JP5786554B2 - Stapling apparatus and image forming system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a stapling apparatus and an image forming system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sheet-like recording medium such as paper, transfer paper, and printing paper (hereinafter referred to as the present specification) using toner used for electrophotographic image formation. The present invention relates to a stapling apparatus that performs a so-called stapling process, and an image forming system that includes the stapling apparatus and an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, or a digital multifunction peripheral.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an electrophotographic printer that performs monochrome and color, and an apparatus that uses toner used in the printer as an adhesive between sheets to bind the sheets.

  Among these, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-255881) discloses a post-processing apparatus that binds and binds between sheets using toner as an adhesive in accordance with variations in the number of sheet bundles to be bonded and other conditions. In order to ensure that the sheets can be bound and bound reliably in a short period of time without adjusting the fixing conditions such as heating and pressing time and without causing uneven adhesion, A toner re-fixing unit that adheres and fixes between the sheets by heating and pressurizing the toner transferred and fixed to a predetermined binding margin portion of each sheet is provided. A technique is disclosed that re-fixes a binding margin corresponding portion each time a new sheet is stacked one by one.

  By the way, in such a technique for adhering with toner, heat penetrates in the depth direction of the paper by heating and melts the toner, but at the same time, the heat also diffuses in the surface direction. Therefore, it propagates not only to the area to be originally bonded but also to other character and image information areas, and unnecessary sticking occurs at that portion. Such a phenomenon is generally called a blocking phenomenon. In addition, when the adhesive portion, the character, and the image portion are close to each other within a distance of about 1 mm, when this blocking phenomenon occurs, the resolution is lowered and the image quality is deteriorated.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram specifically showing the problems of the prior art. In the so-called toner staple that is bound with toner, as shown in FIG. 5A, for example, when three sheets P1, P2, and P3 are stapled as laminated sheets (also referred to as sheet bundles) PB, the respective sheets P1, P2, and so on are stapled. An adhesive toner pattern Pc is formed at a predetermined corner of P3. Then, after these sheets P1, P2, and P3 are stacked, the upper heater 301 or the upper and lower heaters 301 on the adhesive toner pattern portion Pc from the upper part of the sheet P3 or the upper part of the sheet P3 and the lower part of the sheet P1. , 302 applies heat to melt the toner and applies pressure.

  Heating is performed by applying a heater to the area corresponding to the toner area. When heat is applied (temperature x time), the heat penetrates and diffuses in the thickness direction of the paper, and also in the surface direction. (FIG. 9 (a): Hd). As a result, as shown in FIG. 5B, the character or image information existing in the “region where blocking occurs due to heat propagation” R is transferred to the superimposed paper surface, or the papers stick to each other. This phenomenon is called a blocking phenomenon.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to eliminate the blocking phenomenon that occurs in the non-adhesive region due to the diffusion of heat during heat bonding using toner, so that the print quality is not deteriorated. .

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention is a stapling apparatus that remelts toner on a sheet by a toner melting unit and binds a bundle of sheets, and includes an adhesion pattern region for bonding between sheets, characters, and / or images. A blocking portion forming means for forming a blocking portion for blocking the propagation of heat between the two regions is provided at the boundary with the non-adhesive region having information, and the blocking portion forming means forms a plurality of rows of perforated holes. It is a drilling means .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the blocking phenomenon that occurs in the non-adhesive region due to the diffusion of heat during heat bonding using toner, and it is possible to eliminate the deterioration in print quality due to the blocking phenomenon.

It is a figure which shows an example of the heat propagation prevention means which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of thermal diffusion. It is a figure which shows the arrangement | sequence of a perforated hole. It is a figure which shows the other example which shows the arrangement | sequence of a perforated hole. It is a figure which shows an example of the adhesion | attachment apparatus which adhere | attaches several paper sheets with a toner. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming system including a perforating device that perforates holes. It is a top view which expands and shows a paper alignment part. It is a figure which shows the example of the other drilling apparatus which punches one sheet at a time. It is explanatory drawing which shows the problem of a prior art concretely.

  The present invention is characterized in that means for preventing the propagation of heat is provided at the boundary between an adhesion pattern area for adhering between sheets and a non-adhesion area having characters and image information.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of heat propagation blocking means according to an embodiment of the present invention. The example shown in FIG. 1 is an example in which a perforated hole Ph1 is formed as a heat propagation preventing means on the outer periphery of the adhesive toner pattern Pc. In FIG. 1A, the adhesive toner pattern Pc is provided in a triangular shape at a predetermined corner of the paper P, and in FIG. 1B, it is provided in a rectangular shape. For this reason, the perforated hole Ph1 is provided in a straight line parallel to the base of the triangle in FIG. 1A and in a bowl shape along the side of the rectangle in FIG. 1B. In addition, when the paper P is laminated, it becomes a laminated paper PB.

  The perforated holes Ph1 are a row of holes formed of small-diameter holes or slit-like long holes that are repeatedly opened in the paper P at regular intervals. A small-diameter hole refers to a hole made with a sewing needle of about 1 mm or less, and a slit refers to a linear hole that is inserted with a cutter having a length of about 1 mm or less and a length of about 1 to 2 mm. . By intermittently opening these holes, an air wall is formed in the thickness direction of the paper P, and the thermal conductivity that propagates through the paper P is reduced by the air, so that the diffusion of heat in the paper P is suppressed. Can do.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the state of heat diffusion. FIG. 2A is an isotherm of the melting point temperature of the paper P or laminated paper PB when the perforated hole Ph is not formed and the heating. FIG. 8B is a diagram showing the same relationship when the perforated hole Ph is formed along the bottom side of the triangular adhesive toner pattern Pc.

  In FIG. 2A, an isothermal line T1 having a distance l1 that is relatively far from the adhesive toner pattern Pc, which is bonded by heating and pressurizing the triangular adhesive toner pattern Pc, is a perforated hole Ph1. In the case of FIG. 2B formed, it can be seen that the isothermal line T2 changes to a position of a distance l2 that is closer to the perforated hole Ph1 formed along the adhesive toner pattern Pc. This indicates that the formation of the perforated hole Ph1 is effective in preventing blocking in the character / image information portion. As a result, when heated for bonding, the diffusion of heat to other than the bonding toner pattern Pc can be minimized.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the perforated holes Ph. When a plurality of perforated holes Ph are provided (here, two rows are provided and indicated by reference numeral Ph2), FIG. 2 and FIG. It is possible to provide more air layers than in the case of the single row of holes Ph1 shown in FIG. Thus, the perforated hole Ph is not formed, and the heating unit is far shorter than the predetermined distance between the heating unit heated by the heaters 301 and 302 and the character / image information unit In. It can be seen that the heat propagation from can be cut off.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example showing the arrangement of perforated holes Ph. In the example shown in FIG. 3, two perforated holes Ph2 are formed by matching the phases of the holes Ph2, but in the example shown in FIG. 4, when two rows of perforated holes Ph3 are provided. In addition, the phase of the formation position of the hole Ph3 is alternately shifted so that one of the holes Ph3 is positioned in a direction perpendicular to the bottom of the adhesive toner pattern Pc. Thus, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the heat propagation portion remains between the adjacent holes Ph2, while in the example shown in FIG. 4, the adjacent holes Ph3 on the side close to the adhesive toner pattern Pc. The heat that has propagated through the propagation part existing between is prevented from propagating by the hole Ph3 in the next row. As a result, the effect of blocking heat propagation is further increased in the example of FIG. 4 than in the example of FIG. In addition, in this specification, when showing a perforation-like hole as a whole, it shows with the code | symbol Ph.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an adhesion device that adheres a sheet bundle PB including a plurality of sheets P with toner. Laminate 30 sheets of paper (for example, 60 g / m ² plain paper) to which the adhesive toner has been transferred and fixed, and then heat the heating temperature, heating time, pressure, and heating method in the thickness direction of the paper (heating from one or both sides) ) And the like as parameters, the welding test using the adhesive toner pattern Pc was repeated. In this test, it was found that in order to bond with the shortest heating time, it is preferable to heat the laminated paper PB from above and below while pressing with the pressure spring 312 so that no air gap is interposed between the papers P. The heating conditions were such that the optimum temperature for heating was 200 ° C. and the heating time was 10 seconds.

  Note that if the number of sheets P constituting the laminated sheet PB is 30 or more, welding can be achieved by increasing the heating time up to a certain number of sheets, but if the temperature is further increased, the uppermost layer of the laminated sheet PB It was confirmed that the heated portion of the upper sheet Pv, which is the sheet P, and / or the lower sheet Pu, which is the lowest sheet, burns and changes color. From these facts, it was found that the heaters 301 and 302 serving as heat sources are preferably planar heating elements capable of setting the temperature up to 230 ° C. with a margin.

  When the adhesive toner pattern Pc is heated by the planar heating element under the above conditions, the heat stored in the paper P spreads in the surface direction. At that time, a considerable amount of heat is cut off at the air layer portion formed by the perforated holes Ph, but in order to provide a temperature difference between the welded portion and the non-welded portion, as shown in FIG. It has been found that it is effective to always make the heaters 301 and 302 made of a planar heating element to be brought into contact with the adhesive toner pattern Pc side from the perforated hole Ph. Further, even if the heating area Ha of the heaters 301 and 302 protrudes outside the adhesion area set by the adhesion toner pattern Pc, the function is not affected, and the heating element having a larger area of the heating area Ha is rather Since it has a degree of freedom in shape and is easy to manufacture, it is suitable as the heaters 301 and 302.

  As described above, only the desired heating area Ha is concentrated by optimizing the contact positions (heating area Ha) of the heaters 301 and 302 together with the perforated holes Ph as shown in FIG. The laminated paper PB can be reliably adhered by heating the toner to melt the toner. At this time, since the propagation of heat is suppressed by the perforated hole Ph, welding with toner can be performed without affecting other areas, particularly the character / image information portion In.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of an image forming system provided with a hole punching device that opens the perforated holes Ph. In FIG. 1, the image forming system includes an image forming apparatus 100 including the image forming engine 1, a punching device 200 connected to the subsequent stage of the image forming apparatus 100, and a bonding apparatus connected to the subsequent stage of the punching apparatus 200. (Toner stapling apparatus) 300 basically.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes YMCK photosensitive drums 101Y, 101M, 101C, and 101K, an intermediate transfer belt 102 on which images are transferred in contact with the photosensitive drum drums 101Y, 101M, 101C, and 101K, and a sheet. When a sheet P is supplied from a transfer unit 103 that transfers an image on the intermediate transfer belt 102 and a paper feeding unit (not shown), and the image is transferred to the sheet P by the transfer unit 103, the image and timing on the intermediate transfer belt 102 are adjusted. The image forming apparatus basically includes a registration roller 104 that feeds the sheet to the transfer unit 103 and a fixing unit 105 that fixes the image on the sheet P on which the image has been transferred by heating and pressing. This configuration is of a known electrophotographic system.

  It should be noted that the configuration of each photosensitive drum 101Y, 101M, 101C, 101K, the configuration of each part around the drum, such as a charging unit and a developing unit, and optical writing that writes an image on each photosensitive drum 101Y, 101M, 101C, 101K with a laser. Since the configuration of the unit and the like is publicly known, detailed description thereof is omitted. The color image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is a so-called indirect transfer tandem image forming apparatus.

  The perforating device 200 includes a perforating blade 210 for perforating holes Ph, a paper pressing pad 220, a base 230, an eccentric cam 240, a receiving plate 250, a pressure contact spring 260, a first paper conveying belt 270, and a first paper conveying belt 270. 1 tip regulating plate 280 is provided.

  The perforating blade 210 is composed of a needle or a cutter, and the needle is used when a small-diameter hole is repeatedly formed in the paper P at a constant interval to form a perforated hole Ph. In the case of a cutter, a slit ( This is used when a perforated hole Ph is formed by opening a slot-like long hole. Which one to use is a matter of design choice. The perforating blades 210 are formed in a single row or a plurality of rows at equal intervals on the lower surface of the base 230. In the case of forming in a plurality of rows, one of the perforated holes Ph2 and Ph3 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is set.

  The sheet pressing pad 220 is provided on the lower surface of the base 230 on the upstream side and the downstream side of the punching blade 210 in the sheet conveying direction. The sheet pressing pad 220 is formed of a rubber material that can be elastically deformed. The sheet P is pressed even when the punching blade 210 is pulled out by pressing the sheet P so that the sheet is not displaced in the lowering process. The dimensions are set. Note that the sheet pressing pad 220 is disposed in parallel with the arrangement direction of the punching blades 210, for example.

  The eccentric cam 240 is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown) and its speed reduction mechanism. The cam surface of the eccentric cam 240 is in contact with the upper surface of the base 230. The base 230 is a cam follower that reciprocates in the vertical direction in response to the rotation of the eccentric cam 240. When the base 230 reciprocates in the vertical direction, the punching blade 210 performs a punching operation, and the paper press pad 220 has a paper presser. Perform each action. Therefore, it has sufficient rigidity to perform the operation.

  The backing plate 250 is always elastically applied upward by the pressure contact spring 260, and holds the laminated paper PB when the punching blade 210 descends on the upper surface to punch the laminated paper PB, and the load generated by the eccentric cam 240. Receive. The first leading edge regulating plate 280 regulates the sheet leading edge position in order to define the position of the sheet conveyed by the first sheet conveying belt 270 when punching by the punching device 200. The punching operation is executed in a state where the sheets P1 to P4 to be bonded by the first leading end regulating plate 280 are stacked and aligned. The first tip restricting plate 280 also swings between a solid line position and a broken line position shown in FIG. 6 by a motor and a cam mechanism (not shown).

  The perforating blade 210 has a length equal to or greater than the thickness of the laminated paper PB to be opened, and is moved up and down with a stroke slightly longer than the maximum laminated paper thickness by the eccentric cam 240 to form a perforated hole Ph. Can be opened. Excessive movement when the laminated paper thickness of the punching blade 210 is small can be absorbed by the displacement of the press contact spring 260 provided on the receiving plate 250.

  The backing plate 250 has a flat surface corresponding to the contact area between the punching blade 210 and the sheet pressing pad 220, and is made of a relatively hard material. Even if repeated contact and biting by the punching blade 210 act, It does not cause breakage. The relatively hard material is, for example, a POM material. POM is an abbreviation for polyoxymethylene, and is generally called polyacetal or acetal resin.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the bonding apparatus 300 has been transported with the upper and lower heaters 301 and 302, and the second sheet transport belt 320 that transports the laminated sheet PB to the installation location of the heaters 301 and 302. The second leading edge regulating plate 330 that regulates the leading end of the laminated paper PB and regulates the heating position, the eccentric cam 310 that moves the heater 301 up and down, and the eccentric cam 310 come into contact with each other, and the eccentric cam 310 rotates. And a mounting plate 311 as a cam follower that moves up and down along with. The mounting plate 311 includes a mounting plate 311 for the heater 301. A pressure spring 312 is provided between the heater 301 and the mounting plate 311 for applying a predetermined pressure during heating.

  In the punching device 200 configured as described above, the paper P1 on which the image has been fixed by the fixing unit 105 of the image forming apparatus 100 is received and transported onto the first paper transport belt 270. In this state, the operation of receiving the next sheet P2 is repeated until the final sheet P4 of the laminated sheet PB (four sheets are illustrated in FIG. 6). Next, the first paper conveying belt 270 is driven to press the laminated paper PB against the leading end regulating plate 280 rotated to the regulating position, thereby aligning the sheets P1 to P4 and aligning the position of the stacked sheets PB. At that time, as will be described later, the width direction of the paper is also aligned in parallel.

  When the positions of the four laminated sheets PB are aligned, a controller (not shown) rotates the drive motor, rotates the eccentric cam 240, and lowers the base 230. Then, as the base 230 is lowered, perforated holes Ph are formed in the laminated paper PB at once by the punching blade 210. The above-described sheet pressing pad 220 is provided around the perforating blade 210, and a hole is formed while pressing the laminated sheet PB so that the laminated sheet PB does not shift in the lowering process. Thereafter, when the punching blade 210 is pulled out of the laminated paper PB, the laminated paper PB is kept pressed, so that the punching blade 210 can be easily detached from the laminated paper PB. The laminated paper PB will not be displaced. In the present embodiment, such a drilling method is referred to as press drilling.

The sheet aligning operation in the punching device 200 will be described in more detail.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view showing the sheet aligning portion. The sheet aligning unit includes a front end restricting unit including a first front end restricting plate 280, a front end restricting plate driving motor 281, a reduction gear mechanism 282 and a front end restricting plate rotation position sensor 283, a side end restricting plate 284, and a side end restricting plate motor. 285, a speed reduction mechanism 386, and a side end regulating portion including a side end regulating plate rotation position sensor 287. As can be seen from the figure, the first leading edge regulating plate 280 regulates the position of the leading edge of the paper P in the transport direction, and the side edge regulating plate 284 regulates the paper width direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction. The first tip regulating plate 280 and the side end regulating plate 284 are driven to swing by the rotation of the tip regulating plate drive motor 281 and the side end regulating plate motor 285 via the gears of the reduction gear mechanisms 282 and 286, respectively. The rotational position is obtained by detecting the fillers 282a and 286a attached to the driven gear by the front end regulating plate rotational position sensor 283 and the side end regulating plate rotational position sensor 287. The detected position is fed back to the rotation control and stop positions of the front end regulating plate drive motor 281 and the side end regulating plate motor 285 by a controller (not shown), and accurate position control is executed.

  For the paper P, the first toner conveying belt 270 in which the adhesive toner is transferred to, for example, a predetermined corner portion of the paper P shown in FIG. Laminated on top. The number of stacked sheets becomes the number of bonded sheets, and when the stacking is completed, the first sheet conveying belt 270 is rotated by a motor (not shown). As a result, the laminated paper PB is transferred all at once.

  By this transfer, the leading edge of the laminated paper PB hits the first leading edge regulating plate 280, and as a result, the leading edge of the laminated paper PB in the transport direction is aligned. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7, the side edge regulating plate 281 rotates to align the position of the side edge in the paper width direction.

  In this state, the punching blade 210 descends as described above, and the perforated hole Ph is formed in the laminated paper PB. When the punching process is completed, the first leading edge regulating plate 280 is rotated and retracted. At the same time, the first paper transport belt 270 starts to rotate, and the laminated paper PB is further transferred to the downstream side. Next, the stacked paper PB is transferred to the second paper transport belt 320 of the bonding apparatus 300 that is moving at the same speed, and is transferred to a position where it comes into contact with the second leading edge regulating plate 330.

  Thereafter, of the heaters 301 and 302 installed corresponding to the bonding position of the laminated paper PB, the upper heater 301 is lowered by the rotation of the eccentric cam 310, and a predetermined pressure is applied to the adhesive toner pattern of the laminated paper PB. The heaters 301 and 302 are energized while being added to the Pc forming part. This energization causes the heaters 301 and 302 to generate heat, and the adhesive toner pattern Pc portion is heated under the optimum heating conditions described above. By this heating, the toner of the adhesive toner pattern Pc is melted again, and adhesion is performed. The predetermined pressure of the upper heater 301 is set by the compression amount of the pressure spring 312 (the displacement amount of the attachment plate 311), and the compression amount is determined by the rotation angle of the eccentric cam 310. Therefore, a controller (not shown) instructs the amount of rotation of the drive motor of the eccentric cam 310 and performs control so that a predetermined pressure is applied.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the sheet P to be bonded after toner fixing is laminated to form the laminated sheet PB, and then a perforated hole Ph is formed by press punching in which the perforating blade 210 is lowered. However, instead of opening the perforated holes Ph at once in the laminated paper PB, it is possible to make holes for each sheet of paper conveyed. If comprised in this way, the rotational torque of the eccentric cam 240 required by press drilling can be reduced significantly. As a result, the motor to be used can be reduced in size, and power saving can be achieved. Further, the configuration and the operation sequence can be the same except that the stacking is performed after stacking and the sheet P is stacked.

  FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of another drilling device for punching one by one. As shown in the figure, a perforating apparatus 200 for perforating one by one is provided with a cylindrical base (hereinafter referred to as a roller base) 290 and a perforation provided so as to protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical base 290. The blade 291, a roller receiving portion 292 provided at a position facing the roller base 290, a pressure contact spring 293 that constantly applies an elastic force to the roller base 290 side with respect to the roller receiving portion 292, and the roller base 290 are rotationally driven. Driving motor 294, a reduction gear mechanism 295 that decelerates the driving force of the driving motor 294 and transmits it to the roller base 290, a home position sensor 296 of the roller base 290, and a paper leading edge detection sensor 297. Other parts are the same as those of the drilling apparatus shown in FIG.

  In the perforating apparatus shown in FIG. 8, the perforating blades 291 are arranged in a predetermined range on the outer periphery of the roller base 290 in a rotation pattern corresponding to the perforated holes Ph formed in the paper P. That is, the perforation blades are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical base 290 so that when the pattern of the perforation blades 291 arranged on the cylindrical base 290 is planarly developed, the pattern of the perforated holes Ph formed in the paper P is obtained. 291 is arranged.

  In the example shown in FIG. 8, since the adhesive toner pattern Pc is provided at the upper left corner of the paper P, an oblique pattern in which a perforated hole Ph is formed obliquely along the bottom of the triangle. That is, it has a spiral pattern. Then, the perforated hole Ph is formed in an oblique pattern by rotating the peripheral rotation speed of the roller base 290 and the linear movement speed of the paper P in synchronization.

  Specifically, when the paper P is conveyed in the direction of the arrow D and the paper edge detection sensor 297 detects the leading edge of the paper P, a controller (not shown) that receives this detection signal has a perforated position at which position of the paper P. Check whether the hole Ph is formed. Then, the drive motor 294 is driven at the same timing so that the position where the perforated hole Ph of the paper P is formed coincides with the drilling position, and the roller base 290 is rotated. From the starting point of punching, the rotational peripheral speed of the roller base 290 and the moving linear speed of the paper P are made to coincide with each other and rotated to perform punching.

  A roller receiving portion 292 provided to face the roller base 290 is rotatably supported and pressed against the roller base 290 side by the elastic force of the pressure contact spring 293. When passing, the perforated blade 291 forms a perforated hole Ph. The roller base 290 continues to rotate after that, but when it has rotated for one rotation, the home position provided on the driven gear 295 coaxial with the roller base 290 of the reduction gear mechanism 295 that drives the roller base 290. The home position sensor 296 detects the mark 295a, and the controller stops the rotation of the drive motor 294 based on this detection signal.

  If there are a plurality of adhesive portions in one sheet of paper P, the roller base 290 is repeatedly rotated based on the detection signal of the paper leading edge detection sensor 296 to make a perforated hole Ph. It can be carried out. Such a drilling method is referred to as roller drilling.

  The roller receiving portion 292 is also made of a relatively hard material, like the receiving plate 250 having the same function, so that cracks do not occur even when repeated contact and biting by the perforating blade 210 are applied. Or it is made not to break.

  Further, the sheet P having perforated holes Ph for each sheet is sent to the bonding apparatus 300 every time the hole punching is completed, and after the sheets P to be bonded are stacked, FIG. As described with reference to the drawings, the heaters 301 and 302 are heated and pressurized to re-melt the toner, and the sheets P are bonded and bound.

  The roller drilling shown in FIG. 8 differs from the press drilling shown in FIG. 6 only in the method of drilling this hole, and other parts of the image forming system are the same as those shown in FIG. is there.

Thus, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
1) A perforated hole that prevents heat propagation between the two regions at the boundary between an adhesion toner pattern Pc (adhesion pattern region) for adhering between sheets P and a non-adhesion region having character / image information In Since Ph is provided as a blocking portion, the blocking portion prevents heat from being transmitted to the character / image area side, thereby suppressing the occurrence of a blocking phenomenon.

2) Since the blocking portions are perforated holes Ph1, Ph2, and Ph3, an air layer having poor heat transfer properties is interposed between the adhesive pattern region and the non-adhesive region, and this prevents heat diffusion when the adhesive pattern region is heated. Can be blocked in part.

3) By providing a plurality of rows of holes Ph2 and Ph3, the air layer is increased, and heat diffusion can be further prevented at this portion.

4) When providing holes in a plurality of rows, the phase of adjacent holes Ph3 is out of phase, so heat diffusion can be further prevented at this part.

5) Since the heaters 301 and 302 heat and press the formation region of the adhesive toner pattern Pc outside the sheet from the perforated hole Ph forming portion, the size (contact area) of the heaters 301 and 302 is reduced. It is possible to have a degree of freedom. As a result, even in the case of a large number of laminated sheets PB, it is possible to sufficiently heat a small area for adhesion adjacent to the perforated hole Ph.

6) Since the perforating blades 210 are mounted on the base 230 in a planar arrangement, the perforated holes Ph can be processed with high accuracy and ease. Further, if the mounting angle or position of the base 230 to which the perforating blade 210 is mounted is changed, it is possible to perform drilling at any position of the paper P. Further, since the drilling process can be performed by the vertical movement, the drilling process can be performed with a simple drive mechanism.

7) Since the roller base 290 is rotated to make a hole for each sheet, the punching process can be performed even with a weak driving force, and the structure of the mechanism can be simplified. Further, since the punching can be performed at the timing in the continuous movement operation without stopping the conveyed paper P, the processing time can be shortened and the productivity is improved.

8) Since the receiving plate 250 and the roller receiving portion 292 are elastically supported by the press contact springs 260 and 293, respectively, even if there is a change in the thickness of the sheet bundle to be bonded, punching is performed within a certain thickness range. The rush load of the blades 210 and 291 can be absorbed by deformation, and the drilling blades 210 and 291 can be prevented from being damaged.

  In this embodiment, the sheet in the claims is denoted by symbol P, the toner fusing means is in the heaters 301 and 302, the sheet bundle is in the stacked sheet PB, the adhesive pattern region is in the adhesive toner pattern Pc, and the non-adhesive region Is in the character / image information section In, the blocking section is in the perforated holes Ph, Ph1, Ph2, and Ph3, the blocking section forming means is in the punching blades 210 and 291, and the stapling apparatus is in the bonding apparatus (toner stapling apparatus) 300. The perforating blades 210 and 291, the base 230 and the roller base 290 are perforated, the perforated holes are denoted by reference numerals Ph, Ph1, Ph2 and Ph3, and the image forming system is the image forming apparatus 100 and the perforating apparatus 200. And the bonding apparatus 300 respectively.

  Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and all the technical matters included in the technical idea described in the claims are all included. The subject of the present invention. The above embodiment shows a preferable example, but those skilled in the art can realize various alternatives, modifications, variations, and improvements from the contents disclosed in this specification, These are included within the scope defined by the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image forming apparatus 200 Hole punching device 210,291 Perforation blade 230 Base 290 Roller base 300 Adhesive device (toner stapling device)
301, 302 Heater In Character / image information part P paper PB stacking paper Pc Adhesive toner pattern Ph, Ph1, Ph2, Ph3 Perforated holes

JP 2000-255881 A

Claims (8)

A stapling apparatus for re-melting toner on a sheet by a toner melting unit and binding a bundle of sheets;
A blocking portion forming means for forming a blocking portion for blocking the propagation of heat between the two regions at the boundary between the bonding pattern region for bonding between sheets and the non-bonding region with character and / or image information ;
The stapling apparatus, wherein the blocking portion forming means is a punching means for forming a plurality of rows of perforated holes . The stapling apparatus according to claim 1,
The stapling apparatus, wherein the plurality of rows of perforated holes are out of phase in adjacent rows . The stapling apparatus according to claim 1 ,
The toner melting means heats the adhesive pattern area outside the paper than the blocking portion.
And staple device, characterized in that the pressure. The stapling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The hole punching unit collectively performs a hole punching process on a sheet bundle after a plurality of the sheets are stacked,
The stapling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner melting unit performs a binding process by remelting the toner after the batch punching process is completed . The stapling apparatus according to claim 4 ,
The stapling apparatus is characterized in that the perforating means includes a plurality of perforating blades arranged in a plane corresponding to the perforated hole arrangement, and performs perforation by moving up and down . The stapling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The hole punching unit executes a hole punching process for each sheet of paper on which the toner is fixed ;
The toner melt means, the paper said drilling process has been performed a plurality of stacked, stapling apparatus characterized by by remelting toner after treatment completion aligning the paper performs binding processing. The stapling apparatus according to claim 6, wherein
The stapling device is characterized in that the perforating means includes a plurality of perforating blades spirally arranged on the outer surface of the roller corresponding to the arrangement of the perforated holes, and performs perforation by rotation of the rollers. . An image forming system comprising the stapling apparatus according to claim 1 .