JP7576825B2 - 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 transport mechanism that transports the workpiece to a punching area between the movable platen and the opposing platen. The workpiece is transported to the punching area and the movable platen is brought close to the opposing platen, and 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 transport mechanism in which multiple gripping devices 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 transport the sheet. In this configuration in which the leading edge of the sheet is gripped by the grippers and transported, 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 flat platen punching device in which a punching die is attached to an opposing platen, the workpiece is sandwiched between the tip of the cutting blade of the punching die on the opposing platen side and the movable platen, and the movable platen is further moved toward the opposing platen to punch out the workpiece into the shape of the cutting blade of the punching die. By sandwiching the workpiece between the movable platen and the cutting blade, the position of the sandwiched part relative to the movable platen is fixed. When the movable platen is then further moved toward the opposing platen for punching, the distance between the part of the workpiece sandwiched between the movable platen and the opposing platen and the part held by a holding means such as a gripper increases, and a force pulling the workpiece is applied, which may damage the workpiece.
Furthermore, before the workpiece is sandwiched between the counter platen and the die, the position of the part of the workpiece held by the holding means is fixed, and when the movable platen in contact with the workpiece moves toward the counter platen, the workpiece moves relative to the movable platen along the plane of the movable platen that contacts the workpiece, causing a shift in the relative positions of the workpiece and the movable platen in the direction parallel to the plane (horizontal direction). This causes a shift in the range of the workpiece facing the movable platen, and also causes a shift in the positional relationship of the workpiece with the die, which may cause a positional shift in the part of the workpiece to be punched.
Thus, problems caused by changes in the position of the movable base plate relative to the holding means are not limited to configurations in which the holding means holds the leading end of the workpiece like a conventional gripper. For example, problems can also occur in configurations in which a conveying mechanism that holds the workpiece by pinching it with a belt member arranged on the outside in the width direction of the range in which the workpiece faces the punching die, such as the sheet material conveying mechanism using a belt described in Patent Document 2, is applied to a punching device equipped with a movable base plate and an opposing base plate.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a punching device comprising a movable base plate and an opposing base plate arranged opposite each other, a moving mechanism for moving the movable base plate toward the opposing base plate, a punching area transporting means for transporting a workpiece to a punching area sandwiched between the movable base plate and the opposing base plate, and a holding means for holding the workpiece located in the punching area, wherein the moving mechanism moves the movable base plate from a stop position opposite the opposing base plate to a stop position on the opposing base plate side, thereby performing a punching process in which the workpiece is punched into a predetermined shape using a punching die attached to at least one of the movable base plate and the opposing base plate, and the device is characterized in that it further comprises a holding means moving mechanism for moving the holding means to the side of the opposing base plate in accordance with the movement of the movable base plate, which moves to the stop position on the opposing base plate side during the punching process.

The present invention has the excellent effect of suppressing changes in the position of the moving base plate relative to the holding means, thereby suppressing problems caused by such changes in position.

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. FIG. FIG. FIG. 4 is a downstream side view of the conveyor belt pair and the movable platen. Schematic diagram of the front of the die cutter. Block diagram of a die cutter. 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. FIG.

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 base plate 1 that can move up and down relative to a frame (5, 6, 7, etc.) of the apparatus, and a fixed base plate 2 that is arranged opposite and above the movable base plate 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 conveys 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 moving base plate 1 in the width direction and conveys the sheet material S. It also includes a conveyor drive motor 13 that is the 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 conveys the sheet material S toward the conveyor belt pair while sandwiching multiple points in the width direction, and the lower conveyor belt 14 and the upper conveyor belt 15 convey the sheet material S while sandwiching one end of the sheet material S in the width direction (the rear side of the device).

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 is movable in the vertical direction relative to the fixed plate 34.
9 to 11 are explanatory diagrams of a configuration in which a part of the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15) is lifted in conjunction with the lifting of the movable base 1. FIG.

9A and 9B are front views of the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15), with FIG. 9A being an explanatory view before punching, and FIG. 9B being an explanatory view during punching.
10A and 10B are rear views of the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15) and the movable platen 1, with FIG. 10A being an explanatory diagram before punching, FIG. 10B being an explanatory diagram during punching, and FIG. 10C being an explanatory diagram at the time of punching.
11A and 11B are side views of the downstream side of the conveyor belt pair (14, 15) and the movable base 1, with FIG. 11A being an explanatory diagram before punching, FIG. 11B being an explanatory diagram during punching, and FIG. 11C being an explanatory diagram during punching.
Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of the front of the die cutter 100, where Figure 12(a) is an explanatory diagram of the sheet material S being transported toward the punching area, and Figure 12(b) is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the movable base plate 1 has been raised after the sheet material S has stopped in the punching area.

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 output gear 35 rotates, and the belt drive gear 37 rotates via the drive output belt 36. When the belt drive gear 37 rotates, the upper drive roller 150 and the drive transmission gear 150a, which are fixed to a common rotation shaft, rotate. The upper drive roller 150 rotates, causing the upper transport belt 15 to rotate. The drive transmission gear 150a rotates, causing the lower belt drive input gear 140a that meshes with it to rotate, causing the lower drive roller 140, which is fixed to a common rotation shaft, to rotate, causing the lower transport belt 14 to rotate.

The lower tension roller 142 and the upper tension roller 152 are biased toward the upstream side in the conveying direction (the right side in FIG. 9) relative to the tension roller holding frame 40 fixed to the rear frame 6, and apply tension to the lower conveying belt 14 and the upper conveying belt 15.

The paths of the lower conveyor belt 14 and the upper conveyor belt 15 are determined so that a plurality of lower tension rollers 141 and a plurality of upper tension rollers 151 form a horizontal surface 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. The lower tension rollers 141 and the upper tension rollers 151 that form the surface that sandwiches 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 surface of the lower bent portion 331 of the movable plate 33 as shown in Fig. 10(b) and Fig. 11(b). Furthermore, 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. As a result, the portion 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 rises together with the movable base plate 1 (rising by the distance "dH" shown by the dashed line in Fig. 9(b)), resulting in the state shown in Fig. 9(b), Fig. 10(c), Fig. 11(c), and Fig. 12(b). In this way, 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.

During the punching process, the movable base plate 1 rises, pushing up the sheet material S, and the sheet material S is sandwiched between the tip of the cutting blade 81 of the punching die 8 on the fixed base plate 2 side and the surface of the movable base plate 1 (face plate 9). Then, the movable base plate 1 rises, punching out the sheet material S into the shape of the cutting blade 81 of the punching die 8. The sheet material S is sandwiched between the movable base plate 1 and the cutting blade 81, and the position of the sandwiched portion relative to the movable base plate 1 is fixed. Thereafter, when the movable base plate 1 rises further for punching, the portion of the sheet material S sandwiched between the movable base plate 1 and the cutting blade 81 rises. At this time, if the portion of the conveyor belt pair (14, 15) that holds the sheet material S does not displace, the distance between the portion of the sheet material that is sandwiched between the movable base plate 1 and the cutting blade 81 and the portion that is held by the conveyor belt pair (14, 15) will increase in the vertical direction, causing a force that pulls the sheet material S, which may damage the sheet material S.

In contrast, in this embodiment, the upper tension surface of the lower conveyor belt 14 and the lower tension surface of the upper conveyor belt 15 rise in conjunction with the rise of the movable base plate 1. This makes it possible to prevent the distance between the position where the sheet material S is sandwiched between the movable base plate 1 and the cutting blade 81 (fixed base plate 2) and the position where the pair of conveyor belts (14, 15) holds the sheet material S (the upper tension surface of the lower conveyor belt 14 and the lower tension surface of the upper conveyor belt 15) from becoming greater in the vertical direction. This makes it possible to prevent a pulling force from acting on the sheet material S during the punching process, thereby preventing damage to the sheet material S.
Furthermore, before coming into contact with the cutting blade 81, the sheet material S being pushed up onto the movable platen 1 can be prevented from being pulled by a fixed-position holding means, which can prevent the area of the sheet material S facing the movable platen 1 from shifting. This prevents the portion of the sheet material S being punched from shifting in position, allowing for accurate punching processing and improving the quality of the finished product.

When the lower tension roller 141 rises and a portion of the upper tension surface of the lower conveyor belt 14 rises, both ends of the upper tension surface in the conveying direction that were previously straight become inclined, and the path of the lower conveyor belt 14 that forms the upper tension surface becomes longer. At this time, the lower tension roller 142 moves toward the lower drive roller 140, thereby preventing an increase in the tension of the lower conveyor belt 14. Similarly, when the upper tension roller 151 rises and a portion of the lower tension surface of the upper conveyor belt 15 rises, both ends of the lower tension surface in the conveying direction that were previously straight become inclined, and the path of the upper conveyor belt 15 that forms the lower tension surface becomes longer. At this time, the upper tension roller 152 moves toward the upper drive roller 150, thereby preventing an increase in the tension of the upper conveyor belt 15.

When the downstream portion of the lower tension surface of the upper conveyor belt 15 (the portion between the upper tension roller 151 and the upper drive roller 150 located at the most downstream side of the plurality of rollers) is inclined, the portion of the upper conveyor belt 15 where the upper tension roller 151 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the upper conveyor belt 15 is sandwiched between the upper tension roller 151 and the lower tension roller 141 and is difficult to move, and the portion of the upper conveyor belt 15 where the upper drive roller 150 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the upper conveyor belt 15 is pulled upstream in the conveyor direction. As a result, a torque in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 9 acts on the upper drive roller 150, and the torque acts on the drive output gear 35 via the belt drive gear 37 and the drive output belt 36, which may result in a state in which the torque acts on the stopped conveyor drive motor 13. If a servo motor is used as the conveyor drive motor 13, the rotation of the conveyor belt pair can be controlled with high precision, but if a torque acts on the conveyor drive motor 13 that is controlled to be stopped, there is a risk of malfunction or a load being applied to the conveyor drive motor 13. To prevent such problems, when a portion of the lower tension surface of the upper conveyor belt 15 rises, i.e., when the movable base plate 1 is raised, control may be performed to stop the supply of power to the conveyor drive motor 13. This makes it possible to prevent torque from acting on the conveyor drive motor 13, which is controlled to stop.

As shown in FIG. 10, the lower tension roller shaft 141a, which is the rotation shaft of the lower tension roller 141, is fixed in position relative to the movable plate 33. The upper tension roller shaft 151a, which is the rotation shaft of the upper tension roller 151, is movable in the vertical direction relative to the movable plate 33. Furthermore, the upper tension roller shaft 151a is biased toward the lower tension roller shaft 141a by the tensile force of the tension roller biasing spring 38. This bias causes the upper tension roller 151 to abut against the lower tension roller 141 with the upper conveyor belt 15 and the lower conveyor belt 14 sandwiched between them.

As shown in Figures 8 and 10, the fixed plate 34 has an upper protruding plate 34a and a lower protruding plate 34b that protrude forward, and a tension belt slide shaft 34d 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 a tension belt slide shaft 34d passes, and the slide member 33a moves up and down along the tension belt slide shaft 34d, thereby moving the movable plate 33 in the up and down direction. A movable plate positioning spring 34c 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 in this state, the slide member 33a pushed down by the movable plate positioning spring 34c 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 to 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 34c is compressed, as shown in FIG. 10(c). In this state, the movable plate 33 biased by the movable plate positioning spring 34c hits the protrusion 29, and the movable plate 33 is positioned, and the upper tension roller 151 and the lower tension roller 141 are 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. 13 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.

14 is a schematic explanatory diagram of one of the four lift transmission mechanisms 4. Fig. 14(a) is an explanatory diagram of the XZ plane, Fig. 14(b) is an explanatory diagram of the YZ plane, and Fig. 14(c) is a perspective view.
14 , 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 15 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 15(a) is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the cylindrical portion 10 is located at the bottom dead center, Figure 15(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 15(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. 15, 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. 15(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. 15(a) to the top dead center state shown in FIG. 15(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, and 8, 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 lower cutting die 8. 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.

The die cutter 100 also includes an air ejection mechanism (not shown) that blows air onto the sheet material S being sandwiched and transported between the pair of transport belts (14, 15). In a configuration in which only the rear end of the sheet material S in the width direction is sandwiched, the front side of the sheet material S may sag, causing the posture of the sheet material S being transported to become unstable. In response to this, the air ejection mechanism blows air to lift the front side of the sheet material S and bring the posture of the sheet material S closer to horizontal, thereby stabilizing the posture 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.

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.

In the die cutter 100 of this embodiment, in the punching process during mass production, the movable platen 1 is configured to reciprocate between the lower stop position and the upper stop position, and is controlled to move without stopping on the way down from the upper stop position to the lower stop position. In contrast, a second punching control may be selected in which the reverse drive of the four press motors 3 is stopped and the drive of the transport drive motor 13 is resumed so that the movable platen 1 stops when the sheet material S punched by the punching die 8 descends to the transport height. In this second punching control, after the rear end of the sheet material S that has been punched passes above the movable platen 1, the reverse drive of the four press motors 3 is resumed, and the movable platen 1 is lowered to the lower stop position and stopped, preparing for the next punching operation.

In the normal punching process of the die cutter 100, the product part and the excess part of the sheet material S after the punching process are not completely separated. This is because if the part held by the holding part such as the conveyor belt pair (14, 15) is the excess part, the product may fall inside the device, and if the part that will become the product is held, the excess part may fall from the device. For this reason, the cutting blade 81 of the punching die 8 is shaped to leave a narrow connecting line called a "nick" that connects the product and the excess part. Then, the separator pushes down the excess part to cut the nick and obtain the product. In contrast, by performing the second punching control, even if the product and the excess part are completely separated in the punching process, the upper surface of the movable base plate 1 (the upper surface of the face plate 9) supports the lower surface of the sheet material S, so that the excess part or the part of the product that is not held by the holding part is prevented from falling into the device, and the product and the excess part can be discharged outside the die cutter 100 even without a nick. This eliminates the need to cut off nicks in the sheet material S after it is discharged, preventing nicks from remaining on the finished product and improving the quality of the finished product.

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, 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, a punching area transport means, such as a lower conveying belt 14 and an upper conveying belt 15, which transports a workpiece, such as a sheet material S, to a punching area sandwiched between the movable base plate and the opposing base plate, and a holding means, such as the lower conveying belt 14 and the upper conveying belt 15, which holds the workpiece located in the punching area, the punching device is characterized in that it includes a holding means moving mechanism (protrusion 29 and movable plate 33) which moves the holding means to the side of the opposing base plate (upward, etc.) in response to movement of the movable base plate toward the opposing base plate.
According to this, the holding means moves toward the opposing platen in accordance with the movement of the movable platen which moves toward the opposing platen by the holding means moving mechanism during the punching process, thereby suppressing changes in the position of the movable platen relative to the holding means and thereby suppressing the occurrence of problems caused by this change in position.

The die cutter 100, which is the punching device of this embodiment, is configured to move the portions of the lower conveyor belt 14 and the upper conveyor belt 15, which are holding means and which sandwich the sheet material S, up and down in conjunction with the up and down movement of the movable base plate 1. The configuration for moving the holding means in accordance with the movement of the movable base plate is not limited to a configuration in which they are linked by a common drive source, but may also be a configuration in which the holding means is moved to the side of the opposing base plate in accordance with the movement of the movable base plate by a separately provided drive source.
In the die cutter 100, which is the punching device of this embodiment, the movable base plate 1 is located below the fixed base plate 2, which is the counter base plate, and the movable base plate 1 rises to perform the punching process, and a part of the lower conveyor belt 14 and the upper conveyor belt 15, which are holding means, rises in response to the rise of the movable base plate 1. The punching device to which the present invention is applied may be configured so that the movable base plate is located above the counter base plate. In this configuration, the holding means is lowered in response to the descent of the movable base plate during the punching process. In addition, although the pair of conveyor belts (14 and 15) is configured to function as the punching area conveying means and the holding means, it is also possible to apply a configuration in which a plurality of grippers are arranged on an endless chain as described in Patent Document 1, as a mechanism that functions as the punching area conveying means and the holding means. In this configuration, the gripper is moved in response to the movement of the movable base plate toward the counter base plate during the punching process. This makes it possible to suppress the distance between the gripper and the movable base plate from fluctuating.

[Aspect 2]
In the punching device of aspect 1, the holding means moving mechanism has a pressing part such as the protrusion 29 that moves together with the movable base plate, and a pressed part such as the downward bent part 331 of the movable plate 33 that moves together with the holding means, and is characterized in that when the movable base plate moves toward the opposing base plate, the pressing part presses the pressed part, and the holding means moves toward the opposing base plate.
This makes it possible to realize a configuration in which the holding means moves to the side of the counter platen in conjunction with the moving platen.

[Aspect 3]
In the punching device of aspect 2, the pressing portion is not in contact with the pressed portion when the movable base plate starts to move toward the opposing base plate, and is contacted with and pressed by the pressed portion midway during the movement of the movable base plate toward the opposing base plate.
According to this, during the punching process, a configuration can be realized in which the movable platen starts moving first, and then the holding means moves partway through the movement.

[Aspect 4]
In the punching device of any one of aspects 1 to 3, the punching area transporting means is a belt transporting device that transports the workpiece by sandwiching it between two belt members such as a lower transport belt 14 and an upper transport belt 15, and the two belt members are located on the outside of the movable base plate in the width direction and function as holding means by sandwiching and holding the portion of the workpiece located in the punching area that protrudes from the punching area, and the holding means moving mechanism is a mechanism in which the portions of the two belt members that sandwich the workpiece (the upper tension surface of the lower transport belt 14 and the lower tension surface of the upper transport belt 15, etc.) move toward the opposing base plate in response to movement of the movable base plate toward the opposing base plate.
This allows for a configuration in which the workpiece is sandwiched and transported between two belt members arranged to avoid the punching area, and the parts of the two belt members that sandwich the workpiece can be moved toward the opposing platen in response to the movement of the movable platen.

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: entrance sensor 29: protrusion 32: belt support mechanism 33: movable plate 34: fixed plate 100: die cutter 500: die cutting system

Claims (4)

A movable surface plate and an opposing surface plate arranged opposite to each other,
a moving mechanism that moves the movable base toward the counter base;
a punching area transport means for transporting a workpiece to a punching area sandwiched between the movable platen and the opposing platen;
a holding means for holding the workpiece located in the punching area,
the moving mechanism moves the movable base from a stop position on the opposite side of the counter base to a stop position on the counter base side, thereby performing a punching process in which a punching die attached to at least one of the movable base and the counter base is used to punch out a workpiece into a predetermined shape;
A punching device characterized by comprising a holding means moving mechanism that moves the holding means to the side of the opposing platen in response to movement of the movable platen, which moves to a stop position on the opposing platen side during the punching process . In the punching device of claim 1,
the holding means moving mechanism has a pressing part that moves together with the movable base and a pressed part that moves together with the holding means,
A punching device, characterized in that, when the movable platen moves toward the opposing platen, the pressing portion presses the pressed portion, and the holding means moves toward the opposing platen. In the punching device of claim 2,
The punching device is characterized in that the pressing portion is not in contact with the pressed portion when the movable base plate starts to move toward the opposing base plate, and is in contact with and pressing the pressed portion during the course of the movable base plate's movement toward the opposing base plate. In any one of claims 1 to 3,
The punching area transport means is a belt transport device that transports the workpiece by sandwiching it between two belt members,
the two belt members are positioned outside the movable base in the width direction, and function as the holding means by sandwiching and holding a portion of the workpiece located in the punching area that protrudes from the punching area,
A punching device characterized in that the holding means moving mechanism is a mechanism that moves the portion of the two belt members that clamps the workpiece toward the opposing platen in response to the movement of the movable platen toward the opposing platen.

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