JPS61197369A - Paper folding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To certainly form a loop on a business sheet by installing a bent part on a guide into which one edge of the business sheet to be folded is inserted and installing a projection member inside the bent part, in a paper folding apparatus. CONSTITUTION:On to this side in the paper feeding direction at the opened port of a paper guide 52, an elastic film 523 having the less flexual rigidity than that of a business sheet 70 is applied. The elastic film 523 acts as guide plate until the business sheet 70 is introduced into the paper guide 52 and engaged with the edge part 521. After the engagement, the elastic film 523 is easily press-bent by the loop formed onto the business sheet 70, and the folding operation is not obstructed. When a projection member 522 is installed inside the bent part opposed to the opened port of the paper guide 52, the similar operation to that in the case where the angle of the bent part is made deep is developed, and the loop formation at the part to be folded after the engagement of the business sheet 70 is facilitated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper folding device used in conjunction with a copying machine or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Modern copiers are often equipped with a sorter that can be connected as an option to reduce the burden on the operator. In other words, if you have to manually sort each copy when making a large number of copies, it will take a lot of time and the copying efficiency will drop significantly. By connecting this to a copying machine, we aim to improve copying efficiency. Furthermore, for users who make large quantities of copies of drawing manuscripts, etc., since the copy paper becomes large, a paper folding device is connected to the copying machine and used together with a sorter or independently of the sorter.
In some cases, the aim is to improve copying efficiency. In this way, the provision of an automatic paper folding device makes it possible to further reduce the operator's work, so an increasing number of users are connecting a paper folding device as an option to a copying machine in addition to a sorter.

Usually, a paper folding device consists of a paper guide that inserts and temporarily locks the paper, a loop forming means that forms a loop at the part of the paper to be folded, and a folding means that pinches the loop and folds the paper into a desired shape. Generally, the folding means consists of a pair of rollers that are driven to rotate while being in close contact with each other.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In order to form a loop in the portion of paper to be folded, a loop forming means is provided independently of the paper guide and the paper is pushed in to form the loop, or a In this case, a loop is forcibly formed by continuing the insertion operation even after the paper inserted into the paper guide is once locked at the end of the guide, without configuring a loop forming means. . In the former, although a loop is reliably formed, the structure of the device is complicated, and in the latter, although the structure is simple, there is a problem in that the paper may not be reliably introduced into the paper guide.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned second problem, and its object is to be able to reliably introduce paper into a paper guide and to introduce paper into a paper guide with a simple structure without having an independent loop forming means. The object of the present invention is to provide a paper folding device that can be folded.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a guide having a bending part for introducing and once locking the paper to be folded to form a loop in the paper, One or more elastic films weaker than the stiffness of the paper are pasted on the front side in the paper introduction direction of the opening provided in the loop traveling direction of the guide, and a protruding member is provided on the inside of the bent portion facing the opening. To provide a paper folding device that is provided with a pair of rollers that sandwich and fold a loop on the loop advancing side facing an opening.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a polyester film is used as the elastic film, and the projection member provided at the bent portion of the paper guide is integrally molded with the paper guide.

An elastic film that is weaker than the stiffness of the paper, that is, has lower bending rigidity than the paper when paper is considered an elastic body, is attached to the front side of the opening of the paper guide in the paper introduction direction, so that the paper does not fit into the paper guide. The elastic film acts as a guide plate until it is introduced and locked at the end, and after it is locked, it is easily pushed and bent by the loops that are being formed on the paper, so that it does not interfere with the folding operation in any way. There is no.

In addition, since a protruding member is provided inside the bent part facing the opening of the paper guide, it has the same effect as making the angle of the bent part deeper, and a loop is formed at the part where the paper should be folded after it is locked. It becomes easier.

Embodiments Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic partial side view of a paper folding device of the present invention configured by being connected to a paper folding device proposed separately. It is possible to fold the size twice. The present invention is used as a second folding means.

First, the configuration of the paper folding device will be explained.

Reference numerals 10 and 12 designate a pair of guides for guiding the paper on which the image has been fixed to a paper folding device in a copying machine (not shown).

Reference numeral 14 denotes a rotationally driven slip roller, which is preferably made of foamed urethane. The material of the slip roller is not limited to urethane foam, and may be made of, for example, rubber with low hardness. A pinch roller 16 is in contact with the slip roller 14 with its own weight, and when the slip roller 14 is rotationally driven, a pinch [l-ra 1
6 is also adapted to rotate in a driven manner. pinch roller 16
The roller contacts the slip roller 14 by its own weight and rotates as a result, so when a certain amount of resistance is applied to the paper in the direction of travel, the slip roller slips against the paper and the pinch roller no longer rotates. The configuration is such that paper cannot be transported.

A pair of guides 18.20 and 22.24 are provided on the downstream side of the paper conveying means constituted by the slip roller 14 and the pinch roller 16, and a stopper 26 is attached to and detached from a hole provided in the pair of guides 22.24. It can be inserted freely. Although not shown, by providing a plurality of the above holes in the paper traveling direction according to the size of the paper and moving the stopper 26 to each hole, it is possible to fold the paper of a desired size once. It becomes possible.

Reference numeral 28 denotes a loop forming means, which includes a frame 30 rotatably provided around a shaft member 29 fixed to the main body of the apparatus, and a link 31 connected to one end of the frame 30 to drive the frame 30 rotationally. Solenoid 3 connected
2, a pinch roller 38 rotatably attached to the other end of the frame 30, and a pushing member 40 also attached to the other end of the frame 30 and protruding substantially perpendicularly to the guide 18.22.

The guide 18 is provided with a paper detection device 43 such as a microswitch that protrudes into the paper transport path, and when the passage of the leading edge of the paper is detected, this detection signal is input to a control means (not shown) such as a timer, and this control Means is adapted to energize the solenoid 32 after a predetermined delay time.

44 is a first folding roller that is rotationally driven;
A first folding pinch row 546 is pressed into contact with the folding roller with a pressing force of 1 K9 to 2 Kg, and the first folding pinch roller 46 rotates as the first folding roller 44 rotates.

As the material for the first folding roller 44 and the first folding pinch roller 46, rubber having a hardness of about 60 degrees is suitable. When the solenoid 32 is energized, the aforementioned pushing member 4
0 is the first folding roller 44 and the first folding pinch roller 546
The pinch roller 38 is configured to protrude between the first folding pinch row 546 and press into contact with the first folding pinch row 546 .

50 is a first folding roller 44 and a first folding pinch roller 46
This is a rocking pawl that is swingably provided around a support shaft 50a provided on the downstream side of the contact rotating portion, and is connected to a solenoid (not shown).

In the case of only one fold, the swinging claw 50 is positioned so that its one end 5ob is near the first folding pinch [1-ra 46,
When folding is also performed twice, one end 50b is positioned near the first folding roller 44.

Reference numeral 52 denotes a second folding guide into which the sheet folded once is inserted. A stopper 521 for locking the paper is formed in the front part of the second folding guide 52 in the paper traveling direction, and a stopper 521 is formed in the front part of the second folding guide 52 to stop the paper. ing. Further, the second folding guide 52 is bent so that the above-mentioned opening is on the outside, and inside the second folding guide 52 at the bent part there is a protrusion member 5 that is large enough to prevent the sheet being inserted from getting caught.
22 are provided. Furthermore, an elastic film 523 is attached from the outside to the front side of the opening provided in the second folding guide so as to cover the opening. The elastic film 523 is made of a polyester film or the like that is weaker than the stiffness of the paper, and in this embodiment has a thickness of 0.1 m and a width of 10 a.
Three gI films are pasted in the width direction.

54 is a second folding roller, and 56 is a second folding pinch roller, which exhibits the same function as the first folding [1-544 and the first folding pinch roller 46]. That is, the second folding guide 52
Clip the looped part of the paper that has passed through the opening and fold it.

58 is a conveyor belt wound around rollers 60 and 62, and includes a first folding roller 44 and a first folding pinch 0-
546, or the paper that has been folded ten times or twice by the second folding roller 54 and the second folding pinch roller 56 is further conveyed toward a discharge tray or a sorter (not shown).

Next, the operation of the paper folding device in this embodiment will be explained.

The paper (not shown) is first conveyed through the pair of guides 10.12 to the bale that reaches the contact portion of the slip roller 14 and the pinch row 516 while being pinched by the pair of guides 18.12.
20, 22, and 24, the leading edge of the paper comes into contact with the stopper 26.

On the other hand, the passage of the paper is detected by the paper detection device 43,
By inputting this detection signal to a control means such as a timer, the solenoid 32 is excited by the control means (not shown) after a certain period of time. The frame 30 then rotates about the shaft member 29, and the pinch roller 38 moves to the left in FIG. 1 to pinch the paper together with the first folding pinch roller 46. The paper tries to be conveyed while being pinched between the pinch roller 38 and the first folding pinch roller 46, but since the leading edge of the paper is regulated by the stopper 26, the paper is pinched between the pinch roller 38 and the first folding pinch roller 46. A loop of paper is formed downstream of the pair of rollers. This loop of paper is guided by the pushing member 40 in the direction of the first folding roller 44 and the first folding pinch roller 46, and is bitten between the two rollers, thereby forming a crease on the paper.

In the case of one-time folding, the paper folded in two by the rotation of the first folding roller 44 and the first folding pinch roller 46 is
Since it is obstructed by the swing claw 50 to prevent it from entering the second folding guide 52, it is directly discharged onto the conveyor belt 58 and further conveyed in the direction of a discharge tray or a sorter (not shown).

In the case of two-fold folding, in order to guide the paper folded in two by the rotation of the first folding roller 44 and the first folding pinch roller 46 to the second folding guide 52 without ejecting it to the conveyor belt 58, A solenoid (not shown) acts so that one end 5ob of the movable claw 50 approaches the generatrix line of the first folding roller 44.

The half-folded paper guided to the second folding guide 52 is
Due to the rotation of the folding roller 44 and the first folding pinch roller 46, it is inserted further into the second folding guide 52, but since it is guided by the elastic film 523 at the bent part, it is inserted into the opening of the second folding guide 52. There is no way to go outside directly.

In this way, the paper inserted into the second folding guide 52 is stopped by the stopper 521 formed at the tip of the second folding guide 52, and a loop is formed at the part to be second folded.
This situation is best illustrated in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG.
are the first folding row 544 and the first folding pinch roller 46
However, the second folding guide 52 is bent at a position corresponding to the portion of the sheet 70 to be folded, and a projection member 522 is provided inside the bent portion. Figure 2 (
As shown in b), the paper 70 forms a loop on the opening side of the second folding guide 52.

In this case, the elastic film 523 attached to cover the opening of the second folding guide 52 is weaker than the stiffness of the paper, so it is easily deformed as the paper forms a loop, and returns to its original state after the paper passes through. Return to state.

When the loop formed on the paper 70 grows further, its leading end is pinched by the second folding roller 54 and the second folding pinch roller 56, and is folded twice, as shown in FIG. 2(C). In FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C, the sheets 70 are actually overlapped without being folded once, but for convenience, they are shown as 411 sheets.

Since it is desirable that the part where the paper is creased when folded twice is usually the center part of the paper, a stopper is provided at the tip of the second folding guide 52 so that the loop is formed in the center part. 521 and the center of the opening provided in the second folding guide 52 is set to an appropriate value.

The paper thus folded twice in the same direction is transferred to the conveyor belt 58.
The paper is ejected upward and conveyed toward a paper ejection tray or sorter (not shown).

In this embodiment, the paper folding device according to the invention is used as the second folding means of the two-time folding device, but it goes without saying that this may be used as an independent one-time folding device.

Effects of the Invention In the present invention, a bent portion is provided in the guide into which one end of the paper to be folded is inserted, and a protruding member is provided inside the bent portion, so that a loop can be reliably formed in the paper without a complicated structure. This has the effect of making it possible.

Furthermore, an elastic film that is weaker than the stiffness of the paper is attached to the guide so as to cover the opening in the guide through which the loop formed at the point where the paper should be folded, so that when the paper is inserted into the guide, the leading edge of the paper This has the effect that it does not get caught directly in the opening.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic partial side view of a paper folding device showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 (a), (b), and (c) show loops formed in the paper in the paper folding device of the present invention. FIG. 10・12.18・20°22・24 Ni guide pair 14 Ni slip roller 16: Pinch roller 26: Stopper 28: Loop forming means 29: Shaft member 30: Frame 31:
Link 32: Solenoid 38: Pinch opening 40: Pushing member 43: Paper detection device 44: First folding roller 46: First folding pinch roller 50: Swing claw 52: Second folding guide 521: Stopper 522: Projecting member 523: Elastic film 54: Second folding roller 56: Second folding pinch roller 58: Conveyance belt 60.62: Roller

Claims (1)

[Claims] A guide is provided that has a bending part for introducing and temporarily locking the paper to be folded to form a loop in the paper, and the opening provided in the loop advancing direction of the guide has a bending section on the front side in the paper introduction direction. One or more weaker elastic films are pasted, a protruding member is provided on the inside of the bent portion facing the opening, and a pair of rollers are provided on the loop advancing side facing the opening to sandwich and bend the loop. A paper folding device characterized by: