This application claims the priority of European Patent Application No. 08405273.7, filed on Nov. 3, 2008, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The subject matter of the application relates to a device for supplying flat products or printed sheets for producing book blocks, books or similar print matter. The device includes a plurality of sheet feeders, arranged successively and spaced-apart on a machine frame, above and along a conveyor. The sheet feeders function to supply the conveyor with individual printed sheets in a clocked operation. A stacking device for accommodating the stacked printed sheets is coupled to each sheet feeder. The stacking device further includes a loading or charging device for removing individual printed sheets from the stacking device.
Devices of the aforementioned type are used in different ways for collecting individual printed sheets for producing print matter. They are designed to separate flat products used in the print industry, such as, but not limited to, envelopes, folded sheets, cards, CDs/DVDs or similar flat items made available in a stacked formation. The devices collect these products in a conveyor for conveying them to a processing machine, e.g. an adhesive binder. The conveyor may include a horizontal or inclined channel, extending transverse to the conveying direction, through which the unfinished print products may be pushed with the aid of pushers attached to a traction device. The channel may be open at the top, with the unfinished print products positioned in a stable manner therein as a result of their inherent weight or with the use of guide arrangements. Alternately, the unfinished print products may also be deposited and collected inside of circulating compartments.
According to the European Patent Application EP 1 520 817, devices embodied in this way are used for collecting unfinished print products such as printed sheets, cards, CDs/DVDs or similar flat products to combine them into loose book blocks. For this, feeders are arranged along a conveyor together with a stack of unfinished print products, wherein these feeders are designed to separate and remove the unfinished products and supply the products in a clocked operation to the conveyor such that the stack is oriented perpendicular to the conveying direction. The conveyor is provided with receptacles, attached uniformly spaced apart to a circulating, driven traction device, to which the unfinished print products may be supplied in the predetermined sequence by the feeders. The feeders are arranged above the conveyor, spaced apart at short distances that may be short enough for successive feeders to overlap each other. This compact design allows only limited access to the conveyor for maintenance operations or for correcting malfunctions that require an intervention in the conveyor region.
European patent documents EP 536 863 A1 and EP 536 463 A1 relate to a device for collecting and feeding different types of covers or casings to an adhesive binder. The different covers must be supplied to the book blocks to be bound during the same production run, depending on the recipient, wherein feeders, as well as covers that are gathered into a stack, are arranged along the conveyor. The stacks consist of covers, which are arranged one above the other on a table and then separated by the feeder and supplied to the conveyor, wherein a machine control activates the respective feeder holding the type of cover needed for the print product to be produced. As with the previously described European Patent Application EP 1 520 817, the feeders are arranged above the conveyor, at a short distance relative to each other, which may also be short enough so that successive feeders overlap in the manner of a scale. As a result, similar disadvantages may be encountered with respect to maintenance operations or the correction of malfunctions requiring intervention in the region of the conveyor.
According to the subject matter of the application, the table may be pivoted upward around a horizontal axis that is arranged in one of its end regions, thus allowing easy access to the conveyor. The table may be emptied ahead of time and may then be filled again, which may require additional operating personnel. The feeders may be utilized when processing identical covers which may allow for a higher storage capacity of the feeders.
Embodiments of the invention provide for a collecting device for unfinished print products, comprising sheet feeders that are arranged overlapping and directly above the conveyor which provide easy and unobstructed access.
According to one aspect of an embodiment of the invention, there is provided a device to supply flat products to produce print matter, comprising: a machine frame; a guide arrangement coupled to the machine frame; a conveyor with a conveying direction arranged on the machine frame; at least one sheet feeder arranged along the conveyor to supply a respective flat product to the conveyor in a clocked operation, the at least one sheet feeder including a stacking device to accommodate a plurality of flat products, and a charging device coupled to the stacking device to remove a respective flat product from the stacking device, wherein at least one of the stacking device or the charging device is operatively arranged with the guide arrangement to be displaceable to a non-operating position on a side of the conveyor.
According to another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method for supplying flat products to produce print matter by a device, comprising accommodating flat products stacked one above the other in a stacking device of a sheet feeder; removing, by a charging device of a sheet feeder, a respective flat product from the stacking device; supplying the respective flat product to a conveyor with a same clocking rate and in approximately a same direction as a conveying direction of the conveyor; and displacing at least one of the stacking device or the charging device to a non-operating position on a side of the conveyor.
The objects are solved according to the subject matter of the application in that the stacking device or the charging device of a sheet feeder may be moved to a non-operating position on the side of the conveyor with the aid of a guide arrangement that is connected to the machine frame.
The subject matter of the application will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The sheet feeders may each include an assigned stacking device 5 and a charging device 6 for supplying the conveyor 2 in a clocked operation with individual printed sheets 3 that may be removed from the stacking device 5. The conveyor 2 that may be coupled to the machine frame 10 and essentially forms a channel in which uniformly spaced apart pushers 13 may be driven to circulate by a traction device 14. The pushers 13 may convey the printed sheets 3 or the covers supplied by the sheet feeder 4 by pushing them along the channel extending over the length of the conveyor 2.
The sheet feeder 4 may be provided with a conveying table 9 for accommodating the printed sheets 3, supplied in an overlapping formation 8. The conveying table 9 may form the stacking device 5 and may be inclined in the direction of the charging device 6. At least the stacking device 5 or the conveying table 9 of the sheet feeder 4 may be displaced to the side of the conveyor 2 with the aid of a guide arrangement 7. The guide arrangement 7 may be coupled to the machine frame 10. The guide arrangement may include guides 12 and have a displacement direction V that extends transverse to the conveying direction F, as depicted in
In the embodiment of
The conveyor 2′ that is coupled to the machine frame 10′ may essentially include a driven, circulating traction device 14′ with thereon arranged, uniformly spaced apart pushers 13′. The pushers 13′ may push the printed sheets 3′, supplied by the sheet feeder 4′, along a channel that extends over the length of the conveyor 2′. According to an alternate embodiment, the conveyor 2′ may be embodied with depositing tables, attached with regular spacing to the traction device 14′, on which the printed sheets 3′ are collected into loose book blocks. For space-saving design considerations, the sheet feeders 4′ may be successively arranged at distances that are short enough to allow the feeders to overlap partially in a vertical direction.
It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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08405273.7 | Nov 2008 | EP | regional |