This application is filed under 35 U.S.C. § 371 as a PCT national phase of PCT International Application No. PCT/KR2018/002867, filed on Mar. 12, 2018, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, which claims the priority benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0108849, filed on Aug. 28, 2017 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the contents of the PCT International Application and the Korean Patent Application are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
A sheet folding device folds a medium (hereinafter, referred to as ‘paper’) on a sheet in various forms. The sheet folding device may be included in a finisher with respect to paper discharged from a copier, a printer, or the like, and may be a stand-alone device.
A sheet folding device uses a folding blade to push a portion of paper, which is to be folded and between a front-end portion and a rear-end portion of the paper, into a pair of rollers rotating engaged with each other, thereby folding the paper. The sheet folding device may fold a single sheet or multiple sheets of paper. Also, the sheet folding device may have a structure for folding paper twice or more.
These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the examples, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Hereinafter, examples of a sheet folding device and an image forming apparatus using the same will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals denote like elements, and a size or thickness of each component may be exaggerated for clarity of description. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Expressions such as “at least one of”, when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.
The printer 100 may print an image on paper P by using various printing methods such as an electrophotography method, an inkjet method, a thermal transfer method, and a thermal sublimation method. For example, the image forming apparatus according to an example embodiment prints a color image on the paper P by using an electrophotography method. The above printing methods are well known in the art, and thus, a detailed description thereof will be omitted herein.
The image forming apparatus may further include a scanner 300 for reading an image recorded on a document. The scanner 300 may have any of various structures such as a flatbed mechanism where a document is at a fixed position and an image is read while a reading member is moved, a document feeding mechanism where a reading member is at a fixed position and a document is fed, and a combination structure thereof. The principle and structure of the scanner 300 are well known in the art, and thus, a detailed description thereof will be omitted herein.
The finisher 400 may include a sheet folding device 700 for folding, one or more times, the paper P discharged from the printer 100. The finisher 400 may further include an alignment device 500 for aligning the paper P discharged from the printer 100. The alignment device 500 may have a structure for stapling the paper P at an end portion thereof or punching a hole in an end portion of the paper P. The finisher 400 may further include a middle stapler 600 for stapling the paper P at a center portion thereof. Structures of the alignment device 500 and the middle stapler 600 are well known in the art, and thus, a detailed description thereof will be omitted herein.
Hereinafter, examples of the sheet folding device 700 will be described in detail.
The folding blade 750, which is moved to an insertion location (a dashed line of
Although not illustrated, the folding blade driver 751 may include the slider 751-3 on which the folding blade 750 is installed, and a linear motor (not illustrated) driving the slider 751-3. Referring to
A location determination member 740 may be moved to an alignment location (a solid line of
By the above structure, the paper P may be folded once. For example, one sheet or multiple sheets of paper P discharged from the printer 100 is fed along the folding path 710, and as indicated by a solid line of
The sheet folding device 700 according to an example embodiment may perform folding two or more times by using one folding roller 720. To this end, the sheet folding device 700 may include a guide path for guiding the paper P having passed through the folding nip N to the folding path 710 again and returning the paper P to the entrance of the folding nip N, and a shift member 730 for selectively guiding the paper P to the discharge roller 760 and the guide path, the shift member 730 being located at the exit of the folding nip N.
The guide path may be provided around at least one of the first roller 721 and the second roller 722. In an example embodiment, the guide path includes a first guide path 761 and a second guide path 762 respectively provided around the first roller 721 and the second roller 722.
The shift member 730 may include a first shift member 731 for selectively guiding the paper P to the first guide path 761, and a second shift member 732 for selectively guiding the paper P to the second guide path 762. Although not illustrated, an actuator for driving the first and second shift members 731 and 732 may be provided. The actuator may be, for example, a solenoid actuator.
Although not illustrated, a first sensor and a second sensor for detecting the paper P may be respectively arranged on the first guide path 761 and the second guide path 762. The first and second sensors may provide a reference for determining second, third, or subsequent folding timing, that is, driving timing of the folding blade 750. Although not denoted by reference numerals, driven rollers respectively arranged around the first and second rollers 721 and 722 along the first and second guide paths 761 and 762 engage with the first and second rollers 721 and 722 and feed the paper P along the first and second guide paths 761 and 762. In an example embodiment, the first roller 721 forms a guide at one side of the first guide path 761, and the second roller 722 forms a guide at one side of the second guide path 762. That is, the paper P having passed through the folding nip N is fed along the first and second guide paths 761 and 762 in a direction winding around the first and second rollers 721 and 722 and is returned in a direction toward the entrance of the folding nip N.
Referring to
Folding may be performed twice by returning the paper P folded once to the entrance of the folding nip N via the first guide path 761 or the second guide path 762 and pushing the paper P into the folding nip N by using the folding blade 750 again. A simple 4-fold folding may be performed by once again folding a center portion of the paper P that has already been folded once. Also, a C-fold or a Z-fold, which is a 3-fold folding, may be performed by performing folding twice by using the first guide path 761 or the second guide path 762. Also, a double gate fold, a roll-fold, a W-fold, etc. may be performed by performing folding three times while allowing the paper P to sequentially pass through the first guide path 761 and the second guide path 762.
By the above configuration, when the folding blade 750 is moved to the insertion location, the paper P is pushed by the guide members 752 and pressed towards the folding roller 720. Thus, the paper P may be stably inserted into the folding nip N. The guide members 752 do not contact the folding roller 720 when the folding blade 750 reaches the insertion location.
The guide members 752 may be elastically biased by the elastic member 753 towards the folding roller 720. For example, the elastic member 753 may be a compressive coil spring supported between the guide members 752 and the slider 751-3. By this configuration, the elastic member 753 is pressed when multiple sheets of paper P are folded, and the guide members 752 are pushed in a direction opposite to the movement direction of the folding blade 750. In this case, the elastic member 753 provides elasticity to push the guide members 752 towards the folding roller 720. Thus, when a single sheet of paper P is folded, and when multiple sheets of paper P are folded, the paper P may be stably pressed towards the folding roller 720.
Accordingly, the paper P may be stably inserted into the folding nip N as the guide members 752 are used, and thus a folding defect, e.g., crumpling of the paper P, which is caused by a wrong insertion of the paper P into the folding nip N, may be prevented.
The guide members 752 are useful during a second folding process or subsequent folding processes.
As illustrated in
The paper P discharged from the printer 100 is fed to the sheet folding device 700. While being fed, the paper P may be skewed. Also, the paper P may be skewed while being fed again to the folding path 710 along a guide path after the first folding. When the skewed paper P is folded, a folding line may be crooked.
In an example embodiment, the controller 800 drives the third motor 742 before second or subsequent folding is performed, and moves the location determination member 740 to the alignment location as indicated by the solid line of
The folding blade 750 is in a form of a thin plate. In order to push the paper P into the folding nip N, the folding blade 750 may be inserted into the folding nip N at the insertion location. In this case, when multiple sheets of paper P are folded at the same time, sharpness of the folding line is slightly affected by a thickness of the folding blade 750, but when a single sheet of paper P is folded, the sharpness of the folding line is more affected by the thickness of the folding blade 750.
In order to form a sharp folding line, the folding blade 750 may not be inserted into the folding nip N at the insertion location. For example, as illustrated in
In the structure for moving the folding blade 750 to the first insertion location, when multiple sheets of paper P are folded at the same time, separation in which a sheet close to the folding roller 720 from among the sheets of paper P is inserted into the folding nip N first may occur, and the other sheets of paper P may be sequentially inserted into the folding nip N. When multiple sheets of paper P are folded at the same time, the sharpness of the folding line is slightly affected by the thickness of the folding blade 750. Accordingly, when multiple sheets of paper P are folded at the same time, the folding blade 750 may be moved to a location (a second insertion location) where the folding blade 750 is inserted into the folding nip N, as illustrated in
The controller 800 may control the folding blade driver 751 such that the folding blade 750 is moved to the first insertion location when a single sheet of paper P is folded and the folding blade 750 is moved to the second insertion location when the multiple sheets of paper P are folded at the same time. For example, the controller 800 controls the first motor 751-1 such that the folding blade 750 is moved to the first insertion location when a single sheet of paper P is folded and the folding blade 750 is moved to the second insertion location when the multiple sheets of paper P are folded at the same time.
As another exemplary method of forming a sharp folding line, the folding blade 750 is inserted into the folding nip N at the insertion location, but when a single sheet of paper P is folded, before the folding blade 750 is inserted into the folding nip N, the paper P having pushed towards the folding nip N may be allowed to be naturally pushed into the folding nip N due to friction with the folding roller 720. Since the folding blade 750 is inserted into the folding nip N after the paper P is inserted into the folding nip N first and then the folding line is formed, a sharp folding line may be formed without being affected by the thickness of the folding blade 750. When the guide members 752 are used, the paper P is pushed by the guide members 752 towards the folding roller 720 as the folding blade 750 gets close to the folding nip N. Accordingly, the paper P may be stably inserted into the folding nip N before the folding blade 750 reaches the folding nip N.
The above exemplary method may be realized by controlling at least one of movement linear velocity of the folding blade 750 and rotation linear velocity of the folding roller 720. For example, when the movement linear velocity of the folding blade 750 is V1 and the rotation linear velocity of the folding roller 720 is V2, the controller 800 controls at least one of the folding roller 720 and the folding blade driver 751 so as to satisfy V1<V2 when a single sheet of paper P is folded. The above condition may be realized by fixing V1 and changing V2 or by changing V1 and fixing V2. Of course, both V1 and V2 may be changed.
When multiple sheets of paper P are folded at the same time, under a condition of V1<V2, separation in which a sheet close to the folding roller 720 from among the sheets of paper P is inserted into the folding nip N first may occur, and the other sheets of paper P may be sequentially inserted into the folding nip N. The separation may occur under a condition of V1=V2. In order to solve such a problem, when multiple sheets of paper P are folded at the same time, the controller 800 may control at least one of the folding roller 720 and the folding blade driver 751 to satisfy a condition of V1>V2. Such a condition may be realized by fixing V1 and changing V2 or by fixing V2 and changing V1. Of course, both V1 and V2 may be changed. Since the movement linear velocity of the folding blade 750 is higher than transfer velocity of the paper P by the folding roller 720, the folding blade 750 may be inserted into the folding nip N in a state in which the sheets of paper P are not separated. Accordingly, when multiple sheets of paper P are folded at the same time, separation may be prevented.
The controller 800 controls at least one of the first motor 751-1 and the second motor 723 so as to control a relation between V1 and V2 as described above. That is, when a single sheet of paper P is folded, the controller 800 may control at least one of the first motor 751-1 and the second motor 723 to satisfy the condition V1<V2, and when multiple sheets of paper P are folded at the same time, the controller 800 may control at least one of the first motor 751-1 and the second motor 723 to satisfy the condition V1>V2.
A structure for controlling the movement linear velocity of the folding blade 750 and the rotation linear velocity of the folding roller 720 may be rather simple compared to the above structure for controlling the insertion location of the folding blade 750. For example, in a case where the folding blade driver 751 having a slider-crank structure is used as illustrated in
Hereinafter, various examples of a paper folding method according to the above examples will be described. A V-fold will be described as an example of a 1-fold folding, a C-fold will be described as an example of a 2-fold folding, and a double gate fold will be described as an example of a 3-fold folding.
[V-Fold]
As indicated by a solid line of
As indicated by a dashed line of
[C-Fold]
Although not illustrated, the location determination member 740 is at the alignment location. The paper P discharged from the printer 100 is fed along the folding path 710. The front end PF of one sheet or multiple sheets of paper P is supported by the location determination member 740 that is at the alignment location, and thus skew may be corrected.
As illustrated in
The paper P having passed through the folding nip N is fed along a roller on an opposite side of the front end PF of the paper P from among the first and second rollers 721 and 722, that is, the first roller 721, and is returned to the entrance of the folding nip N. To this end, the first shift member 731 is at the first shift location, and the paper P having passed through the folding nip N is returned to the entrance of the folding nip N along the first guide path 761 (
Although not illustrated, the paper P fed along the folding path 710 in a forward direction is supported by the location determination member 740 that is at the alignment location, and skew is corrected.
The location determination member 740 is moved to the folding location such that a ⅔ L point of the paper P is located at the entrance of the folding nip N (
[Double Gate Fold]
Although not illustrated, the location determination member 740 is located at the alignment location. The paper P discharged from the printer 100 is fed along the folding path 710. The front end PF of one sheet or multiple sheets of paper P is supported by the location determination member 740 that is at the alignment location, and thus skew is corrected.
As illustrated in
The paper P having passed through the folding nip N is fed along a roller on an opposite side of the front end PF of the paper P from among the first and second rollers 721 and 722, that is, the first roller 721, and is returned to the entrance of the folding nip N. To this end, the first shift member 731 is at the first shift location, and the paper P having passed through the folding nip N is returned to the entrance of the folding nip N along the first guide path 761 (
Although not illustrated, the paper P fed along the folding path 710 in a forward direction is supported by the location determination member 740, and thus skew is corrected.
Next, the location determination member 740 is moved to the folding location such that a ¾ L point of the paper P is located at the entrance of the folding nip N (
The paper P having passed through the folding nip N is fed along a roller on an opposite side of the front end PF of the paper P from among the first and second rollers 721 and 722, that is, the second roller 722, and is returned to the entrance of the folding nip N. To this end, the second shift member 732 is at the second shift location, and the paper P having passed through the folding nip N is returned to the entrance of the folding nip N along the second guide path 762 (
Although not illustrated, the paper P fed along the folding path 710 in a reverse direction is supported by the location determination member 740 that is at the alignment location, and skew is corrected.
The location determination member 740 is moved to the folding location such that a ½ L point of the paper P is located at the entrance of the folding nip N (
Other than the above-described folding methods, a 4-fold folding, a Z-fold, a W-fold, a roll fold may be available.
The examples of
The guide members 752 and the elastic member 753 which are described above may be applied to at least one of the first folding blade 750-1 and the second folding blade 750-2. The guide members 752 and the elastic member 753 are useful after folding is performed twice, and thus, if the guide members 752 and the elastic member 753 are applied to at least one of the first folding blade 750-1 and the second folding blade 750-2, it may be effective to apply the guide members 752 and the elastic member 753 to the second folding blade 750-2. Also, at least one of rotation linear velocity of the first and second folding rollers 720-1 and 720-2 and movement linear velocity of the first and second folding blades 750-1 and 750-2 may be controlled as described above, depending on the number of sheets of paper P which are folded at the same time. In addition, the insertion locations of the first folding blade 750-1 and the second folding blade 750-2 may be controlled as first and second insertion locations as described above, depending on the number of sheets of paper P which are folded at the same time.
The guide members 752 and the elastic member 753 which are described above may be applied to at least one of the first folding blade 750-1 and the second folding blade 750-2. The guide members 752 and the elastic member 753 are useful after folding is performed twice, and thus, if the guide members 752 and the elastic member 753 are applied to at least one of the first folding blade 750-1 and the second folding blade 750-2, it may be effective to apply the guide members 752 and the elastic member 753 to the second folding blade 750-2. Also, at least one of the rotation linear velocity of the first and second folding rollers 720-1 and 720-2 and the movement linear velocity of the first and second folding blades 750-1 and 750-2 may be controlled as described above, depending on the number of sheets of paper P which are folded at the same time. In addition, the insertion locations of the first folding blade 750-1 and the second folding blade 750-2 may be controlled as first and second insertion locations as described above, depending on the number of sheets of paper P which are folded at the same time.
It should be understood that examples described herein should be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects within each example should typically be considered as available for other similar features or aspects in other examples.
While one or more examples have been described with reference to the drawings, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventive concept as defined by the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2017-0108849 | Aug 2017 | KR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/KR2018/002867 | 3/12/2018 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2019/045207 | 3/7/2019 | WO | A |
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