JPH069792B2 - Sheet binding device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet binding device (hereinafter also referred to as a stapler) that mainly binds sheets with binding needles.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a stapler is composed of a removable needle cartridge, a needle driving mechanism, and a driving means, and a part of the needle driving mechanism is opened (at home position), and the paper to be bound is inserted there. When the paper to be bound is detected by the paper detection means, the stapler is activated and the staple is driven into the stapler during the stapling process to perform binding.While this operation is repeated, the belt-shaped staple in the cartridge is moved in the feed direction. The rear end of the band-shaped needle is configured to be detected by the needle detection sensor.

[Problems that the invention is trying to solve]

However, in the conventional stapler, since the trailing end of the band-shaped needle passes through the needle detection means and the staple is still present in the stapler even after the needle-free state is detected, the needle in the cartridge is used as effectively as possible. If the stapler is operated, it is possible to staple. For this reason, the stapler operation is not prohibited, and even if the staple-less condition is detected, depending on the user, the staple-driving may be continued. In this case, even if the last end of the band-shaped needle finally passes through the needle pressing member in the needle cartridge, it may continue.If the needle cartridge is replaced with a new cartridge, the small amount remaining in the old cartridge will remain. Even when the old cartridge is pulled out, it still remains on the stapler side.If the new cartridge is inserted into the stapler in this state, the remaining needles are disturbed in the belt-shaped arrangement inside the stapler, and stapling is poor. There was a drawback that it occurred.

[Means and Actions for Solving Problems]

According to the present invention, a cartridge that holds the needles connected in a row and is detachable from the sheet binding device body, and a movement that is provided on the cartridge and that presses the needle connected to the one example to restrict the movement thereof Restricting means, driving means for driving the needles connected in a row in order from the tip to the sheet material, and needles for ejecting the needles connected in a row from the cartridge to the driving means against the pressing by the movement restricting means. The movement restricting means is provided with a feeding means and a remaining amount detecting means for detecting that the remaining amount of the needle held in the cartridge has reached a predetermined amount, and after being detected by the remaining amount detecting means. It is characterized in that the needle feeding operation by the needle feeding means is stopped within a range in which the pressing force of the needle is maintained.

Further, the sheet binding device is characterized by including control means for permitting the needle to be driven only a predetermined integer number of times after the detection.

[Action]

With the above configuration, since the needle is pushed by the movement restricting means, when the user replaces the old cartridge, the strip-shaped needle that remains in the stapler is also pulled out together with the cartridge, and only the needle of the new cartridge can be reliably made. It is installed in the stapler, and it is possible to prevent defective feeding and staple jams.

Even after the remaining amount detecting means detects a predetermined amount of the remaining amount of the needle, the needle can be continuously driven within the range in which the movement of the needle is restricted by the movement restricting means. Can be used without waste.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the illustrated embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the stapler device of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a side view. Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 2 denotes a base that supports the entire stapler 100 apparatus and is fixed. Further, 2 is a lower jaw, which can be rotated around a shaft 2a as a fulcrum. Further, a groove-shaped cam portion 2b is formed at an end portion of the lower jaw 2, and is engaged with a caulking shaft 3b fixed to the upper unit 3. Further, the upper unit 3 is a hinge shaft 4 provided on the base.
It is swingably supported by. The crank arm 5 is rotatably supported by a part of the base 1 by a shaft 5b provided at an end thereof. The other end is internally fitted with a cam plate 5c eccentrically fixed to the drive unit 6, and when the stapler gear 7 makes one rotation, the cam plate 5c also rotates about the support shaft 6. At this time, the base 1 is fixed, and the distance between the shaft 5b and the support shaft 6 is constant, so that the upper unit 3
Rotates about the hinge shaft 4 with respect to the base 1. At this time,
The body 8 is also pushed by the head unit 105a of the driver attached to the body from the upper unit and rotates in the x direction around the hinge shaft 4 (the body 8 is also rotatably supported by the hinge shaft 4). .). At the same time, the lower jaw 2 also rotates in the Y direction about the shaft 2a by the grooved cam portion 2b of the lower jaw engaged with the crimping shaft 3b of the upper unit 3. An anvil 9 for bending the two tips of the U-shaped needle inwardly is attached to the base 1.

A motor 10 which is a drive source of the stapler mechanism is attached to the upper part of the upper unit 3, and the drive is transmitted to the stapler gear 7 via a motor gear 11. Further, reference numeral 12 is a home position sensor constituted by a micro switch for detecting the standby state before the stapler 100 is operated, that is, the home position in which the body 8 and the lower jaw 2 are separated from each other. , When the stapler gear 7 makes one revolution, the sensor cam 13 is synchronized with it.
When the micro switch 12 is turned on, the convex portion 13b provided on the sensor cam 13 detects that the stapler 100 is in the home position. That is, when the stapler gear 7 makes one rotation, the stapler completes one stapling stroke.

Next, the needle feeding and needle driving mechanism will be described. First
The drawing is a detailed cross-sectional view of the needle feed and needle bending portion in the body 8. Reference numeral 101 denotes a stapler, which has a continuous band-like shape in which individual needles are adhered to each other and is housed in a cartridge 102. Reference numeral 103 denotes a leaf spring needle presser that is fixed to the cartridge as a movement restricting means, and a belt-shaped continuous needle is applied to the cartridge 1 by an appropriate pressing force.
02 is pressed against the guide portion 102a to hold and guide the needle. Reference numeral 105 denotes a driver as a driving means, which separates the adhered band-shaped needles, drives them into a sheet bundle (not shown), and pushes them out to the anvil 9. Head portion 105a of the driver 105 is in contact with the upper Yunitsuto 3 as described above, when the upper Yunitsuto 3 rotates, the driver head portion 105a is downwardly pushed in FIG. 1 x ₁ direction. At this time, the tip end 101a of the band-shaped needle is formed by the groove 109a provided in the needle bending block 109 as shown in FIG.
The central part is retained. Driver head 105a
When the needle is pushed down, the U-shaped bending block of the needle 11
At the same time, 0 is lowered, and the block 110 hits both ends of the needle to bend the needle into a U-shape. Furthermore, the driver head 105
When a is pushed in, the protrusion 1 of the U-shaped bending block 110
10a pushes the needle feed member 104 as the needle feed means rotatably supported by the shaft 104a, and the needle feed member bends the spring portion 104b and moves to the position shown by the alternate long and short dash line. Then, the needle feed claw 104a moves in the direction opposite to the needle feed direction. However, at this time, since the needle 101a at the tip is already bent in a U shape, the needle does not move backward, and only the feed claw moves in the opposite direction to prepare for the next needle feed. Then, if the driver head 105a is further moved downward, the driver 10
The block pushing claw 105b of 5 is a U-shaped bending block 11
The driver 10
Only 5 comes down. And the tip of the driver 1
05a reaches the taper portion of the needle bending block 109, and further downward, the opening 106a of the block guide 106
The needle bending block 109 supported by the
While bending and pushing in the direction of the one-dot chain line, the needle 101a is driven into the paper together with the needle cutting member 108 while separating one of the U-shaped bent tip needles from other needles from the other needles. When driving is complete, the driver head part 1
When 05a is returned upward, the projection 110a comes off the member 104, and the needle feed claw 104a returns to the original position. At this time,
The needle moves forward. With the above process, needle feed needle driving is performed. In FIG. 1, the needle detection sensor 201 and the needle presser 1
Let the distance of 03 be L. Next, the detection of the needle in the needle cartridge will be described. Reference numeral 201 in FIGS. 8 and 9 denotes a reflection sensor as a remaining amount detecting means row for electrically detecting the presence or absence of the needle.

In the structure of this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The reflection type sensor is composed of a and a light receiving element 201b that emits a voltage by receiving the reflected light of the light emitted from the light emitting element 201a. Band-shaped needle 101 in this embodiment
As shown in FIG. 5, each needle is adhered at its central portion, and the adhered area 1 is generally discolored from the ground color silver of the needle due to the influence of the adhesive. And has a yellowish color. As for the reflection sensor that detects the presence or absence of the needle, silver, which has a high reflectance, has a larger S-N ratio (silver noise ratio; the ratio of noise to the signal to be detected) than yellow, which is suitable for detection and dirt such as dust. For example, the probability of false detection is suppressed. In particular,
The cartridge used in this embodiment has a plastic cover ring, and the needle is stored inside the cover ring. Therefore, the reflection sensor 20 is provided outside the cover ring in terms of the configuration.
It is normal to place 1 and considering the diffuse reflection of the plastic part, the silver part (ground color part of the needle)
It can be said that the needle detection by means of is essential for improving reliability. In this embodiment, the reflection sensor 201 and the substrate 20
2. The connector 203 is configured to be attached to the bottom portion 8a of the body 8, and its range corresponds to the area of the ground color of the needle (substantially silver color) within the range of FIG. 5t. Further, a detailed view showing the relationship between the reflection sensor 201 and the needle is shown in FIG. 10
Reference numeral 1 is a needle, and since the needles are adhered one by one, a recess 101b exists between the needles when the cross section is taken, and when the voltage generated by the needle sensor at that time is examined, it is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, due to the variation in the reflectance at the uneven portion, the waveform becomes a wavy shape. At this time, if the presence / absence of the needle is detected only by the variation in the voltage, the voltage level may rise in the needle-to-needle gap 101b, and it may be determined that there is no needle. Therefore, in this embodiment, there is the voltage level. When the level (V ₁ ) or higher is reached and stable, the needleless condition is detected. (V
₀ or less is the voltage at which the needle is present. ) Next, a description will be added regarding the position of the reflection sensor in the needle feed direction. In this embodiment, since the needle has a cartridge structure, when the needle is used up, it must be replaced with a new cartridge. However, in this configuration (see FIG. 1), the position of the reflection sensor 201 is arranged at a position separated from the needle tip 101a by a certain distance. Therefore, when the staple sensor main body electrically stops its operation immediately after the staple sensor is detected by the reflection sensor 201, the extra staple becomes useless, and therefore it is desirable that the staple sensor can be used a certain number of times after the detection by the reflection sensor 201. . However, in the case of the stapler using the pawl feeding mechanism in this configuration, when the trailing end of the needle passes through the needle feeding pawl 104a which is the needle feeding mechanism, the needle feeding becomes impossible. The stapler does not come out even if the stapler is activated while the staple feed is disabled. At this time, if the cartridge is replaced with a new one for the first time, a small amount of staples that cannot be fed will remain in the stapler when the old cartridge is taken out. If you try to load the new cartridge into the stapler in this state, the remaining needles of the old cartridge will be pushed by the new cartridge, disturbing the belt-shaped arrangement inside, and then performing the staple feeding (stapling operation). It is likely to cause needle feed failure and needle jam. For this reason, the remaining needle of the old cartridge must be removed together with the cartridge when replacing the cartridge. In the configuration of the present embodiment, the needle cartridge 102 has a needle retainer 103, which allows the needle to be pulled out from the stapler together with the needle while holding the needle. Therefore, in the present configuration, the position of the reflection sensor 201 is set to the needle presser 10
In order to make the most effective use of the needle by detecting the absence of the needle, the rear end of the needle is pressed by the needle presser 103 after the needle is detected. Within the range of the existing state, the stapler is permitted up to n times (n> 0), and after n times, the operation of the stapler is electrically disabled. For this purpose, the distance L between the reflection sensor 201 and the needle presser 103
Is larger than the distance obtained by multiplying the width δ of one needle shown in FIG. 4 by n, that is, L may be set so as to satisfy the relationship of L> n × δ.

Next, the electric circuit block diagram of FIG. 11 will be described.

Reference numeral 301 in the drawing is a control circuit including a needle feed prohibiting means, and for example, a well-known microcomputer having a built-in program for controlling the sequence in time series is used. The terminals A and B of the control circuit 301 are output terminals for rotating the motor 10 in the forward and reverse directions, respectively, and are output to the forward / reverse driver 302. That is, when the A output is ON, the normal needle striking operation is performed, and when the B output is ON, the reverse operation is performed in the case of an abnormality such as when the motor 10 is overloaded. Normally, when the stapler is in the home position, the micro switch 12, which is the home position sensor, is activated (ON).
State) and the state is input to the C terminal of the control circuit 301. The forward / reverse driver 302 is configured so that the stop is detected immediately by detecting the micro switch 12 in any case of the motor forward / reverse operation, and the lower jaw 2 of the stapler is always in the maximum state as shown in FIG. 2 in the stopped state. It is located near the bottom edge. That is, the ease of processing after a reliable stapling operation or reverse rotation operation is guaranteed.

Further, the reflection sensor 201 is input to the D terminal of the control circuit 301, but since the input is input as an analog value,
In this embodiment, a microcomputer having a function of converting an analog value into a digital value is used.

A needleless signal is output to the display device 303 from the E terminal,
The marking device displays a needleless display.

Next, the operation flow of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. When it is determined that the stapling operation is started in step F1, the stapling operation is performed once in step F2, and after the operation is completed, the output of the sensor 201 checks the presence / absence of needles in the needle cartridge. If there is a staple, the operation is normally completed, but if it is determined that there is no staple, the process proceeds to step F3 to count the number of staples made after the staple is absent. The post-needle counter is incremented by 1. After that, in step F4, the content of the counter is compared with a predetermined integer n, and if the content of the counter is smaller than n, the operation is completed and the next stapling operation is waited, but it is not smaller than n, that is, equal to n. For example, branch to step F5. In step F5, the user is informed by the marking device 303 that there is no needle.

The flow remains at step F6 until the next staple replacement, and the stapling operation is prohibited. The detection of needle replacement is performed by detecting the presence or absence of a needle by the reflection sensor 201.

When the needles are exchanged, the counter is cleared (set to 0) in step F7 and the process returns to the start.

In the present embodiment, the needle detection means employs a reflective sensor, but it is natural that the magnetic sensor can be used as a substitute because the needle is a magnetic body, and a notch can be provided in a part of the cartridge to contact the needle. Needles can be detected by various mechanical sensors.

[Other Examples]

The stapler having the configuration of the present embodiment can be effectively used in a general electric stapler, but for example, it is docked to a finisher which is connected to a copying machine or the like to automatically perform a stapling operation, or a sorter with an automatic stapler. If used, more effective utilization is possible.

Further, as another embodiment, as shown in FIG.
A hooking member 103 'that can be caught is provided on 1', and the operation is continued after the needle detection means detects the absence of the needle, and when the remaining amount of the needle reaches a predetermined amount, the rearmost end 101 'of the needle is pressed by the needle holder 10
Even if it is configured such that it is caught in the hole 103 'of No. 3 and the needle cannot be mechanically fed so that the needle cannot be ejected and the needle is replaced, the needle with the old cartridge still remains in the stapler when the old cartridge is pulled out. Can be pulled out without.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the present invention, the needle feeding operation by the needle feeding means is stopped within the range in which the needle pressing by the movement restricting means is maintained, so that the used old cartridge is replaced with a new cartridge. The staples remaining on the old cartridge are pulled out to the stapler together with the old cartridge, and when the new cartridge is inserted next time, the needles of the new cartridge can be reliably set on the stapler, and when the stapler is activated again, the staple feed is defective. As a result, staple jams do not occur and the reliability of the stapler is improved.

Further, even after the remaining amount detecting unit detects the predetermined amount of remaining amount of the needle, the needle driving operation can be continuously performed within the range where the movement of the needle is restricted by the movement restricting unit.
Needles can be used effectively.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a main part of an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are overall views of a stapler embodying the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a detailed view of a stapler, FIG. 5 is a view showing staples of a stapler, FIGS. 6 and 7 are views showing attachment of a needle sensor, FIG. 8 is a view showing a reflection sensor, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the reflection sensor and the needle, FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the output voltage of the reflection sensor, FIG. 11 is a block diagram, FIG. 12 is a flow chart, and FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another embodiment. . DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Base, 2 ... Lower jaw, 8 ... Body, 102 ... Cartridge, 103 ... Needle presser, 104 ... Needle feed member, 105
… Driver, 201… Reflection sensor, 301… Microcomputer.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cartridge which holds needles connected in a row and is detachable from a main body of a sheet binding device, and movement restricting means for restricting the movement of the needles connected to the row and provided in the cartridge. A driving means for driving the needles connected in a row in order from the tip to the sheet material; and a needle feeding means for feeding the needles connected in a row from the cartridge to the driving means against the pressing by the movement restricting means. And a remaining amount detecting means for detecting that the remaining amount of the needle held in the cartridge reaches a predetermined amount, and after the remaining amount detecting means detects the remaining amount of the needle, A sheet binding device characterized in that the staple feeding operation by the staple feeding means is stopped within a range where a presser foot is maintained. 2. The sheet binding device according to claim 1, further comprising control means for permitting needle driving only a predetermined integer number of times after detection by the remaining amount detection means. .