42 is a feed screw shaft that moves up and down the table 38, 43 is a table motor that drives the feed screw shaft, and 44 is a motor 43.
A power supply 45 indicates a control circuit that controls starting and stopping of the motor 43 in response to the operation of the switch panel 37 and the output of the paper surface sensor 12.

In addition, the control circuits 20, 25, 36, and 45 are as follows:
A laser recording start signal, a print start or stop signal, a paper size change signal, etc. are sent from a CPU (not shown) on the printer side, and the folding operation is performed in conjunction with the printing operation of the printer. There is.

Next, the operation of the above mechanism will be explained.

First of all, the paper size 19 to be used is CP (not shown).
Specified by U, the paper size change signal is sent to a CPU (not shown)
When the paper is sent to the control circuit 20, the motor 15 is energized by the power supply 18 so that the output value of the position detection sensor 17 matches a preset value corresponding to the folding dimension of the paper.

As a result, the motor 15 drives the drive belt 29 via the worm reducer 16, and the movable side plate 13 moves in parallel along the guide shaft 14 and stops at a predetermined position.

Simultaneously with this operation, the reduction gear 30 , relay belt 31 , and moving belt 28 are sequentially driven to cause the swing fin 5 to move in parallel in the vertical direction along the swing guide 26 to expand and contract, and the folding mechanism is activated by the control circuit 20 . The control sets the optimal arrangement according to the folding dimensions of the paper.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG.
The length guide 11, paper surface sensor 12, and fold belt 6 are arranged at positions corresponding to s+ax and L layer In, and at the same time, the position of the swing fin 5 is also determined relatively. Therefore, in this embodiment, each folding level is set according to the size of the paper that has passed through the printer section, especially the folding dimension, the length of the swing fin 5 is changed, and the guide 1
1, fold belt 6, press 10, and paper surface sensor 12
The position of the paper can be changed, the vibration of the swing fin 5 prevents folding due to bending, the frictional force of the fold belt 6 allows the paper to be accurately folded along the folding perforation, and the vibration of the press 10 ensures the crease. Because it compresses the paper to prevent creases at the fold perforations, it is always stable regardless of the size or whether or not there is an internal perforation, even on paper with stretched creases output from high-speed printers, especially non-impact printers. It has the effect of allowing it to be folded.

Next, the lifting and lowering operation of the table will be explained.

The control circuit 45 is activated by operating the switch panel 37 shown in FIG. 1 or FIG.
starts or stops. Furthermore, when the UP switch SWI is pressed, the table 38 is raised L, and is configured to stop when both paper surface sensors 12 are shielded from light for a predetermined period of about 0.3 seconds.

That is, it rises until the paper surface sensor 12 detects the paper on the table 38 or the shielding plate 41, and stops at that position.

During printing, when the paper surface sensor 12 detects that the light is blocked by both folded sheets at the same time for a certain period of time, the control circuit 45 lowers the table 38 by the thickness of the stacked sheets in a certain period of time. repeat the action,
That is, when the folded surface Q of the paper exceeds the shielding plate 41 and accumulates electricity, the paper adheres to the paper surface sensor 1 due to its own weight.
2 is detected for the first time, the table 38 is lowered for a predetermined period of time to keep the folding surface below the folding level. By repeating this table lowering operation, stable sheet folding can be obtained from the initial folding stage to the final folding stage.

In this embodiment, the shape of the shielding plate 41 attached to the back side of the table 38 is such that the paper is placed on the table 38 at 100-1.
It is almost the same as the top surface of the paper when folded 50 times and placed.
That is, it has a slope that slopes downward from the table 38 side toward the end, and even if the folding dimension of the paper changes and the guide 11 and paper surface sensor 12 move in accordance with the paper folding dimension, the paper surface sensor 12 is designed to prevent false detection of the folding surface Q.

Similarly, during printing, the fold motor 21 rotates the stacker roller 3 via the slip clutch 22 to feed the paper l, while the fold belt 6 is rotated via the drive roller 7, and the stacker roller 3 is rotated via the eccentric cam 9 by the fold motor 21. The folding operation is performed by vibrating the press IO vertically to fold the paper 1, and further by vibrating the swing fins 5 from side to side by the swing motor 32 to sort the sheets.

That is, the sheet passing through the stacker roller 3 is sent out by the swing fin 5 toward the left and right fold belts 6 by the drive of the motor 21 controlled by the control circuit 25, and the waist is formed. It is folded toward the guide 11 by the frictional force. Furthermore, since the press 10 moving up and down compresses the creases, the paper is folded accurately and stably. By the way, the vertical movement of the press 10 is controlled by the control circuit 25. For example, when the swing fin 5 is facing left, the left press 10 moves upward and retreats inside the conveyor belt 7, and the next The paper is fed into the swing fin 5.
Ideally, when the press 10 turns to the opposite right side, the left press 10 moves downward to compress the crease, and at the same time the right press 10 moves upward in synchronization with the swing fin 5. However, it is not limited to this.

For example, by making the frequency of the vertical movement of the press lO three times or more the frequency of the swing fin 5, it is possible to stably perform folding even without synchronization.

Note that the vibration frequency of the swing fin 5 is selected in accordance with the folding dimension of the paper. That is, when the paper feeding speed is V and the folding dimension is L, the vibration frequency f is given by f=V/L. Therefore, the control circuit 36 controls the swing motor 3
2 is fed back by the outputs of the angle sensor 33 and speed sensor 34, and the drive of the swing fin 5 is controlled in synchronization with starting and stopping of the printer.

The other switch SW2 on the switch panel 37 is used to stop the table 38. Before setting the paper, press the UP switch SWI to raise the table 38 to the folding position, and after folding is completed, the table 38 is stopped.
By pressing the WN switch SW3, the table 38 can be lowered to the paper take-out position.

Next, the case where paper is set after the paper size is set will be explained.

First, paper is taken out from the paper box S and hung on the tractor T.

Then, depending on the folding direction of the paper shown in FIG. 7(a) or FIG. 7(b), the vapor load switch a or b in FIG. 6 is selected, and from time t1 to time t2 in FIG. When pressed, the tractor T and feed roller R shown in FIG. 1 are activated and the paper is fed into the folding device F. At the same time, the fold motor 21 in Figure 3
starts, and the fold belt 6 starts rotating. on the other hand,
When the slip clutch 22 is energized at time t3, the stacker roller 3 starts rotating. Then, the paper l is guided by the guide plate 2 and passes through the stacker roller 3,
It is fed into the swing fin 5. At that time, when the paper presence/absence sensor 4 detects the starting edge, the swing fin 5, which was initially stopped with the paper ejection port facing downward, moves in the direction in which the paper load switch is pressed, that is, in the case of switch a, to the left. direction, in the case of switch b, 11 starts vibrating to the right at a speed corresponding to the folding dimension of the paper, and unilaterally 45
Sort a piece of paper at a deflection angle of °. Then, at the zero-order moment when the leading edge of the paper sorted by the swing fin 5 slides on the upper surface of the blade plate 39 and stops against the length guide 11, the swing fin 5 reverses and sorts the paper in the opposite direction. Due to the repulsive action of the paper's waist and the frictional conveyance action of the fold belt 6, the paper is fed into contact with the first inclined surface of the fold belt 6, and folded on the second inclined surface along the length guide 11 along the perforation line. At the same time, the press 10 compresses the crease and folds the paper.

This folding operation is repeated for several pages, and at time t6, the slip clutch 22 is no longer energized, thereby stopping the rotation of the stacker roller 3.

At the same time, a brake is applied to the swing part 32 to stop it. Then, when the fold motor 21 is stopped at time t7, the rotation of the fold belt 6 and the vibration of the press 10 are stopped, and the sheet setting is completed.

In this way, in this embodiment, the switch panel 37 displays two types of fold conditions when setting paper, and the switch a* for loading the paper corresponds to the display.
By providing two switches b, the leading edge of the paper can be sorted to the left or right in response to the operation of these switches a and b, making it easier to handle paper creases and making paper setting easier and more accurate. This has the effect of improving the operating rate of the printer.

When printing is started, laser recording is performed from 1 hour to t8 time as shown in FIG. 9, and the printed paper is output from time t to time t121. On the other hand, when the fold motor 21 is activated at time t1o before the start of printing in anticipation of a sufficient rise time, and the slip clutch 22 is energized at time t11 at the same time as printing, the paper is fed by the stacker roller 3. . On the other hand, swing fin 5 is also t
At the 11th hour, the folding operation resumes from where it left off last time. Then, the sheets are sequentially stacked on the table 38 and the blade plate 39, and the top surface of the stacked sheets is placed on the shielding plate 4.
1, the motor 43 controlled by the control circuit 45 that receives the signal from the sensor 2 rotates, and the table 38 gradually moves. going down.

In this embodiment, two sets of paper surface sensors 2 are used, and they are mounted parallel to the paper folding surface. Thereby, the detection accuracy of the paper surface sensor can be improved and the stability can be increased.

For example, in one set, if papers are piled up loosely or fluttering around, the paper surface sensor detects this and the table becomes increasingly tilted. Furthermore, if the paper surface sensor is installed at an angle, the correct folding surface cannot be maintained. Particularly, when handling sheets in a central manner in the width direction, even if the folding method is the same, if the width dimension changes, the folding surface will change, resulting in poor folding stability.

Therefore, as described above, it is preferable that at least two sets of paper surface sensors be installed parallel to the table in the folding device of a printer that outputs a large amount of paper at high speed. However, of course, it is not limited to this.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, in order for the horizontally mounted paper surface sensor 12 to reliably detect the top surface of the stacked sheets, the bottom surface of the stacked sheets may not come into close contact with the table 38 at the initial stage of folding, or Since several pages of open sheets from the bottom may not come into close contact with each other, the shielding plate 41 is attached to the blade plate 39 of the table 38 as described above to prevent false detection. That is, the light shielding range by the shielding plate 41 is
By setting it 20 degrees above the bottom surface of the paper from IO+gm, false detection at the initial stage of folding can be eliminated and an accurate folding surface can be maintained.

In this embodiment, an example is shown in which a transmission type photoelectric sensor is used, but the same effect can be obtained even when a reflection type photoelectric sensor is used, for example, by using the shielding plate as a reflection plate. In addition, by using multiple paper sensors unevenly and attaching a shielding plate for the paper sensors to the back of the table, it is possible to handle not only the size and thickness of the paper but also the type of paper.
It is now possible to stably detect the folding surface without any adverse effects on the position and number of sheets initially set, or even the flapping of the folding surface during folding.

Further, in the above embodiment, a swing fin is provided to distribute the leading edge of the fed paper to the left or right, but the present invention is not limited to this. A method of dripping is also possible.

As explained above, the present invention has a structure in which a folding device is combined with a press, which eliminates the bulging of the folding perforation that occurs during folding, and allows even paper with extended creases to be folded stably at high speed. effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a printer device to which the present invention can be applied, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a sheet folding device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and Fig. 3 (a) and (b) are side views thereof. , Figures 4 and 5 are side views showing the state of the length guide/paper sensor fold belt corresponding to the folding dimensions, Figure 6
This figure is a plan view of the switch panel, FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) are side views showing the state in which the paper is folded, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are timing diagrams. In the figure, 1------One sheet 3---------Stuff car roller 4---One sheet presence/absence sensor 5---------
Swing fin 6-------Fold belt
7------Pulley 10---Press 10
a---One spring 11---One length guide 1
2------One paper surface sensor 13---One moving side plate
15------ Size set motor 20------
- Control circuit 21 --- - Fold motor 2
2------Slip clutch 25-1111 control circuit 26------Swing guide 28---
---One moving belt 29---One driving belt 30
-------One reduction gear 31------One relay belt 32------Swing motor 33---One angle sensor 3 B -One---Control circuit 37-
--------Switch panel 38-----One table" 39----Flapboard 40-------
Spring 41------ Light shielding plate 43------
---Table motor 45--Control circuit applicant: Canon Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A sheet folding device that sequentially folds and stacks sheets on a loading platform, comprising: a sheet folding device that folds the sheets being conveyed; and a loading platform that sequentially stacks the sheets folded by the device. A sheet folding device comprising: a press means for compressing folds of a folded sheet.