Kouji Utani, Osaka, Japan; and Daisuke Inoue, Osaka, Japan.
Assigned to Zuiko Corporation, Osaka, Japan.

Filed: 9/11/17
Issued: 1/31/23

A folding system for folding an article that has a main portion and a to-be-folded portion at least on one side of the main portion, the folding system comprising: a carrier section having a carrying surface in contact with the main portion for carrying the main portion; and a first folder plate provided on one side of the carrying surface and a second folder plate provided on another side of the carrying surface, the first and second folder plates provided so as to correspond to the to-be-folded portion, each of the first and second folder plate comprising: a first guide surface provided in parallel to the carrying surface on a side of the carrying surface for guiding the to-be-folded portion of the article before the article is folded; a second guide surface that gradually rises while extending downstream from the first guide surface to raise the to-be-folded portion while being in contact with the to-be-folded portion; and a third guide surface that gradually turns to face the carrying surface while extending downstream from the second guide surface for guiding the to-be-folded portion so that the to-be-folded portion is folded onto the main portion, wherein the first and the second folder plates are arranged with a phase difference from each other in a flow direction of the article so that a terminal of the first folder plate is located upstream, in the flow direction, of a terminal of the second folder plate and the first guide surface of the second folder plate is located upstream, in the flow direction, of the terminal of the first folder plate.