1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for and method of processing newspaper-style media to collate individual media into a single final package for delivery to the end user. The invention and method described allows individual stacks of insert material to be collected and processed into a single, unified insert package with each individual group of inserts inserted as a stack at one time within a jacket part such as a newspaper jacket. The inserts are processed into a single stream and automatically inserted in the correct order and group into each individual jacket, and the jacket and the inserted materials thereafter comprise a completed product.
2. Description of the Related Art
The newspaper industry has used inserts collected from various different sources as advertising material and other printed media delivery systems for many years. It is well known to those skilled in the art that collating insertable advertising media from various different sources into a complete package for final insertion into a newspaper jacket can be time consuming, wrought with error and may be problematic when using automation to collect the inserts into a single insertable package, thereafter inserting within the newspaper fold for final delivery as a unitary paper product for a consumer. In the past, the industry has conceived of many different feeding principles such as a paper sheet feed and transport shown in Faltin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,122.
Early collection and collating systems have been unsatisfactory because they require human intervention, are prone to flyaway inserts, which require a production line to be stopped, and correction and repair performed manually. Also, prior art systems that attempt automation of the process feed inserts from the bottom of a stack, thereby requiring adjustment for the weight of the insert material at the top of the stack which changes as the stack is used up from the bottom. For years a new system which is less complicated, yet smaller in size, more efficient and error-free has been needed.
To address the failings in the prior art, the present invention and method provides a feeder system which picks inserts off the top of a stack, rather than the bottom of a stack. Using vacuum suckers, each individual insert is taken from the top of a stack of inserts and then moved into the stream using a series of grippers. The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome, because feeding conditions are the same for each insert, allowing the total revolutions per minute of the feeder to remain low while still achieving a high throughput, as in the preferred embodiment which allows 60,000 copies per hour to be processed.
The prior art also suffers from flyaway inserts which causes lost product, because the newsprint media used for inserts is frequently very thin and therefore light. In the environment of a production line and factory, and given the movement of a conveyor belt-like system to move the inserts towards the final product, air can catch the leading end of the insert or get underneath the insert if it is being fed in a normal shingle-stream fashion. A system is needed which takes advantage of an inverted stream environment, thereby using gravity and aerodynamics to eliminate flyaway inserts even at higher conveyor speeds.
The existing art in newspaper insert collating also normally collates inserts to be collected into a package from the top down. This also encourages flyaway inserts and additional lost product. A system is needed in which bottom-up collation takes place by placing the heaviest insert product online first. Downstream inserts that are to be added to the insert package are collated under the current stream, thereby taking advantage of the weight of the inserts that are already online to eliminate flyaway product by stabilizing the downstream inserts being collected below the first insert package.
The present state of the newspaper printing collation art and of newspaper collating for inserts frequently requires that manual labor is used to place bundles of insert into the collating process. Frequently manual labor is used to collect inserts into one package to be either automatically or manually inserted into a newspaper jacket for final delivery to a newspaper reader. There is a need for a modular feeding means to provide for semi-automated insertion of different groups of advertising material or other inserts which can be loaded as one unit in a magazine-type environment.
An improved, high speed newspaper insert and collating method and system is disclosed. The invention's improvements includes the feeding of newspaper inserts into a 4″ inverted shingled stream using bottom-up collation. The invention applies the inverted stream to take advantage of gravity and aerodynamics to eliminate flyaway inserts and increase the speed of production. Additional inserts to be collated are placed under the current stream of inserts to take advantage of the weight of the first collected inserts that are already online to stabilize the downstream inserts being fed from the bottom up beneath the existing upstream inserts already laid out in inverted shingle form. The heavier inserts are presented first at a location farthest from the pocket loop collation system, adding additional inserts to the insert conveyor in descending order of weight so that the lightest inserts are placed under the heavier inserts as the pile of inserts in the inverted shingle stream is built up from underneath from each interim conveyor system feeding the insert conveyor from each insert cart beneath the conveyor. As long as heaviest inserts are presented first, other inserts placed underneath the heaviest insert may be of varied weight.
The invention uses track mounted insert stack carts which are loaded in the desired order of presentation in the stream of inserts being processed. The inserts are fed from the top of the stack of inserts using a suction and gripper drum means to feed each set of inserts from the individual carts on the conveyor stream using the said bottom-up collating method. The invention utilizes a pocket loop circular conveyor system which accomplishes the collation of the collected inverted shingle stream inserts and places them neatly, cleanly and at high speeds into the jacket in which the inserts will reside in the final product. The pocket loop uses a series of pocket-like insert document collectors comprised of two plates which meet at a hinge at one end to allow opening and closing the space between them which form a pocket. Each pocket accepts packets being inserted from the closed end or fold into the pocket. The longer side of the jacket is retained in the pocket by two pocket grips. Each jacket, which frequently is a finished newspaper, is aligned along the cut edge by gravity through its motion on the bottom of the pocket loop, thereafter allowing perfect alignment on the upward travel of each individual jacket being prepared to accept the inserts from the insert conveyor. As each pocket in the loop travels upward to accept inserts, the pocket will open which allows the jacket to open under gravity allowing insertion of the insert package. The pocket loop system provides the means to continuously process collected inserts with a jacket using a single system with a minimum of apparatus or process steps.
The invention's feeder takes inserts off the top of a stack of inserts using suckers that insert into a series of grippers. The invention uses this method which is different than the present art which takes inserts to be placed into a newspaper jacket from the bottom of a stack of inserts. By using the disclosed method, the feeding conditions are the same for each insert, as the weight of the stack of inserts does not effect the operation as it would feeding inserts from the bottom of the same stack of inserts. The invention feeds inserts from a feeding cart onto a conveyer system in inverted shingle format to allow cleaner insertion as will be described below.
With the use of bottom-up collation in an inverted stream, the invention takes advantage of gravity and aerodynamics to eliminate flyaway inserts in the stream of inserts being readied for processing and insertion. Bottom-up collation allows the invention to run at very fast speeds without losing products or experiencing flyaway inserts. Since any additional inserts which may be inserted in the existing stream of inserts are collated from the bottom of the already processed inserts, the invention takes advantage of the weight of inserts to hold the additional inserts in place.
The invention takes advantage of track insert loading carts which are track mounted to allow effort-free alignment of each stack of inserts into the production line position. The loading carts also provide the advantage of preloaded inserts in such carts to be delivered by the insert vendor or advertising firm providing the media to be inserted.
The invention uses a pocket loop, being a continuous loop of insert and jacket pockets which is modular and may be placed in the production line at various locations as may be suitable for a particular application. The pocket loop which provides the means to insert the series of inserts that have been collected from the inverted stream on one side of the pocket loop, and the jacket in which the inserts are to be placed are presented on the opposite side of the pocket loop will be described below.
The pocket loop collection means prepares each final product to be removed in a continuous flow to be presented for final shipment without the need for human intervention in processing the inserts with the jackets. The continuous pocket loop utilizes a series of jacket or individual shelf-like, jacket-like pocket devices which include pocket fingers to guide the jacket directly into pocket grippers to hold down and register the overlap on the downward side of the loop system. When the pocket loop system continues in the upward portion of the loop, it uses gravity to hold the paper jacket open in that it is gripped from the top while a collated package is inserted into the main jacket at one time, providing a cleaner package at higher delivery speeds.
A pocket loop system allows the use of variable size inserts such as small cutoffs to full size inserts. Pocket fingers direct a jacket in which the inserts are to be placed into each individual pocket, pocket fingers guide the jacket directly to the pocket grippers in the pocket loop, then hold down and register the overlap on loop down. As the pocket loops up on the reverse side of the pocket loop continuous conveyor, as the pocket loops up on said opposite side, the pocket opens and uses gravity to hold the paper open to accomplish the end result of insertion of the package within the jacket.
It is the object of the invention to provide a means for a feeder system which picks inserts off the top of a stack of inserts using suckers that place each individual insert into a series of grippers rather than use of the traditional method of pulling an insert from the bottom of a stack.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an environment for processing inserts which allow the revolutions per minute of the feeder to remain low while achieving a throughput of 60,000 copies an hour.
It is further an object of the invention to provide a method of stacking and collating inserts in a bottom-up collating environment by using inverted shingled stream collation.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a simplified scheme for inserting printed materials into a jacket such as a newspaper in a simplified processing stream which reduces loss, flyaway inserts and remains flexible for easy presentation of insert materials in various sizes and in various order of presentation.
Various other objects of the invention shall become apparent to those knowledgeable about such processes as the details of the invention are explained below. All such uses and objects apparent are considered within the scope of this disclosure as the above objects are representative for illustrative purposes only. The following figures will assist in understanding the operation of the invention and its advantages.
And now the invention will be described with reference to the various figures wherein like numerals refer to like parts.
The finished collated product is removed and conveyed away shown in completed product conveyor 18. The product conveyor 18 is a conveyor system which clamps both cut ends of the finished product such as to secure the inserted materials.
Drum 26 incorporates vacuum suction means integrated with a series of grippers to select and feed the sheets of inserts from the pile loaded into each bin. Drum 26 selects and feeds top insert 28 from a cart into insert stream 24 in a bottom-up collation fashion, creating an inverted shingle type insert stream. The inserts processed as shown are inserted into the existing stream at collection point 30.
As can be seen by
Although the invention has been described in accordance with a preferred embodiment and an alternative embodiment, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the application of the present invention is useful in a variety of configurations and designs not specifically described above. All such designs and applications are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure, and the invention is applicable across a wide variety of applications. Such applications are considered within the scope and spirit of the present invention.
This application claims the benefit of the Applicants' U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/925,537 filed Apr. 20, 2007 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
60925537 | Apr 2007 | US |