JPH04119896A - Sheet binding device and post-sheet processing device with binding device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an electric sheet binding device for binding sheets with staples and a sheet post-processing device having the sheet binding device, and more particularly to a control mechanism thereof. .

(I)) Conventional technology Conventional electric sheet binding device (hereinafter referred to as stapler)
The needle driving operation is performed by driving a solenoid or a motor, and - 2 to 25 sheets for boat fishing
If you can bind up to 50 sheets or have a high binding ability,
Devices that can bind 100 or more sheets have been commercialized.

These electric stacks can be used as general-purpose office products, tabletop stacks, and even as a unit in sheet post-processing devices (finishers, sorters, etc.) in image forming devices.
These devices are built into the device to automatically bind copy sheets ejected from the image forming device.

Then, a metal needle member is driven into the sheets, and further,
Binding involves a process of folding the needles and requires more torque than expected. This means that the force with which the staple penetrates the sheet is determined by the paper type (paper hardness) and the number of sheets to be bound.

For example, in order to bind 500 sheets of 75 g/m'' paper, the required torque varies depending on the device, the material of the needle, or - for boat fishing, a motor with a torque of about 25-30 kg-Cm is required.

However, it takes about 5 to 10 kg to bind two sheets of the same paper.
If there is a torque of -cm, needle driving is possible.

Furthermore, miniaturization is an important issue for electric sticks, whether they are tabletop types or those that are incorporated into post-processing equipment.

For this reason, miniaturization of motors has become mainstream, and a constant voltage, high rotation type (several thousand to 2 In many cases, the required torque was obtained by significantly decelerating a motor (10,000 or 30,000 r, p, m) using a deceleration means.

(c) Invention or problem to be solved However, even if you own a 500-sheet or 100-sheet staple, the most frequent binding is usually around 5 to 20 sheets; Even when binding 50 to 100 sheets, the drive motor is controlled to rotate at the same number of rotations as when binding 50 to 100 sheets, and there is no operating noise such as high-frequency noise from a high-speed motor or mechanical impact noise from the transmission device. In general, the power efficiency is low because it operates at too high a rotation speed when used at low loads, which is often used. there were.

Therefore, the present invention provides a paper thickness detection means for detecting the thickness of the sheets to be bound, and uses the information to drive the sheet with a necessary appropriate voltage, thereby reducing operating noise and improving power efficiency. The object of the present invention is to provide a binding device.

(Piece Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and
For example, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is shown a driving means (1) for driving needles (21) connected in a row into a sheet (P) sequentially from their tips, and the driving means (1). a needle transport means (22) for supplying the needle (21) to the driving means (1) for each driving operation; a detection means (27) for detecting the thickness of the sheets (P) to be bound; It is characterized by comprising a control means (29) for controlling the driving voltage of the implanting means in accordance with the information of the means (27).

Also, the detection means (27) or the paper thickness detection lever (27)
It is characterized by

Further, the control means (29) is further provided with a function of prohibiting the operation of the driving means (1) when the paper thickness detection lever (27) is activated by a predetermined amount or more.

Further, the paper thickness detection lever (27) or the driving means (
1) is characterized in that it also serves as a safety lever (27) that detects a foreign object when it is inserted into the device.

(e) Operation Based on the above structure, the needles (21) connected in a row are transferred to the driving means (1) by the needle transfer means (22), and the driving means (1) moves the needles at the tips thereof. Starting from (21), the sheets (P) inserted into the driving means (1) are sequentially driven to bind the sheets (P).

On the other hand, the thickness of the sheet (P) inserted into the driving means (1) is detected by the detection means (27), and the driving voltage of the driving means (1) is adjusted by the control means (29) that receives this information. .

Alternatively, the thickness of the sheet (P) may be detected using a paper thickness detection sensor (27).

Furthermore, when the paper thickness detection lever (27) detects a sheet thickness of a predetermined amount or more, the driving means (1) may be prohibited from operating.

Further, when a foreign object is inserted into the driving means (1), the paper thickness detection lever (27) may be used to detect the foreign object.

Note that the symbols in parentheses are for illustrative purposes only, and do not limit the structure of the present invention in any way.

(F) Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an electric stay, and a bifurcated upper unit 5 is attached to a shaft 3 provided on a base 2.
is pivotably supported. A shaft 6 is supported horizontally in the middle of the upper unit 5, two eccentric wheels 7 are fixed to this shaft 6, and two eccentric wheels 7 are connected to a shaft 8 provided on the base 2. Both ends of the crank arm 9 are pivotally supported, and depending on the rotation of the eccentric wheel 7, the upper unit 5 or the shaft 3
It is designed to oscillate around the center.

A motor 10 that can rotate in both forward and reverse directions is mounted on the upper frame 5b of the upper unit 5.
A motor gear 11 attached to the shaft 10a of the shaft 6 and a gear 12 attached to the end of the shaft 6 are meshed with each other.

In addition, the lower hole 1 is pivotally supported on a shaft 13 provided on the base 2.
An anvil 4 is attached to the upper surface of the end of the lower jaw 14, and a pin 5a protruding from the upper unit 5 engages with a cam groove 14b provided at the base end 14a of the lower jaw 14, and the upper unit 5 The swinging causes the lower jaw 14 to swing upward from the illustrated position via the pin 5a.

Further, the body 15 is swingably supported by the shaft 3, and a try bar 16 is inserted into the upwardly facing protrusion 15a of the body 15.
The screwdriver 16 or the driver bin 16c is engaged with the upper frame 5b so that the screwdriver 16 or the driver pin 16c comes into contact with the upper frame 5b. The body 15 and the drive bar 16 are connected by an elastic member (not shown) made of a spring or the like.6 Also, a plunger 16b extends downward from the driver 16, and the plunger 16b is fitted into the body 15. . As shown in FIG. 3, a needle cutting member 17 having an opening 1.7a is disposed on the body 15 on the right side of the plunger 16b, and a U-shaped bending block 18 or the body 15 is disposed on the left side of the plunger 16b. It is located in

The opening 17a of the needle cutting member 17 is pressed against the needle cutting member 17 by a needle bending block 19 or a spring 20 having an M shape in front view and having both ends fixed to the body 15. The needle bending block 19 is provided with a holding groove 19a for holding the needle 21, and the upper corner of the right end is formed into a slope 19b.

Further, the U-shaped bending block 18 is provided with a protrusion 18a, so that the left end surface of the needle feeding member 22, which is pivotally supported on the body 15 by a pin 22c, is pushed rightward by the protrusion 18a. . The needle feeding member 22 is provided with a needle feeding claw 22b and an elastic member 22a.

Further, the needle 21 is housed in a cartridge 23, and a needle presser 24 is provided at the outlet of the cartridge 23, and the elastic member 22a is locked therein.

Further, a claw 16d that locks the U-shaped bending block 18 is provided on the plunger 16b, and the block 18 is fixed to the needle 21.
It will retract when you push it down to the bending position.

Further, a sensor cam 24 having a protrusion 24a on the opposite side of the shaft 6 from the gear 12, and a microswitch 25 facing the cam 24 are attached to the upper unit 5.

Further, 26 is a sheet mounting table provided on the base 2,
A sheet stopper 26a is provided on the sheet mounting table 26, a shaft 27a is supported by the stopper 26a, and a paper thickness detection lever 27 is attached to the shaft 27a. The outer side of this lever 27 is inclined upward so that the sheet P can be smoothly inserted in the direction of the arrow. and,
The lever 27 is biased in the direction of arrow A by a spring or the like (not shown), and the other end 27b of the lever 27 is connected to a sliding volume 28, which prevents the lever 27a from moving as the thickness of the sheet P changes. is converted into an electric signal by the slide volume 28 and transmitted to the control unit 29, which instructs the motor driver 30 of the motor 10 to supply the corresponding voltage to the motor 10.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

When the operator inserts a bundle of sheets P between the sheet mounting table 26 and the body 15, the bundle of sheets P pushes up the paper thickness detection lever 27 in the opposite direction to arrow A. In this embodiment, the paper thickness detection lever 27 also detects the presence or absence of the sheet P, so that even if a small amount of sheet P, such as one or two sheets, is inserted, the sheet P moves a small amount and It is determined that there is a bundle of sheets P and the thickness of the bundle of sheets P is detected. Signals indicating the presence of the sheet P and the thickness of the sheet P are transmitted to the control unit 29, and the motor driver 30 receives a predetermined voltage corresponding to the thickness of the sheet P.
is supplied to the motor 1o, and the motor 10 starts rotating. The rotation of this motor 10 is transmitted to the shaft 6 via a motor gear 11 and a gear 12. This rotation of the shaft 6 is transmitted to the eccentric wheel 7, and the upper unit 5 or the crank 9
The eccentric wheel 7 is pulled down by the amount of eccentricity, and descends using the shaft 3 as a fulcrum.
When the drive bar 16 is moved downward via the head 16a, the body 15 is moved downward about the shaft 3 via an elastic member (not shown), and the lower hole 14 is moved in the Y direction about the shaft 13. Then, the body 15 and the lower jaw 14 clamp the bundle of sheets P at a position to be bound.

On the other hand, the stay flier needle 21 housed in the cartridge 23
is sent to the needle bending flock 19 through the opening 17a of the needle cutting member 17 by the claw 22b of the needle feeding member 22,
With the tip needle 21 held in the holding groove 198, the driver 16 is pushed down and the plunger 16
When b is pushed down, the U-shaped bend pushed by the pusher claw 16d moves the needle 2 held by the block 18 or the needle bending block 19.
Press and bend both ends of 1 into a U-shape. Furthermore, the plunger 16b
, and the pressing claw 16d is pressed down to the U-shaped bending block 1.
8, and the plunger 16b was pushed down,
While moving the needle bending block 19 to the left through the slope 19b, only the needle 21 at the tip bent in a U-shape is sheared between the needle cutting member 17 and the needle 21 into the sheet P.
The needle 21 is driven into a bundle of sheets P and pressed against the anvil 4 to crush both ends of the needle 21 into a flat shape, thereby binding the bundle of sheets P.

Then, the upper unit 5 starts to move upward, the driver 16 is pulled upward, the plunger 16b is moved upward, returns to the standby position, and the body 15 and the lower jaw 1 are pulled upward.
4 respectively move to the standby position. Then, due to the rotation of the shaft 6, the protrusion 24a of the sensor cam 24 is moved to the microswitch 2.
5 and the microswitch 25 is turned on, thereby completing the binding operation.

Note that when the detection lever 27 detects a paper thickness exceeding the maximum paper thickness that can be stapled, when a signal from the slide volume 28 is input to the control unit 29, the motor driver 3
By prohibiting the driving of the motor 10 via the 0, it is possible to prevent the stapler 1 from malfunctioning due to erroneously loading a bundle of sheets P that exceeds the capacity of the stapler 1.

Furthermore, if the operator accidentally inserts his or her hand into the paper, the operator's safety can be maintained by the same control as when the permissible paper thickness is exceeded.

In addition, if the needle penetration resistance is different even if the thickness of the sheet P is the same, it is possible to add a means to switch the adjustment volume according to the type of sheet P to the control section 29. Optimal use can be made in accordance with different usage areas.

Furthermore, for users who bind the number of sheets P in steps, it is possible to replace the paper thickness detection lever 27 by providing a switch or lever that changes the voltage supplied to the motor 10 in accordance with the number of sheets in each stage. It is possible.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

In the embodiments described above, a sensor for detecting paper thickness is attached to an office desk stapler, or a sheet binding device (sorter) is attached to the copy Ia 100 as shown in FIG.
200 is attached, and this sorter 200 is also equipped with an electric stabilizer 1, it is possible to achieve effects such as lowering the operational noise of the stabilizer 1 and improving power usage efficiency. That is, the electric stapler 1 is automatically operated to staple the sheets P copied by the copying machine 100 with respect to the bundle of sheets P stored in each bin B of the sorter 200.

Next, the control mechanism for the above will be explained with reference to FIG.

Sorter 200 has a central processing bag! (CPU) 201
, read-only memory (ROM) 202, random access memory (RAM) 203, input/output board (Ilo)
A control device 205 consisting of 204, etc. is provided, and the ROM2
02 stores control programs, and RAM 203 stores human power data and work data. In addition, the input/output boat 204 is a sorter 20 equipped with a stabilizer 1.
CPU201.0 is connected to each inlet sensor and actuator such as a solenoid and motor. ROM202.
The sorter 200 is controlled by a control device 205 such as a RAM 203.

Furthermore, the copying machine 100 and the sorter 200 communicate via serial communication 2.
06, and various data are communicated between the copying machine 100 and the sorter 200. For example, when instructing the copying machine 100 to bind sheets P, this serial communication 20
6 to the sorter 200.

Further, 207 is a stapler drive circuit according to the present invention.

The sheet P stored in the bin B is monitored by the entrance sensor of the bin B, counted by the CPU 201, and stored in the RAM 203.
Stores data for the number of sheets. When all copying operations are completed, when a stable command is issued from the sorter 200 or from the copier 100 via serial communication, the RAM is
A digital value corresponding to the number of sheets P in bin B stored in 203 is output from the CPU 201 to the digital-to-analog conversion circuit D/A 208 via l10204. Here, for example, the l10204 and the D/A208 are connected by a 4-bit digital signal, and as the number of sheets P in the bin B increases from 2 to 5 to 50, The voltage corresponding to the number of sheets is sent to the amplifier 209 in a range of 1 to 4 V, etc., and the amplifier 209 also sends a voltage V, which is approximately equal to the actual voltage of the staple drive motor 10, to the amplifier 209.
and outputs it to the switch circuit 210. The switch circuit 210 is further inputted with 24V, and l102
04 receives the staple drive signal 211, and the amplifier 20
Based on the output V, 9, the stapling actual voltage V,' is outputted to drive the stable motor 10. For example, when the number of sheets P in bin B is 2°5, -...-50, ■,' is 8V, IOV.

...23V, which is a driving voltage corresponding to the sheet P.

In a system machine using a stapler such as a staple sorter or a finisher, the number information of the sheets P is controlled as in this embodiment based on the number data of the sheets P counted by the sheet P passage detection sensor in the sorter 200. Alternatively, control may be performed based on information on the number of sheets inputted into the copying machine 100 using a key.

In addition, in the embodiment, the body 15 and the driver 16
An elastic member such as a spring is interposed between the body 15 and the anvil 4, and the thickness of the paper is equal to the distance between the body 15 and the anvil 4, and this distance may be used as data for determining the paper thickness.

(G) As described in detail, the present invention has a means for detecting the thickness of the sheet, and controls the driving voltage of the driving means in accordance with the information of the means, thereby achieving high-speed driving. Without driving the binding device with a motor, high-frequency operating noise can be reduced and power usage efficiency can be improved.

Furthermore, when binding a bundle of sheets that exceeds the allowable thickness, damage to the binding device can be prevented by not operating the binding device.

Further, by applying the binding device to which the present invention is applied to a sheet post-processing device, the same effects as described above can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view of an electric stapler showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a vertical side view thereof, Fig. 3 is a longitudinal side view showing the staple feeding and driving mechanism, and Fig. 4 is a needle bending mechanism. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a copying machine having a sorter to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 6 is a control block diagram thereof. 1... Sheet binding device (sorter), 21... Needle,
22... Needle transfer means (needle transfer member), 27...
Detection means (paper thickness detection lever), 29... Control means (control unit), P... Sheet

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Driving means for driving needles connected in a row into the sheet sequentially from their tips; Needle transporting means for supplying the needles to the driving means for each driving operation of the driving means; A sheet binding device comprising: a detection means for detecting the thickness of the sheets to be bound; and a control means for controlling a driving voltage of the driving means in accordance with information from the detection means. 2. The sheet binding device according to claim 1, wherein the detection means is a paper thickness detection lever. 3. When the paper thickness detection lever is activated by a predetermined amount or more,
3. The sheet binding device according to claim 2, wherein said control means has a function of prohibiting said driving means from operating. 4. The sheet binding device according to claim 2, wherein the paper thickness detection lever also serves as a safety lever for detecting foreign matter when the foreign matter is inserted into the driving means. 5. A sheet post-processing device comprising the sheet binding device according to claim 1.