JPS5920576B2 - Fanfold paper folding device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a fanfold paper folding device, and particularly to an improved fanfold paper folding device for regularly stacking and storing fanfold paper on which information has been recorded in a printer or a copying machine. This invention relates to a folding device.

Fan-folded paper, which is folded to an appropriate length, is used as recording paper for printers, electronic copying machines, and the like used as output devices for computers.

Fanfold paper can be used to store or transport long recording papers by folding them to a predetermined length, so it is used more widely than other recording papers, such as roll paper, and is especially used in electronic accounting machines. It is used in output devices and many other computer terminals that process recorded information that is output in large quantities. A high-speed printer such as a line printer or an electronic copying machine is used as the recording device, and the information sent from another arithmetic recording device or other device or the information stored in the device itself is recorded and output on fanfold paper. The fanfold paper recorded by the above-mentioned recording apparatus is continuously or intermittently sent out from the apparatus, and it is necessary to provide a storage space for the recorded fanfold paper.

In conventional recording apparatuses, the recorded fanfold paper remains sequentially stacked around the paper feed section of the recording apparatus. For this reason, recorded fanfold paper requires an extremely large amount of storage space, just like roll paper.Especially in the case of recording devices that process large amounts of information, operators need to store fanfold paper every short period of time. It was necessary to re-fold the sheets and stack them in an irregular manner. This has resulted in a disadvantage that the efficiency of the recording apparatus has been reduced and the labor required for post-processing of fanfold paper has increased in inverse proportion to the increase in recording speed. Since folds of a predetermined length are provided in the fanfold paper in advance, if the fanfold paper after recording can also be stacked along the folds, the irregular stacking described above can be avoided. However, folds of folded old paper that have been subjected to recording processing by a recording device are stretched out, and in most cases, folded paper that is sent out from the recording device is not folded along the initial fold lines.
The disappearance of creases caused by recording devices occurs when folded paper is pressed against the platen in printers, and
In electronic copying machines, this occurs due to the heating process when fanfold paper is brought into close contact with the photosensitive drum and the transferred image is fixed. The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to automatically fold and store fanfold paper sent out from a recording device along predetermined folds. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a folding device for folded paper.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention tilts a paper stocker in a predetermined direction according to the fold direction of the leading edge of fanfold paper fed into a recording device, determines the initial storage position of fanfold paper, and then sends the fanfold paper out. It is characterized by giving crease resilience to folded paper.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an electronic copying machine incorporating a fanfold paper folding device according to the present invention.

The folded paper 10 is stored in a folded state in a storage container 12.

The leading edge of the fanfold paper 10 is sent to a photosensitive drum 18 of an electronic copying machine by a first feeding device 14 and a second feeding device 16. A high-pressure corona discharge device 20 and a developing device 22 are provided near the photosensitive drum 18, and information based on a supply signal is transferred onto the fanfold paper 10. Such an electronic copying machine is suitable as an output device for a computer, and provides a recording device that is particularly good as a Kanji printer. The first feeding device has two sprockets 24,
It consists of a belt 28 and a feed roller 30 which are rotated by a second feeder 16.
supplied to The second feeding device 16 consists of a belt 36 and a feeding roller 38, which are driven one rotation by sprocket tops 32 and 34, and transfers the fanfold paper 10 fed from the first feeding device 14 to a photosensitive drum of a copying machine. 1
Supply to 8. The recorded fanfold paper 10 whose copying operation has been completed is delivered to the discharge feeding device 40 and the developer fixing device 4.
2. It is discharged from the copying machine via discharge rollers 44 and 46. The discharge feeding device 40 includes a suction pulley 48 and a pulley 50.
The suction pulley 48 includes a belt 52 that is rotated and driven by a belt 52 , and has a large number of through holes on its surface, and the recorded fanfold paper 10 is separated from the photosensitive drum 18 by the suction force of the suction cylinder 54 . The recorded fanfold paper 10 passes through a forced folding device 60 including pressure air supply pipes 56 and 58, and is accumulated in a stocker 62.

The folding direction of the fanfold paper 10 supplied to the recording apparatus from its leading edge to the first fold, that is, the first fold direction, is detected by a fold force direction detector.

The fold force direction detector includes a first switch S1 that determines the initial stop position of the fanfold paper 10 and the fanfold paper 1.
It consists of switches S2 and S3 that detect the first fold direction of zero. Setting positions of switches S2 and S3 and switch S1
An interval approximately equal to the pitch between the folds of the folded paper 10 is set between the installation position of the folded paper 10 and the installation position of the folded paper 10 . In the present invention, in order to determine the first fold force direction of the fanfold paper fed into the recording device, the fanfold paper 10
When the leading edge of the fanfold paper 10 reaches the switch S1 position, the feeding of the fanfold paper 10 is stopped, and the first fold direction is detected based on the slack direction of the leading edge.

This fold direction detection circuit is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 3 shows the clutching devices of drive sprockets 26, 32 of feeders 14, 16, with pulley 26 being engaged and disengaged by clutch 64 and pulley 32 by clutch 66. A relay contact Rla for disengaging the clutch 64 is controlled to be turned on or off by a relay R1 shown in FIG. Further, the relay contact R2a for disengaging the clutch 66 is controlled to be turned on or off by the relay R2 shown in FIG. Both relays Rl and R2 are equipped with a stop position detection switch S shown in Fig. 1.
An exciting current is supplied through switch S1, and a start switch S4 is connected in parallel to switch S1. The relay R1 operates with a predetermined time delay from the relay R2, and this delay causes the folded paper 10 to sag. A diode 68 and a resistor 70 are connected in series to the relay R1, and a capacitor 72 is connected in parallel. When the recording device is started, switch S1 is on and switch S4 is off, so excitation current flows through relays Rl and R2.
The contacts Rla and R2a in FIG. 3 are turned off.

As a result, both clutches 64 and 66 are in the connected state;
The first feeding device 14 and the second feeding device 16 continue to rotate. When the main switch of the recording device is turned on, the excitation of relay R1 is delayed by a delay time determined by the time constant of resistor 70 and capacitor 72 via switch S1, and the start of the first feeder 14 is delayed by this delay time. This does not pose a problem because it is a very short time, for example, a delay of about 0.2 seconds, compared to the operation time until the fanfold paper 10 is inserted. As described above, when both the feeding devices 14 and 16 are in operation, the fanfold paper 1
0 is inserted between the belt 28 and the roller 30.

The fanfold paper 10 is transferred to the first and second feeding devices 14.
, 16, and its tip advances to the starting position where it activates the switch S1. Switch S1 is turned off by the tip of fanfold paper 10, and relay R
When the relay contact R2a is turned on, the clutch 66 is disengaged. As a result, the second feeding device 1
6 is stopped, and the leading edge of the fanfold paper 10 is stopped at the switch S1 position. On the other hand, the deenergization of the relay R1 is delayed by a predetermined delay time due to the charge in the capacitor 72, and the first feeding device 14 is further rotated by this delay, for example, 0.2 seconds. Therefore, the fanfold paper 10 sag by the difference in operating time between the two feeding devices 14 and 16. This slack activates switch S2 or switch S3 as shown in FIG. The first fold at the tip of the folded paper 10 shown by the chain line in FIG.
Activate. As is clear from the above description, the fold direction detector detects the first fold direction of the folded paper 10 depending on whether switch S2 or switch S3 is activated.
It is possible to determine the direction of the fold.

Therefore, by performing the initial tilting operation of the stocker 62 in accordance with the first fold direction, the fanfold paper 1 is
0 automatic folding and storage function is possible. FIG. 4 shows a more detailed structure of the stocker 62.

The stocker tray 74 can be rotated by receiving a driving force from a motor (not shown) through its shaft 76. The stocker tray 74 is provided with a switch S5 fixed to its bottom surface and switches S6 and S7 fixed to both sides. Further, an actuator 78 fixed to the stocker tray 74 turns on and off a switch S8 fixed to the device base. Furthermore, switches S9 and SlO are provided on both sides of the stocker 62 to detect the rotating position of the stocker tray 74. FIG. 5 shows a control circuit for tilting the stocker 62 in any direction corresponding to the first fold direction of the fanfold paper 10.

The control circuit shown in FIG. 5 includes a forward/reverse motor 80 for rotating the stocker 62, and the stocker 62 is in a state in which drive current can be supplied by turning on a switch Slla that is linked to the main switch of the recording apparatus. When the switches S5, S8, S9, and SlO are in the horizontal position shown in the figure, that is, in the neutral position, they are in the state shown in FIG. Also, each relay R3, R4 in Fig. 5
, R5, R6 and their contacts are also in the illustrated state,
No drive current is supplied to the motor 80 and the motor 80 is in a stopped state. Further, a voltage is charged to a capacitor 84 in FIG. 5 via diodes 86 and 88. The operation when the switch S2 of the fold direction detector is turned on in the above state will be explained.

When switch S2 is turned on, an excitation current flows through switch S9, contact R6a, and switch S2 to relay R3, contact R3a closes, and relay R3 is self-held.
Further, the motor 80 is turned on at a predetermined level by turning on the contact R3b.
rotated in the direction During this rotation, the actuator 78 switches the switch S8, and the diode 86 is connected to the capacitor 82.
and the voltage is charged via switch S8. Therefore,
The stocker 62 is rotated in one predetermined direction as shown in FIG. 6, and one end of the stocker tray 74 turns off the switch S9. The motor 80 is stopped by turning off the switch S9, and at the same time, the self-holding of the relay R3 is also released. - Therefore, the stocker 62 is stopped at the inclined position shown in FIG. In this manner, the stocker 62 is ready to receive the recorded fanfold paper 10. The recorded fanfold paper 10 is sequentially fed through the ejection device, and the leading end thereof reaches the stocker 62. 6th
In the figure, it is understood that the portion from the tip of the fanfold paper 10 to the first fold (hereinafter referred to as the tip portion) corresponds to the inclination of the stocker 62. The tip of the fanfold paper 10, which was chevron-shaped in FIG. 1, has a convex left fold when the stocker 62 is placed upright in FIG. ing. For this purpose, the leading end of the fanfold paper 10 is smoothly guided along the stocker tray 74 and is firmly inserted into the stocker tray 74 as shown in FIG. Actually, when the stock tray 74 is fixed in a horizontal position as shown in the neutral position in FIG.
It is known that the leading end of the paper is not guided to the stocker tray 74, and the contact position between the leading end of the paper and the stocker tray 74 changes each time the paper is operated, making subsequent regular stacking impossible. According to the above description, according to the present invention,
By tilting the stocker 62 in correspondence with the first fold direction of the fanfold paper 10, it is possible to accurately determine its initial storage position.

The tip of the folded paper 10 is placed in the stock tray 7.
Switch S5 is actuated just before contacting the bottom surface of 4.
Activation of switch S5 causes the charge on capacitor 84 to energize relay R4 for its short discharging time, as seen in FIG. As a result, contacts R4a and R4b
is turned on, but in the state shown in FIG. 6, switch S9 is in the off state, so relay R3 is not energized and only relay R5 is energized. Contacts R5a,
R5b is turned on, relay R5 is self-held, and the rotation direction of motor 8 is regulated by capacitor 90.
0 starts rotating in the opposite direction. The rotation of the motor 80 causes the stocker 62 to rotate to correct its inclination, and at this time the switch S9 is turned on, but the contact R4b has already been turned off due to the completion of discharge of the capacitor 84, and the switch f'S2 is turned off. Therefore, relay R3 is not energized. The reverse rotation of the motor 80 causes the stocker 62 to return to the neutral position shown in FIG. 4, and at this time the actuator 78 actuates the switch S8. When the switch S8 is operated, the charge in the capacitor 82 flows to the relay R6, and the relay R6 is energized for a short period of time. The contact R6b is turned off by the energization of the relay R6, the excitation of the relay R5 is canceled, and the motor 80 stops its rotation by the OFF operation of the contact R5b. Therefore, the tip of the folded paper 10 is placed in the stock tray 74.
After being correctly positioned, the stocker 62 returns to the neutral position shown in FIG. 4 and maintains this neutral position thereafter. When the above initial conditions are completed, the start switch S4 is turned on,
Excitation current is supplied to relays Rl and R2.

At this time, the relay R1 is delayed by the charging time of the capacitor 72, and as a result, the first sending device 14 is connected to the second sending device 16.
The operation will be delayed, and the fanfold paper 1
The sagging that occurred at the tip of the 0 is eliminated. In the above explanation, the leading edge of the fan-folded paper 10 has a mountain shape in FIG. 1 and the switch S2 has been activated, but if the leading edge of the fan-folded paper 10 has a valley shape, the fold direction cannot be detected. A switch S3 located below the container is actuated and the stocker 62 is tilted in the opposite direction as shown in FIG. 7 by an action similar to that described above.

At this time, the leading end of the fanfold paper 10 is stored in the stocker 62 in a convex shape to the right, so that the inclined surfaces of the two coincide, and the fanfold paper 10 is stored in a correctly positioned state. Of course, even in this state, the subsequent stacking of the fanfold paper 10 is performed at the neutral position shown in FIG. 4 by the operation of the switch SIO. Next, a forced folding device for restoring the folds in the recorded folded paper 10 according to the present invention will be described.

The folded paper 10 sent out from the recording device passes between the pressurized air supply pipes 56 and 58 of the forced folding device 60 before being stored in the stocker 62.

Both pipes 56 and 58 are connected to the high pressure chamber 9 as shown in FIG.
2, and the high pressure chamber 92 is connected to a compressed air source (not shown) via a flexible pipe 94. pipe 56
, 58 are closed by valves 96, 98.
A closing force is applied by springs 100 and 102. Open coils 104, 106 are connected to the valves 96, 98, and when current is supplied to either of the coils 104, 106, pressurized air is injected from the corresponding pipes 56, 58. The air injected from the pipes 56 and 58 forcibly presses the fanfold paper passing between the pipes. This pressing force allows the folded paper 10 to restore the pre-given folds.
The high pressure chamber 92 is connected to the movable base 110 via the bracket 108.
Fixed. The movable base 110 can slide along the support shaft 112 and move in the vertical direction, and the movement is performed by rotation of the rotary screw shaft 114. The rotating screw shaft 114 is driven by the rotation of the chain device 116,
The chain device 116 includes a clutch 118 and a reduction mechanism 120.
and 122 to the feed drive of the recording device. Therefore, with the operation of the feeding device, the moving base 110
moves sequentially in the direction of the upper blade indicated by arrow A. For this purpose,
The pipes 56 and 58 also rise sequentially as the paper feed process progresses, and even if the fanfold paper 10 is stacked in the stocker 62 and its height increases, the pipes 56 and 58 do not come into contact with the stacked fanfold paper. . The clutch 118 is connected to a motor 124, and by connecting the clutch 118 to the motor 124, the movable base 110 can be separated from the feeding device and moved to an arbitrary position. FIG. 9 shows a pressurized air supply control circuit for determining which pipes 56 and 58 are to be opened in accordance with the fold force direction of the fanfold paper 10.

The circuit is in a standby state with switch Sllb turned on in conjunction with switch Slla. As explained above, in order to determine the inclination of stocker 62, relay R3 or R5 in FIG. 5 is energized at the start of paper feeding.
Therefore, since either R3c or R5c in FIG. 9 is necessarily turned on, the motor 125 starts rotating.
A cam 126 for determining the injection timing of pressurized air is fixed to the motor 125, and the cam 126 starts rotating as shown by the broken line. Four contacts Sl2, Sl3, Sl4, and Sl5 are arranged within this rotation area, and the cam 126
The injection timing signal is generated according to the rotation of the fuel injection valve. Now, suppose that the tip of the fan folded paper 10 is inserted in the tip chevron shape shown in FIG. 1. In order to activate the relay R3 in FIG. is supplied. At this time, the cam 126
Since the current supply is cut off with the switch Sl2 turned off, the starting position is determined by the position of the switch Sl2. This start position indicates that no matter which position the cam 126 is at when the apparatus is started, the start position is always determined at a predetermined position, that is, the switch Sl2 position. Therefore, when the fan folded paper 10 is inserted into the device with a valley-shaped tip, the relay R5 is activated, and in this case, the starting position of the cam 126 is determined by the position of the switch SL3 connected in series to the contact point R5c. be done. In this way, it is determined whether the cam 126 waits in switch Sl2 or Sl3 depending on the first fold direction, which means that the injection timing signal directs the first moss injection in the first fold direction. Automatically: This means that the corresponding side of the pressure air supply pipe will be set to do so. When the fanfold paper 10 is stored in the stocker 62, the leading edge of the fanfold paper 10 operates the switch S6 or the switch S7, as shown in FIG. 6 or 7.

As a result, current is continuously supplied to the motor 125 in FIG. 9, the cam 126 starts rotating continuously at a predetermined rotational speed, and starts generating an injection timing signal. Cam 12
Since the switch Sl4 and the switch Sl5 are provided in the rotation area of 6, as the cam 126 rotates, both switches are turned on alternately, and the open coil 1 connected in series is turned on.
04 and 106 are sequentially energized, the valves 96 and 98 shown in FIG.
High-pressure air is injected toward the fanfold paper 10 from the fanfold paper 10. The feeding speed of the paper feeding device is constant, and the cam 1
Since the rotation speed of pipe 26 is also constant, pipes 56 and 58
By supplying high-pressure nitrogen gas in a predetermined order to the constant feeding of the fan-folded paper 10, it is possible to provide a fold restoring effect according to the folds of the fan-folded paper 10. Of course, if the operation of the recording device is intermittent or the recording operation is irregular, the rotation of the cam 126 and the feed amount of the feeding device can be synchronized by moving the switch Sllb in accordance with the operation of the feeding device. I can do it. As explained above, according to the present invention, the fanfold paper 10 can correctly determine its initial position in the stocker 62, and in the subsequent stacking operation, the fanfold paper 10 can Stotska 6 while being restored
2, regular accumulation can be performed and irregular accumulation can be removed.

In the embodiment described above, the switch S2 is used as a fold direction detector.
, S3 was used, but as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to perform photoelectric detection by providing photoelectric detection elements 134 and 136.

FIG. 11 shows a circuit diagram for causing the photoelectric detection device 12 of FIG. 10 to operate in the same manner as the switches S2 and S3 of FIG. 5. Photoelectric elements 134 and 136 are made of phototransistors, and together with resistors 138 and 140 constitute a bridge circuit. When there is no fanfold paper 10 or when the paper is being fed steadily, the light from the light emitting elements 130 and 132 is detected by the photoelectric elements 134 and 136, so the resistance of both transistors 134 and 136 is small and the resistors 142 and 144 are bypassed. There is. Therefore, the bridge terminals 148, 150 maintain a balanced state with respect to the ground point 146 of the bridge circuit. Juanford Paper 10 is the first
When inserted in a chevron shape as shown by the solid line in Figure 0, light to the phototransistor 134 is blocked, the resistance of the transistor 134 increases, and the potential of the terminal 148 decreases. As a result, the terminal 150 becomes high in potential due to the potential drop across the resistor 152, turning on the transistor 154, energizing the relay 156, and closing a relay contact (not shown). If this relay contact is used as switch S2 in FIG. 5, the same effect as in the embodiment described above can be obtained. Similarly, when the folded paper 10 is inserted as shown by the chain line in FIG.
Since the terminal 148 has a high potential, the transistor 158 is turned on, and the relay 160 is energized to close its relay contact. This relay contact is used as switch S3 in FIG. 5, and can perform the tilting action of the stocker 62 described above. In the illustrated embodiment, a switch S1 is provided to determine the starting position of the fanfold paper 10, but it is also possible to replace the switch S1 with a photoelectric detection element.

As explained in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically store and stack fanfold paper used in all kinds of recording devices. can significantly improve efficiency.

゜Brief explanation of the drawings Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an electronic copying machine incorporating a folding device according to the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a general configuration of an electronic copying machine incorporating a folding device according to the present invention. 3 is a control circuit diagram of a feeding device for detecting the direction of folding; FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the schematic structure of the stocker according to the present invention; FIG.
The figure is a stocker operation control circuit diagram of the folding device according to the present invention, FIGS. 6 and 7 are operation diagrams showing the tilted state of the stocker according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration of the forced folding device according to the present invention. Figure 9 shows the present invention? FIG. 10 is another configuration diagram showing the fold direction detector of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a control circuit diagram of the fold direction detector of the present invention.

10...Fuan Fold Paper, 14,16...
...Feeding device, 60... Forced folding device, 62
...Stotska.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fold direction detector that determines the first fold direction of the leading edge of the fanfold paper fed into the recording device and outputs a detection signal according to the determined fold direction; a stocker for receiving and accumulating fanfold paper, which is normally on standby in a substantially horizontal position; and a stocker for moving the stocker in a direction corresponding to the first fold direction in response to a detection signal from the fold direction detector. an initial storage positioning device that detects storage and returns the stocker to the horizontal position when the inclined stocker receives the leading end of the fanfold paper and stores it in a predetermined position; and the falling fan. The fanfold paper is folded by alternately injecting pressurized air to different sides of the fanfold paper in accordance with a timing signal that is arranged to face both sides of the fanfold paper and is generated in synchronization with the feeding of the fanfold paper. first and second pressurized air supply means for restoring the eye; and detection of the fold direction so that the first air injection is performed by the pressurized air supply means on the side corresponding to the fold direction of the distal end portion. a control means for controlling the pressurized air supply means, the control means for controlling the pressurized air supply means, the timing signal being set according to a detection signal from the container, and the generation of the timing signal being started upon detection of storage of the tip portion in the stocker; A fanfold paper folding device comprising: