JP7627478B2 - Punching device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a punching device.

Conventionally, a flat-plate punching device is known that includes a movable platen and an opposing platen arranged opposite each other in the vertical direction, a moving mechanism that moves the movable platen up and down toward the opposing platen, and a holding and conveying means that moves a holding part that holds one end of a sheet-like workpiece to convey the workpiece to a punching area sandwiched between the movable platen and the opposing platen. In this type of punching device, the workpiece is conveyed to the punching area and the movable platen is brought close to the opposing platen, whereby the workpiece is punched into a predetermined shape by a punching die attached to one of the movable platen and the opposing platen.

As a flat-plate punching device, Patent Document 1 describes a configuration equipped with a holding and conveying means in which multiple holding parts called grippers are arranged on an endless chain. In this punching device, the leading edge of the sheet, which is the workpiece, is gripped by the grippers and the endless chain is rotated to convey the sheet. In such a configuration in which the leading edge of the sheet is gripped by the grippers and conveyed, the grippers stop immediately after passing through the punching area and the moving platen is moved towards the opposing platen. This allows the sheet gripped by the grippers to be stopped in the punching area and punched out into the specified shape.

Patent No. 5399231 JP 2017-213609 A

In a holding and transporting means such as that described in Patent Document 1, which holds only the leading end of a sheet-like workpiece with a holding section and transports it, the trailing end of the workpiece sags, and there is a risk that the workpiece will come into contact with the movable base below during transport.
As the holding and conveying means, there is a sheet material conveying mechanism described in Patent Document 2, in which two belt members are provided at one end in the width direction, one end of the workpiece in the width direction is sandwiched and held at the contact part of the two belt members, and the workpiece is conveyed by rotating the belt. If the holding and conveying means of Patent Document 2 is used as the holding and conveying means of a flat platen punching device equipped with a movable base and a fixed base, the other end side in the width direction that is not held by the holding and conveying means hangs down, and there is a risk that the other end of the workpiece being conveyed will come into contact with the movable base below. If the end in the width direction of the workpiece being conveyed comes into contact with the movable base, the workpiece may get caught on the movable base and be damaged.
In this way, in a configuration in which only one end of a sheet-like workpiece is held and transported, the problem of the workpiece contacting a member of the punching device is not limited to the case where the other end hangs down and contacts a member located below. For example, the other end of the workpiece that is not held during transport may float up and contact a member located above.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention includes a movable base plate and an opposing base plate arranged opposite to each other in the vertical direction, a moving mechanism for moving the movable base plate up and down toward the opposing base plate, and a holding and conveying means for moving a holding part that holds one end of a sheet-like workpiece to convey the workpiece to a predetermined punching position within a punching area sandwiched between the movable base plate and the opposing base plate, and the moving mechanism brings the movable base plate close to the opposing base plate, thereby performing a punching process in which the workpiece is punched into a predetermined shape by a punching die attached to at least one of the movable base plate and the opposing base plate. The punching device is provided with an airflow generating means for generating an airflow in an area through which the workpiece held by the holding and conveying means and conveyed within the punching area passes, the airflow generating means having a lower airflow outlet for discharging an airflow below the area through which the workpiece passes in the punching area , the holding and conveying means holds only one end of the workpiece in the width direction at a portion outside the range facing the punching die in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, and the lower airflow discharged by the lower airflow outlet is an airflow having a component flowing from the side of the one end to the side of the other end in the width direction .
A second aspect of the present invention is a punching machine comprising a movable base plate and an opposing base plate arranged opposite to each other in the vertical direction, a moving mechanism for moving the movable base plate up and down toward the opposing base plate, and a holding and conveying means for moving a holding part that holds one end of a sheet-like workpiece to convey the workpiece to a predetermined punching position within a punching area sandwiched between the movable base plate and the opposing base plate, wherein the moving mechanism brings the movable base plate close to the opposing base plate, thereby performing a punching process in which the workpiece is punched into a predetermined shape by a punching die attached to at least one of the movable base plate and the opposing base plate. The apparatus is provided with an airflow generating means for generating an airflow in an area through which the workpiece held by the holding and conveying means and conveyed within the punching area passes, the airflow generating means having a lower airflow outlet for discharging an airflow below the area through which the workpiece passes in the punching area , the holding and conveying means holds only one end of the workpiece in the width direction in a portion outside the range facing the punching die in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, and the lower airflow discharged by the lower airflow outlet is an airflow having a component that flows from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveying direction .
A third aspect of the present invention is a punching device comprising a movable base plate and an opposing base plate arranged opposite to each other in the vertical direction, a moving mechanism for moving the movable base plate up and down toward the opposing base plate, and a holding and conveying means for moving a holding part that holds one end of a sheet-like workpiece to convey the workpiece to a predetermined punching position within a punching area sandwiched between the movable base plate and the opposing base plate, wherein the moving mechanism brings the movable base plate close to the opposing base plate, thereby performing a punching process of punching the workpiece into a predetermined shape with a punching die attached to at least one of the movable base plate and the opposing base plate. The punching apparatus further includes an airflow generating means for generating an airflow toward the workpiece before the punching process which is held by the holding and conveying means and conveyed toward the punching position, the airflow generating means having a lower airflow outlet which discharges an airflow below the area in the punching region through which the workpiece passes, the holding and conveying means holds only the leading end of the workpiece in the conveying direction, and the airflow generating means generates an airflow discharged from the lower airflow outlet, the airflow being discharged from the lower airflow outlet toward the trailing end side of the workpiece held by the holding and conveying means which is conveyed within the punching region.

The present invention has the excellent effect of preventing the end of the workpiece that is not held by the holding and conveying means from sagging or floating up, and preventing the workpiece from coming into contact with components located below or above it during conveyance.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a die-cutting system. FIG. FIG. FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view of the die cutter with the front and rear frames not shown. FIG. 2 is a rear view of the die cutter with the front and back frames not shown. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the die cutter with the front and rear frames not shown. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the upstream side of the die cutter. Schematic diagram of the front of the die cutter. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the die cutter during conveyance of a sheet material. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a modified example of the lower blower. Block diagram of a die cutter. FIG. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the displacement of the lift transmission rod and the cylindrical portion when the lift transmission mechanism is driven so that the cylindrical portion moves from the bottom dead center to the top dead center.

In the following, identical or equivalent components and parts shown in each drawing are given the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations are omitted where appropriate. Furthermore, the dimensions of the parts in each drawing are enlarged or reduced as appropriate to facilitate understanding. Furthermore, some parts that are not important for explaining the embodiment are omitted in each drawing.

The following describes one embodiment of the punching device according to the present invention and a punching processing system equipped with this punching device.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a die-cutting system 500 which is a punching processing system according to this embodiment.
The die-cutting system 500 includes, from the upstream side in the conveying direction of the sheet material, which is the workpiece, a sheet feeder 200, a registration device 300, a die cutter 100, and a discharge processing device 400.

In the die-cutting system 500, the sheet feeder 200, which is a workpiece supplying means, supplies the sheet material placed on the placement shelf toward the registration device 300. The registration device 300, which is a workpiece position correcting means, adjusts the inclination of the sheet material with respect to the direction parallel to the conveying direction of the sheet material (X-axis direction in the figure) and the position of the sheet material in the width direction (Y-axis direction in the figure), and conveys the sheet material toward the die cutter 100. The die cutter 100, which is a punching device, performs a punching process in which the sheet material supplied from the registration device 300 is temporarily stopped and sandwiched between a fixed platen and a movable platen, the details of which will be described later, to punch the sheet material into the shape of a punching die attached to the fixed platen. The discharge processing device 400 includes a discharge unit that receives the sheet material discharged after the punching process by the die cutter 100, a separator that separates the sheet material after the punching process into a product and a surplus part, and a stacker that accumulates the separated products.
As shown in FIG. 1, the die cutter 100 has an operation panel 101 on its upper surface.

Next, the die cutter 100 will be described.
2 to 7 are explanatory diagrams of the die cutter 100 with the exterior cover removed. FIG. 2 is a front view of the die cutter 100. FIG. 3 is an upstream side view of the die cutter 100 as viewed from the right side in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a downstream side view of the die cutter 100 as viewed from the left side in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a front view of the die cutter 100 with the front frame 5 and the rear frame 6 hidden from the front view in FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is a rear view of the die cutter 100 with the front frame 5 and the rear frame 6 hidden in the state shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the die cutter 100 with the front frame 5 and the rear frame 6 hidden.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram that shows a schematic upstream side view of the die cutter 100 shown in FIG.

As shown in Figures 2 to 7, the die cutter 100 comprises a movable platen 1 that can move up and down relative to a frame (5, 6, 7, etc.) of the apparatus, and a fixed platen 2 that is arranged opposite and above the movable platen 1 and is fixed to the frame of the apparatus.
The die cutter 100 has a metal frame structure including a base frame 7, a front frame 5, a rear frame 6, an upstream guide frame 21, and a downstream guide frame 23. The base frame 7 has casters for movement and a fixing mechanism to prevent movement. The front frame 5 and the rear frame 6 are plate-like members, and their lower portions are fixed to the base frame 7. The upstream guide frame 21 and the downstream guide frame 23 are square bar-like members that extend in the width direction of the device and have both ends fixed to the front frame 5 and the rear frame 6.
The fixed platen 2 is fixed to the upper parts of the front frame 5 and the rear frame 6. As shown in Fig. 8, a punching die 8 having a cutting blade 81 is fixed to the lower surface of the fixed platen 2 with a stainless steel plate 82 sandwiched therebetween. On the other hand, a face plate 9 is fixed to the upper surface of the movable platen 1.

The die cutter 100 includes four lifting and lowering transmission mechanisms 4 (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) and four press motors 3 (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) as a moving mechanism for moving the movable base plate 1 up and down. Four cylindrical parts 10 (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) whose axial directions are parallel to the conveying direction are fixed to the lower part of the movable base plate 1. The lifting and lowering transmission mechanisms 4 include a crank mechanism that converts inputted rotational motion into reciprocating motion in the up and down direction. The press motors 3 are driven to rotate, and the lifting and lowering transmission mechanisms 4 transmit the lifting and lowering motion to the cylindrical parts 10, so that the movable base plate 1 moves in the up and down direction.
2 to 7 are explanatory diagrams showing a state in which all four cylindrical portions 10 are positioned at the bottom dead center of the lift transmission mechanism 4 and the movable base plate 1 is at the furthest position from the fixed base plate 2 within the movable range of the movable base plate 1.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the movable platen 1 has risen to the upper stop position and the sheet material S has been punched out by the cutting blade 81 of the punching die 8. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the movable base plate 1 is provided with an upstream guided shaft 11 that protrudes upstream in the conveying direction parallel to the X-axis in the drawing at the center of the width of the surface on the upstream side in the conveying direction. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the movable base plate 1 is provided with a downstream guided shaft 12 that protrudes downstream in the conveying direction parallel to the X-axis in the drawing at the center of the width of the surface on the downstream side in the conveying direction. The upstream guided shaft 11 and downstream guided shaft 12 are provided with upstream guided bearings 11a and downstream guided bearings 12a.

3, the upstream guide frame 21 is provided at its widthwise center with an upstream guide portion 22. The upstream guide portion 22 protrudes downstream in the conveying direction and has two upstream guide rails 22a extending in the up-down direction, and restricts the movement of the upstream guided shaft 11 in the widthwise direction by engaging the upstream guided bearing 11a between the two upstream guide rails 22a.
4, the downstream guide frame 23 is provided at its widthwise center with a downstream guide portion 24. The downstream guide portion 24 protrudes upstream in the conveying direction and has two downstream guide rails 24a extending in the up-down direction, and restricts the movement of the downstream guided shaft 12 in the width direction by engaging the downstream guided bearing 12a between the two downstream guide rails 24a.
By regulating the widthwise movement of the upstream guided shaft 11 and the downstream guided shaft 12 by the upstream guide portion 22 and the downstream guide portion 24, it is possible to prevent the movable base plate 1 from displacing widthwise when the movable base plate 1 moves up and down.

The die cutter 100 includes an inlet roller pair 20 that transports the sheet material S supplied from the registration device 300 toward the inside of the device, and a conveyor belt pair (14, 15) that is arranged on the rear side of the width direction relative to the moving base plate 1 and transports the sheet material S. The inlet roller pair 20 also includes a conveyor drive motor 13 that is a drive source for the inlet roller pair 20 and the conveyor belt pair, and a conveyor drive transmission mechanism 16 that transmits the driving force. The inlet roller pair 20 includes an inlet drive roller 20a and an inlet driven roller 20b. By driving the conveyor drive motor 13, the inlet drive roller 20a, the lower conveyor belt 14, and the upper conveyor belt 15 move endlessly at the same surface movement speed. As a result, the inlet roller pair 20 sandwiches multiple points in the width direction of the sheet material S and transports it toward the conveyor belt pair (14, 15). Furthermore, the lower conveyor belt 14 and the upper conveyor belt 15 sandwich one end of the sheet material S in the width direction (the rear side of the device), and the belt surface of the sandwiched part moves to transport the sheet material S.

As shown in FIG. 8, the die cutter 100 includes a belt support mechanism 32 that supports the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15). The belt support mechanism 32 includes a fixed plate 34 fixed to the rear frame 6 and a movable plate 33 that can move up and down relative to the fixed plate 34.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of the front of the die cutter 100. Fig. 9(a) is an explanatory diagram of the sheet material S being conveyed toward the punching area, and Fig. 9(b) is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the movable base plate 1 is raised after the sheet material S has stopped in the punching area.
Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the die cutter 100 during conveyance of the sheet material S. Fig. 10(a) is a schematic diagram in which an upper air current A2, which will be described in detail later, is added to a plan view in a plane above the area through which the sheet material S passes. Fig. 10(b) is a schematic diagram in which an upper air current A2 and a lower air current A1, which will be described in detail later, are added to a front view of the die cutter 100. Fig. 10(c) is a schematic diagram in which a lower air current A1, which will be described in detail later, is added to a plan view in a plane below the area through which the sheet material S passes.

The lower conveying belt 14 is tensioned between a lower driving roller 140, a plurality of lower tension rollers 141, and a lower tension roller 142. The upper conveying belt 15 is tensioned between an upper driving roller 150, a plurality of upper tension rollers 151, and an upper tension roller 152.

When the transport drive motor 13 is driven, the drive is transmitted by the transport drive transmission mechanism 16, causing the upper drive roller 150 and the lower drive roller 140 to rotate, and the upper transport belt 15 and the lower transport belt 14 to rotate.

As shown in FIG. 9(a), a plurality of lower tension rollers 141 and a plurality of upper tension rollers 151 define the path of the lower conveyor belt 14 and the upper conveyor belt 15 so as to horizontally form a surface for sandwiching the sheet material S between the upper tension surface of the lower conveyor belt 14 and the lower tension surface of the upper conveyor belt 15. As shown in FIG. 8, the lower tension rollers 141 and the upper tension rollers 151 that form the surface for sandwiching the sheet material S are supported by a movable plate 33, which is a roller holding member that can move up and down. The movable base plate 1 has a protrusion 29 that protrudes toward the rear in the width direction.

When performing the punching process, the sheet material S is transported between the movable platen 1 and the fixed platen 2 by the transport belts (14 and 15), the lower transport belt 14 and the upper transport belt 15 are stopped, and the movable platen 1 is raised.
When the movable base plate 1 rises, the protrusion 29 comes into contact with the lower end of the movable plate 33, and as the movable base plate 1 rises, the protrusion 29 pushes up the movable plate 33, and the lower tension roller 141 and the upper tension roller 151 held by the movable plate 33 rise. Then, as shown in Fig. 9B, a portion of the upper tension surface of the lower conveyor belt 14 that is tensioned by the lower tension roller 141 and a portion of the lower tension surface of the upper conveyor belt 15 that is tensioned by the upper tension roller 151 rise together with the movable base plate 1. As a result, the portion that sandwiches the sheet material S between the upper tension surface of the lower conveyor belt 14 and the lower tension surface of the upper conveyor belt 15 rises together with the movable base plate 1, and the sheet material S to be processed can be raised toward the fixed base plate 2 in accordance with the rise of the movable base plate 1.

As shown in FIG. 8, the fixed plate 34 includes an upper protruding plate 34a and a lower protruding plate 34b that protrude forward, and a tension belt slide shaft that connects the upper protruding plate 34a and the lower protruding plate 34b and extends in the vertical direction.
The movable plate 33 includes a slide member 33a that protrudes toward the rear and is located between an upper protruding plate 34a and a lower protruding plate 34b. The slide member 33a includes a through hole through which the tension belt slide shaft passes, and the slide member 33a moves up and down along the tension belt slide shaft, thereby moving the movable plate 33 in the up and down direction. A movable plate positioning spring is provided between the upper surface of the slide member 33a and the lower surface of the upper protruding plate 34a, and presses the slide member 33a downward.

Before the movable base plate 1 rises, the protrusion 29 does not push up the movable plate 33, and the slide member 33a pushed down by the movable plate positioning spring hits the upper surface of the lower protrusion plate 34b. This hitting allows the movable plate 33 having the slide member 33a to be positioned relative to the fixed plate 34, and the upper tension roller 151 and the lower tension roller 141 held by the movable plate 33 can be positioned in the vertical direction. When the movable base plate 1 rises and the protrusion 29 pushes up the movable plate 33, the slide member 33a rises and the movable plate positioning spring is compressed. In this state, the movable plate 33 biased by the movable plate positioning spring hits the protrusion 29, and the movable plate 33 is positioned, and the upper tension roller 151 and the lower tension roller 141 can be positioned in the vertical direction.

As a configuration for vertically moving the sheet material S sandwiched between the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15), the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15) may be held by a holding unit that can move in the vertical direction, including the conveyor drive mechanism (conveyor drive motor 13, conveyor drive transmission mechanism 16). In this case, the protrusion 29 of the movable base 1 is configured to push up the holding unit that holds the pair of conveyor belts including the conveyor drive mechanism.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the die cutter 100.
The die cutter 100, which is a punching device, includes a control unit 30, which is a control means for controlling a moving mechanism (a press motor 3 and an elevation transmission mechanism 4) that moves the movable platen 1 up and down toward the fixed platen 2. The moving mechanism moves the movable platen 1 closer to the fixed platen 2, whereby a punching die 8 attached to at least one of the movable platen 1 and the fixed platen 2 (the fixed platen 2 in this embodiment) punches out the sheet material S, which is the workpiece, into a predetermined shape.
The control unit 30 of the die cutter 100 controls the driving of the four press motors 3 (3a to 3d) and the conveyor drive motor 13 based on outputs from the operation panel 101 and the entrance sensor 25. In the die cutter 100 of this embodiment, the control unit 30 is capable of independently controlling the driving of each of the four press motors 3 (3a to 3d).

Next, the preparation work for the punching process will be described.
In the sheet feeder 200, a stack of sheet materials S to be punched is placed on a placement shelf.

In the die cutter 100, the die 8 is set on the fixed platen 2, and the face plate 9 is set on the movable platen 1. When setting the die 8 and face plate 9, the discharge unit that is located closest to the die cutter 100 among the units that make up the discharge processing device 400 is lowered manually or electrically. This opens the exit side of the space between the fixed platen 2 and the movable platen 1 through which the sheet material S passes, making it possible to access from the outside.

Below the fixed base plate 2 is provided with a die slide guide that allows the die 8 to slide in the direction along the conveying direction. By inserting the die 8 into the space below the fixed base plate 2 from the downstream side of the conveying direction of the device body, the die 8 slides along the die slide guide toward the upstream side of the conveying direction. By inserting the die 8 until the tip of the die 8 in the insertion direction hits the die abutment plate 19 and pulling down the die fixing lever 17 to the state shown in Figure 2 etc., the die fixing member 18 hits the die abutment plate 19 and locks the die 8 in a state where it is abutted against the underside of the fixed base plate 2. This fixes the die 8 to the fixed base plate 2.

If the die 8 is provided with an identifier such as a barcode for retrieving information about the die 8, the identifier is read using a reading means such as a handheld scanner, and then the die 8 is set on the fixed base plate 2.

After the die 8 and face plate 9 are set, the discharge unit is manually or electrically raised to a specified position.

Next, job settings are performed using the operation panel 101 or an external input device. The settings can include the size of the sheet material S, the height of the cutting blade 81 of the die 8, the thickness of the sheet of the die 8, the number of punches, the die reference position, and the sheet reference position.
Here, the thickness of the sheet of the die 8 is the sum of the thicknesses of the stainless steel plate 82 fixed to the upper surface of the die 8, the image sheet fixed to the upper surface of this stainless steel plate 82 and depicting the arrangement of the cutting blades 81 of the die 8, and the protective sheet covering the upper surface of the image sheet.
The die 8 is inserted into and removed from the die cutter 100 with a stainless steel plate 82, an image sheet with a shim tape attached as required, and a protective sheet laminated on the upper surface of the die 8 in that order.

The stainless steel plate 82 is a member that prevents the cutting blade 81 of the die 8 from being pushed up by the face plate 9 and protruding from the back surface (top surface) of the die 8. The image sheet allows the positioning of the cutting blade 81 of the die 8 to be confirmed, and when the positioning of the cutting blade 81 indicates an area where the punching pressure is insufficient, a shim tape for removing unevenness can be attached to the top surface of the image sheet. The protective sheet covers and protects the top surface of the image sheet with the shim tape for removing unevenness attached, and therefore prevents the shim tape for removing unevenness from rubbing against the bottom surface of the fixed base plate 2 and peeling off when the die 8 is slid to set it.

The above-mentioned die reference position and sheet reference position are reference values entered in the job settings so that the stopping position of the sheet material S during the punching process is a stopping position where the position on the sheet material S to be cut coincides with the position of the cutting blade 81 of the die 8.
The sheet material S stops when a predetermined number of stop pulses is acquired after the entrance sensor 25, located upstream of the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15), detects the rear end of the sheet material S, and punching is performed at that stopping position.
In job setting, the worker extracts an arbitrary blade reference point of the cutting blade 81 of the die 8, and inputs a die reference position, which is the distance from the blade reference point to the upstream end of the die 8. The worker also extracts a cut reference point corresponding to the above-mentioned blade reference point from among the positions on the sheet material S to be punched that are to be cut, and inputs a sheet reference position, which is the distance from the cut reference point to the upstream end of the sheet material S to be punched.
The control unit 30 calculates and sets the number of stop pulses described above based on the input die reference position and sheet reference position so that the sheet material S stops at the stop position where the blade reference point and the cut reference point coincide with each other. This process allows the cutting blade 81 of the die 8 to coincide with the position on the sheet material S to be cut during the punching process.

When the job to be executed by the die cutter 100 includes a creasing process for creasing the sheet material S, the creasing counter recess material is fixed to the face plate 9. In this process, double-sided tape is applied to the underside of the creasing counter recess material, and the creasing counter recess material and clips are attached to the creasing protrusions provided on the cutting die 8. When the creasing recess transfer button is operated in this state, the movable base plate 1 moves a distance less than that of the punching process operation, the face plate 9 comes into contact with the underside of the counter recess material, and the counter recess material is attached to the face plate 9 with the double-sided tape. As the clip remains on the attached counter recess material, the face plate 9 is removed from the movable base plate 1, the clip, which is an unnecessary member, is removed, and the face plate 9 is fixed to the movable base plate 1.

After the various settings described above are made, the die cutter 100 performs adjustments to ensure proper punching before the mass production process in which the sheet material S is continuously transported and punched continuously.

In the adjustment process, a single sheet material S is fed to perform a test feed for punching. In the test feed, the punching process is performed by the die cutter 100, but the separation process by the separator is not performed, and the sheet in a state where the result of the punching process and the surplus portion are not separated is discharged to the stacker.
The operator performs test feeding by pressing the test feeding button on the operation panel 101, and adjusts each part while viewing the results of the test feeding. The test feeding and adjustment operations are repeated as necessary.

The adjustment operation is performed through the operation panel 101, but may also be performed through an external input device.
The adjustments are the position in the width direction of the sheet material S, the inclination (skew) of the sheet material S with respect to the conveying direction, the position in the conveying direction of the sheet material S when stopped during punching, etc. Furthermore, in the die cutter 100 of this embodiment, as will be described in detail later, adjustments for correcting punching unevenness can also be performed by operating the operation panel 101. The operator visually checks the sheet material S obtained in the test feeding, and performs adjustment operations based on the punching deviation and punching unevenness.

After the adjustment process, the operator inputs the number of sheets to be processed and the processing speed on the operation panel 101 and presses the start button to execute mass production. Mass production stops when the input number of sheets to be processed is reached, an error is detected, or the operator operates the stop button.
The start button and stop button may be provided not only on the operation panel 101 but also on the operation section of the sheet feeder 200, so that they can be operated from either one.

Next, the punching operation by the die cutter 100 will be described.
When the start button on the operation panel 101 is pressed, the sheet material S is fed from the sheet feeder 200, and the inclination and widthwise position of the sheet material S are corrected by the registration device 300, and the sheet material S is supplied to the die cutter 100. In the die cutter 100, the conveying drive motor 13 is driven, and the lower conveying belt 14 and the upper conveying belt 15 of the conveying belt pair start to move endlessly. Then, the sheet material S supplied from the registration device 300 is sandwiched between the conveying belt pair and conveyed. The conveying drive motor 13 is stopped after a predetermined timing has elapsed since the rear end of the sheet material S was detected by the entrance sensor 25 arranged upstream of the conveying belt pair. As a result, the sheet material S sandwiched between the conveying belt pair is stopped at a predetermined punching position in the punching area sandwiched between the moving base plate 1 and the fixed base plate 2.

Next, the four press motors 3 are driven to raise the movable base plate 1. When the movable base plate 1 rises, the protrusions 29 of the movable base plate 1 push up the roller holding members described above, and the sheet material S, which was at the conveying height, also rises. By driving each of the four press motors 3 in the forward direction for a specified amount of rotation and then stopping it, the movable base plate 1 reaches the upper stop position, and the sheet material S is punched out to the shape of the cutting blades 81 of the punching die 8.

Next, the four press motors 3 are driven in the reverse direction for a predetermined rotational amount and stopped, so that the movable base plate 1 descends and reaches the lower stop position. At this time, the roller holding member also descends together with the movable base plate 1, and the sheet material S descends to the conveying height. Thereafter, the conveying drive motor 13 is restarted to convey the punched sheet material S to the discharge processing device 400, and the succeeding sheet material S supplied from the registration device 300 is sandwiched between the pair of conveying belts and conveyed to the punching position.
These operations are repeated during mass production processing.

In the above description, the press motor 3 is driven in the forward direction after the transport drive motor 13 stops, and the drive of the transport drive motor 13 is resumed after the reverse drive of the press motor 3 is stopped, but the motor drive timing is not limited to this. The press motor 3 may be driven in the forward direction before the transport drive motor 13 stops, and the drive of the transport drive motor 13 may be resumed before the reverse drive of the press motor 3 is stopped, as long as no problems with the transport of the sheet material S such as clogging occur. By providing a period during which the drive period of the transport drive motor 13 and the drive period of the press motor 3 overlap, the processing speed can be improved.

Next, the operation of the press motor 3 during the punching operation will be described.
When the conveying drive motor 13 is driven, the control unit 30 controls the rotational position of the press motor 3, which is a servo motor, to a lower reference rotational position corresponding to the lower stop position so that the lifting/lowering transmission mechanism 4 waits at the lower stop position.

When a predetermined timing has elapsed since the entrance sensor 25 detected the passage of the rear end of the sheet material S, the transport drive motor 13 is stopped and the press motor 3 starts to rotate forward. Then, the press motor 3 is rotated forward to the upper reference rotation position and stopped so that the lift transmission mechanism 4 is at the upper stop position.
When the rotation positions of all four press motors 3 reach the upper reference rotation positions and the forward rotation stops, the motors wait for a predetermined time (20 msec (milliseconds)) and then start reverse rotation. The four press motors 3 stop when they rotate in reverse to the lower reference rotation positions.
In this manner, the four press motors 3 perform the punching process by repeating forward rotation from the lower reference rotation position to the upper reference rotation position and reverse rotation from the upper reference rotation position to the lower reference rotation position.

13 is a schematic explanatory diagram of one of the four lift transmission mechanisms 4. Fig. 13(a) is an explanatory diagram of the XZ plane, Fig. 13(b) is an explanatory diagram of the YZ plane, and Fig. 13(c) is a perspective view.
13, the lift transmission mechanism 4 includes a rotation input gear 41 that engages with the rotation output gear 31, an eccentric shaft 44 that rotates together with the rotation input gear 41, and a shaft holder 42 that is fixed to the frame 7 and rotatably holds a rotation shaft portion 441 of the eccentric shaft 44. Furthermore, the lift transmission mechanism 4 includes a lift transmission rod 43 that engages at its lower portion with the eccentric shaft portion 442 of the eccentric shaft 44 and engages at its upper portion with the cylindrical portion 10 of the movable base 1.

Figure 14 is an explanatory diagram showing the displacement of the lift transmission rod 43 and the cylindrical portion 10 when the eccentric shaft 44 is rotated around the center line of the rotating shaft portion 441 so that the cylindrical portion 10 moves from the bottom dead center to the top dead center. Figure 14(a) is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the cylindrical portion 10 is located at the bottom dead center, Figure 14(b) is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the cylindrical portion 10 is located halfway between the bottom dead center and the top dead center, and Figure 14(c) is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the cylindrical portion 10 is located at the top dead center.

The eccentric shaft 44 is a member in which the position of the center line is different between the rotating shaft portion 441 that engages with the shaft holding portion 42 and the eccentric shaft portion 442 that engages with the lift transmission rod 43. The position of the center line of the rotation input gear 41 coincides with that of the rotating shaft portion 441.

When the press motor 3 rotates and the rotation output gear 31 rotates, the rotation input gear 41 rotates, and the eccentric shaft 44 to which the rotation input gear 41 is fixed rotates around the center line of the rotation shaft portion 441. As a result, the eccentric shaft portion 442 rotates around the center axis of the rotation shaft portion 441, and the lift transmission rod 43 engaged with the eccentric shaft portion 442 and the cylindrical portion 10 engaged with the lift transmission rod 43 move. At this time, the movement of the movable base plate 1 having the cylindrical portion 10 in the width direction (left and right direction in FIG. 14, direction parallel to the Y axis) is restricted by the upstream guide portion 22 and the downstream guide portion 24, and the cylindrical portion 10 does not move in the width direction either. Therefore, when the eccentric shaft portion 442 is displaced in the vertical direction and width direction by the rotation of the eccentric shaft 44, the lift transmission rod 43 tilts and the cylindrical portion 10 moves only in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 14(b).

In this embodiment, the eccentric shaft 44 has an eccentricity of 15 mm between the central axis of the rotating shaft 441 and the central axis of the eccentric shaft 442. Therefore, the vertical movable range H, which is the displacement of the cylindrical portion 10 when the eccentric shaft 44 is rotated from the bottom dead center state shown in FIG. 14(a) to the top dead center state shown in FIG. 14(c), is 30 mm.

The moving mechanism for moving the movable base 1 has four lifting and lowering transmission mechanisms 4 (4a to 4d) as multiple pressure mechanisms that independently pressurize the four cylindrical sections 10 as multiple pressure sections, and four press motors 3 (3a to 3d) as multiple drive sources that drive these, respectively.
The control unit 30 can independently control the driving of each of the four press motors 3, and therefore can change the upper reference rotation position corresponding to the upper stop position for each press motor 3. This makes it possible to individually change the height of the columnar portion 10 at the upper stop position.

In the die cutter 100 of this embodiment, the eccentric shaft 44 is not controlled to rotate once, but rather the cylindrical portion 10 is controlled to move back and forth between a lower stop position and an upper stop position, which are in the range between the bottom dead center and the top dead center.
Regarding the rotation angle θ of the eccentric shaft 44, if θ=0° when the cylindrical portion 10 is at the bottom dead center, then θ=180° when the cylindrical portion 10 is at the top dead center. If the rotation angle of the eccentric shaft 44 when the cylindrical portion 10 is at the lower stop position is θ1, and the rotation angle when the cylindrical portion 10 is at the upper stop position is θ2, then the relationship of the following formula (1) is established.
0[°]≦θ1<θ2<180[°] ・・・・・・(1)

In this way, by making the rotation angle of the upper stop position smaller than the rotation angle of the top dead center, it becomes possible to change the rotation angle "θ2" when the cylindrical portion 10 is at the upper stop position, and it becomes possible to adjust the position of the cylindrical portion 10 when it is at the upper stop position.
When applying pressure, the four press motors 3, which are in the lower reference rotation position corresponding to the state in which the cylindrical portion 10, which is the home position of the lifting transmission mechanism 4, is located at the lower stop position, are rotated forward at the same speed. Then, the press motors 3 are stopped sequentially starting from the press motors 3 that have rotated to the upper reference rotation position corresponding to the upper stop position of the lifting transmission mechanism 4. When the "θ2" of the four press motors 3 is different from one another, the press motor 3 that has a larger amount of rotation from the lower reference rotation position to the upper reference rotation position will be stopped later than the other press motors 3.
Alternatively, the amount of rotation from the lower reference rotation position to the upper reference position may be calculated, and the rotation speed of the press motor 3 having a larger amount of rotation may be increased so that the drive times from the lower reference rotation position to the upper reference rotation position for all of the press motors 3 are the same or the difference in drive time is small.

When the upper reference rotation positions of the press motors 3 are different from each other, the lower reference rotation position may be set so that the amount of rotation to the upper reference rotation position is the same. This allows the drive time and rotation speed from the lower reference rotation position to the upper reference rotation position to be the same even if the upper reference positions of the press motors 3 are different from each other. Then, during the punching operation, there is no need to lengthen the drive time or slow down the rotation speed of some of the press motors 3, and the time required for the punching operation can be shortened. The setting of the lower reference rotation position may be automatically calculated by the control unit 30, or may be input by the user.

As described above, in the die cutter 100 of this embodiment, the upper reference rotation position corresponding to the upper stop position can be changed for each press motor 3, and the height of the cylindrical portion 10 at the upper stop position can be changed individually.
With this configuration, by changing the rotation amount of one press motor 3 to be larger when it is in the upper reference rotation position, the value of the rotation angle "θ2" of the eccentric shaft 44 when it is in the upper reference rotation position becomes larger, and the position of the cylindrical portion 10 when it is in the upper stop position becomes higher. This makes it possible to increase the punching pressure, which is the contact pressure between the face plate 9 and the punch die 8 during the punching process, vertically above the cylindrical portion 10 whose position when it is in the upper stop position is higher.

In this way, in a configuration in which the contact pressure between the face plate 9 and the punching die 8 during punching can be partially increased, corrections can be made to eliminate punching unevenness by increasing the amount of rotation of the upper reference rotation position of the press motor 3 so that the upper stop position of the cylindrical portion 10 below the location where punching unevenness occurred during test feeding is raised.

In other words, the punching pressure, which in conventional die cutters was adjusted by sticking a shim tape to the back of the punch die to eliminate unevenness, can now be adjusted by changing the amount of rotation of the upper reference rotation position of the press motor 3.
For example, if punching unevenness occurs on the upstream side of the sheet material S output in the test feeding, the rotation amount of the upper reference rotation position of the first press motor 3a is set to be increased. This increases the value of the rotation angle "θ2" of the eccentric shaft 44 of the first lifting transmission mechanism 4a, and the position of the first cylindrical portion 10a at the upper stop position can be made higher than before the setting. Then, the punching pressure on the upstream side of the sheet material S during the punching process can be increased, and the punching unevenness can be eliminated.

Next, the conveyance of the sheet material S by the pair of conveyor belts consisting of the lower conveyor belt 14 and the upper conveyor belt 15 will be described.
In a punching device such as the die cutter 100, which uses a flat punching die and moves the sheet material or the die up and down, a sheet conveying member cannot be positioned in the area opposite the die.
For this reason, in conventional flat-bed punching devices, the sheet material is generally transported by gripping and pulling the leading edge of the sheet material with a gripper fixed to a gripper bar that is hung on two circulating chains provided on both sides of the width of the sheet material transport path.

On the other hand, as shown in Figures 3, 4, 8 to 10, the die cutter 100 is equipped with a pair of conveyor belts (14, 15) arranged on the inner side in the width direction, outside the area facing the cutting die 8 below. The pair of conveyor belts (14, 15) then clamp one end of the sheet material S in the width direction, and convey the sheet material S so that it passes through the area facing the cutting die 8 within the die cutter 100.

Next, an air blowing mechanism that blows air onto the sheet material S being nipped and conveyed between the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15) will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 10, the die cutter 100 includes a lower blower 70 and an upper blower 90 as airflow generating means for generating airflow in the area through which the sheet material S held and transported by the pair of transport belts (14, 15) passes.
10, the lower airflow A1 generated by the lower blower 70 is indicated by a dashed line, and the upper airflow A2 generated by the upper blower 90 is indicated by a dashed line. The conveying direction of the sheet material S is indicated by an arrow "α", and the location where the sheet material S is located above in FIG. 10(c) is indicated by a dashed line.

The lower blower 70 extends in the width direction and is provided with a lower blower 73 below the lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72 in which the lower airflow port 71 is formed. The airflow generated by the lower blower 73 sucking in the surrounding air passes through the lower airflow upward guide pipe 74, flows into the rear end of the lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72 in the width direction, passes between the inner wall surface of the lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72 and the lower airflow pipe wall portion 75, and flows toward the front side in the width direction (Y axis direction). The airflow that reaches the front side of the lower airflow pipe wall portion 75 of the lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72 is discharged as the lower airflow A1 from the lower airflow port 71 provided downstream of the conveying direction "α" in the lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72.

The air passes between the inner wall of the lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72 and the lower airflow pipe wall portion 75, and flows toward the front side in the width direction, resulting in an airflow with a component that flows from the back side to the front side in the width direction. In addition, the air flows out of the lower air outlet 71 that opens on the downstream side of the lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72 in the conveying direction, resulting in an airflow with a component that flows from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveying direction. By having these components, the lower airflow A1 becomes an airflow that is inclined from the back side to the front side in the width direction with respect to the conveying direction "α" as shown in FIG. 10(c).

When the sheet material S is transported while only the rear end in the width direction is held, the front side in the width direction sags and may come into contact with the face plate 9 fixed to the upper surface of the movable base 1. If the sheet material S comes into contact with the face plate 9 while moving, the sheet material S may get caught on the face plate 9 and be damaged. In particular, when the sheet material S is scored by the die cutter 100, the face plate 9 is provided with an opposing recess that faces the scoring protrusion provided on the cutting die 8, and if the sheet material S comes into contact with this opposing recess while being transported, the sheet material S is likely to get caught on the face plate 9 and be damaged.
In the die cutter 100 of this embodiment, a lower airflow A1 is discharged from the lower air outlet 71 onto the lower surface of the sheet material S in the area through which the sheet material S passes while being held and conveyed by the conveyor belt pair (14, 15). This makes it possible to push up the lower surface of the sheet material S, of which only the rear end in the width direction is held, or to form an airflow layer below the sheet material S. This makes it possible to prevent the front side of the sheet material S from sagging, and to prevent damage to the sheet material S caused by the sheet material S sagging.

In addition, by generating an airflow from the lower air outlet 71 located upstream of the punching area toward the punching area, it is possible to suppress the generation of an airflow in the counter direction to the sheet material S being transported, and to suppress the sheet material S from rolling up due to the airflow. Furthermore, by generating an airflow from the rear side toward the front side, it is possible to suppress flapping of the front side of the sheet material S, whose behavior is not restricted, on the opposite side to the rear side where the conveyor belt pair (14, 15) holds the sheet material S. As a result, it is possible to suppress the sheet material S from coming into contact with components located above and below it due to the rolling or flapping of the sheet material S, and to suppress damage to the sheet material S caused by this contact.

The configuration for blowing airflow onto the underside of the sheet material S being transported is not limited to a configuration that generates an airflow inclined with respect to the transport direction "α" from the upstream side of the punching area. For example, airflow may be blown onto the underside of the sheet material S from below the pair of transport belts (14, 15) that hold the sheet material S at the rear side in the width direction or from inside the ring of the lower transport belt 14. In other words, any configuration is acceptable as long as it is possible to use an airflow to push up the underside of the sheet material S that is holding one end of the sheet material S by the holding and transporting means and tends to sag due to its own weight, or to form an airflow layer below the sheet material S.

The upper blower 90 extends in the width direction and is provided with an upper blower 93 above the upper airflow horizontal guide pipe 92 in which the upper airflow port 91 is formed. The airflow generated by the upper blower 93 sucking in the surrounding air passes through the upper airflow downward guide pipe 94, flows into the rear end of the upper airflow horizontal guide pipe 92 in the width direction, and flows toward the front side of the upper airflow horizontal guide pipe 92 in the width direction (Y axis direction). A plurality of straightening plates 92a having a surface parallel to the X-Z plane are arranged in the width direction (Y axis direction) inside the upper airflow horizontal guide pipe 92, and a flow path through which the airflow can pass is formed between the upper surface of the inner wall of the upper airflow horizontal guide pipe 92 and the upper end of the straightening plate 92a. The gas that flows into the upper airflow horizontal guide pipe 92 passes through the flow path above the straightening plate 92a, while a part of it flows downward and passes between the straightening plates 92a. During this passage, the air is straightened to flow along the conveying direction "α" and is discharged as upper airflow A2 from the upper air outlet 91 provided on the downstream side of the upper airflow horizontal guide pipe 92 in the conveying direction "α".

The airflow is straightened by the straightening plate 92a and flows out of the upper air outlet 91, which opens on the downstream side of the upper airflow horizontal guide pipe 92 in the conveying direction, to become an airflow that has a component that flows from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveying direction. As a result, the upper airflow A2 becomes an airflow that follows the conveying direction "α" as shown in FIG. 10(a).

The sheet material S, which is transported while only the rear end in the width direction is held, not only sags at the front side in the width direction, but also receives a headwind from the downstream side in the transport direction due to air resistance during transport, and there is a risk that the front side in the width direction will be rolled up. If the sheet material S is rolled up, it will come into contact with the lower surface of the die 8 fixed to the lower surface of the fixed base 2, and may be caught by the cutting blade 81 protruding from the lower surface of the die 8, causing the sheet material S to be damaged.
In addition, since the die cutter 100 of this embodiment blows air current from the lower air outlet 71 onto the underside of the sheet material S, there is a risk that the sheet material S will come into contact with the underside of the punch die 8 by being pushed up by this air current.

In the die cutter 100 of this embodiment, an upper airflow A2 is discharged from the upper air outlet 91 onto the upper surface of the sheet material S in the area through which the sheet material S passes while being held and conveyed by the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15). This allows an airflow layer to be formed above the upper surface of the sheet material S, which is held only at the rear end in the width direction, and prevents the sheet material S from contacting the lower surface of the die 8 located above, thereby suppressing damage to the sheet material S caused by this contact.

In addition, by generating an airflow toward the punching area from the upper air outlet 91 located upstream of the punching area, the generation of an airflow in a counter direction to the conveyed sheet material S can be suppressed, and the sheet material S can be prevented from being rolled up due to the airflow.

In a configuration in which only the rear end in the width direction of the sheet material S is clamped, as in the die cutter 100, the front side of the sheet material S may sag or roll up, causing the position of the sheet material S to become unstable during transport. In response to this, the lower blower 70 and upper blower 90, which are air discharge mechanisms, blow air to lift the front side of the sheet material S and bring the position of the sheet material S closer to horizontal, thereby stabilizing the position of the sheet material S.
As a configuration for transporting the sheet material S with a pair of belts, it is possible to arrange pairs of conveyor belts on both sides in the width direction to stabilize the position of the sheet material S. However, in this configuration, the sheet material S that can be transported is limited to a wide sheet material S that can be sandwiched at both ends in the width direction by the pair of conveyor belts located on both outer sides in the width direction of the punching die 8. In contrast, if only one end of the sheet material S in the width direction is sandwiched by the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15) as in the die cutter 100 of this embodiment, it is possible to transport a narrow sheet material S and perform the punching process.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a modified example of the lower blower 70.
The lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72 of the lower blower 70 shown in Fig. 10(c) has a shape that extends across the entire width of the area through which the sheet material S can pass, and the wall surfaces at both ends in the width direction are flat surfaces parallel to the conveying direction (parallel to the X-axis direction). In contrast, the lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72 of the lower blower 70 of the modified example shown in Fig. 11 has a length in the width direction shorter than the area through which the sheet material S can pass. Furthermore, the wall surfaces at both ends in the width direction of the lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72 are inclined with respect to a direction parallel to the conveying direction (parallel to the X-axis direction) so that the more downstream in the conveying direction the closer to the front.

In the modified blower 70, the airflow generated by the lower blower 73 sucking in the surrounding air passes through the lower airflow upward guide pipe 74 and flows into the lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72, forming a flow along the inclined wall surfaces at both ends in the width direction of the lower airflow horizontal guide pipe 72. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the airflow is discharged from the lower air outlet 71 as a lower airflow A1 inclined from the rear side to the front side in the width direction with respect to the conveying direction "α".

Unlike the above-mentioned method using a circulating chain, the die cutter 100 uses a pair of conveyor belts (14, 15) that are conveying members, which are separate members from the conveying member of the upstream device (registration device 300). For this reason, the sheet material is handed over from the conveying member of the upstream device, and there is a risk of misalignment during the handover or misalignment due to differences in conveying speed. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the accuracy of the stopping position of the sheet material S during the punching process with the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15) that form a conveying device completed within the die cutter 100. However, like the conveying member, a sensor that detects the passage of the sheet material S cannot be placed in the range facing the cutting die 8. For this reason, the timing of stopping the conveyor drive motor 13 that drives the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15) is determined based on the detection result of the entrance sensor 25 placed near the upstream end of the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15).

As shown in Fig. 2, the die cutter 100 includes a first strain sensor 26a and a second strain sensor 26b on the upstream and downstream sides in the conveying direction of the front frame 5. Also, as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, a third strain sensor 26c and a fourth strain sensor 26d on the upstream and downstream sides in the conveying direction of the rear frame 6.
The four strain sensors 26 (26a, 26b, 26c, 26d) are expansion amount measuring means for measuring the amount of expansion in the vertical direction of the front frame 5 and the rear frame 6 which are holding members that hold the fixed base plate 2 among the frames of the die cutter 100.
The measurement points are a front frame 5 and a rear frame 6, which are frames on both sides of the transport path of the sheet material S, and are each provided at a plurality of points (two points in this embodiment) spaced apart in the transport direction.

The four strain sensors 26 are fixed near the upper end of the front frame 5 or the rear frame 6, and strain detection rods 27 (27a, 27b, 27c, 27d) are arranged below the strain sensors 26. The lower ends of the four strain detection rods 27 are fixed to detection rod fixing parts 28 (28a, 28b, 28c, 28d) near the lower end of the front frame 5 or the rear frame 6. Since only the lower end of the strain detection rod 27 is fixed to the front frame 5 or the rear frame 6, the position of its upper end is not affected by the deformation of the front frame 5 or the rear frame 6. On the other hand, since the strain sensor 26 is arranged at the upper end of the front frame 5 or the rear frame 6, when the front frame 5 or the rear frame 6 stretches, it moves upward and the distance to the upper surface of the opposing strain detection rod 27 increases, and when the stretch is released, the distance from the strain sensor 26 to the upper surface of the strain detection rod 27 also returns to its original state. Therefore, the strain sensor 26 can detect the amount of extension of the front frame 5 or the rear frame 6 at the position where it is placed by measuring the change in the distance to the top surface of the strain detection rod 27 arranged opposite it.

The four strain sensors 26 detect the amount of extension of the front frame 5 and the rear frame 6 at the installation position as an electrical signal. The control unit 30 can control the drive of each of the four press motors 3 based on the measurement results of the strain sensors 26.

Examples of the sheet material S, which is a plate-shaped workpiece, include paper media such as plain paper, cardboard, label paper, thick paper, and coated paper. In addition to paper media, plate-shaped workpieces to be processed by the punching device of the present invention include overhead projector sheets, films, fabrics, resin sheets, metal sheets, electronic circuit board materials that have been subjected to metal foil or plating, special films, plastic films, prepregs, and sheets for electronic circuit boards, and may be in the form of a bundle of multiple sheets stacked on top of each other or as a single sheet.

Although the configuration in which the movable base plate is disposed below and the fixed base plate is disposed above has been described, the movable base plate may be disposed above and the fixed base plate may be disposed below.Furthermore, the two base plates facing each other vertically may both be movable base plates that can be moved up and down, and each may be moved toward and away from each other by a plurality (four) of lifting drive sources.
In a configuration in which the movable platen is placed at the bottom and the fixed platen is placed at the top as in this embodiment, the four press motors 3, which are relatively heavy, and the four lifting transmission mechanisms 4 can be placed at low positions in the device, thereby lowering the center of gravity of the die cutter 100 device.

The above is just one example, and each of the following aspects has its own unique effect.

[Aspect 1]
In a punching device such as a die cutter 100 which includes a movable base plate, such as a movable base plate 1, and an opposing base plate, such as a fixed base plate 2, which are arranged opposite each other in the vertical direction, a moving mechanism, such as a press motor 3 and a lifting transmission mechanism 4, which moves the movable base plate toward the opposing base plate, and holding and conveying means, such as a lower conveying belt 14 and an upper conveying belt 15, which move a holding part, such as a belt surface, which holds one end of a sheet-like workpiece, such as a sheet material S, to convey the workpiece to a punching area sandwiched between the movable base plate and the opposing base, the punching device is characterized by including air current generating means, such as a lower blower 70 and an upper blower 90, which generate air currents, such as a lower air current A1 and an upper air current A2, in the area through which the workpiece held and conveyed by the holding and conveying means passes.
According to this, by pushing up the underside of the workpiece being transported by the holding and transporting means, or by forming an air flow layer below the underside, or by forming an air flow layer above the upper surface of the workpiece, it is possible to prevent the workpiece being transported from coming into contact with parts located below or above it (such as the face plate 9 or the die 8).
The die cutter 100, which is the punching device of this embodiment, is configured to include a pair of conveyor belts (14 and 15) that hold one end of the sheet material S in the width direction as a holding and conveying means, but the present invention can also be applied to a configuration in which a plurality of grippers are arranged on an endless chain as described in Patent Document 1 as a holding and conveying means. In this configuration, an air flow is generated from the end of the sheet-like workpiece held by the grippers to the opposite end. This makes it possible to prevent the end of the sheet-like workpiece that is not held by the grippers from sagging or rolling up. In other words, any configuration is applicable as long as one end of the sheet-like workpiece is held and conveyed by the holding and conveying means.

[Aspect 2]
In the punching device of aspect 1, the holding and conveying means is a belt conveying device that conveys the workpiece by sandwiching it between two belt members such as a lower conveying belt 14 and an upper conveying belt 15, and the two belt members are located outside the movable base in the width direction and are characterized in that they sandwich and hold the portion of the workpiece located in the punching area that protrudes from the punching area.
This makes it possible to realize a configuration in which one end of a sheet-shaped workpiece is clamped and transported between two belt members arranged to avoid the punching area, thereby preventing the workpiece from coming into contact with members located below or above it during transport.

[Aspect 3]
In the punching device of aspect 2, the airflow generating means is located upstream of the punching area in the conveying direction and is characterized in that it generates an airflow directed toward the punching area.
This makes it possible to suppress the generation of air currents in a counter direction to the transported workpiece, and to suppress the sheet-like workpiece from being rolled up due to the air currents.

[Aspect 4]
In the punching device of any of aspects 1 to 3, the airflow generating means such as the lower blower 70 is provided with a lower airflow outlet such as a lower air outlet 71 that discharges an airflow below the area through which the workpiece held and transported by the holding and transporting means passes.
This makes it possible to push up the underside of the sheet-shaped workpiece being transported by the holding and transporting means, or to form an air flow layer below the underside, thereby preventing the workpiece from coming into contact with components located below during transport.

[Aspect 5]
In the punching device of aspect 4, the airflow generating means is characterized in that it generates an airflow (such as a lower airflow A1 inclined from the upstream side of the punching area to the conveying direction "α") from one end side of the workpiece held by the holding and conveying means as an airflow to be discharged from the lower airflow outlet.
According to this, the other end side of the workpiece is pushed up by the airflow, and the workpiece being transported can be prevented from contacting a member located below.

[Aspect 6]
In the punching device of any of aspects 1 to 5, the airflow generating means such as the upper blower 90 is characterized in that it has an upper airflow outlet such as an upper air blower port 91 that discharges an airflow above the area through which the workpiece held and transported by the holding and transporting means passes.
This makes it possible to form an air flow layer above the upper surface of the sheet-shaped workpiece being transported by the holding and transporting means, thereby preventing the workpiece from coming into contact with components positioned above it during transport.

[Aspect 7]
In the punching device of aspect 6 having at least the configuration of aspect 2, the airflow generating means generates an airflow directed from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveying direction as the airflow discharged from the upper airflow discharge port.
This makes it possible to suppress the generation of air currents in a counter direction to the transported workpiece, and to suppress the sheet-like workpiece from being rolled up due to the air currents.

1: movable base 2: fixed base 3: press motor 3a: first press motor 4: lifting transmission mechanism 4a: first lifting transmission mechanism 5: front frame 6: rear frame 7: stand frame 8: die 9: face plate 13: conveyor drive motor 14: lower conveyor belt 15: upper conveyor belt 16: conveyor drive transmission mechanism 25: inlet sensor 70: lower blower 90: upper blower 100: die cutter 500: die cut system A1: lower air flow A2: upper air flow

Claims (7)

A movable surface plate and an opposing surface plate arranged opposite each other in the vertical direction;
a moving mechanism for moving the movable base plate up and down toward the counter base plate;
a holding and conveying means for moving a holding part which holds one end of a sheet-like workpiece to convey the workpiece to a predetermined punching position within a punching area sandwiched between the movable base plate and the opposing base plate ,
In a punching device, the moving mechanism performs a punching process in which the workpiece is punched into a predetermined shape by a punching die attached to at least one of the movable base plate and the opposing base plate by bringing the movable base plate closer to the opposing base plate ,
an airflow generating means for generating an airflow in an area through which the workpiece held by the holding and conveying means and conveyed within the punching area passes;
the airflow generating means has a lower airflow outlet that discharges an airflow below a region in the punching region through which the workpiece passes ,
the holding and conveying means holds only one end of the workpiece in the width direction at a portion outside the range facing the die in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction,
The punching device , wherein the lower airflow discharged from the lower airflow discharge port is an airflow having a component flowing from the one end side to the other end side in the width direction . A movable surface plate and an opposing surface plate arranged opposite each other in the vertical direction;
a moving mechanism for moving the movable base plate up and down toward the counter base plate;
a holding and conveying means for moving a holding part which holds one end of a sheet-like workpiece to convey the workpiece to a predetermined punching position within a punching area sandwiched between the movable base plate and the opposing base plate ,
In a punching device, the moving mechanism performs a punching process in which the workpiece is punched into a predetermined shape by a punching die attached to at least one of the movable base plate and the opposing base plate by bringing the movable base plate closer to the opposing base plate ,
an airflow generating means for generating an airflow in an area through which the workpiece held by the holding and conveying means and conveyed within the punching area passes;
the airflow generating means has a lower airflow outlet that discharges an airflow below a region in the punching region through which the workpiece passes ,
the holding and conveying means holds only one end of the workpiece in the width direction at a portion outside the range facing the die in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction,
The punching device , wherein the lower airflow discharged from the lower airflow discharge port is an airflow having a component flowing from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveying direction . In the punching device of claim 1,
The punching device is characterized in that the downward air current is an air current having a component flowing from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveying direction. In the punching device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
the holding and conveying means is a belt conveying device that conveys the workpiece by sandwiching it between two belt members,
A punching device characterized in that the two belt members are positioned outside the movable platen in the width direction and clamp and hold the portion of the workpiece located in the punching area that protrudes from the punching area. A movable surface plate and an opposing surface plate arranged opposite each other in the vertical direction;
a moving mechanism for moving the movable base plate up and down toward the counter base plate;
a holding and conveying means for moving a holding part which holds one end of a sheet-like workpiece to convey the workpiece to a predetermined punching position within a punching area sandwiched between the movable base plate and the opposing base plate,
In a punching device, the moving mechanism performs a punching process in which the workpiece is punched into a predetermined shape by a punching die attached to at least one of the movable base plate and the opposing base plate by bringing the movable base plate closer to the opposing base plate,
an airflow generating means for generating an airflow toward the workpiece before the punching process, the workpiece being held by the holding and conveying means and conveyed toward the punching position,
the airflow generating means has a lower airflow outlet that discharges an airflow below a region in the punching region through which the workpiece passes,
The holding and conveying means holds only the leading end of the workpiece in the conveying direction,
The punching device is characterized in that the air flow generating means generates an air flow discharged from the lower air flow outlet, the air flow being directed from the leading end side to the trailing end side of the workpiece held by the holding and conveying means as it is transported within the punching area. The punching device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The punching device according to claim 1, wherein the airflow generating means has an upper airflow outlet port for discharging an airflow above a region in the punching area through which the workpiece passes. The punching device according to claim 6,
The punching device is characterized in that the air flow generating means generates an air flow discharged from the upper air flow outlet, the air flow being directed from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction of the workpiece transported within the punching area.

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