Patent Application
20130260977
The present invention relates to a sealed letter producing device which is capable of printing on a paper sheet which serves as an envelope a paper sheet of a content, and performing the operation of enclosing and sealing a content in the envelope by folding the paper sheet which becomes the envelope with a simple configuration, and such a device suitable for an envelope sheet (a paper sheet which forms an envelope when folded).
Patent document 1 described below discloses an invention relating to a method for producing a sealed letter by folding in three. An envelope sheet which is substantially similar to a sealed letter form used in this invention is shown in
After name, address, contents and other information are printed, in the case where the envelope sheet 300 is formed into the shape of the envelope, the front side of the middle paper piece 302 and the front side of the lower paper side 303 are placed together as shown in
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4 of the above patent document 1, the envelope is nipped by a pair of rollers whose size in the axial direction is greater than their length in the width direction of the envelope, and is transferred while applying a high pressure on the entire surface of the envelope. In FIG. 4 of the above patent document 1, a pressure is applied to the entire surface of the envelope by two pairs of rollers which are longer than the width of the envelope. Accordingly, the pressure-sensitive adhesives which are in contact with each other between the paper pieces facing each other develops tackiness, and a sealed envelope, that is, a sealed letter is produced.
In the technique described above, a sealed letter is produced by folding the envelope sheet, a pressure-sensitive adhesive which requires pressure has been used for the adhesion of the paper pieces of the envelope sheet. In addition, other adhesion sections include a method of applying an adhesive such as hot melts immediately before folding the envelope sheet.
When an adhesive such as a hot melt is used as an adhesion section in the case where a sealed letter is produced by folding an envelope sheet, its application device is complicated and expensive, a heating section is also necessary, the whole system becomes a large-scale device such as a factory, therefore the limitation of the installation site is significant, and maintenance operation is also necessary. For these reasons, it is difficult to employ such an adhesive as the adhesion section of the sealed letter producing device.
Moreover, in the sealed letter producing device using the pressure-sensitive adhesive described with reference to the above patent document 1 and
However, in the sealed letter producing device using a pressure-sensitive adhesive, the pressure applied on the adhered portion of the envelope is as high as about 1 ton/square centimeter, and the adhered portion in the example described above is present on three to four sides of the rectangular envelope, and therefore rollers longer than the width of the envelope have been necessary so that a pressure can be applied the entire surface of the envelope having a predetermined area (refer to FIG. 4 of patent document 1 mentioned above). If such pressure rollers are to be provided, the mechanical structure of the entire device must be robust. Such a device is a costly device consequently, and it has not been spread as an office installation device accordingly.
The present invention has been made in view of the objects as described above, and its object is to provide a sealed letter producing device for performing printing on the envelope sheet and content, and enclosing and sealing of the folded envelope sheet, in which sealing using a pressure-sensitive adhesive can be performed with a simple configuration using pressure rollers smaller than conventional ones.
The inventors of the present invention obtained the above objects and examined various solutions to the objects, and considered using other adhesives than pressure-sensitive adhesives during the examination. In the present circumstances, some of few possible examples of adhesives cheaper than pressure-sensitive adhesives are remoistening pastes such as mucilage. In the case of remoistening pastes, application of water is necessary to develop adhesive strength. However, since the material forming an envelope is paper, when the paper contains water, a considerable reduction in rigidity and deformation of the paper occur due to swelling. Accordingly, adhesion using a remoistening paste such as mucilage can be used for simple adhesion between two sheets, but in the adhesion of three or four sheets such as production of a sealed letter performed by folding the envelope sheet to which the present invention is directed, swelling is markedly increased, which likely leads to the occurrence of the problems such as a significant reduction in rigidity and breakage. Moreover, since deformation of the paper sheet remains after drying, using a remoistening paste such as mucilage in an adhered portion of parts of the folded envelope sheet stacked in a plurality of layers is considered impossible as it is.
To this end, a sealed letter producing device according to claim 1 is
a sealed letter producing device including: a printing unit which prints an envelope sheet which becomes an envelope and a content for each sealed letter to be produced; a first paper path which transfers the envelope sheet printed in the printing unit, a second paper path which transfers the content printed in the printing unit; and an enclosing and sealing unit which is disposed in a position where the first paper path and the second paper path merge, and produces a sealed letter by enclosing and sealing a content by folding the envelope sheet in a manner of containing the content, in which
the enclosing and sealing unit includes a pressure bonding section which performs sealing by applying pressure on both edge portions in a width direction of the envelope intersecting its transfer direction provided therein.
The sealed letter producing device according to claim 2 is a sealed letter producing device according to claim 1,
wherein the enclosing and sealing unit includes an adhesion section which adheres the envelope sheet to the inside from both edge portions in the width direction of the envelope.
The sealed letter producing device according to claim 3 is the sealed letter producing device according to claim 2,
wherein each of the pressure bonding sections
has a width smaller than an application width of pressure sensitive adhesives provided in both edge portions in the width direction of the envelope sheet and facing each other in both edge portions of the envelope, and has a pair of pressure rollers disposed at an interval greater than the size of the content in its width direction enclosed in the envelope, and smaller than the size of the envelope in its width direction.
The sealed letter producing device according to claim 4 is the sealed letter producing device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein
the adhesion section
is a moistening section which moistens a remoistening paste provided inwardly of both edge portions in the width direction of the envelope sheet,
in the enclosing and sealing unit, adheres the envelope sheet with the remoistening paste by folding the envelope sheet after the remoistening paste is moistened by the moistening section.
The sealed letter producing device according to claim 5 is the sealed letter producing device according to claim 4, wherein
in the enclosing and sealing unit, sealing is performed by applying pressure on both edge portions of the envelope in its width direction by the pair of pressure rollers after the envelope sheet is adhered with the remoistening paste by folding the envelope sheet after the remoistening paste is moistened by the moistening section.
An envelope sheet according to claim 6 is
an envelope sheet applied to a sealed letter producing device including an enclosing and sealing unit which produces a sealed letter by enclosing and sealing a content by folding an envelope sheet in a manner of containing the content, wherein the envelope sheet has
pressure sensitive adhesives which do not face each other when provided in its both edge portions in the width direction stacked in the same orientation, and which face each other in both edge portions of the envelope when formed on the envelope by folding, and
another adhesive provided inwardly of the both edge portions in the width direction.
An envelope sheet according to claim 7 is
an envelope sheet applied to a sealed letter producing device including an enclosing and sealing unit which produces a sealed letter by enclosing and sealing a content by folding an envelope sheet in a manner of containing the content, wherein the envelope sheet has
a pressure sensitive adhesive provided only on one side in both edge portions in its width direction,
notches provided in both edge portions of a side which becomes an inner side when bent, and
another adhesive provided inwardly of the both edge portions in the width direction.
An envelope sheet according to claim 8
an envelope sheet applied to a sealed letter producing device including an enclosing and sealing unit which produces a sealed letter by enclosing and sealing a content by folding an envelope in a manner of containing a content, wherein the envelope sheet has
an adhesive for adhering the envelope sheet which is bent and formed into the shape of an envelope, and
an adhesive strength adjustment layer which is formed of an adhesion resistant material in a position corresponding to the adhesive in a predetermined pattern and adjusts adhesive strength of the adhesive for the envelope sheet.
An envelope sheet according to claim 9 is the envelope sheet according to claim 8,
wherein the adhesive strength adjustment layer has adhesion resistant portions where a front side of the envelope sheet is covered with the adhesion resistant materials, and adhered portions where the front side of the envelope sheet is not covered with the adhesion resistant materials, and the adhered portions are provided in a predetermined shape and in a plurality of portions.
An envelope sheet according to claim 10 is the envelope sheet according to claim 9,
wherein the adhesives and the adhesive strength adjustment layer are formed in different positions on the envelope sheet, and are configured to face each other when the envelope sheet is bent and formed into an envelope.
An envelope sheet according to claim 11 is the envelope sheet according to claim 9,
wherein the other adhesive is provided on the adhesive strength adjustment layer, and the other adhesive is adhered to the front side of the envelope sheet via the adhered portion.
A sealed letter producing device according to claim 12 is the sealed letter producing device according to claim 2,
wherein in the printing unit, a printing section which performs printing by an adhesion resistant material on the envelope sheet in a desired pattern is provided.
According to the sealed letter producing device of the present invention, a common printing unit which performs printing on the envelope sheet and content prints and discharges an envelope sheet and a content alternately for each sealed letter to be produced. The printed envelope sheet is transferred through a dedicated first paper path, the printed content is transferred through a dedicated second paper path, the envelope sheet and content are precisely combined by an enclosing and sealing unit provided in a position where both paper paths merge, and the content is enclosed and sealed by folding the envelope sheet in a manner of containing a content, whereby a sealed letter can be produced.
According to the sealed letter producing device according to claim 1, when a sealed letter is produced by folding an envelope sheet on which pressure-sensitive adhesives are provided only in both edge portions in the width direction, the entire surface of the envelope need not be pressurized in a step in the enclosing and sealing unit, and a pressure bonding section applies pressure only to both edge portions of the envelope in the width direction intersecting its transfer direction, whereby the pressure-sensitive adhesives in both edge portions of the envelope sheet in the width direction are pressurized to develop adhesive strength, so that sealing can be performed.
According to the sealed letter producing device according to claim 2, in the sealed letter producing device according to claim 1, in the enclosing and sealing unit, a portion inwardly of both edge portions in the width direction of the envelope can be adhered to the envelope sheet with an adhesion section which requires a pressure smaller than that required by than the pressure bonding section.
According to the sealed letter producing device according to claim 3, in the sealed letter producing device according to claim 2, the envelope sheet on which the pressure sensitive adhesives are provided in both edge portions in the width direction is folded, and when an envelope on which the pressure sensitive adhesives face each other in both edge portions is sealed, both edge portions of the envelope are pressurized and transferred using a pair of pressure rollers as the pressure bonding section, whereby only the pressure-sensitive adhesives on the envelope sheet can be pressurized and adhered surely without adhering the content in the envelope to the envelope, so that the envelope can be sealed.
According to the sealed letter producing device according to claim 4, in the sealed letter producing device according to claim 2 or 3, when the envelope sheet on which the remoistening paste is provided inwardly of both edge portions in its width direction is folded and sealed, the envelope can be sealed by using a moistening section as the adhesion section, applying water to the remoistening paste water to develop adhesive strength, then folding the envelope sheet, and adhering the envelope sheet securely with remoistening paste.
According to the sealed letter producing device according to claim 5, in the sealed letter producing device according to claim 3 or 4, in the enclosing and sealing unit, sealing can be performed by folding the envelope sheet after water is applied to the remoistening paste by the moistening section and applying pressure on both edge portions in the width direction of the envelope by a pair of pressure rollers after the envelope sheet is adhered with the remoistening paste.
According to the envelope sheet according to claim 6, pressure sensitive adhesives are provided in such a pattern that they do not face each other when stacked in the same orientation in both edge portions in its width direction, but they face each other in both edge portions of the envelope when formed on the envelope by folding, and a pattern of another adhesive different from the pressure-sensitive adhesives provided on both edges is provided inwardly of both edge portions in the width direction of the envelope sheet, and it is therefore possible to perform sealing using the pressure-sensitive adhesives with a simple configuration using pressure rollers smaller than conventional ones by, for example, the sealed letter producing device according to claims 1 to 5.
According to the envelope sheet according to claim 7, the pressure sensitive adhesives are provided only on one side of both edge portions in its width direction. Accordingly, the pressure sensitive adhesives do not face each other and are not adhered when stacked in the same orientation. Moreover, when formed on the envelope by folding, the pressure sensitive adhesives face each other directly in both edge portions of the envelope, or the pressure sensitive adhesives provided in both edge portions of one of the outer sides face the pressure sensitive adhesives provided in both edge portions of the other outer side via the notches provided in both edge portions bent to be an inside face. Moreover, inwardly of both edge portions in the width direction, another adhesive different from the pressure-sensitive adhesives is provided. It is therefore possible to perform sealing using the pressure-sensitive adhesives with a simple configuration using pressure rollers smaller than conventional ones by, for example, the sealed letter producing device according to claims 1 to 5.
According to the envelope sheet according to claim 8, an adhesive for adhering and sealing the envelope sheet which is bent and formed into the shape of an envelope is provided, and an adhesive strength adjustment layer made of an adhesion resistant material is provided in a position corresponding to this adhesive in a predetermined pattern. Since this adhesive adheres to the envelope sheet via the adhesive strength adjustment layer of a predetermined pattern, the adhesion area for the envelope sheet is restricted, and as a result, the adhesive strength for the envelope sheet can be set to a desired state. Therefore, ease of peeling required for opening and durability under the stress of handling required for mailing can be both achieved. Moreover, with the pressure sensitive adhesives provided in both edge portions in the width direction of the envelope, it is possible to perform sealing with a simple configuration using pressure rollers smaller than conventional ones.
According to the envelope sheet according to claim 9, when the envelope sheet is bent and formed into the shape of an envelope, the adhesive forms an insufficient adhesion state which allows easy peeling for adhesion resistant portions of the adhesive strength adjustment layer, but forms adhesion with predetermined adhesive strength of the adhesive for the front side of the envelope sheet not covered with the adhesion resistant materials in the adhered portions. Since the adhered portions are provided in a predetermined shape and in a plurality of portions, they produce predetermined adhesive strength depending on their shape and area in the individual adhered portions, but the plurality of portions collectively develops the total adhesive strength of the individual portions.
According to the envelope sheet according to claim 10, since it is so configured that the adhesive and adhesive strength adjustment layer are provided in different positions of the envelope sheet, the accuracy of positioning need not be set to a high level compared to the case where the adhesive and adhesive strength adjustment layer are stacked and formed and in the position on the envelope sheet, which allow easy production.
According to the envelope sheet according to claim 11, the adhesive is provided on the adhesive strength adjustment layer, and therefore it is possible to reserve a greater area of a region where the printed information can be read more easily in the entire area of the envelope sheet. Moreover, in the case of a configuration in which the adhesive is provided directly on the envelope sheet, the paper sheet may be possibly deformed in the process of developing adhesive strength depending on the type of the adhesive, but in this envelope sheet, the adhesive is provided on the adhesive strength adjustment layer, and therefore the force applied on the paper sheet is reduced in the process of developing the adhesive strength, so that the effects in reducing deformation of the paper sheet is obtained.
According to the sealed letter producing device according to claim 12, a common printing unit which performs printing on the envelope sheet and content prints and discharges an envelope sheet and a content alternately for each sealed letter to be produced. The printed envelope sheet is transferred through a dedicated first paper path, the printed content is transferred through a dedicated second paper path, the envelope sheet and content are precisely combined by an enclosing and sealing unit provided in a position where both paper paths merge, and the content is enclosed and sealed by folding the envelope sheet in a manner of containing a content, whereby a sealed letter can be produced.
According to the sealed letter producing device, the entire surface of the envelope need not be pressurized in a step in the enclosing and sealing unit, and the pressure bonding section applies pressure only to both edge portions of the envelope in the width direction intersecting its transfer direction, whereby the pressure-sensitive adhesives in both edge portions of the envelope sheet in the width direction are pressurized to develop adhesive strength, so that sealing can be performed.
Moreover, in enclosing and sealing unit, a portion inwardly of both edge portions in the width direction of the envelope can be adhered to the envelope sheet with an adhesion section which requires a pressure smaller than that required by than the pressure bonding section. In addition, the printing section provided in the printing unit allows printing on the envelope sheet with the adhesion resistant materials in a desired pattern, and therefore it can be used for production of the envelope sheet having the adhesive strength adjustment layer.
As shown in
A pressure-sensitive adhesive exhibits adhesive strength by adhering pressure-sensitive adhesives provided on two sheets of paper together and applying a predetermined pressure. Its known examples include two-pack type adhesive using microcapsules and natural rubber-based adhesion materials, among others. The remoistening paste is, for example, mucilage or the like. The remoistening paste has no adhesive strength when it is applied on paper and dry, but develops adhesive strength when wetted with water, and when the paper sheet is placed together with another paper sheet in this state and a required pressure is applied thereto, the two paper sheets are adhered. The pressure required for adhesion with a remoistening paste is effective even when it is significantly lower than the pressure required for a pressure-sensitive adhesive. Since their adhesive strengths are at least both considerably higher than that of paper, using two types of adhesives in a single envelope does not cause any problem due to a variation in the adhesive strength. Moreover, in place of the remoistening paste, an adhesive which does not normally have adhesive strength but develops adhesive strength by any operation other than the pressure as for the pressure-sensitive adhesive may be used. For example, adhesives which develop adhesive strength by heat, light including ultraviolet radiation, and other physical sections, other pressure-sensitive adhesives which develop adhesive strength with a pressure lower than that applied on the pressure-sensitive adhesive may be used.
The remoistening paste, as previously mentioned, requires application of water to develop adhesive strength. Since the material forming an envelope is paper, when the paper contains water, a considerable reduction in rigidity and deformation of the paper occur due to swelling. Moreover, since deformation of the paper sheet remains after drying, the appearance of the finished envelope is deteriorated. Therefore, deformation is minimized by divisionally placing a plurality of small sized portions of the remoistening paste within an adhesion area where the paste is required.
As shown in
After the name, address, contents, etc. are printed, the procedure of folding and other processes when the envelope sheet 100 is formed into an envelope will be described.
As shown in
Thereafter, the entire surface of the envelope 50 is nipped by rollers not shown having a length equal to or greater than the width of the envelope to transfer the envelope 50, and the remoistening paste 107 of the third paper piece 103 and the first paper piece 101 are adhered. Moreover, as shown in
It should be noted that the enclosing and sealing operation of the envelope sheet 100 described above is automatically performed by a sealed letter producing device 1 of the first embodiment described below.
The sealed letter producing device 1 of the first embodiment performs a process for each sealed letter to be produced. That is, required printing is performed in an appropriate order using a common printing unit 2 on the envelope sheet 100 and sheet-like paper sheet the content 40. Then, the envelope sheet 100 and the content 40 after printing are transferred into an enclosing and sealing unit 3, the envelope sheet 100 is folded so as to being the form of the envelope 50 while being transferred through the paper paths of different systems, and if necessary, the content 40 is also folded. Finally, both the envelope sheet 100 and the content 40 are merged at an enclosing and sealing section, and the content 40 is enclosed and sealed in the envelope 50 to be discharged in alignment as a finished sealed letter in an upper part of the device.
First, the sealed letter producing device 1 includes a printing unit 2 which prints and discharges the paper sheets which will be the envelope 50 and the content 40. This printing unit 2 is provided with a plurality of paper feed racks P (P1 to P4) which can accommodate more than one types of printed bodies (sheet-like paper sheet 30 which will be the content 40 and the envelope sheet 100) inside, on a side or other places of a cabinet 4 accommodates components of the device. In this example, the envelope sheet 100 is accommodated in a paper feed rack P1 attached to the side the cabinet 4, the sheet-like paper sheets 30 which will be the contents 40 are accommodated in paper feed racks P2 to P4 provided inside the cabinet 4.
Paper sheets and the like discharged from these paper feed racks P are transferred into a looped transfer path 5 from an introduction path to be transported, and an image is formed by printing section disposed at predetermined intervals downwardly along the lower half of the transfer path. In this example, four ink jet devices C, K, M and Y which discharge cyan, black, magenta and yellow inks, respectively, are disposed as printing section.
This looped transfer path 5 has a first discharge path 6 which discharges paper sheets to the outside of the loop in an approximately horizontal direction in a downstream adjacent portion of the printing section provided in a branching manner. Moreover, the upper half of the looped transfer path 5 has a second discharge path 7 which discharges paper sheets to the outside of the loop provided in a branching manner. In addition, a switchback path 8 is provided between the second discharge path 7 and the introduction path from the paper feed rack P in a branching manner. This switchback path 8 is a section which turns paper sheets upside down in the transfer path 5 by receiving the paper sheets transferred the transfer path 5 and then reverses the same to return to the transfer path 5. By turning the paper sheet upside down and passing through the transfer path 5 twice using this switchback path 8, full-color duplex printing for forming full-color images on both the front and back sides of on the paper sheet by the ink jet devices C, K, M and Y can be performed.
Next, adjacent to the printing unit 2, the enclosing and sealing unit 3 for receiving and processing the paper sheets 30 which will be the envelope sheets 100 and the contents 40 transferred from the first discharge path 6 of the printing unit 2, and enclosing and sealing the contents 40 in the envelope sheets 100 is provided.
That is, the first discharge path 6 of the printing unit 2 extends horizontally to protrude outwardly, and is introduced into a cabinet 9 of the enclosing and sealing unit 3 adjacent thereto. In the cabinet 9, a second paper path 20 branches obliquely downward from this discharge path 6, and extends obliquely downwardly to be one of a first paper path 10, a path 11, further downstream thereof.
The path 11, which is one of the first paper path 10, is disposed approximately in parallel to a path 21, which is one of the second paper path 20. The path 11, which is one of the first paper paths 10, is a guide path which transfers the envelope sheet 100 to a folding section, and as previously mentioned, and the path 21, which is one of the second paper paths 20, is a guide path which transfers the paper sheet of the content 40 to the folding section. The switching between the first and second paper paths 10 and 20 is performed by a switching flap not shown provided at the junction of the second paper path 20.
At an end of the path 11, which is one of the first paper path 10, a first folding section which folds the envelope sheet 100 to produce the form of the envelope 50 is provided. This first folding section is provided with a freely rotatable main folding roller A′, a paper transport roller D′ and a first folding roller B′ which are in contact with the same and are rotated are provided. These rollers are made of rubber, and their pressurizing abilities are low since they are for folding paper sheets. Their lengths in the axial direction are greater than the width of the envelope sheet 100.
From between the main folding roller A′ and the first folding roller B′ in the first folding section of the first paper path 10, a path 13, which is the other path of the first paper path 10, curves in a convex shape upwardly and extends in the horizontal direction. An end of the path 13, which is the other path of the first paper path 10 which transfers the envelope sheet 100, leads to an enclosing and sealing section as will be described later in detail.
Next, the second paper path 20 which transfers the paper sheet printed by the printing unit 2 is provided inside the cabinet 9 of the enclosing and sealing unit 3. This second paper path 20 is positioned below the first paper path 10, and has the path 21, which is one of the paths for obliquely downwardly transferring the paper sheet transferred in the horizontal direction from the first discharge path 6 of the printing unit 2.
In the course of this path 21, a paper transport roller 22 and an alignment portion 23 which is a freely openable and closable gate are provided, so that the paper sheets can be stacked and retained in the path 21 by fixing the transferred paper sheets on the alignment portion 23 closing the path 21. Moreover, a folding section which folds the paper sheets is provided at an end of this path 21. This folding section is provided with a freely rotatable central main folding roller A, and furthermore, a first folding roller B, a second folding roller C and a single paper transport roller D are in contact with a main folding roller A, each of the rollers being freely rotatable. These rollers are made of rubber, their pressurizing abilities are low since they are for folding paper sheets, and their lengths in the axial direction are greater than the width of the envelope sheet 100. In addition, although not shown, in a front position in the direction of transfer by the main folding roller A and the transport roller D, an impinging member on which the front end of the transferred paper sheet impinges is provided, so that the impinging paper sheet is warped and the warped portion of the paper sheet is led in between the main folding roller A and folding roller B to fold the paper sheet. Similarly, an impinging member is also provided in a front position in the transfer direction by the main folding roller A and folding roller B, so that the impinging paper sheet is warped the warped portion of the paper sheet is led in between the main folding roller A and folding roller C to fold the paper sheet. Therefore, according to these folding section, the paper sheet can be folded twice or more.
In the cabinet 9 of the enclosing and sealing unit 3, the second paper path 20 has the other path 26 which continuously transfers the paper sheet 30 folded by the folding section obliquely upwardly, i.e., approximately perpendicularly to the path 21. This other path 26 is positioned below the above-mentioned path 13, i.e., the other path of the first paper path 10, which transfers the envelope sheet 100 obliquely downward, and joins the path 13 of the first paper path 10 at the enclosing and sealing section.
Next, the enclosing and sealing section positioned at the junction between the first paper path 10 and the second paper path 20 will be described. This enclosing and sealing section is a second folding section which provides further folding with the envelope sheet 100, if necessary, while, at the same time, it is an enclosing section which encloses the content 40 in the envelope by providing the envelope sheet 100 with further folding after the content 40 is aligned with the folded envelope sheet 100, and is further provided with a sealing section which seals this envelope.
First, the enclosing and sealing section is provided with the second folding section, i.e., a freely rotatable main folding roller A″, a paper transport roller D″ which is in contact with and rotated by the same, and first and second folding rollers B″, C″. These rollers are made of rubber. Their pressurizing abilities are low since they are for folding paper sheets, and their lengths in the axial direction are greater than the width of the envelope sheet 100. The envelope sheet 100 is folded, if necessary, by the main folding roller A′, first folding roller B′ and other components which are the above-mentioned first folding section, and then transferred further to the main folding roller A″ and other components, which the second folding section, where pre-enclosure folding, if necessary, is further performed.
However, as will be described later in detail, the envelope sheet 100 is folded in three to enclose the content 40 therein enclose in this embodiment. Therefore after the envelope sheet 100 is folded once by the main folding roller A′, first folding roller B′ and other component which are the first folding section, passes between the main folding roller A″ and paper transport roller D″, which are the second folding section, and then stands by for the alignment with the content 40 around where it has passed between the main folding roller A″ and second folding roller B″. After the envelope 50 is then aligned with the content 40 transferred through the second paper path 20, it is provided with the second folding further between the main folding roller A″ and second folding roller C″, and enclosing of the content 40 into the envelope 50 is performed.
However, in this embodiment, a standby path 46 extends downwardly from between the main folding roller A″ and paper transport roller D″. Accordingly, production of sealed letters can be also performed for envelope sheets different from that in this embodiment or steps different from that in this embodiment. For example, after an envelope sheet is folded once by the main folding roller A′, the first folding roller B′ and other components which are the first folding section, the envelope sheet is passed between the main folding roller A″ and paper transport roller D″ which are the second folding section, and is caused to enter the standby path 46 in that state and put on standby. Thereafter, after a content transferred through the second paper path 20 is aligned with this envelope sheet during standby, both can be nipped between the main folding roller A″ and second folding roller B″, and transferred while being folded to enclose the content in the envelope.
Next, as shown in
The moistening section 60 is a device for moistening the remoistening paste 107 provided inwardly of both edge portions of the width direction of the envelope sheet 100. The moistening section 60 is provided with a water tank 61 which is disposed below the path 31, a water-absorbing portion 62 which is immersed into water in the water tank 61 and is made from a felt material or the like, a swing arm 63 disposed above the path 31, and a rotation cam 64 which drives this swing arm 63.
The envelope sheet 100 which is folded once by the main folding roller A′, the first folding roller B′ and other components which are the first folding section passes between the main folding roller A″ and paper transport roller D″, which are the second folding section, and then stands by around where it has passed between the main folding roller A″ and second folding roller B″. Thereafter, the content 40 transferred along the path 26, which is another second paper path 20 is aligned with the envelope sheet 100 during standby.
As shown in
As shown in
Next, as shown in
In the course of this path 47, as has already been described with reference to
As shown in
Herein, the width of the pressure rollers 80 is less than the width of application of a pressure sensitive adhesive provided in both edge portions of the width direction of the envelope sheet 100. Moreover, the interval between the left and right pairs of the pressure rollers 80, 80 is greater than the width of the content 40 enclosed in the envelope 50, and is less than the width of the envelope 50. Therefore, in a sealing step by the pressure rollers 80 only the pressure-sensitive adhesive 106 in both edge portions of the envelope 50 in the width direction can be adhered by planned pressurizing surely with an area equivalent to the width of the pressure rollers 80, and at that time, the content 40 is not pressurized by the pressure rollers 80, and therefore the content 40 is not adhered to the envelope. As an example, when an envelope of a normal size is formed, the width of the pressure-sensitive adhesives 106 provided in both edge portions of the envelope sheet 100 may be about 5 mm in consideration of a positional shift of the pressure rollers 80, while the width of the pressure rollers 80 may be about 3 mm in consideration of secured adhesion of the envelope sheet 100.
As described above, the widths of the pressure rollers 80 are small, and only the portions of the pressure-sensitive adhesive 106 in both edge portions of an assembled envelope need to be nipped and pressurized by the pressure rollers 80, and therefore positioning in the width direction of the envelope with respect to the pressure rollers 80 needs to be correctly performed.
To this end, as shown in
Therefore, as shown in
It should be noted that as shown in
Next, in the sealed letter producing device 1 of this embodiment described above, the overall procedure including printing of name and address and other information on the envelope sheet 100, performing required printing on a plurality of sheets of the content 40 and folding the same, enclosing the content 40 in the envelope 50 which is the folded and formed envelope sheet 100 and sealing the envelope 50 will be described.
As shown in
The envelope sheet 100 is transferred from the path 11, which is one of the first paper paths 10, by switching of a switching flap not shown to the folding section. The envelope sheet 100 is forwarded by the main folding roller A′ and the paper transport roller D′, impinges on an impinging member not shown to be warped, enters in between the main folding roller A′ and the first folding roller B′ from the warped portion, and further nipped and transferred to be provided with a fold in a portion of the front end portion thereof in the paper feed direction. The unfinished envelope which is partially folded passes between the main folding roller A″ and paper transport roller D″ of the enclosing and sealing section, further simply passes between the main folding roller A″ and second folding roller B″ along the path, and then stands by for the alignment with the content 40.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
According to this embodiment, in the process of folding the envelope sheet 100 aligned with the content 40 to form into the envelope 50, paper pieces are adhered to each other with the remoistening paste 107 first, the positioning of the envelope 50 in the width direction is accurately performed and is then transferred in between the pressure rollers 80, the pressure-sensitive adhesives 106 are pressurized securely by the pressure rollers 80 having a small width. Therefore, the pressure-sensitive adhesives 106 can be securely adhered with a width sufficient for adhesion by the pressure rollers 80 which have a small width and can produce high pressure with a small force.
Then, the finished sealed letter after the completion of enclosing and sealing is discharged into a discharge tray 48 provided on the top surface of the cabinet 9, where it is sequentially stacked up to be taken out later.
As shown in
As shown in
After the name, address, contents, etc. are printed, the procedure of folding and other processes when the envelope sheet 200 is formed into an envelope will be described.
As shown in
In
Thereafter, as in the case of the envelope sheet 100 shown in
It should be noted that the enclosing and sealing operation of the envelope sheet 200 described above can be automatically performed by the above-mentioned sealed letter producing device 1 of the first embodiment.
The third embodiment relates to a sheet-like envelope sheet which is capable of processing into a sealed letter by wrapping up and folding a content at the same time, and especially to relates to an envelope sheet which has the strength required for mailing and delivery in a sealing portion, while it can be easily developed into the original sheet-like envelope sheet from the state of the enclosed and sealed envelope without providing a special structure such as a perforation to open the envelope. Moreover, this embodiment relates to a sealed letter producing device which is capable of producing such an envelope sheet, printing on a paper sheet which serves as an envelope a paper sheet of a content, and enclosing and sealing the content in the envelope by folding these.
In an envelope produced using the envelope sheet as shown in
This embodiment has been made in view of the problems as described above, and its object is to provide a sheet-like envelope sheet for producing a sealed letter by being bent in a manner of wrapping up a content, in which the strength required for mailing and delivery in a sealing portion can be obtained, while it can be easily developed into an original sheet-like envelope sheet from the state of the enclosed and sealed envelope without providing a special structure such as a perforation to open the envelope.
(1) Sealed Letter Paper Sheet Used in this Sealed Letter Producing Device (
As shown in
As shown in
A pressure-sensitive adhesive exhibits adhesive strength by adhering pressure-sensitive adhesives provided on two sheets of paper together and applying a predetermined pressure. Its known examples include two-pack type adhesive using microcapsules and natural rubber-based adhesion materials, among others. The arrangement pattern of these pressure-sensitive adhesives 106 the pressure-sensitive adhesives 106 of corresponding paper pieces are considered to be in the same position and in contact with each other when the paper pieces are folded to be assembled in the form of an envelope. However, when the envelope sheet 100a, for example, are stacked in the same vertical positional relationship, e.g., with their front sides facing up, the pressure-sensitive adhesives 106 on the front sides and the pressure-sensitive adhesives 106 on the back sides do not face each other to avoid contact therebetween. When the pressure-sensitive adhesives 106 are brought into contact with each other and left for a long period of time, the problem of natural adhesion due to a high temperature, high humidity and other environmental conditions even without any pressure may be caused, such a problem can be prevented from occurring in advance according to the envelope sheet 100a of the embodiment.
As shown in
The remoistening paste is, for example, mucilage or the like, and has no adhesive strength when it is applied on paper and dried, but develops adhesive strength when wetted with water, and when the paper sheet is placed together with another paper sheet in this state and a required pressure is applied thereto, the two paper sheets are adhered. The pressure as in the case of adhering with a remoistening paste is effective even when it is significantly lower than the pressure required for a pressure-sensitive adhesive. Since their adhesive strengths are at least both considerably higher than that of paper, using two types of adhesives in a single envelope does not cause any problem due to a variation in the adhesive strength. Moreover, in place of the remoistening paste, an adhesive which does not normally have adhesive strength but develops adhesive strength by any operation other than the pressure as for the pressure-sensitive adhesive may be used. Examples include adhesives which develop adhesive strength by heat, light including ultraviolet radiation, and other physical sections, other pressure-sensitive adhesives which develop adhesive strength with a pressure lower than that applied on the pressure-sensitive adhesive or double-faced adhesive tape and the like.
The adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 may be silicon inks, waxes used for coating paper sheets, varnishes release properties, and other layers prepared from substances having low adhesiveness for various adhesives and having release properties. Herein, these substances and materials are collectively referred to as adhesion resistant materials. The formation pattern of the adhesion resistant materials is, for example, as shown in
In the examples of
In any case of
In such a manner, in the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 the shapes, areas and arrangement patterns of the adhered portions 401 which are holes or gaps provided in the adhesion resistant materials where the front side of the envelope sheet 100a appears are determined to certain ones. The remoistening paste 107 is adhered to the envelope sheet 100a only through the adhered portions 401 of such patterns, and exerts almost no adhesive strength on the adhesion resistant materials of the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400. The above patterns of the adhered portions 401 in the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 are determined as follows to simultaneously achieve two purposes which would be generally thought to contradict, that is, ease of opening of the envelope and ensuring the strength to withstand the external force applied during mailing or delivery.
First, the adhesive strength of the remoistening paste 107 in each adhered portion 401 is set to a predetermined value lower than the strength of the envelope sheet 100a. Accordingly, in opening the sealing portion of the envelope sheet 100a by means of the remoistening paste 107 and adhered portions 401, if the paper sheet is opened in the width direction sequentially from the edge, the remoistening paste 107 adhered to the paper sheet through the adhered portions 401 is peeled off from the paper sheet without damaging the paper sheet, or even if a part of the front side of the paper sheet is peeled off, can be peeled off from the paper sheet without creating such damage that a hole is made in the paper sheet. Therefore, the envelope sheet 100a can be opened clearly with a small force without tearing. The adhesive strength of the remoistening paste 107 in the adhered portions 401 is determined by the shape, size, disposition intervals and other conditions of the adhered portions 401 formed in the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 when the type of the remoistening paste 107 is the same. Moreover, by performing the operation of peeling a number of dot-like adhered portions 401 having a constant adhesive strength sequentially and successively from the edge, the opener of the letter hears successive peeling sound of the adhered portions 401, and feels successive pleasing sense of opening at the fingertip, and therefore and he/she can confirm the certainty of opening by touch and ear. Accordingly, it is preferable that the arrangement pattern of the adhered portions 401 is regular since the above-described continuous peeling sound and the sense of opening can be obtained.
Next, the total adhesive strength of the remoistening paste 107 in all adhered portions 401 provided in the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 is set to be greater than the external force possibly applied to the sealing portion of the envelope during mailing or delivery. This reduces the occurrence of the problem that the sealing portion of the envelope sheet 100a sealed by the remoistening paste 107 is opened by the external force applied during mailing or delivery.
According to this envelope sheet 100a, when the sealed envelope is opened, it can be opened without any significant damage the paper sheet with a small force, the information printed on the opened envelope sheet 100a is easy to read. Moreover, when the envelope has a return postcard or other object using a part of the envelope sheet 100a, no difficulty is found in its use. In addition, since the strength of the sealed portion by the remoistening paste 107 is set to be sufficient as a whole, accidental opening of the sealing portion sealed by the remoistening paste 107 by the external force during mailing and delivery of the envelope is unlikely to occur.
Moreover, in this embodiment, the remoistening paste 107 is formed in the shape of two bands, and the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 is formed in the shape of a single continuous band. Therefore, when opening the sealing portion of the envelope by these, the finger can be inserted from the gap of the paper sheet corresponding to the gap between the two bands of the remoistening paste 107 to open the adhered remoistening paste 107. However, as described above, the remoistening paste 107 can be peeled off successively and clearly from the edge with a small force due to the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400, and therefore the remoistening paste 107 is not necessarily formed in the form of two bands, and may be formed in the form of a single band as the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400.
Moreover, as shown in
As shown in
However, providing the peeling layer 405 if the remoistening paste 107 develops adhesiveness when a large number of the envelope sheets 100a are stacked, the paper sheets are not adhered to each other, and even if they are adhered, they can be easily peeled off without damaging the envelope sheet 100a.
After the name, address, contents, etc. are printed, the process procedure of folds and other components in the case where the envelope sheet 100a is formed in the shape of the envelope will be described.
As shown in
Thereafter, the entire surface of the envelope 50 is nipped by rollers not shown having a length equal to or greater than the width of the envelope to transfer the envelope 50, and the remoistening paste 107 of the second paper side 102 and the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 of the fourth paper side 104 are adhered. Moreover, as shown in
It should be noted that the enclosing and sealing operation of the envelope sheet 100a described above is automatically performed by the sealed letter producing device 1 of the first embodiment described below.
(2) Mechanism of this Sealed Letter Producing Device (
In this paragraph, differences in configuration of the sealed letter producing device 1 of this embodiment from that of the first embodiment will be described. For the components substantially identical to those in the first embodiment, explanation is omitted by citing the description of the first embodiment.
As shown in
Next, the enclosing and sealing section of this embodiment has substantially the same mechanical configuration as the enclosing and sealing section of the first embodiment, but has a different action or control by the control section 90 provided in the printing unit 2. The outline of the actions or controls different from those in the first embodiment will be also described in this paragraph for describing the configuration. It should be noted that the detail of the actions or controls will be described later.
According to the control section 90 of the sealed letter producing device of this embodiment, the envelope sheet 100a which is folded once by the main folding roller A′, the first folding roller B′ and other components which are the first folding section stands by where it has passed between the main folding roller A″ and paper transport roller D″, which are the second folding section, the content 40 transferred along the path 26, which is another second paper path 20 is aligned with the envelope sheet 100 a during standby, and further passes between the main folding roller A″ and second folding roller B″ to be provided with the second folding.
As shown in
As shown in
(3) Operation of this Sealed Letter Producing Device (
Next, the overall procedure of printing name, address and other information on the envelope sheet 100a in the sealed letter producing device 1 of this embodiment described above, performing required printing on a plurality of sheets of the content 40 and folding the same, and enclosing and sealing the content 40 in the envelope 50 formed by folding the envelope sheet 100a will be described.
As shown in
The envelope sheet 100a is transferred from the path 11, which is one of the first paper paths 10, by switching of a switching flap not shown to the folding section. The envelope sheet 100a is forwarded by the main folding roller A′ and the paper transport roller D′, impinges on an impinging member not shown to be warped, enters in between the main folding roller A′ and the first folding roller B′ from the warped portion, and further nipped and transferred to be provided with a fold in a portion of the front end portion thereof in the paper feed direction. The unfinished envelope which is partially folded stands by for the alignment with the content 40 in a position where it has passed between the main folding roller A″ and paper transport roller D″ of the enclosing and sealing section. After the alignment of the content 40, the envelope is further passed between the main folding roller A″ and second folding roller B″ and provided with the second folding while wrapping up the content 40, the state shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
According to this embodiment, in the process of folding the envelope sheet 100a aligned with the content 40 to form into the envelope 50, the paper pieces are adhered to each other with the remoistening paste 107 first, the positioning of the envelope 50 in the width direction is accurately performed and is then transferred in between the pressure rollers 80, so that the pressure-sensitive adhesives 106 are pressurized securely by the pressure rollers 80 having a small width. Therefore, the pressure-sensitive adhesives 106 can be securely adhered by the pressure rollers 80 which can produce a high pressure with a small force having a small width and with a width sufficient for adhesion.
Then, the finished sealed letter after the completion of enclosing and sealing is discharged into a discharge tray 48 provided on the top surface of the cabinet 9, where it is sequentially stacked up to be taken out later.
As described above, the envelope sheet 100a of this embodiment for producing an envelope by folding is designed to allow adhesion of both edges in the direction the width of the envelope with the pressure-sensitive adhesive 106, and the adhesion of a portion inside the pressure-sensitive adhesive 106 with the remoistening paste 107, but the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 including a number of adhesion portions 401 from which the surface of the paper sheet are exposed regularly is configured of the adhesion resistant materials on the surface of the target paper sheet adhered by the remoistening paste 107. The adhesive strength at each point of these adhered portions 401 is set to a certain value which is lower than the breakage strength of the paper sheet, and therefore if the adhered portions are peeled off sequentially from one side, the envelope can be easily opened with a certain force. Moreover, the response felt on the hand in opening the envelope is constant, and therefore a stable and favorable sense can be obtained. Moreover, even if the adhesive strength for each point of the adhered portions 401 is small, a necessary number of adhered portions 401 are provided to set the adhesive strength as a whole as high as necessary as a whole, and therefore accidental peeling of the sealing portion of the remoistening paste 107 by a load applied during mailing or delivery can be surely prevented.
Since the remoistening paste 107 is generally formed by a step of applying in a stamping manner using a sponge-like projection component, it is difficult to form the same in the form of small dots, and even if it can be formed in the form of dots, it is even more difficult to form a paste having high viscosity in the form of dots with stable diameter, and therefore it has been actually impossible to adjust the adhesive strength in controlling of the application pattern of the remoistening paste 107. However, in this embodiment, the remoistening paste 107 is formed in the shape of a uniform band, and a pattern in which a number of holes in the form of dots is formed is printed using the adhesion resistant materials on the surface of the paper sheet facing this, point adhesion with a stable small diameter by the remoistening paste 107 can be realized, and ease of opening and unlikeliness of accidental opening during mailing and the like can be both realized.
Moreover, the envelope sheet 100a of this embodiment has such a configuration that the adhesive 107 and the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 are provided in different positions of the envelope sheet 100a, and it therefore has such effects that it is not necessary to set the accuracy of positioning to a high level compared to the case where the adhesive 107 and adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 are formed to be stacked in the same position on the envelope sheet 100, and that the production is easy.
In the third embodiment, as shown in
However, the remoistening paste 107 and adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 are not necessarily formed separately on different paper sheets, but can be configured as in the fourth embodiment shown in
In the third embodiment, it is possible to provide such a configuration that the remoistening paste 107 and adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 are caused to be substantially clear so that printing of the underlayer paper sheet can be visually confirmed, but the conditions for reading the information printed on the paper sheet are not considered the same as in the case where nothing exists on the paper sheet. Therefore, the smaller the areas of the remoistening paste 107 and the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 printed on the paper sheet, the more convenient to read the information printed thereon. In this embodiment, both the remoistening paste 107 and adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 can be stacked and formed in an approximately identical position on the same paper piece, and therefore it is possible to reserve a greater area of a region where the printed information can be read more easily. Moreover, the remoistening paste 107 is moistened when used, and develops the adhesive strength by drying and shrinking after being adhered to the paper sheet, but the influence of this drying and shrinking may deform the paper in some cases. In this embodiment, the remoistening paste 107 is provided on of the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 even partially, and therefore the remoistening paste 107 slides on the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 when it dries and shrinks. This reduces the force applied to the paper sheet, whereby the effect in reducing the deformation of the paper sheet can be obtained.
In this example, the remoistening paste 107 is provided on the front side B of the second paper side 102, and the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 having a number of adhered portions 401 (holes) is provided thereon to cover the remoistening paste 107. The envelope sheet 100c is folded and formed into the shape of an envelope in this state, and the fourth paper piece 104 is adhered to the remoistening paste 107 through the adhered portions 401 of the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400. Therefore, in opening, the fourth paper side 104 can be peeled off with a small constant force from the second paper piece 102 on which the remoistening paste 107 covered with the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 is provided.
According to this embodiment, as in the second embodiment, both the remoistening paste 107 and the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 can be formed on the same paper piece, and therefore the area of a region where the printed information can be read more easily can be increased. Moreover, by using the sealed letter producing device of the first embodiment including the ink jet device S which discharges the silicon ink, silicon ink is printed on the remoistening paste 107 which has been applied to the envelope sheet 100c in necessary positions in advance to form the adhesive strength adjustment layer 400 by printing the silicon ink on the remoistening paste 107, whereby the envelope sheet of this embodiment can be formed.
The sealed letter producing device 1 of each of the embodiments described above is provided with the printing unit 2, but this printing unit 2 may be an existing image forming device. That is, the sealed letter producing device 1 of the present invention can be formed by using a normal image forming device already installed in places of business and other places as the printing unit 2 in the present invention, and connecting the enclosing and sealing unit 3 to this. Accordingly, printing of the envelope sheets 100, 100a, 100b, 100c, 200 and the content 40 can be performed by using a single existing image forming device, which would save the installation cost of the automatic sealed letter producing device.
Moreover, the paper sheet 30 of the content 40 is not necessarily folded, and may be enclosed in the envelope in its original size without being folded depending on its relationship with the size of the envelope. Moreover, in the embodiment s, the sheet-like paper sheet is used as the paper sheet 30 of the envelope paper sheets 100, 100a, 100b, 100c, 200 and the content 40, but, for example, a paper roll may be used, and may be cut and provided in a required length when it is used.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-239789 | Oct 2010 | JP | national |
| 2011-212814 | Sep 2011 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2011/074667 | 10/26/2011 | WO | 00 | 6/6/2013 |
