Patent Application
20120128447
The present invention pertains to a cover feeding device for feeding covers separated from a magazine to book blocks.
In the industrial production of brochures, book blocks are assembled by means of perfect binding and provided with a cover that is pressed on the glue-coated spine and, if applicable, laterally thereof. The covers are separated from a magazine, scored in the spine region and synchronously fed to the book blocks that are clamped in book block grippers revolving continuously along an oval track. A cover feeding device of this type in the form of a cover station for perfect binders is described in [Liebau, Dieter and Heinze, Inéz: Industrial Bookbinding, Beruf+Schule Publishing, 2001; p. 309].
Lateral stops in the cover magazine, as well as guide rails on the cover transport device, are adjusted to the respective cover format to be processed transverse to the cover conveying direction such that the cover is pressed on the spine of the book block in an accurately positioned fashion with its spine region that usually has a special shape. In this case, the lateral stops can only be adjusted on an empty magazine because the covers would otherwise be pushed over the magazine bottom such that visible friction markings can be produced or the covers may even crumple. Consequently, the covers for brochure formats to be subsequently produced can only be inserted into the magazine after the corresponding adjustments have been carried out, wherein this represents a very elaborate procedure, particularly for small editions, and results in long set-up times relative to the actual production time.
The present objective is to provide a device for feeding covers separated from a magazine to book blocks, with which it is possible to adjust a magazine that is already filled with covers to a different brochure format in such a way that the product is handled gently.
The covers are placed against at least one lateral stop. During a format change, the entire magazine is simply adjusted transverse to the withdrawal and conveying direction of the covers such that an edge of the spine region of the respective cover to be separated is withdrawn essentially in alignment with the rigid gripping jaw and fed onward. A displacement of the at least one lateral stop is not required. The stack of covers remains at the originally placed position in the magazine during the transverse adjustment thereof such that particularly the bottom cover is not pushed over the magazine bottom. This allows the production of different brochures without the corresponding set-up times, wherein a motor-driven transverse adjustment of the entire magazine can be carried out in the cyclic intervals between successively separated covers.
The transverse adjustment of the magazine can also be used for aligning the covers to the block spine edges. As a result, the covers are transported from the magazine to the point, at which they are assembled with the book blocks, along a straight line that extends parallel to the conveying direction of the book blocks. Lateral aligning displacements that were carried out until now after the separation and could cause markings on covers with sensitive surfaces do not take place. The covers are transported in a particularly smooth fashion such that the stopping risk is significantly reduced.
The separation of the covers—with the aid of separating means such as suction cups, stack lifters and blast air, as well as a pull-off conveyor—can always take place at the same location on the cover if the separating device is adjusted transverse to the withdrawal and conveying direction together with the magazine.
A first conveying section of the transport device that extends up to the scoring device, features outer cover guide rails and feeds the withdrawn covers to the scoring device advantageously is transversely adjusted together with the magazine. The interface between the units of the cover feeding device that can be adjusted transverse to the withdrawal direction and the stationary units lies downstream of the scoring device, the first scoring tool pair of which is aligned with the rigid gripping jaw of the book block grippers.
In a preferred additional development, a second lateral stop is provided opposite of the first lateral stop and coupled to the drive of the first lateral stop such that the two lateral stops can be adjusted in accordance with the width of the cover symmetrically referred to the cover center. The covers lie against both lateral stops and therefore are reliably guided. This makes it possible to process covers that are intended for book blocks of different sizes or at least book blocks of varying thickness and printed on sheets of the same size as they are typically used in the digital color printing of small editions. In this case, the magazine is respectively adjusted transverse to the withdrawal direction by half the block thickness change referred to the preceding brochure.
The covers can be effectively aligned on the at least one lateral stop with a jogging device integrated into the magazine.
In a first embodiment, the feeding device consists of a transversely displaceable stream feeder for covers, on which the covers lie on top of one another in a forwardly overlapping formation. In a second embodiment, the feeding device consists of a transversely displaceable standing sheet feeder. The covers stand on their head or foot edge and are supported on a magazine wall. The magazine of the standing sheet feeder preferably is arranged above the cover transport device such that the covers stand on their separation edge and a stack of differently high covers can be inserted for continuous processing.
In another embodiment, the magazine features a sensor for identifying the covers such that the correct combination of cover and book block can be checked prior to the separation. The identification of the covers furthermore makes it possible to determine the respective values for the transverse adjustment of the magazine.
Aspects of the invention are disclosed in greater detail with reference to the drawing in which:
The covers 13 are synchronously fed to the book blocks 14.1, 14.2, 14.3 by a cover feeding device 1. This cover feeding device comprises a magazine 3, in which the covers 13 are situated, a separating device 7 for withdrawing the covers 13 from the magazine 3, a transport device 8 for synchronously feeding the separated covers 13.2, 13.3 to the book blocks 14.2, 14.3, a scoring device 9 for scoring the covers 13.3, a pressing roller 10, by means of which a supplied cover 13.2 is connected to the respective book block 14.2, and a cover press-on device 11 for pressing the cover 13.1 against the spine and, if applicable, lateral regions of the book block 14.1 near the spine.
In the exemplary embodiment according to
The magazine 3 features a first lateral stop 6.1 that is arranged such that it can be fixed transverse to the withdrawal and conveying direction 12 and against which different covers 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 intended, in particular, for book blocks 14.1, 14.2, 14.3 of different thickness can be jointly placed. The position of the lateral stop 6.1 can be changed manually or in a motor-driven fashion. A second lateral stop 6.2 is arranged opposite of the first lateral stop and coupled to the drive thereof such that the two lateral stops 6.1, 6.2 can be fixed in accordance with the width B of the cover symmetrically referred to the cover center 20. In
According to the invention, the entire magazine 3 can be adjusted transverse to the withdrawal and conveying direction 12, wherein the separating device 7 and a first conveying section 8.1 of the transport device 8 are adjusted together with the magazine 3. The adjustment 16 of this unit is realized automatically in the form of a motor-driven actuation of corresponding adjusting axles, namely relative to the scoring device 9 and a stationary conveying section 8.2 of the transport device 8.
The adjustment 16 is carried out between successively separated covers 13, namely in such a way that an edge 17 of the spine region of the respective cover 13 that should be separated next and is intended for a book block of different block thickness D is withdrawn essentially in alignment with the rigid gripping jaw 2a. A thusly separated cover 13.3 no longer needs to be laterally displaced and aligned, but rather is fed to the scoring device 9 essentially straight—while being guided between cover guide rails 19.1, 19.2. The corresponding spine edge 17 is illustrated in
In
In the exemplary embodiment according to
A sensor 24 arranged on the magazine 3 can identify the respective bottom cover 13 in the magazine. This makes it possible to check the correct combination of cover and book block prior to the separation. The identification may also serve for determining the position of the spine region in the covers if the print image is not uniformly arranged centrally on the sheet as described above, but rather randomly. To this end, an edge can be detected by the sensor or position information assigned to the identified cover is retrieved from a database.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2010 052 111.6 | Nov 2010 | DE | national |
