Patent Application
20120257947
The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of German Patent Application No. 10 2011 006 896.1, filed on Apr. 6, 2011, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for producing a book block, which is composed of layers of sheets connected to one another and folded along a fold line forming a crease edge, with a stack forming station, which in a stack forming area assembles creased sheets, provided with glue on their first outside, to form a stack for forming a book block and an abutting means delimiting the stack forming area for holding the stack and a pressing device with at least one pressing means, which is embodied to generate pressure on the top of the stack in order to press the stack against the abutting means.
2. Discussion of Background Information
A device of this type is used in particular for laminating folded or creased sheets for the purpose of producing a photo book block and is generally part of a system for producing photo book blocks or the like. To this end, a material web unwound from a roller, for example, is printed in a printing station; alternatively or additionally, however, it is also conceivable that the material web wound up on the roller has already been previously printed and/or coated. Subsequently, printed sheets are separated from the material web by cross-cutting. The sheets are folded along a crease line or fold line so that the crease line or fold line forms a crease edge or fold edge. In an adhesive application station the creased sheets are provided with adhesive, before they are assembled to form a stack in a stack forming station, in that respectively two adjacent sides of the creased sheets are connected to one another by the adhesive to form a common side. The creased edges, lying one on top of the other, of the sheets in the stack thereby jointly form the book spine of the book block that is formed from the stack. Subsequently, the finished stack is removed from the stack forming area of the stack forming station and is transported to a downstream station for further processing, in particular for the completion of the book block.
DE 41 41 767 A1 describes a method and an arrangement for producing books and brochures that are composed of creased or folded layers of sheets connected to one another, wherein the top and bottom sheets of the folded layers are adhered to rigid covers. To this end, multiple-up layers are conveyed consecutively and their sheets are connected to one another in at least one connection station by a mechanical binding and subsequently creased or folded in a creasing station. The top and bottom sheets of the creased or folded layers are fed to covers that are adhered to the sheets. Back strips are adhered to the backs of the layers in a backing station. Subsequently, the multiple-up creased lined layers provided with back strips are cut into individual ups in book size in a cutting station.
In EP 0 791 478 A1, which constitutes the closest prior art, on which the present invention is based, a device and a method for book binding are disclosed, wherein firstly the sheets are folded one after the other. The folded sheets are piled to form a stack in a stack forming station, wherein the top of the respectively newly fed folded sheet is sprayed with glue by glue spray nozzles. After the completion of the stack, this is subsequently pressed by a ram in order to achieve the highest possible adhesive effect for a secure connection of the folded layers to one another.
The object of the invention is now to create a device of the type mentioned at the outset, which is suitable for an automatic production with high capacity and precision and in particular thereby renders possible a precise alignment of the sheets within the stack to be formed.
This object is attained with a device for producing a book block, which is composed of layers of sheets connected to one another and creased along a crease line forming a crease edge, with a stack forming station, which in a stack forming area combines creased sheets provided with glue on their first outside to form a stack for forming a book block, and an abutting means delimiting the stack forming area for holding the stack and a pressing device with at least one pressing means, which is embodied to generate pressure on the top of the stack in order to press the stack against the abutting means, characterized in that, during the generation of pressure on the top of the stack, the pressing means can be moved along the top of the stack through the stack forming area at the same time, and the stack forming station has an alignment device, which aligns a creased sheet with its first outside provided with adhesive to the abutting means and thus to a sheet or stack already held on the abutting means, wherein the pressing device is furthermore embodied such that the pressing means generates pressure on the second outside of each creased sheet after this sheet has been aligned by the alignment device with its first outside provided with adhesive to the abutting means and thus to the stack held on the abutting means, in order to press this sheet against the stack.
A special feature of the present invention is accordingly to embody and arrange the pressing means such that it not only generates pressure on the top of the stack, but during this also moves along the top of the stack through the stack forming area. To this end the new sheet with the first outside thereof provided with adhesive is accordingly aligned to the abutting means and thus to a sheet or stack already held on the abutting means with the aid of an alignment device likewise provided according to the invention. Through the movement according to the invention of the pressing means along the top of the stack, a particularly high and uniform adhesive effect for a secure connection of respectively two adjacent layers of the creased sheets and thus for a secure stack formation is achieved. Thus the solution according to the invention leads to a fully automatic, secure and powerful laminating of creased sheets for the purpose of forming a book block with very high quality.
Preferred embodiments and further developments of the invention are given in the dependent claims.
It is therefore preferred that at least one pressing means is embodied as a roller that is rolled on the surface of the top of the stack. In this embodiment accordingly a rubbing roller, a pressure roller or a laminating roller is used as pressing means, which rubs the respectively top creased sheet against or on the previously formed sheet stack and presses it thereto.
In a further preferred embodiment of the invention a plurality of pressing means is provided, of which one pressing means generates pressure on the second outside of a respectively new sheet aligned by the alignment device. Thus with this embodiment for each new sheet a pressing means can be provided, which is assigned to this sheet.
In a further development of this embodiment, the pressing means are moved consecutively through the stack forming area. To this end the pressing means can preferably be supported in a moveable manner along a closed guide path running through the stack forming area. The pressing means thus operate in continuous operation, which is an advantage for a continuous process and in particular for a fully automatic operation.
In particular with a constant work cycle, the pressing means in the previously described further development should be arranged equidistantly from one another along the guide path so that the distance between respectively two adjacent pressing means is essentially constant.
Another preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the abutting means has an abutting plane delimiting the stack forming area and essentially standing vertically upright, against which the stack can be placed, and the alignment device is embodied such that it brings the respective sheet adjacent to the abutting means into a position in which the sheet is aligned at an angle, preferably at an angle of at least 45° and no more than 85° to the horizontal.
Furthermore, the alignment device preferably has a lower stop arranged adjacent to the abutting means, likewise delimiting the stack forming area, and is embodied such that it brings a creased sheet with the crease edge thereof bearing against the lower stop.
The movement sequence according to the two previously given preferred embodiments of the invention is particularly advantageous for an automatic process and a continuous operation. Because the sheets in particular are brought from a horizontal alignment into a position tilted downwards or essentially even vertical, it is possible to support the sheets on the underside thereof and to guide them such that during this the top thereof can be easily firstly provided with adhesive and glued therewith and subsequently can be aligned to the abutting means and thus to the stack already formed there.
In a joint further development to the two previously given preferred embodiments, the pressing means is moved in the upward direction through the stack forming area. The advantage of this further development is in particular that due to the movement of the pressing means along the newly delivered and aligned sheet with simultaneous pressure application in the direction of the stack already previously formed at the abutting means, both already creased layers of this sheet come to rest on the one hand against one another and on the other hand jointly flat against the previously formed stack.
A further preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the pressing device has an additional pressing element that is arranged in an essentially stationary manner adjacent to the abutting means and embodied to generate pressure on the second outside of that creased sheet in an edge section adjacent to the crease edge or adjoining the crease edge in order to press this edge section of the sheet in the direction of the abutting means and thus against the stack. Preferably, the additional pressing element is arranged adjacent to the lower stop. Furthermore, the additional pressing element can be arranged so that it can be brought, preferably pivoted between an operating position in which it generates pressure on the second outside of each creased sheet in an edge section adjacent to the crease edge or adjoining the crease edge and a rest position, and thereby is preferably embodied in a plate-like manner and with its lower section supported in a pivotable manner about an essentially horizontal pivot axis. The additional pressing element provides in an advantageous manner an additional stationary fixing of the respectively newly fed sheet to the stack already previously formed, which has a positive effect on the quality of the stack forming.
Preferably, the abutting means holding the stack can be adjusted by means of an adjustment device such that during the formation of the stack the top thereof remains essentially stationary in essentially the same, preferably approximately vertical plane. With a measure of this type the sequence during the alignment and arrangement of the respectively newly fed sheet on the top of the stack already formed on the abutting means can be simplified, since an essentially stationary and spatially unchanging position is available for the alignment and arrangement of the sheet. This applies in particular when the pressing means is guided along a fixed path or a fixed track through the stack forming area.
A further preferred embodiment with a conveyor device, which is provided for removing a preferably finished stack from the stack forming area, is characterized in that the conveyor device has a gripper arranged adjacent to the abutting means preferably below the abutting means, which is aligned and embodied such that its jaws can be brought into clamping engagement with an edge section of the stack located adjacent to the crease edges of the sheet or adjoining the crease edges of the sheet. Using a gripper, the jaws of which come into engagement with the edge section of the stack adjacent to the crease edges of the sheets, as a conveyor device for removing the stack from the stack forming area has the advantage that the area of the stack forming the subsequent book spine is pressed additionally once again, in order at this point to cause a particularly secure adhesion, and this pressing operation is also used at the same time for removing the stack from the stack forming area.
In a further preferred embodiment an adhesive application station is used in order to apply adhesive to the first outside of the creased sheets, the first outside of the sheets being the top, and a conveyor device is provided, which conveys already folded sheets with their crease edge in front approximately in horizontal alignment essentially one after the other into the adhesive application station. Thus the top of the sheets is glued when they are approximately in horizontal alignment and are thereby guided through the adhesive application station. According to the invention, in this embodiment a transfer device is additionally provided, which connects the adhesive application station to the stack forming station located downstream and has a conveyor means on which the creased sheets provided with adhesive bear with their second outside forming the underside and with their crease edge in front are transported essentially one after the other from the adhesive application station to the stack forming station.
In a further development of the previously mentioned preferred embodiment, the conveyor means is embodied such that it transfers the creased sheets provided with adhesive out of the essentially horizontal alignment in the region of the adhesive application station into the previously mentioned position tilted downwards in the region of the alignment device. To this end it is particularly advantageous to use a conveyor belt endlessly circulating, preferably embodied as a suction belt as a conveyor means, the upper strand of which, which bears the creased sheets provided on their top with adhesive on the underside thereof, has a course curved vertically downwards.
Other exemplary embodiments and advantages of the present invention may be ascertained by reviewing the present disclosure and the accompanying drawing.
The present invention is further described in the detailed description which follows, in reference to the noted plurality of drawings by way of non-limiting examples of exemplary embodiments of the present invention, in which like reference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings, and wherein:
The particulars shown herein are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the embodiments of the present invention only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the present invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the present invention in more detail than is necessary for the fundamental understanding of the present invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the present invention may be embodied in practice.
The device shown in the figures is used in particular to laminate folded sheets for the purpose of producing a photo book block and is part of an installation for producing such book blocks. To this end a material web unwound from a roll is printed in a printing station, not shown in the figures; alternatively or additionally, however, it is also conceivable that the material web delivered wound up on the roll has already been printed and/or coated and/or exposed. Printed sheets are subsequently separated from the material web by cross-cutting. Alternatively, finished printed and/or coated and/or exposed sheets can also be provided, for example, by means of a sheet feeder. The sheets are folded or creased along a fold line or crease line so that the crease line forms a fold edge or crease edge.
The creased sheets, which are not shown in the figures either, are fed by means of a transport station 2, which is part of the arrangement shown in
As can be seen in particular from
The glue nozzle strip 14 or the entire gluing apparatus 16 with the glue nozzle strip 14 can be brought between a rest position and an operating position and, for example, supported in a pivotable manner between an upper rest position and a lower operating position. To this end in the exemplary embodiment shown the gluing device 16 is attached to a frame 17, which is supported in a rotatable manner about a rotation point 17a on a stand, not shown, and is pivoted by an eccentric 17b, which is set in rotational motion by a drive, not shown, is pivoted against the tensile force of a spring 17c between the upper rest position and the lower operating position. The glue nozzle strip 14 is subdivided into segments for a change of format width, which is not shown in the figures either. Likewise, the transport roll 18 can be supported in a pivotable manner below the glue nozzle strip 14 between an operating position, in which it can be brought into engagement for the transport of a sheet with the underside thereof, and a rest position, which is not shown in the figures either.
In the adhesive application station 10 a sensor, not shown in the figures either, is arranged between the pair of feed rolls 12 and the glue nozzle strip 14, which sensor recognizes the arrival and the presence of a sheet. Based on a corresponding signal from a sensor of this type, the gluing device 16 is then correspondingly controlled in order to apply glue from the glue nozzle strip 14 onto the top of the sheet. The glue nozzle strip 14 and the transport roll 18 perform a movement towards one another in order to press the sheet with defined pressure against the glue nozzle strip 14. To this end the glue nozzle strip 14 and the transport roll 18 are supported in a correspondingly moveable manner, which is not shown in the figures either.
After the glue nozzle strip 14 has been placed on the top of the sheet, the glue supply in the gluing device 16 is switched on and the glue from the glue nozzle strip 14 is applied to the top of the sheet. While the sheet, driven by the feed rolls 12 and by the transport roll 18, is glued on its top under the glue nozzle strip 14, the previously mentioned sensor, not shown in the figures, recognizes the trailing edge and thus the end of the sheet and with a defined delay time initiates the interruption of the glue flow and thus the switching off of the gluing device 14. The mentioned defined delay time is thereby measured such that the top of the sheet is fully glued and the dispensing of glue from the glue nozzle strip 14 is switched off shortly before reaching the end of the sheet. In addition to the time control explained above, alternatively or additionally a path control can be provided, which has particular advantages in the case of changing conveyor speeds. When the gluing process is switched off, the glue nozzle strip 14 and the transport roll 18 can be brought or swiveled respectively into their rest position and thereby moved apart from one another.
As
As
The suction belt 32 runs essentially around an Uhle box 36 in which a vacuum is produced by a suction device not shown in the figures. In the top of the Uhle box 36, on which the upper strand 32a of the suction belt 32 bears, suction holes are embodied which are not discernible in the figures, however. In a similar manner the suction belt 32 is also provided with holes, which are not discernible in the figures either. Thus a vacuum is produced on the outer upper side of the upper strand 32a of the suction band 32, whereby the sheet leaving the adhesive application station 10 is fixed with its underside on the top of the upper strand 32a of the suction belt 32. In this manner the sheet now glued on its top is held by its underside on the suction belt 32 and is transported from a horizontal alignment in the region of the adhesive application station 10 in the direction of the point labeled by reference number “34” into the vertical and thereby transferred into an alignment tilted markedly downwards. For a secure guidance, side panels are arranged on both sides of the suction belt 32, of which side panels in
Since the sheet is already transported in the creased condition and with its crease edge in front through the adhesive application station 10, only the top of the upper layer is glued and the creased sheet with the underside of the lower layer comes into engagement with the suction belt 32 of the transfer station 30.
Since the transfer station 30 ensures that the creased sheet with its crease edge in front is transported into the vertical and thereby is transferred into an alignment tilted markedly downwards in the region of the point labeled by reference number “34,” there is a danger that the creased sheet now essentially lying upside down will unfold accidently. The unfolding of the sheet is promoted in particular by the fact that the sheet adheres to the suction belt 32 only with the underside of its lower layer, while the upper layer thereof is not fixed in this respect and is even weighted with the glue, wherein an accidental unfolding is even promoted. In order to prevent such an accidental unfolding of the creased sheet during its transport through the transfer station 30, on the inside of the side panels spring plates are arranged at a relatively small distance from the top of the upper strand 32a of the suction belt 32, which serve as abutment or stops and the diagrammatic representation of which is labeled in
The glued creased sheet is aligned into the above-mentioned tilted position by the transfer station 30 such that the glued top of the upper layer of the creased sheet points towards a lift table or an abutment plate 42. As
To align the sheets fed consecutively from the transfer station 30, a so-called alignment area is provided, which in
Furthermore, the alignment area 44 also includes a press plate 52, which is arranged adjacently below the point labeled by reference number “34” and thus the downstream end of the transfer station 30. The press plate 52 is supported so it can be brought, preferably swiveled between an opened position and a closed position. In
The press plate 52 has the function of bringing the sheet in the direction of the surface 42a of the abutment plate 42 and thus of guiding it into the stack forming station 40. To this end the press plate 52 is first located in its opened position. When a new folded sheet is fed with its crease edge in front by the suction belt 32 to the transfer station 30, the press plate 52 is moved into its closed position and brought to bear against the lower edge section of the sheet adjacent to its crease edge. The sheet with its crease edge thereby comes to bear against the top 46a of the base slide 46 already in its extended operating position, while the clamping fingers 50 are still in their rest position. The sheet is then pressed in the direction of the abutment plate 42 by the press plate 52 and thereby against the stack already formed there. At the same time, the clamping fingers 50 are pivoted into their upright operating position in order to grasp the sheet and to fix it on the base slide 46.
As
As
In order to adhere the glued top of each newly fed creased sheet to the unglued underside of the respectively uppermost sheet of the stack formed up to this time on the abutment plate 42, the newly fed sheet must be pressed over the entire surface against the stack already formed. This occurs in the exemplary embodiment shown with the aid of a laminating roll or pressure roll 60, which moves upwards from the bottom through the stack forming area 48 and rubs the new sheet against the stack in the manner of a rolling pin.
In the exemplary embodiment shown several pressure rolls 60 are moveably supported along a closed guide path running through the stack forming area 48, which guide path is not shown in the figures, and thereby arranged essentially equidistantly from one another. To this end in the exemplary embodiment shown two conveyor chains spaced apart from one another are provided, of which one conveyor chain is arranged on the one side of the stack forming station 40 and the other conveyor chain is arranged on the opposite other side of the stack forming station 40 and is guided over deflection rollers. In
So that the conveyor chains 62 can perform a circulating movement, at least one of the rollers 64 is set in rotation by a drive unit, not characterized in further detail. According to the representation of
The same procedure described above applies to each further glued sheet delivered. The clamping fingers 50 (
As
After completion of the stack with the respectively predetermined number of sheets and the end of the previously described laminating operation, the base slide 46 is retracted by the adjustment device 47 from its operating position shown in
It is noted that the foregoing examples have been provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way to be construed as limiting of the present invention. While the present invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment, it is understood that the words which have been used herein are words of description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Changes may be made, within the purview of the appended claims, as presently stated and as amended, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention in its aspects. Although the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular means, materials and embodiments, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein; rather, the present invention extends to all functionally equivalent structures, methods and uses, such as are within the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2011 006 896.1 | Apr 2011 | DE | national |
