Sheet manufacturing apparatus

Abstract

The invention provides a sheet manufacturing apparatus which makes re-operation easy after paper jam occurs. The sheet manufacturing apparatus includes: a sheet forming unit that forms a belt-shaped sheet by stacking a fiber-containing material and then compressing the material; a conveyance unit having a plurality of conveyance rollers arranged side by side in a conveyance direction of a sheet in order to convey a belt-shaped sheet, a single sheet, and a sheet, the conveyance unit including: an upstream-side conveyance unit including a first conveyance roller group including a portion of the plurality of conveyance rollers; a downstream-side conveyance unit provided with a second conveyance roller group including a plurality of conveyance rollers provided on the downstream side in the conveyance direction with respect to the first conveyance roller group among the plurality of conveyance rollers; and a sheet sensor that detects an abnormality in sheet conveyance in the conveyance unit, and the upstream-side conveyance unit is provided with an opening mechanism that performs an opening operation when the sheet sensor detects the abnormality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a sheet manufacturing apparatus. Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there has been known an apparatus for manufacturing a sheet using fibers obtained by defibrating waste paper or the like in air. For example, in Patent Document 1, there is disclosed a sheet manufacturing apparatus in which the operation of each part is stopped and the timing is optimized when the operation is stopped.

[0003] However, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that it takes time to restart the operation after a paper jam occurs. Specifically, in the above-described apparatus, a plurality of mechanisms responsible for each process such as defibrating, stacking, and sheet forming are interlocked. Although the process of stopping each mechanism and the timing are optimized, when a paper jam occurs, there is a case where the operation is immediately stopped in order to prevent damage to each mechanism. In this case, since there are materials or semi-finished products such as defibrated materials of unknown residual amounts in each mechanism, it is difficult to stabilize the quality of the manufactured sheet if the apparatus is restarted in this state. In addition, the restart sometimes requires the response of a professional service person. The following invention is designed to solve the above problems.

[0004] Patent Document 1: WO2018 / 043030 Summary of the Invention

[0005] The sheet manufacturing apparatus includes: a sheet forming unit that compresses a material containing fibers after stacking the material to form a sheet; a conveying unit that has a plurality of conveying rollers arranged along the conveying direction of the sheet for conveying the sheet, the conveying unit including: an upstream conveying unit having a first conveying roller group including a part of the plurality of conveying rollers; a downstream conveying unit having a second conveying roller group including the plurality of conveying rollers disposed on the downstream side in the conveying direction with respect to the first conveying roller group; an abnormality detection sensor that detects an abnormality in the sheet conveyance in the conveying unit, and the upstream conveying unit has an opening mechanism that performs an opening operation when the abnormality detection sensor detects the abnormality. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0006] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing the structure of the sheet manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment.

[0007] Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing the structure of the conveying unit.

[0008] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the upstream conveying unit.

[0009] Figure 4 It is a flowchart showing each step of the opening operation.

[0010] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram showing the opening operation of the upstream conveying unit and the function of the sheet avoiding portion. Detailed implementation mode

[0011] In the following implementation mode, as a sheet manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, a sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 that regenerates waste paper and the like into sheets in a dry manner is illustrated. Hereinafter, the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. The sheet manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to dry type and may also be wet type. In this specification, dry type means a process that is carried out not in a liquid but in air such as the atmosphere.

[0012] In the following respective drawings, the XYZ axes are marked as mutually orthogonal coordinate axes, the direction indicated by each arrow mark is set as the + direction, and the direction opposite to the + direction is set as the - direction. The Z axis is an imaginary axis along the vertical direction, the +Z direction is set as the upper side, and the -Z direction is set as the lower side. The -Z direction is the direction in which the gravitational force acts. In addition, in the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1, the target side in the conveying direction of materials, sheets, and sheets, etc. is called the downstream, and the side in the backward conveying direction is called the upstream. For the convenience of illustration, the sizes of the respective components are made different from the actual situation.

[0013] As Figure 1 shown, the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 according to the present implementation mode includes a first unit group 101, a second unit group 102, and a third unit group 103. The first unit group 101, the second unit group 102, and the third unit group 103 are supported on a frame (not shown). In Figure 1 it, the moving directions of the paper sheet C, the sheet P3, the strip sheet S, and useless end materials, etc. are shown by white hollow arrow marks. In the following description, the aggregate of paper sheets C composed of a plurality of paper sheets C is also simply called the paper sheet C.

[0014] The sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 manufactures the sheet P3 from paper sheets C such as waste paper. In the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1, when viewed from the side in the -X direction, the first unit group 101, the third unit group 103, and the second unit group 102 are arranged in a manner facing from the -Y direction to the +Y direction.

[0015] The paper sheet C is conveyed from the first unit group 101 to the second unit group 102 via the pipe 21 passing through the third unit group 103. Moreover, after the paper sheet C is defibrated etc. in the second unit group 102 to become fibers, it is formed into a mixture containing an adhesive material etc. The mixture is conveyed to the third unit group 103 via the pipe 24. After the mixture is formed into a sheet W in the third unit group 103, it is formed into a strip-shaped thin sheet P1. The strip-shaped thin sheet P1 is cut in the first unit group 101 to become the thin sheet P3.

[0016] The first unit group 101 includes a raw material supply device 13, a measurement unit 15, a converging unit 17, and a pipe 21. In the first unit group 101, these structures are arranged in the above-mentioned order from upstream to downstream. In addition, the first unit group 101 also includes a downstream conveying unit 82 in the conveying unit 80, a tray 191, and a chopping unit 913.

[0017] The downstream conveying unit 82 has a first cutting part 832 and a second cutting part 834. The first cutting part 832 cuts the strip-shaped thin sheet P1 into single-sheet thin sheets P2. The second cutting part 834 cuts the single-sheet thin sheet P2 into thin sheets P3 of a predetermined shape. The first cutting part 832 and the second cutting part 834 are an example of the shearing device of the present invention.

[0018] In addition, the first unit group 101 has a water supply part 67. The water supply part 67 is a water storage tank. The water supply part 67 supplies humidifying water to a first humidifying part 65 and a second humidifying part 66 described later respectively by a water supply pipe (not shown).

[0019] The raw material supply device 13 stores the paper sheet C which is the raw material of the thin sheet P3, and supplies it downstream. The raw material supply device 13 has a raw material inlet 131, a storage part 132, and a discharge part 140.

[0020] The paper sheet C is put into the storage part 132 from the raw material inlet 131. The paper sheet C contains fibers such as cellulose and is, for example, shredded waste paper. Inside the storage part 132, humidified air is supplied from the second humidifying part 66 provided in the third unit group 103.

[0021] After the paper sheet C is temporarily stored in the storage part 132, it is conveyed to the measurement unit 15 via the discharge part 140. The thin sheet manufacturing device 1 may also have a crusher for shredding the paper sheet C etc. on the upstream side of the storage part 132.

[0022] The measurement unit 15 includes a sensor unit 15a and a supply mechanism (not shown). The sensor unit 15a measures the mass of the paper sheet C. The supply mechanism supplies the paper sheet C, which has been measured in the sensor unit 15a, to the downstream merging unit 17. That is, the measurement unit 15 measures the paper sheet C in the sensor unit 15a according to each predetermined mass, and supplies it to the downstream merging unit 17 using the supply mechanism.

[0023] In the sensor unit 15a, any metering mechanism of digital type and analog type can be applied. Specifically, as the sensor unit 15a, physical sensors such as load sensors, spring scales, and balances can be cited. In the present embodiment, a load sensor is applied as the sensor unit 15a. The predetermined mass for which the sensor unit 15a measures the paper sheet C is, for example, about several grams to several tens of grams.

[0024] In the supply mechanism, well-known techniques such as an openable and closable feeder can be applied. The supply mechanism may also be a structure included in the sensor unit 15a.

[0025] The measurement and supply of the paper sheet C in the measurement unit 15 are batch processes. That is, the supply of the paper sheet C from the measurement unit 15 to the merging unit 17 is intermittently performed. The measurement unit 15 may have a combination of multiple sensor units 15a and supply mechanisms, or may operate multiple sensor units 15a at staggered times to improve the efficiency of measurement and supply. The sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 has two sensor units 15a and supply mechanisms respectively attached thereto. Thus, the paper sheet C is alternately transported to the merging unit 17 by the two sets of sensor units 15a and supply mechanisms.

[0026] In the merging unit 17, the cut pieces of the shredded strips S supplied from the shredding unit 913 are merged and mixed with the paper sheet C supplied from the measurement unit 15. The shredded strips S and the shredding unit 913 will be described later. The paper sheet C mixed with the cut pieces flows into the pipe 21 from the merging unit 17.

[0027] The pipe 21 transports the paper sheet C from the first unit group 101 to the second unit group 102 by the suction air flow generated by the downstream defibrating unit 31.

[0028] The second unit group 102 includes a defibrating unit 31 as a dry defibrator, a separating unit 32, a pipe 23, a mixing unit 33, and a pipe 24. In the second unit group 102, these structures are arranged in the above order from upstream to downstream. In addition, the second unit group 102 also has a pipe 25 connected to the separating unit 32, a recovery unit 35, a compressor 38, and a power supply unit 39.

[0029] The paper sheet C conveyed by the pipe 21 flows into the defibrillation unit 31. The defibrillation unit 31 defibrillates the paper sheet C supplied from the measurement unit 15 in a dry manner to turn it into fibers. In the defibrillation unit 31, a known defibrillation mechanism can be applied.

[0030] As the defibrillation unit 31, for example, the following structure can be cited. The defibrillation unit 31 includes a stator and an impeller. The stator has a substantially cylindrical inner surface. The impeller is disposed inside the stator and rotates along the inner surface of the stator. Fragments of the paper sheet C are clamped between the inner surface of the stator and the impeller, and are defibrillated by the shear stress generated therebetween. Thus, the entangled fibers contained in the paper sheet of the paper sheet C are unraveled. The paper sheet C is formed into fibers and conveyed to the separation unit 32.

[0031] The separation unit 32 differentiates the defibrillated fibers. Specifically, the separation unit 32 removes the components that are useless in the manufacture of the thin sheet P3 contained in the fibers. Specifically, the separation unit 32 differentiates the longer fibers and the shorter fibers. Since the shorter fibers may cause a reduction in the strength of the thin sheet P3, they are differentiated in the separation unit 32. In addition, the separation unit 32 also differentiates and excludes the color materials, additives, etc. contained in the paper sheet C. In the separation unit 32, a known technique such as the disk mesh method can be applied.

[0032] Inside the separation unit 32, humidified air is supplied from the second humidifying unit 66 of the third unit group 103.

[0033] The shorter fibers and the like in the defibrillated fibers are excluded and conveyed to the mixing unit 33 via the pipe 23. The unnecessary components such as the shorter fibers and the color materials are discharged to the recovery unit 35 via the pipe 25.

[0034] The mixing unit 33 mixes the binder material and the like with the defibrillated material in the air to form a mixture. Although not shown in the figure, the mixing unit 33 includes a flow path for conveying the defibrillated material, a fan, a hopper, a supply pipe, and a valve.

[0035] The hopper communicates with the flow path of the defibrillated material via the supply pipe. The valve is provided in the supply pipe between the hopper and the flow path. The hopper supplies the binder material such as starch into the flow path. The valve adjusts the quality of the binder material supplied from the hopper to the flow path. Thus, the mixing ratio of the fibers and the binder material is adjusted.

[0036] In addition to the above structure for supplying the binder material, the mixing unit 33 may also have the same structure for supplying color materials or additives.

[0037] The fan of the mixing section 33 conveys the defibrated material containing fibers downstream while mixing adhesive materials and the like in the air to form a mixture. The mixture flows from the mixing section 33 into the pipe 24.

[0038] The recovery section 35 is equipped with a filter (not shown). The filter removes unnecessary components such as shorter fibers conveyed by the airflow through the pipe 25.

[0039] The compressor 38 generates compressed air. In the above-mentioned filter, clogging may occur due to fine particles and the like in the unnecessary components. By blowing the compressed air generated by the compressor 38 onto the filter, the attached particles can be blown away to clean the filter.

[0040] The power supply section 39 has a control section 5 and a power supply device (not shown) that supplies power to the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1. The power supply section 39 distributes the power supplied from the outside to each structure of the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1.

[0041] Although not shown in the figure, the control section 5 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a storage section including a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. In the storage section, various programs for controlling the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 are stored. The control section 5 may also include dedicated hardware (Application Specific Integrated Circuit: ASIC) that executes at least a part of various processes. That is, the control section 5 may be configured to include one or more processors that operate according to a computer program (software), one or more dedicated hardware circuits such as an ASIC, or a combination of them.

[0042] The processor includes a CPU, and memories such as a RAM and a ROM. The memory stores program codes or instructions configured to cause the CPU to execute processes. The memory, that is, the computer-readable medium, includes all readable media that can be accessed by a general-purpose or dedicated computer.

[0043] The control section 5 is electrically connected to each structure such as the sheet forming unit 70 and the conveying unit 80, a sheet sensor 850 (not shown), and a movable unit 811 described later, and comprehensively controls the operation of these structures. In particular, when a jam occurs, such as a single sheet of the sheet P2, in the conveying path, the control section 5 instructs each structure to take corresponding measures. The details of the above-mentioned corresponding measures will be described later.

[0044] The third unit group 103 stacks and compresses a mixture of materials containing fibers to form a strip-shaped sheet P1. The third unit group 103 includes a stacking unit 50, a first conveying unit 61, a second conveying unit 62, a first humidifying unit 65, a second humidifying unit 66, a drainage unit 68, a sheet forming unit 70, an upstream conveying unit 81 of the conveying unit 80, and a sheet avoiding unit described later.

[0045] In the third unit group 103, the stacking unit 50, the first conveying unit 61, the second conveying unit 62, the first humidifying unit 65, the sheet forming unit 70, and the upstream conveying unit 81 are arranged in the above order from upstream to downstream. The second humidifying unit 66 is arranged below the first humidifying unit 65.

[0046] The stacking unit 50 stacks a mixture containing separated fibers in the air to generate a sheet W. The stacking unit 50 has a drum member 53, a blade member 55 provided inside the drum member 53, a housing 51 for housing the drum member 53, and a suction unit 59. The mixture is introduced into the inside of the drum member 53 from the pipe 24.

[0047] The first conveying unit 61 is arranged below the stacking unit 50. The first conveying unit 61 has a mesh belt 61a and five unillustrated supporting rollers for supporting the mesh belt 61a. The suction unit 59 is opposed to the drum member 53 across the mesh belt 61a in the direction along the Z axis.

[0048] The blade member 55 is located inside the drum member 53 and is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown). The drum member 53 is a semi-cylindrical sieve. A net having a sieve function is provided on the side surface of the drum member 53 facing downward. The drum member 53 allows particles such as fibers and the mixture, which are smaller than the size of the openings of the net of the sieve, to pass from the inside to the outside.

[0049] The mixture is stirred by the blade member 55 rotating inside the drum member 53 and is released to the outside of the drum member 53. Humidified air is supplied from the second humidifying unit 66 to the inside of the drum member 53.

[0050] The suction unit 59 is arranged below the drum member 53. The suction unit 59 sucks the air inside the housing 51 through the plurality of holes of the mesh belt 61a. The plurality of holes of the mesh belt 61a allow air to pass through and make it difficult for fibers and binder materials contained in the mixture to pass through. Thus, the mixture released to the outside of the drum member 53 is sucked downward together with the air. The suction unit 59 is a known suction device such as a blower.

[0051] The mixture is dispersed into the air inside the housing 51 and accumulates on the upper surface above the mesh belt 61a by gravity and the suction of the suction unit 59 to form the sheet material W.

[0052] The mesh belt 61a is a seamless belt and is supported by five support rollers. The mesh belt 61a rotates counterclockwise Figure 1 therein. Thus, the mixture continuously accumulates on the mesh belt 61a to form the sheet material W. The sheet material W contains a large amount of air and is thus soft and inflated. The first conveying unit 61 conveys the formed sheet material W downstream by the rotation of the mesh belt 61a.

[0053] The second conveying unit 62 conveys the sheet material W downstream instead of the first conveying unit 61 downstream of the first conveying unit 61. The second conveying unit 62 peels the sheet material W from the upper surface of the mesh belt 61a and conveys the sheet material W toward the sheet forming unit 70. The second conveying unit 62 is located above the conveying path of the sheet material W and is disposed slightly upstream compared to the starting point on the return side of the mesh belt 61a. A part of the +Y direction of the second conveying unit 62 and the -Y direction of the mesh belt 61a overlap in the vertical direction.

[0054] The second conveying unit 62 has a conveyor belt (not shown), a plurality of rollers, and a suction mechanism. A plurality of holes through which air passes are provided in the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt is supported by a plurality of rollers and rotates by the rotation of the rollers.

[0055] The second conveying unit 62 adsorbs the upper surface of the sheet material W to the lower surface of the conveyor belt by the negative pressure generated by the suction mechanism. By rotating the conveyor belt in this state, the sheet material W is adsorbed to the conveyor belt and conveyed downstream.

[0056] The first humidifying unit 65 humidifies the fiber-containing sheet material W accumulated in the stacking unit 50 of the third unit group 103. Specifically, the first humidifying unit 65 is, for example, a mist-type humidifier that supplies mist M from below to the sheet material W conveyed by the second conveying unit 62 for humidification. The first humidifying unit 65 is disposed below the second conveying unit 62 and faces the sheet material W conveyed by the second conveying unit 62 in the direction along the Z axis. In the first humidifying unit 65, a known humidifying device such as an ultrasonic type can be applied, for example.

[0057] By using the mist M to humidify the sheet W, the function of starch as an adhesive material can be promoted, and thus the strength of the sheet P3 can be enhanced. In addition, since humidification is performed from below with respect to the sheet W, the droplets from the mist are prevented from falling onto the sheet W. Further, since humidification is performed from the side opposite to the contact surface between the conveyor belt and the sheet W, the adhesion of the sheet W to the conveyor belt is reduced. The second conveying unit 62 conveys the sheet W to the sheet forming unit 70.

[0058] After the sheet forming unit 70 stacks and forms a mixture of a fiber-containing material into the sheet W, the sheet W is compressed to form a strip-shaped sheet P1. The sheet forming unit 70 has processing rollers 71 and 72. The processing rollers 71 and 72 are paired and each has an electric heater built therein, so as to have the function of raising the temperature of the roller surface.

[0059] The processing rollers 71 and 72 are each a substantially cylindrical member. The rotation axes of the processing roller 71 and the processing roller 72 are arranged along the X axis. With respect to the conveying path of the sheet W, the processing roller 71 is arranged substantially above, and the processing roller 72 is arranged substantially below.

[0060] The processing rollers 71 and 72 are rotationally driven by a stepping motor (not shown). The sheet W is sent downstream while being heated and pressed while being clamped between the processing roller 71 and the processing roller 72. That is, the sheet W continuously passes through the sheet forming unit 70 and is stamped and formed while being heated. By using the processing rollers 71 and 72 as a pair of forming members, the heating and pressing of the sheet W can be efficiently performed.

[0061] By passing through the sheet forming unit 70, the sheet W reduces the entrapped air from a state rich in air and soft, and the fibers are bonded to each other by the adhesive material, and then formed into a strip-shaped sheet P1. The strip-shaped sheet P1 is conveyed to the first unit group 101 by the upstream conveying unit 81.

[0062] The second humidifying unit 66 is arranged below the first humidifying unit 65. In the second humidifying unit 66, a known vaporizing humidifying device can be applied. As the vaporizing humidifying device, for example, a device that ventilates a wetted non-woven fabric or the like to vaporize moisture to generate humidified air can be cited.

[0063] The second humidifying unit 66 humidifies a predetermined area of the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1. The predetermined area refers to one or more of the inside of the storage unit 132, the separation unit 32, and the drum member 53 of the stacking unit 50. Specifically, humidified air is supplied from the second humidifying unit 66 to the above-mentioned area via a plurality of pipes (not shown). The humidified air suppresses the charging of the paper sheet C and fibers and the like in the above-mentioned respective structures, thereby suppressing the adhesion to the members caused by such static electricity.

[0064] The drainage unit 68 is a drainage tank. The drainage unit 68 collects and stores the moisture that has become old after being used in the first humidifying unit 65, the second humidifying unit 66, and the like. The drainage unit 68 can be detached from the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 as needed and the accumulated water can be discarded.

[0065] The belt-like sheet P1 conveyed to the first unit group 101 reaches the first cutting unit 832 via the conveying roller pair 821 of the downstream conveying unit 82 described later. The first cutting unit 832 cuts the belt-like sheet P1 in a direction crossing the conveying direction, for example, in the direction along the X axis. The belt-like sheet P1 is cut into single-sheet-like sheets P2 at the first cutting unit 832. The single-sheet-like sheets P2 are conveyed from the first cutting unit 832 to the second cutting unit 834.

[0066] The second cutting unit 834 cuts the single-sheet-like sheet P2 in the conveying direction, for example, in the direction along the Y axis. Specifically, the second cutting unit 834 cuts near the two sides in the direction along the X axis in the single-sheet-like sheet P2. By the first cutting unit 832 and the second cutting unit 834, the size of the manufactured sheet P3 can be made regular. Thus, the single-sheet-like sheet P2 becomes a sheet P3 having a predetermined shape such as A4 size or A3 size, for example.

[0067] At the second cutting unit 834, when the single-sheet-like sheet P2 is cut into the sheet P3, strip pieces S as end materials are generated. The strip pieces S are conveyed in the substantially -Y direction and reach the shredding unit 913 which is a shredder. The shredding unit 913 shreds the strip pieces S and supplies them as shredded pieces to the merging unit 17. A mechanism for measuring the shredded pieces of the strip pieces S and supplying them to the merging unit 17 may be provided between the shredding unit 913 and the merging unit 17.

[0068] The sheet P3 is conveyed substantially upward and gathered on the tray 191. In this way, the sheet P3 can be manufactured in the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1. The sheet P3 can be used as a substitute for, for example, copying paper.

[0069] As Figure 2As shown, the conveying unit 80 includes an upstream conveying unit 81, a downstream conveying unit 82, a sheet sensor 850, and an opening mechanism (not shown). In addition, in order to convey the strip-shaped sheet P1, the single-sheet-shaped sheet P2, and the sheet P3, the conveying unit 80 has conveying roller pairs 813, 815, 821, 823, etc. arranged along the conveying direction of each sheet. The conveying roller pairs 813, 815, 821, 823 are rotationally driven by a driving motor (not shown).

[0070] In the conveying unit 80, the conveying roller pair 813, the conveying roller pair 815, the conveying roller pair 821, the first cutting portion 832, the conveying roller pair 823, the sheet sensor 850, and the second cutting portion 834 are sequentially arranged downstream from the sheet forming unit 70.

[0071] The upstream conveying unit 81 includes a movable unit 811 and a first conveying roller group 810 including a part of the above-mentioned plurality of conveying rollers. The first conveying roller group 810 includes the conveying roller pairs 813, 815. The conveying roller pair 813 is composed of an upper roller 813a and a lower roller 813b that form a pair. The conveying roller pair 815 is composed of an upper roller 815a and a lower roller 815b that form a pair.

[0072] Since the strip-shaped sheet P1 is clamped between the upper roller 813a and the lower roller 813b and between the upper roller 815a and the lower roller 815b and is conveyed, the conveyability can be improved. The conveying roller pair 815 is an example of the first conveying roller of the present invention.

[0073] The movable unit 811 is provided on the opening mechanism described later. The details of the movable unit 811 and the opening mechanism will be described later.

[0074] The downstream conveying unit 82 includes a second conveying roller group 820, and the second conveying roller group 820 includes a plurality of conveying rollers among the above-mentioned plurality of conveying rollers that are provided on the downstream side in the conveying direction with respect to the first conveying roller group 810. The second conveying roller group 820 includes the conveying roller pairs 821, 823.

[0075] The sheet sensor 850 is an example of the abnormality detection sensor of the present invention, and the sheet sensor 850 detects an abnormality in the conveyance of the single-sheet-shaped sheet P2 in the conveying unit 80. Specifically, the sheet sensor 850 is disposed above the conveying path of the single-sheet-shaped sheet P2 between the conveying roller pair 823 and the second cutting portion 834 and faces the single-sheet-shaped sheet P2 conveyed on the conveying path in the vertical direction.

[0076] The sheet sensor 850 is, for example, an optical sensor that measures the reflected light of the light emitted by itself and sends the detection result to the control unit 5. The control unit 5 determines the presence or absence of the single sheet-like sheet P2 based on the reflectance of the reflected light with respect to the emitted light. In addition, a reflecting member that reflects the light irradiated by the sheet sensor 850 may be provided on the conveying path of the single sheet-like sheet P2 facing the sheet sensor 850.

[0077] During the operation of the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1, when the single sheet-like sheet P2 is no longer conveyed between the conveying roller pair 823 and the second cutting unit 834, it is inferred that a paper jam has occurred upstream. That is, the occurrence of a paper jam is an abnormal conveyance of the single sheet-like sheet P2 or the belt-like sheet P1, and a countermeasure is required. In the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1, an opening operation is performed by an opening mechanism described later to cope with the paper jam.

[0078] The arrangement of the sheet sensor 850 is not limited to the above arrangement. The sheet sensor 850 may be provided at one or more positions on the conveying path of the belt-like sheet P1 and the conveying path of the sheet P3 in addition to the conveying path of the single sheet-like sheet P2.

[0079] Although not shown in the figure, the above-described plurality of conveying rollers are also arranged downstream of the second cutting unit 834 to convey the sheet P3 to the tray 191. The strip S is conveyed to the shredding unit 913 by the strip conveying roller group 911.

[0080] As Figure 3 shown, as the opening mechanism, the upstream conveying unit 81 includes a movable unit 811, a rotating shaft 812, a working shaft 814, a hook member 816, and a pin member 818. The opening mechanism performs an opening operation when the sheet sensor 850 detects an abnormal conveyance of the single sheet-like sheet P2. Here, in the following Figure 3 description, unless otherwise specifically stated in advance, the state when viewed from the -X direction is described.

[0081] The opening mechanism includes a movable unit 811, a rotating shaft 812, a working shaft 814, a hook member 816, a pin member 818, and a biasing member, a solenoid member, etc. not shown. Here, in Figure 3 the figure, the conveying path of the belt-like sheet P1 along the conveying direction is indicated by a dotted line, and the attitude in which the movable unit 811 is displaced to the open state is indicated by a dashed line. In addition, the attitude of the upstream conveying unit 81 and the movable unit 811 during the operation of the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 for manufacturing the sheet P3 is referred to as the normal state.

[0082] The movable unit 811 is a substantially trapezoidal three-dimensional component when viewed from the -X direction. Upper rollers 813a and 815a are arranged on the side corresponding to the lower base in the -Z direction of the movable unit 811. At the above-mentioned lower base, the upper roller 813a is located at the end in the +Y direction, and the upper roller 815a is located at the end in the -Y direction. The upper roller 815a is provided on the movable unit 811. The upper roller 813a overlaps with the movable unit 811 but is independent of the movable unit 811.

[0083] The rotating shaft 812 is provided near the end in the +Y direction at the upper base in the +Z direction of the movable unit 811. The rotating shaft 812 supports the movable unit 811 in a rotatable manner with itself as a fulcrum. Although not shown in the figure, the rotating shaft 812 is supported on the frame that supports the third unit group 103 via a support member or the like.

[0084] The above-mentioned biasing member is installed near the rotating shaft 812. The biasing member is, for example, a torsion spring, which always biases the movable unit 811 to rotate clockwise.

[0085] The working shaft 814, the hook member 816, the pin member 818, and the above-mentioned solenoid member perform actions that initiate the opening action of the movable unit 811. The working shaft 814 and the hook member 816 are provided in the movable unit 811 in the substantially -Y direction of the rotating shaft 812. The pin member 818 is not provided on the movable unit 811, but is supported on the above-mentioned frame via a support member or the like at a position corresponding to the top in the -Z direction of the hook member 816.

[0086] The working shaft 814 supports the hook member 816 in a rotatable manner. Specifically, the working shaft 814 supports the rear end in the +Z direction of the hook member 816. The working shaft 814 is connected to the above-mentioned solenoid member and rotates clockwise by the solenoid member.

[0087] The hook member 816 has a shape in which the top in the -Z direction buckles into a hook shape. In the normal state, the top of the hook member 816 is hung on the pin member 818. Thus, in the movable unit 811, it is maintained in the normal state against the biasing force of the biasing member.

[0088] In the displacement from the normal state to the open state, as an opening action, the movable unit 811 rotates around the rotating shaft 812. Specifically, first, the working shaft 814 rotates clockwise by the solenoid member to disengage the top of the hook member 816 from the pin member 818. Next, by the biasing force of the biasing member, the movable unit 811 rotates clockwise with the rotating shaft 812 as a fulcrum. The above rotation is stopped within a certain range by a stop member (not shown), so that the movable unit 811 becomesFigure 3 The attitude indicated by the dashed line. Thus, the upstream conveying unit 81 becomes an open state through an opening action including the rotation of the movable unit 811.

[0089] The upstream conveying unit 81 can be manually restored from the open state to the normal state. Specifically, the -Y direction end of the movable unit 811 in the open state is pressed downward. As a result, the tip of the hook member 816 is hooked on the pin member 818 and locked, thus becoming the normal state.

[0090] In the open state, the -Y direction end of the movable unit 811 is lifted in the substantially +Z direction. Therefore, in the +Z direction and -Y direction of the area where the upper roller 815a is arranged in the normal state, a space connected to the conveying path is generated. This space is the sheet avoiding portion EZ. In Figure 3 the sheet avoiding portion EZ is indicated by hatching. In the sheet avoiding portion EZ, the belt-like sheet P1 will be stored when dealing with paper jams described later.

[0091] As Figure 4 shown, the opening action for dealing with paper jams includes steps S1 to S6. In addition, in the description of the opening action of the upstream conveying unit 81 described below, it is assumed that Figures 1 to 3 is also referred to.

[0092] In step S1, the sheet sensor 850 performs a detection action on the single sheet-like sheet P2. Step S1 is always performed in the normal operating state where the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 manufactures the sheet P3. The detection result of the sheet sensor 850 is sent to the control unit 5. Then, it proceeds to step S2.

[0093] In step S2, the control unit 5 determines the presence or absence of an abnormality in the sheet conveyance based on the detection result of the sheet sensor 850. Specifically, the control unit 5 compares the reflectance when there is no single sheet-like sheet P2 or the reflectance when there is a single sheet-like sheet P2 stored in itself with the detection result, thereby inferring the presence or absence of the single sheet-like sheet P2 in the conveying path. The control unit 5 determines that a paper jam has occurred when there is no single sheet-like sheet P2, and determines that no paper jam has occurred when there is a single sheet-like sheet P2.

[0094] When no paper jam has occurred, it returns to the previous stage of step S1. When the sheet sensor 850 detects an abnormality, that is, when a paper jam has occurred, it proceeds to step S3.

[0095] In step S3, the control unit 5 instructs each structure of the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 to start the operation stop action. At this time, the above-described respective structures do not stop operating all at once, but stop operating in sequence. Specifically, in the stacking unit 50 upstream of the sheet forming unit 70, the supply of the mixture as the material is stopped. And, due to the mixture and the sheet W remaining in the sheet forming unit 70 from the stacking unit 50, the forming of the belt-like sheet P1 continues in the sheet forming unit 70.

[0096] In addition, in the conveying unit 80, the operation of conveying the belt-like sheet P1 and the single-sheet sheet P2 of the second conveying roller group 820 is stopped, while the operation of conveying the sheet P3 is continued. Thus, since the material and the sheet W are consumed between the stacking unit 50 and the sheet forming unit 70, the residue as a semi-finished product can be reduced, and the effort required for re-operation can be saved. Then, proceed to step S4.

[0097] In step S4, the control unit 5 gives an instruction to perform the opening operation of the upstream conveying unit 81. Specifically, according to the instruction of the control unit 5, the solenoid member of the opening mechanism rotates the working shaft 814, so that the tip of the hook member 816 is disengaged from the pin member 818. As a result, the movable unit 811 is lifted, and the upstream conveying unit 81 becomes an open state. Then, proceed to step S5.

[0098] In step S5, the control unit 5 gives an instruction to stop the operation of the downstream conveying unit 82. As a result, the second conveying roller group 820, the first cutting unit 832, the second cutting unit 834, etc. stop operating. In addition, step S5 may be implemented simultaneously with step S4.

[0099] During this period, the forming of the belt-like sheet P1 also continues in the sheet forming unit 70. In the open state, the belt-like sheet P1 formed in the sheet forming unit 70 comes out of the conveying path and moves to the sheet avoiding portion EZ.

[0100] Specifically, as Figure 5 shown, since the sheet forming unit 70 continues to form the belt-like sheet P1, the belt-like sheet P1 is conveyed downstream from the sheet forming unit 70. The conveying roller pair 813 in the first conveying roller group 810 continuously conveys the belt-like sheet P1 downstream. In contrast, the second conveying roller group 820 including the conveying roller pair 821 stops conveying in step S5.

[0101] Therefore, the strip-shaped sheet P1 does not advance forward compared to the conveying roller pair 821, but bulges upward to the sheet avoidance portion EZ above the lower roller 815b. By moving the strip-shaped sheet P1 toward the sheet avoidance portion EZ, the material and the sheet W remaining in the sheet forming unit 70 and the like are consumed. In addition, since the conveyance of the strip-shaped sheet P1 and the single-sheet-shaped sheet P2 to the occurrence portion of paper jamming is stopped, the deterioration of the paper jamming condition can be prevented. Then, it proceeds to step S6.

[0102] Return to Figure 4 , in step S6, the control unit 5 instructs to stop the forming operation of the sheet forming unit 70. At this time, after the operation of the second conveying roller group 820 is stopped in step S5 and a predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit 5 stops the forming of the strip-shaped sheet P1 in the sheet forming unit 70. The above-mentioned predetermined time is the time when the semi-finished product and the input material are formed into the strip-shaped sheet P1 and consumed upstream of the upstream conveying unit 81 including the sheet forming unit 70. The above-mentioned predetermined time is appropriately set according to the scale and structure of the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1, and is, for example, several tens of seconds or more and several minutes or less. In this way, the response to paper jamming can be executed and the operation of the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 can be stopped.

[0103] According to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

[0104] The restart after paper jamming can be easily performed. Since the opening operation is performed by the opening mechanism due to the abnormality of the sheet conveyance, the time and effort required to restore the paper jamming to its original state are reduced. Thereby, the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 that makes it easy to perform the restart after paper jamming can be provided.

[0105] When the operation of the sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 is to be stopped due to paper jamming, the operation can be continued for a certain period while moving the strip-shaped sheet P1 toward the sheet avoidance portion EZ. Therefore, the remaining material and semi-finished product are consumed and reduced upstream compared to the conveying unit 80. Thereby, the restoration to the original state and the restart after paper jamming can be more easily performed.

[0106] Symbol description

[0107] 1…Sheet manufacturing apparatus; 70…Sheet forming unit; 80…Conveying unit; 81…Upstream conveying unit; 82…Downstream conveying unit; 810…First conveying roller group; 811…Movable unit; 815…Conveying roller pair as the first conveying roller; 815a…Upper roller; 815b…Lower roller; 820…Second conveying roller group; 832…First cutting portion as a cutter; 834…Second cutting portion as a cutter; 850…Sheet sensor as an abnormality detection sensor; EZ…Sheet avoidance portion; P1…Strip-shaped sheet; P2…Single-sheeted sheet; P3…Sheet.

Claims

1. A sheet manufacturing device, wherein: have: a sheet forming unit that compresses the fiber-containing material to form a sheet after stacking the material; a conveying unit including a plurality of conveying rollers arranged along a conveying direction of the sheet in order to convey the sheet, The conveying unit comprises: an upstream conveying unit including a first conveying roller group including a part of the plurality of conveying rollers; a downstream conveying unit including a second conveying roller group including the plurality of conveying rollers, among the plurality of conveying rollers, disposed at a downstream side in the conveying direction relative to the first conveying roller group; an abnormality detection sensor for detecting an abnormality in sheet conveyance in the conveyance unit, The upstream conveying unit includes an opening mechanism configured to perform an opening operation when the abnormality detection sensor detects the abnormality.

2. The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: Equipped with a thin sheet avoidance unit, The upstream conveying unit is in an open state by the opening action. In the open state, the sheet formed in the sheet forming unit escapes from the conveying path along the conveying direction and moves toward the sheet escape portion.

3. The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: The opening mechanism has a movable unit, and the movable unit rotates around a rotation axis as the opening action. The upstream conveying unit is brought into the open state by the rotation of the movable unit.

4. The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: The first conveying roller set comprises a first conveying roller, The first conveying roller is composed of an upper roller and a lower roller forming a pair. The upper roller is provided on the movable unit.

5. The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The downstream conveying unit includes a shearing device for cutting the sheet.

6. The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: When the abnormality detection sensor detects the abnormality, The supply of the material is stopped upstream of the sheet forming unit, and the sheet forming is continued by the material remaining in the sheet forming unit, and In the conveying unit, the movement of the second conveying roller group is stopped.

7. The sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein: After the operation of the second conveying roller group is stopped and a predetermined period has elapsed, the forming of the sheet in the sheet forming unit is stopped.

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