Cartridge for housing staples

Details Cartridge for housing staples Cartridge for housing staples

2001-06-05

2003-09-16

Rada, Rinaldi I. (Department: 3721)

Elongated-member-driving apparatus

With means to move or guide member into driving position

Including supply magazine for constantly urged members

C227S139000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06619528

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a cartridge for housing staples used to supply staples from a rolled sheet of staples to the sorter or finisher inside an image forming device such as a photocopier or printer.
BACKGROUND
The following is an explanation of the stapling operation of a prior art stapler with reference FIG.
1
through FIG.
5
.
FIG. 1
is a simplified drawing of a stapler of the prior art. The main body of the stapler consists of a frame G. A mounting unit
2
and a drive mechanism
4
are installed in the frame G.
A stapling unit
14
is attached to the mounting unit
2
with an installed cartridge
9
. A stack of paper (s) is placed under the stapling unit
14
and a staple
1
is driven through the stack of paper by the stapling unit
14
.
The stapling unit
14
is moved up and down by the drive mechanism
4
, and drives staples through stacks of paper (s).
The following is an explanation of the staples
1
and the cartridge
9
housing the staples with reference to FIG.
2
. The staples
1
used to staple documents are stored in a continuous sheet of staples (a). In other words, the staples
1
are fused together in a consecutive sheet of staples (a). The staples
1
are applied one by one to documents, where they are bent into an angular C-shape and detached from the sheet of staples (a).
The sheet of staples (a) is wound in a roll and housed inside a cartridge
9
. The cartridge
9
is equipped with a housing unit
10
for housing the rolled sheet of staples (a) and a guide unit
11
for guiding the end of the rolled sheet of staples (a) from the cartridge
9
. The housing unit
10
has an outer diameter that conforms to the rolled sheet of staples (a) and a round inner periphery.
The guide unit
11
for guiding the sheet of staples (a) is equipped with a pair of walls
11
a
,
11
a
held apart at a given interval, and a protrusion
11
b
moving horizontally between the walls
11
a
,
11
a
. The protrusion
11
b
has a reverse motion stopping tab
12
. The reverse motion stopping tab
12
has a tip that makes contact with the sheet of staples (a) advancing from the guide unit
11
.
Guide grooves
11
c
,
11
c
are formed on the inside surface of the walls
11
a
,
11
a
. The guide grooves
11
c
,
11
c
support the sheet of staples (a). The interval between the guide grooves
11
a
,
11
a
has an angular C-shape and is roughly the length of a staple
1
.
A guide tab
11
c
is located in the inner surface of the walls
11
a
,
11
a
, and this guide tab
11
c
prevents the sheet of staples (a) from rising off the base
11
h
of the guide unit
11
.
The walls
11
a
,
11
a
are also equipped with tip contacting units
13
,
13
for making contact with the main body of the device when the cartridge
9
is in the device. A catch
11
g
is situated on the base
11
h
of the guide unit
11
for keeping the cartridge
9
in a certain position inside the main body of the device.
What follows is a detailed explanation of a cartridge
9
installed in the mounting unit
2
with reference to FIG.
3
. The mounting unit
2
is attached to the frame G above the base
3
. The mounting unit
2
is attached to the shaft
8
on the frame G so as to be able to rotate freely.
When the cartridge
9
is installed in the mounting unit
2
, the catch
11
g
on the cartridge
9
is drawn into the lock unit
15
formed in the mounting unit
2
. The lock unit
15
is situated on the bottom of the mounting unit
2
and has a handle unit
15
a
, an elastic U-shaped unit
15
b
formed on the tip of the handle unit
15
a
, and a protrusion
15
c
protruding towards the bottom of the mounting unit
2
from the handle unit
15
a
. The tip U-shaped unit
15
b
is hung around the pin
16
on the base
3
.
When the cartridge
9
is installed in a mounting unit
2
with a lock unit
15
, the catch
11
g
on the cartridge
9
applies pressure to the protrusion
15
c
protruding towards the bottom of the mounting unit
2
, and surmounts the protrusion
15
c
. Having surmounted the protrusion
15
c
, the cartridge
9
cannot be released because the catch
7
engages the protrusion
15
c
. In other words, the cartridge
9
cannot be extracted from the mounting unit
2
because of the lock unit
15
.
When the cartridge
9
is removed from the mounting unit
2
, the handle unit
15
a
is pressed down manually. When the handle unit
15
a
is pressed down, the end of the U-shaped unit
15
b
is pressed into the pin
16
and the U-shaped unit
15
b
is bent. The protrusion
15
c
is then released by the catch
11
g
. In other words, the handle unit
15
a
is pressed down and the cartridge
9
is removed from the mounting unit
2
.
Also, when the cartridge
9
is installed in the mounting unit
2
, the end comes into contact with the stapling unit
14
. Here, the stapling unit
14
consists of a sheath bracket
17
, a former
18
and a driver
19
.
FIG. 4
is a detailed drawing of the stapling unit
14
. A depression
18
a
is formed in the bottom the former
18
, and a protrusion
18
b
is formed in the top of the former
18
. This forms shoulders
18
c
,
18
c
on both ends.
The driver
19
has a bottom end that is divided into three plates with a long plate
19
a
in the middle and short plates
19
b
,
19
b
on the ends. A protrusion
20
is formed in the middle plate
19
a
, and this protrusion
20
makes contact with the former
18
on the opposite end.
The end of the middle plate
19
a
protrudes into the depression
18
a
in the former
18
. The plates
19
b
,
19
b
on the ends are bent into a wedge shape, and the ends come into contact with the shoulders
18
c
,
18
c
on the former
18
.
A bending block
21
is situated in the depression
18
a
of the former
18
and engages it. The bending block
21
has sloping sections
21
b
,
21
b
on both ends of the protrusion
21
a
and the protrusion
21
a
engages the depression
18
a
in the former
18
.
As shown in
FIG. 3
, the bending block
21
is attached to the bottom of the mounting unit
2
via a spring
22
, which applies spring action to the left in the drawing. Push units
18
d
,
18
d
are established in the former
18
to make contact with the sloping units
21
b
,
21
b
in the bending block
21
. When the push units
18
d
,
18
d
make contact with the sloping units
21
b
,
21
b
, the spring
22
is coiled and the entire bending block
21
moves to the right in the drawing.
The top end of the driver
19
is fixed to the shaft
23
, and the shaft
23
is connected so the drive mechanism
4
can move it up and down as shown in FIG.
5
.
The front block
24
is attached to the shaft
23
, and the front block
24
is supported by the spring shaft
25
protruding from the mounting unit
2
so that it can slide. A spring
26
is placed on the spring shaft
25
so as to apply pressure to the mounting unit
2
and the front block
24
.
The mounting unit
2
is attached to the shaft
8
so it can rotate freely around the center. When the shaft
23
is raised, the front block
24
is also raised. When the shaft
23
is lowered, the mounting unit
2
is also lowered.
Therefore, when the front block
24
moves down, the mounting unit
2
moves down along the front block without compressing the spring
26
until the mounting unit
2
makes contact with the base
3
. However, after the mounting unit
2
makes contact with the base
3
, the spring
26
is compressed and the spring shaft
25
slides as the front block
24
moves down.
The raising and lowering of the stapling unit
14
and the mounting unit
2
by the drive mechanism
4
will now be explained in detail with reference to FIG.
5
.
The drive mechanism
4
is powered by a motor
27
, and the motor
27
is attached beneath the frame G. A long hole
5
is formed upward in the frame G, and a shaft
6
passes through the long hole
5
. The shaft
6
passing through the long hole
5
is pressed downward by a spring
7
as shown in the drawing.
The motor
27
attached beneath the frame G has a shaft that protrudes outward from the frame G and the protruding end of the shaft h

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