Patent Application
20140217668
The disclosed systems and methods generally relate to paper handling systems, and more particularly to a printer and paper delivery system.
The present invention generally relates to paper handling systems, and more particularly to a printer and paper delivery system.
Paper handling conveyor systems are used to transport individual thin sheets of paper for use in various types of commercial and industrial processes. Such conveyor systems generally include a moveable belt conveyor on which the paper travels and roller guides which engage and maintain contact between the sheets of paper and the belt. Since belt conveyors may transport the sheets of paper at relatively high speeds, the roller guides function to guide and provide positive feeding of the sheets of paper to various process delivery points.
One application for a paper transport belt conveyor systems is in the industrial printing and provision of individual paper labels. Industrial printing systems include one or more printers which print various indicia and/or images on a paper label, which may be provided with a water soluble dry adhesive backing in some embodiments. The individual labels may be of any size. After printing, the labels are fed one-by-one in serial fashion from the printer onto the belt conveyor for transport to a process delivery point where the label is affixed to various types of articles including without limitation large rolls of paper such as produced in a paper mill. Optimally, the labels are delivered to process delivery point with precise timing and placement to allow proper fixation to the article.
In some embodiments, a printing and paper delivery system includes at least two printers disposed adjacent to one another. A first conveyor is coupled to a first printer of the at least two printers such that the first conveyer is configured to receive media output from an output chute of the first printer. A second conveyor is coupled to a second printer of the at least two printers such that the first conveyor is configured to receive media output from an output chute of the second printer. A controller is in signal communication with the first and second conveyors to facilitate the transfer of media from at least one of the at least two printers to a delivery location.
In some embodiments, a printing and paper delivery system includes a plurality of printers, a plurality of conveyors, and a controller. The plurality of printers are disposed adjacent to one another to form an array. Each of the plurality of conveyors is coupled respectively to at least one of the plurality of printers. The controller is in signal communication with the first and second conveyors to facilitate the transfer of media from at least one of the at least two printers to a delivery location.
In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a first signal at a controller from a first sensor. The first signal identifies that media is located at a first location along a first conveyor. A second signal is transmitted from the controller to a first contact to activate a second conveyor in response to receiving the first signal. A third signal is received at the controller from a second sensor. The third signal identifies that the media is located at a first location along the second conveyor. The second conveyor is coupled to a second printer that is positioned adjacent to a first conveyor to which the first conveyor is coupled.
The features of the preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the following drawings, where like elements are labeled similarly, and in which:
The features and benefits of the present disclosure are illustrated and described herein by reference to exemplary embodiments. This description of exemplary embodiments is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description. Accordingly, the present disclosure expressly should not be limited to such embodiments illustrating some possible non-limiting combination of features that may exist alone or in other combinations of features; the scope of the claimed invention being defined by the claims appended hereto.
In the description of embodiments disclosed herein, any reference to direction or orientation is merely intended for convenience of description and is not intended in any way to limit the scope of the present invention. Relative terms such as “lower,” “upper,” “horizontal,” “vertical,”, “above,” “below,” “up,” “down,” “top” and “bottom” as well as derivative thereof (e.g., “horizontally,” “downwardly,” “upwardly,” etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description only and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Terms such as “attached,” “coupled,” “affixed,” “connected,” “interconnected,” and the like refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly described otherwise.
A printing and paper delivery system and associated method are provided in one embodiment according to the present disclosure that includes a printer train or linear array comprising a plurality of printers (i.e., two or more) and a belt conveyor line interconnected to each of the printers. In some embodiments, the belt conveyor line includes of a series of individual belt conveyors placed in head to tail relationship along a common longitudinal axis. The belt conveyor line is configured to receive and transport, selectively, a sheet of paper such as a label from any of the available printers. Advantageously, the printing and paper handling system eliminates downtime if a single printer must be serviced and provides the flexibility to select the supply source for the single belt conveyor line from one of several different printers which may each hold different types of paper or labels (e.g. different color, printing, etc.) in some embodiments.
According to one embodiment, a printing and paper delivery system includes a belt conveyor line defining a longitudinal axis, and a plurality of printers axially aligned with the belt conveyor line in serial fashion. The printers are operative to dispense a sheet of paper onto the belt conveyor line. The belt conveyor line includes at least first and second belt conveyors, which are arranged in serial fashion along the longitudinal axis. In some embodiments, the first belt conveyor is located at a different elevation than the second belt conveyor.
As described in greater detail below, the disclosed systems and methods advantageously provide for an online backup/redundant printer and enables paper/labels of different types to be fed along a single conveyor line. Further, the number of printers placed in serial with one another can be extended to two or more with each printer in the series and each tray of each printer being individually addressable.
One example of a printing and paper delivery system 100 in accordance with some embodiments is now described, without limitation, with reference to a system as may be found in a paper mill. The principles and features of the system disclosed herein may be used with equal advantage for various commercial or industrial applications other than a paper mill. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited to any particular application of the system 100 described herein.
Each of the printers 110, 120 further includes an output chute 130 which dispenses a sheet of paper P through the printer cabinet 112 to the belt conveyor line. In one embodiment, the paper may be a label of any appropriate size including without limitation 8.5″×11″ or 11″×17″ to list only a few possibilities.
With continuing reference to
Each belt conveyor 210, 220 may be elevated above the printers 110, 120 and floor by suitable supports 260 attached to either the printer cabinet 112, and/or independently from the printers being mounted either on the floor of the facility (FL) and/or to existing available structural members or other equipment in the facility as variously shown in
With additional reference to
In some embodiments, for example, printer 110 is mounted to a floor FL approximately 4 inches higher than printer 120 to facilitate a smooth transition of paper P from belt conveyor 210 to belt conveyor 220. The leading edges of paper P from conveyor 210 and chute 130 of printer 120 enter a nip formed by belt 220 and its leading idle roller as identified by the arrow associated with NIP in
In some embodiments, coordination between the printers 110, 120 is coordinated by a controller 300, such as a programmable logic controller (“PLC”), microprocessor, or other computing device, which is shown in
An exemplary method for operating the printing and paper delivery system 100 will now be briefly described with reference to
If the normal sequence of paper supply from printer 120 is interrupted or needs to changed for any reason, backup paper supply is changed to printer 110, which dispenses paper through its output chute 130 onto the head end of belt conveyor 210. The paper P travels on belt conveyor 210 until it reaches the tail end of the belt conveyor 220. At this point, the paper P leaves belt conveyor 210 and is fed onto the head end of belt conveyor 220 as best shown in
More particularly, in embodiments in which printer 110 is configured as a backup printer, media (e.g., paper P) emerges from output chute 130 of printer 110 and sensor 304-1 communicates the emergence to controller 300 requesting controller 300 to turn on conveyor 210. In other embodiments, printer 110 may print different colors or types of labels than printer 120. Accordingly, printer 110 may be used as an alternate, and not necessarily backup source of paper or label supply to belt conveyor line 200. In response to the signal received from sensor 304-1, controller 300 actuates contact 302-1, which turns on conveyor 210. When the media arrives at, and is sensed by, sensor 304-3, sensor 304-3 communicates the arrival of the media to controller 300. In response, PLC 300 turns on conveyor 220 by communicating a signal to contact 302-2. PLC 300 turns on conveyor 220 for a time that is sufficient for the media (e.g., paper P) to arrive at the pick-up point, which can be sensed by sensor 304-4.
In some embodiments, printer 110 is configured to print and hold a second piece of media, such as a label identified as paper P, for use as a second bilge label. In such embodiments, the process described above is used to transfer the second label to sensor 304-2 where the label is stopped. Label is stopped by sensor 304-2 transmitting a signal to controller 300, which transmits a signal to contact 302-1 to turn off conveyor 210. When the label (paper P) is needed, controller 300 receives a signal requesting the label and in response transmits a signal to contact 302-1 to turn on conveyor 210. The label is carried by conveyor 210 and transferred along conveyor 210 until the paper is sensed by sensor 304-3. Sensor 304-3 sends a signal to controller 300 indicating that sensor 304-3 has sensed paper P. In response, controller 300 transmits a signal to contact 304-2 to turn on conveyor 220 to effectuate the transfer from conveyor 210 to conveyor 220. The paper is transferred along conveyor 220 until it reaches the terminal point where it is sensed by sensor 304-4. PLC 300 receives a signal from sensor 302-4 indicating the arrival of the paper P and controller 300 transmits a signal to contact 302-2 to turn off conveyor 220 in response.
In some embodiments, such as embodiments when printer 120 is configured as the main or primary printer and is fully operational, media or paper P emerges from exit chute 130 of printer 120 where it is sensed by sensor 304-3. In response to sensing paper at sensor 304-3, a signal is transmitted from sensor 304-3 to controller 300. In response to receiving the signal from sensor 304-3, controller 300 transmits a signal to contact 302-2 to turn on conveyor 220. The paper is transferred along conveyor 220 until it reaches the terminal point where it is sensed by sensor 304-4. Controller 300 receives a signal from sensor 302-4 indicating the arrival of the paper P and controller 300 transmits a signal to contact 302-2 to turn off conveyor 220 in response.
As noted above, embodiments of a printing and paper delivery system according to the present disclosure may use any number of printers in a train (e.g., a linear array) as may be used as required for a given installation. To facilitate the operation of the printers in the linear array, a controller (such as a PLC, microprocessor, or other computing device) is configured to receive signals from sensors 304 and transmit signals to contacts 302. Further, the controller can be configured to address each printer and each media tray of each printer individually. The disclosed systems and methods advantageously eliminates downtime if a single printer must be serviced and provides the flexibility to select the supply source for the single belt conveyor line from one of several different printers which may each hold different types of paper or labels (e.g. different color, printing, etc.) in some embodiments.
While the foregoing description and drawings represent preferred or exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that various additions, modifications and substitutions may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope and range of equivalents of the accompanying claims. In particular, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other forms, structures, arrangements, proportions, sizes, and with other elements, materials, and components, without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. In addition, numerous variations in the methods/processes. One skilled in the art will further appreciate that the invention may be used with many modifications of structure, arrangement, proportions, sizes, materials, and components and otherwise, used in the practice of the invention, which are particularly adapted to specific environments and operative requirements without departing from the principles of the present invention. The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof, and not limited to the foregoing description or embodiments. Rather, the appended claims should be construed broadly, to include other variants and embodiments of the invention, which may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and range of equivalents of the invention.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/762,054, filed Feb. 7, 2013, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61762054 | Feb 2013 | US |
