Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a book binding device that binds papers ejected from a sheet processing unit such as a printer and a copy machine, and more particularly, to a milling unit of a book binding device, which removes a coating material adhered to cutting surfaces of coating sheets before a tape is adhered to the coating sheets so as not to generate any adhesion defect of the tape due to the coating material remaining on the cutting surfaces of the coating sheets during binding of the coating sheets. 
     2. Discussion of the Related Art 
     Generally, a sheet processing unit  1 , as illustrated in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 4 , includes a sheet carrying unit  2 , a sheet aligning unit  3 , a binding product conveying unit  4 , a receiving stacker  8 , and a binding device  5 . If sheets are carried in toward the sheet aligning unit  3  through the sheet carrying unit  2 , a predetermined number of sheets are stacked on a tray  16  and then are fed to the binding device  5 . Ends of a bunch of the sheets fed to the binding device are aligned based on a sheet aligning plate  21  and then are subjected to binding in a state that the sheets are fixed by a gripper  22 . 
     After the bunch of sheets  20  is moved to the binding device, a binding tape  33  is fed to a tape heating unit  25 , and heat is given to the tape fed to the tape heating unit so that an adhesive surface  33   a  of the tap is adhered to the end of the bunch of sheets  20 , whereby a binding process of the bunch of sheets is performed. 
     The table heating unit  25  of the conventional book binding device, as illustrated in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 5 , includes a square shaped heater  27  provided to rotate based on a support shaft  13 . The square shaped heater  27  includes planes A, B and C orthogonal to one another, wherein the plane B opposes the plane A, and the places C and B are selectively located on a front surface by rotation of the support shaft  13 . 
     Furthermore, it is configured that the distance D 1  between the plane B and the support shaft  13  is smaller than the distance D 1  between the plane C and the support shaft  13 . 
     In a state that the plane C of the heater  27  is located on the front surface, the tape  33  is fed to a place substantially parallel with the plane A of the heater through a tape feeding unit  15 . After the bunch of sheets  20  is moved to an adhesion place of the tape  33  in a state that the bunch of sheets  20  is gripped by a gripper (not shown), the end of the bunch of sheets  20  is tightly adhered to the plane A of the heater  27  together with the tape  33 . 
     If a part of the tape  33  is pressed by the plane A of the heater  27  and adhered to the end of the bunch of sheets  20 , the tape feeding unit  15  moves to its original place so as not to disturb the binding process. 
     The binding process will be described in more detail. As illustrated in step {circle around (1)} of  FIG. 5 , the tape  33  is pressed onto the plane A of the heated heater  27  and welded to a top end of the bunch of sheets  20 . 
     Subsequently, after the tape feeding unit  15  is moved to its original place, the binding process of the bunch of sheets  20  is performed by the steps of {circle around (2)} descending the bunch of sheets  20  from the heater at a predetermined interval, {circle around (3)} rotating the heater  20  by 90° toward an arrow so that the plane B is located toward the front surface, {circle around (4)} welding the tape  33  to a side of the bunch of sheets  20  by ascending the bunch of sheets  20 , which has descended at a predetermined interval, toward the heater  27 , to weld the tape  33  to a side of the bunch of sheets  20 , {circle around (5)} upwardly moving the bunch of sheets  20  of which side is welded to the tape, and {circle around (6)} rotating the heater  27  to its original place to adhere the other end of the bunch of sheets  20  to the tape  33  by means of heat of the plane B. 
     However, if the coating sheets are subjected to binding using the aforementioned binding device, a part P where a coating material constituting upper and low coating layers  11   a  and  11   b  of the coating sheet  11  is pushed to a lower end layer of the coating sheets by a cutter blade is formed during a cutting process using a cutter. For this reason, a problem occurs in that adhesion between the cutting surface of the coating sheet and the tape is remarkably deteriorated. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a book binding device, which substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art. 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a milling unit of a book binding device, which removes a coating material adhered to cutting surfaces of coating sheets before a tape is adhered to the coating sheets, thereby increasing an adhesive surface between the coating sheets and the tape. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a book binding device that does not reduce adhesion of a tape and binding quality even in the case that a binding process is performed using coating sheets. 
     Other object of the present invention is to provide a milling unit of a book binding device, which can selectively mill a section of a tape adhesive part of a bunch of binding sheets in accordance with general sheets or coating sheets. 
     Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the scheme particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. 
     To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a book binding device binding a bunch of sheets fed from a sheet aligning unit comprises a sheet aligning plate aligning a section of the bunch of sheets fed from the sheet aligning unit; a gripper fixing the bunch of sheets aligned by the sheet aligning plate; an adhesive unit feeding an adhesive member to the section of the bunch of sheets to bind the bunch of sheets; and a milling unit milling the section of the bunch of sheets before the bunch of sheets is subjected to binding by the adhesive unit. 
     The milling unit includes a drum type cutting tool cutting the section of the bunch of sheets, a cutting tool moving rod moving the cutting tool along the section of the bunch of sheets, and a driving motor rotating the cutting tool. 
     The cutting tool moving rod is provided with an earth powder tub at a lower part. 
     The earth powder tub is provided with an earth powder suction fan. 
     The adhesive unit includes a tape feeding unit feeding an adhesive tape to the section of the bunch of sheets, and a tape heating unit heating the tape fed by the tape feeding unit to adhere the tape to the section of the bunch of sheets. 
     The drum type cutting tool is provided with a plurality of cutting blades arranged radially. 
     The drum type cutting tool is provided to forward and retract in an orthogonal direction of the cutting tool moving rod, so as to adjust a milling thickness of the bunch of sheets. 
     According to the book binding device of the present invention, since the milling unit that can mill the section of the bunch of sheets is provide, an adhesion force equivalent to binding of general sheets can be maintained even in the case that coating sheets are subjected to binding, whereby binding quality is not deteriorated. 
     Also, since the section of the bunch of sheets is cut densely by rotation of the cutting tool when the section of the bunch of sheets is milled, an adhesive area between the adhesive and the bunch of sheets increases, whereby the adhesive force increases. 
     Finally, it is possible to obtain the book binding device of an improved function without complicating the device or modifying its structure. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTACHED DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a structure of a general sheet processing apparatus; 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view illustrating a structure of a general binding device; 
         FIG. 3  is an elevational view illustrating a book binding device that includes a general tape feeding unit and a tape heating unit; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a binding state of a bunch of general sheets; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating a binding process using a general book binding device; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating a sectional structure of a general coating sheet; 
         FIG. 7  is a sectional view illustrating a book binding device according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is an elevational view illustrating a coupling structure of a milling unit, a sheet aligning plate and a gripper of a book binding device according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a side view of  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is an elevational view illustrating a milling unit of a book binding device according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 11  is an elevational view illustrating a state that a drum type cutting tool of a milling unit according to the present invention is moved along a cutting tool moving rod; 
         FIG. 12   a  and  FIG. 12   b  are diagrams illustrating an operation procedure of a milling unit according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 13  is an elevational view illustrating a milling unit of a book binding device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 *Description of reference  
               
               
                 numerals of main parts in the drawings 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                  1 
                 sheet processing unit 
               
               
                   
                  2 
                 sheet carrying unit 
               
               
                   
                  3 
                 sheet aligning unit 
               
               
                   
                  4 
                 binding product conveying unit 
               
               
                   
                  5, 105 
                 binding device 
               
               
                   
                  8 
                 receiving stacker 
               
               
                   
                 13 
                 support shaft 
               
               
                   
                 15 
                 tape feeding unit 
               
               
                   
                 16 
                 tray 
               
               
                   
                 20 
                 bunch of sheets 
               
               
                   
                 21 
                 sheet aligning plate 
               
               
                   
                 22 
                 gripper 
               
               
                   
                 22a 
                 gripper ascending rotational shaft 
               
               
                   
                 25 
                 tape heating unit 
               
               
                   
                 27 
                 heater 
               
               
                   
                 29 
                 cutting blade 
               
               
                   
                 33 
                 tape 
               
               
                   
                 33a 
                 adhesive 
               
               
                   
                 40 
                 milling unit 
               
               
                   
                 41 
                 drum type cutting tool 
               
               
                   
                 42 
                 cutting tool moving rod 
               
               
                   
                 43 
                 support rod 
               
               
                   
                 44 
                 earth powder tub 
               
               
                   
                 45 
                 pulley 
               
               
                   
                 46 
                 driving motor 
               
               
                   
                 47 
                 earth powder suction fan 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
     Hereinafter, technical configuration and operation of a book binding device according to the present invention will be described with reference to  FIG. 7  to  FIG. 13 . 
       FIG. 7  is a sectional view illustrating a book binding device according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 8  is an elevational view illustrating a coupling structure of a milling unit, a sheet aligning plate and a gripper of a book binding device according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 9  is a side view of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 10  is an elevational view illustrating a milling unit of a book binding device according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 11  is an elevational view illustrating a state that a drum type cutting tool of a milling unit according to the present invention is moved along a cutting tool moving rod; 
       FIG. 12   a  and  FIG. 12   b  are diagrams illustrating an operation procedure of a milling unit according to the present invention; and 
       FIG. 13  is an elevational view illustrating a milling unit of a book binding device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     In  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9 , a tape feeding unit and a tape heating unit are not illustrated to avoid complexity of the drawings. 
     A book binding device  105  according to the present invention, as illustrated in  FIG. 7  to  FIG. 11 , includes a sheet aligning plate  21 , a gripper  22 , a tape feeding unit  15 , a tape heating unit  25 , and a milling unit  40 . 
     The sheet aligning plate  21  aligns the end of a bunch of sheets  20  fed to the binding device, and is fixed to a rotational shaft  21   a  to rotatably move to a place where adhesion of a tape  33  is not disturbed when the tape  33  is adhered to the end of the bunch of sheets  20 . In other words, if the bunch of sheets  20  descends without being gripped by the gripper  22  after passing through the gripper  22  in a state that the sheet aligning plate  21  is rotated to allow its plane to be parallel with the end surface of the bunch of sheets, the sheet aligning plate  21  serves to align the end of the bunch of sheets. After the end of the bunch of sheets  20  is aligned in contact with the sheet aligning plate  21 , the gripper  22  fixes the aligned end of the bunch of sheets  20  by gripping it. Then, if a gripper ascending rotational shaft  22   a  is driven to upwardly move the gripper  22 , which grips the bunch of sheets  20 , along an ascending guide  60 , the sheet aligning plate  21  rotatably moves to a place below the gripper  22 . 
     If the gripper  22  that fixes the bunch of sheets  20  as above ascends and the sheet aligning plate  21  rotates to expose the gripped end of the bunch of sheets  20 , the milling unit  40  is driven to mill the end surface of the bunch of sheets  20 . 
     The mill unit  40  includes a drum type cutting tool  41 , a cutting tool moving rod  42  constituting a moving path of the cutting tool, and a driving motor  46  driving the cutting tool. The cutting tool moving rod  42  includes a screw type rod, and rotates by means of a rotation force of a belt (not shown) secured to a pulley  45  to move the drum type cutting tool  41  in parallel with the cutting tool moving rod  42  in both directions. 
     A support rod  43  supported in parallel with the upper part of the cutting tool moving rod  42  serves to firmly support the drum type cutting tool  42  when the drum type cutting tool  42  moves in both directions, thereby guiding the drum type cutting tool  42  to slidably move. 
     The drum type cutting tool  41  is provided with a plurality of cutting blades  29  radially arranged. If the end of the bunch of sheets is exposed after the sheet aligning plate  21  is rotated in a state that the drum type cutting tool  41  is located at the end of a side of the bunch of sheets  20 , the drum type cutting tool  41  rotates with moving to the right side along the cutting tool moving rod  42  and the support rod  43  to uniformly and densely mill the gripped end of the bunch of sheets  20  at about 0.2˜0.3 mm, thereby removing the coating material P adhered to the end of the bunch of sheets. 
     Rotation of the drum type cutting tool  41  is performed by the driving motor  46 . 
     Of course, if the bunch of sheets is not the bunch of coating sheets, the milling unit  40  of the present invention can be maintained in a standby mode without being driven. 
     Furthermore, the structure of the milling unit  40  according to the present invention as illustrated in  FIG. 7  to  FIG. 11  has been described that the drum type cutting tool  41  moves in both directions only and movement to the end of the bunch of sheets, i.e., milling thickness (width) of the end of the bunch of sheets is not adjusted optionally. However, the structure of the milling unit  40  is not limited to the structure illustrated in  FIG. 7  to  FIG. 11 , and its design may be modified in such a manner that a separate moving unit and rail are provided as illustrated in  FIG. 13  so as to move the cutting tool  41  to move the end of the bunch of sheets. 
     In order that a worker optionally adjusts the milling thickness of the bunch of sheets, a technical mechanism that can forward and retract the drum type cutting tool  41  in an orthogonal direction of the cutting tool moving rod  42  is additionally required. For example, the technical mechanism can be configured in the structure of  FIG. 13 . 
     An earth powder tub  44  can be provided at a lower region of the cutting tool moving rod  42  of the aforementioned milling unit. The earth powder tub  44  can be provided with an earth powder suction fan  47  that sucks the earth powder cut by the cutting tool to store the sucked earth powder therein. 
     After the aforementioned milling unit  40  is driven, the milling unit  40  moves to its original place, and the binding process of adhering the tape  33  to the end of the bundle of sheets is performed using the tape feeding unit  15  and the tape heating unit  25 . 
     The tape feeding unit  15  and the tape heating unit  25  constituting the adhesive unit are not limited to the structure illustrated in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 5 . All types of units that can bind the bunch of sheets  20  using the adhesive can be used as the tape feeding unit  15  and the tape heating unit  25 , and can be applied to the book binding device of the present invention. 
     The operation of the aforementioned milling unit  40  according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 12   a  and  FIG. 12   b.    
     First of all,  FIG. 12   a  illustrates a state before the drum type cutting tool  41  of the milling unit according to the present invention is driven. The sheet aligning plate  21  is detached from the end of the bunch of sheets  20  and then located below the gripper  22 . 
     If the end of the bunch of sheets  20  is fixed by the gripper  22  and then exposed, the drum type cutting tool  41  of the milling unit starts to be driven. 
     When the gripper  22  that has fixed the bunch of sheets  20  moves to the height position of the drum type cutting tool  41 , it is preferable to obtain a sufficient rotation space so that the sheet aligning plate  21  is rotated without being gripped by the gripper  22  to expose the end of the bunch of sheets. However, if the sufficient rotation space is not obtained due to a wide width of the sheet aligning plate  21 , the gripper  22  may ascend sufficiently and then the sheet aligning plate  21  may rotate. Subsequently, if the end of the bunch of sheets fixed by gripper is exposed as the sheet aligning plate  21  rotates, the gripper  22  may descend to the height position of the drum type cutting tool  41 . 
     If the end of the bunch of sheets  20  gripped at the height of the drum type cutting tool  41  moves, the drum type cutting tool  41  rotates to mill the end of the bunch of sheets at 0.2!0.3 mm and moves to the right side as illustrated in  FIG. 12   b.    
     After the end of the bunch of sheets is milled as above, the binding process of adhering the tape  33  to the end of the bunch of sheets is performed in the same manner as the related art. 
     The foregoing embodiments are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. The description of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Technology Category: 7