Patent Publication Number: US-10786892-B2

Title: Stapling device

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a stapling device that staples a plurality of sheets of paper together with a staple. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Stapling devices which staple a plurality of sheets of paper together with a staple and which are referred to as, for example, staplers, are designed to deliver a U-shaped staple, pierce legs of the staple through the sheets of paper, and fasten the sheets of paper together with ends of the staple bent with a clincher. Examples of such stapling devices include a so-called “eyeglass-clinch” stapling device, which bends legs of a staple in the bending process described above such that the orientations of the ends of the staple are changed by 90° or more. In this type of stapling device, the ends of the staple are folded back to face the sheets of paper. This can make it less likely for the ends to touch something else such as human&#39;s finger. On the other hand, a so-called “flat-clinch” stapling device has been also known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the flat-clinch stapling device, setting the timing when a clincher operates to be different from that of the eyeglass-clinch stapling device allows portions of the staple near the root of legs thereof to be bent by about 90° with distal end portions of the legs of the staple kept substantially straight. This can reduce the total thickness of the stapled sheets of paper. 
     CITATION LIST 
     Patent Documents 
     [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-285770 
     SUMMARY 
     Technical Problem 
     However, clinchers of the eyeglass-clinch stapling device and the flat-clinch stapling device operate in different ways. This makes it impossible for a single stapling device to function as both eyeglass-clinch and flat-clinch stapling devices. 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to allow a single stapling device to easily function as both eyeglass-clinch and flat-clinch stapling devices. 
     Solution to the Problem 
     A stapling device according to a first aspect of the invention includes:
         a staple delivering portion delivering a staple;   a supporting table for paper; and   a clincher bending legs of the staple. The staple delivering portion, the supporting table, and the clincher are relatively movable. The stapling device further includes a controller variably controlling timings when the staple delivering portion and the clincher move relative to the supporting table.       

     A second aspect of the invention is an embodiment of the first aspect of the invention. The controller is switchable between first timing control to bring the clincher into contact with the supporting table or the paper at a timing earlier than a timing when the staple pierces the paper, and second timing control to bring the clincher into contact with the supporting table or the paper at a timing later than the timing when the staple pierces the paper. 
     A third aspect of the invention is an embodiment of the second aspect of the invention. The first timing control is performed to bring the clincher into contact with the supporting table or the paper at a timing that allows the staple to be clinched in an eyeglass-clinching manner. 
     A fourth aspect of the invention is an embodiment of the second aspect of the invention. The second timing control is performed to bring the clincher into contact with the supporting table or the paper at a timing that allows the staple to be clinched in an flat-clinching manner. 
     According to these aspects, operating the staple delivering portion and the clincher at different timings allows the single stapling device to perform a stapling operation in two modes, namely, flat-clinch and eyeglass-clinch modes. 
     A fifth aspect of the invention is an embodiment of any one of the first through fourth aspects of the invention. The stapling device further includes a motor driving at least one of the staple delivering portion, the supporting table, or the clincher. The controller is configured to control an operating timing of the motor. 
     According to this aspect, simply changing the operating timing while operations are performed in the same sequence allows easy switching between the stapling modes as described above. 
     Advantages of the Invention 
     According to the present invention, a single stapling device can easily function as both an eyeglass-clinch stapling device and a flat-clinch stapling device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a major portion of a stapling device. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of a major portion of a stapling device. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of a major portion of a stapling device. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view taken along line V-V shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a side view illustrating the process of operating a stapling device. 
         FIG. 7  is a front view illustrating the process of operating a stapling device. 
         FIG. 8  is a timing chart showing the timings when components of a stapling device operate in a flat-clinch mode. 
         FIG. 9  is a timing chart showing the timings when components of a stapling device operate in an eyeglass-clinch mode. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 
     (Configuration for Stapling Device) 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 5 , a stapling device includes a body and a clincher unit  130 . The body is disposed above a platform  141  (a supporting table) on which sheets of paper are placed, and includes a base block unit  110  and a knock pin unit  120 . The clincher unit  130  is disposed below the platform  141 . 
     The base block unit  110  is designed to retain staples  301 . As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the base block unit  110  itself is vertically movable, and is designed to guide the knock pin unit  120  so that the knock pin unit  120  is vertically movable. The base block unit  110  includes a base block  111 , a presser plate  112 , and a staple guide  114 . The base block  111  has a knock pin guide groove  111   a  which vertically guides a knock pin  121  (a staple delivering portion) of the knock pin unit  120 . The presser plate  112  is attached to the base block to cover the knock pin guide groove  111   a , and is fixed with bolts  113 . The staple guide  114  is also attached to the base block unit  110  with, for example, a bracket (not shown for simplicity). The staple guide  114  retains the staples  301 , and guides them toward a destination. 
     The knock pin unit  120  includes a knock pin  121 , and a support block  122  to which the knock pin  121  is attached with a wing screw  123 . The knock pin  121  delivers each of the staples  301  to the paper. A pair of slide shafts  124  are attached to the support block  122  with respective bolts  125 , and are slidably guided through respective shaft guide holes  111   b  of the base block  111 . This allows the support block  122  to move vertically. In addition, the support block  122  is biased upward by springs  126 . 
     The clincher unit  130  includes a vertically movable support plate  132 , and a clincher  131  attached to the support plate  132 . A clinch groove  131   a  of the clincher  131  is used to bend end portions of one of the staples  301  protruding through an opening  141   a  of the platform  141 , thus making it possible to staple the sheets of paper. 
     The knock pin unit  120  and the clincher unit  130  are driven by a knock pin drive motor  210  and a clincher drive motor  220 , respectively, to move upward and downward. The base block unit  110  moves upward and downward together with the knock pin unit  120  while being in non-contact with the paper. The motors  210  and  220  are controlled at respective independent timings by an operation timing controller  230  as described later. 
     (Operation of Stapling Device: Flat Clinching) If the stapling device configured as described above operates in a flat-clinch mode, the operation timing controller  230  controls the motors  210  and  220  so that operations shown in  FIG. 8  and indicated below are performed. 
     (a) First, the base block  111  and the knock pin  121  move downward at the same timing. Likewise, the staples  301  move downward in synchronization with the downward movement of the base block  111 . 
     (b) The base block  111  stops when its lower end moves down to paper. Meanwhile, the knock pin  121  keeps moving downward. Thus, a leading one of the staples  301  is separated from the other staples to move downward together with the knock pin  121 . 
     (c) After a while, end portions of the leading staple  301  reach the paper. Even after that, the leading staple  301  keeps moving downward in synchronization with the downward movement of the knock pin  121 , and reaches a position where the leading staple  301  pierces the paper. 
     (d) The clincher  131  starts moving upward at a predetermined timing. The timing is set to be, for example, a timing when, after the end portions of the staple  301  reach their lowermost position, the clincher  131  has some leeway to come into contact with the staple  301 . 
     (e) The knock pin  121  and the staple  301  stops moving downward when reaching their lowermost positions. 
     (f) When moving upward to reach the end portions of the staple  301 , the clincher  131  starts bending the staple  301 , which is clinched in a flat-clinching manner. 
     (g) When the clincher  131  reaches its uppermost position to come into contact with the paper, the flat-clinching is completed, and the clincher  131  stops moving upward. 
     (h) The knock pin  121  starts moving upward, and the clincher  131  starts moving downward, in good time after the completion of the flat-clinching. The clincher  131  stops moving downward when reaching its lowermost position. 
     (i) In addition to the upward movement of the knock pin  121 , the base block  111  also starts moving upward to separate from the paper. 
     (j) When the knock pin  121  and the base block  111  return to their uppermost positions, they stop moving upward. The flat-clinching operation is thus completed. 
     (Operation of Stapling Device: Eyeglass Clinching) 
     If the stapling device operates in an eyeglass-clinch mode, the operation timing controller  230  controls the motors  210  and  220  so that operations shown in  FIG. 9  and indicated below are performed. This eyeglass-clinch mode is significantly different from the flat-clinch mode in that the clincher  131  moves upward in advance. 
     (a) The clincher  131  starts moving upward at a timing that allows the clincher  131  to rise to a height to come into contact with the paper sufficiently earlier than the timing when one of the staples  301  pierces the paper. 
     (b) The base block  111 , the knock pin  121 , and the staples  301  start moving downward as in the flat-clinch mode. 
     (c) The clincher  131  stops moving upward in good time as described above when reaching its uppermost position to come into contact with the paper. 
     (d) As in step (b) performed in the flat-clinch mode, the base block  111  stops when its lower end moves down to the paper, whereas the knock pin  121  keeps moving downward. A leading one of the staples  301  is separated from the other staples to move downward together with the knock pin  121 . 
     (e) After a while, end portions of the leading staple  301  reach the paper. After that, the clincher  131 , which has already moved upward as described above, starts bending the staple  301  in synchronization with the downward movement of the knock pin  121 , and the staple  301  is clinched in an eyeglass-clinching manner. 
     (f) The knock pin  121  stops moving downward when reaching its lowermost position. At this time, the eyeglass-clinching is completed. 
     (g) Operations similar to those performed in steps (h) to (j) in the flat-clinch mode are performed in the following steps. Specifically, the knock pin  121  starts moving upward, and the clincher  131  starts moving downward, in good time after the completion of the eyeglass-clinching. The clincher  131  stops moving downward when reaching its lowermost position. 
     (h) In addition to the upward movement of the knock pin  121 , the base block  111  also starts moving upward to separate from the paper. 
     (i) When the knock pin  121  and the base block  111  return to their uppermost positions, they stop moving upward, and the eyeglass-clinching is completed. 
     The configuration described above allows operations of the knock pin unit  120  and the clincher unit  130  to be independently controlled, and allows the knock pin unit  120  and the clincher unit  130  to operate at different timings. Thus, the single stapling device can perform a stapling operation in the two modes, namely, flat-clinch and eyeglass-clinch modes. In particular, the operation timing controller  230  controlling the motors  210  and  220  allows the knock pin unit  120  and the clincher unit  130  to be controlled at respective independent timings. This can facilitate the switching between the clinch modes. 
     Other Embodiments 
     Just like the flat-clinch mode, the clincher  131  does not always have to be vertically moved in the eyeglass-clinch mode as described above. For example, when the operating mode is switched to the eyeglass-clinch mode, the clincher  131  may be moved to a position to come into contact with paper, and fixed to that position while sheets of paper are stapled in the eyeglass-clinching manner. However, if the clincher  131  is vertically moved with every stapling operation as described above, qualitatively the same operations merely need to be performed at different timings in any stapling operation. This makes it easier to perform control. 
     The mechanical structure of the stapling device described above is merely an example. The stapling device may have any one of various structures having the same function. 
     The timings when the units operate are merely typical examples. The relative timings when the units operate, leeway in timing, the relative speeds at which the units operate, and other parameters merely need to be differently set depending on the quality and number of sheets of paper to be stapled, specifications of staples, and other factors. 
     Making the drive motors for the units controllable at respective independent timings as described above can facilitate switching between the clinch modes. However, this is merely an example. For example, even if the timings when the units operate are controlled by a mechanism such as a cam, mechanically changing this control makes it possible for the single stapling device to perform a stapling operation in the two modes. 
     DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS 
     
         
           110  Base Block Unit 
           111  Base Block 
           111   a  Knock Pin Guide Groove 
           111   b  Shaft Guide Hole 
           112  Presser Plate 
           113  Bolt 
           114  Staple Guide 
           120  Knock Pin Unit 
           121  Knock Pin 
           122  Support Block 
           123  Wing Screw 
           124  Slide Shaft 
           125  Bolt 
           126  Spring 
           130  Clincher Unit 
           131  Clincher 
           131   a  Clinch Groove 
           132  Support Plate 
           141  Platform 
           141   a  Opening 
           210  Knock Pin Drive Motor 
           220  Clincher Drive Motor 
           230  Operation Timing Controller 
           301  Staple