Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6409164
-
Patent Number
6,409,164
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Date Filed
Friday, April 28, 200024 years ago
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Date Issued
Tuesday, June 25, 200222 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
- Davidson, Davidson & Kappel, LLC
-
CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 271 104
- 271 106
- 271 121
- 271 124
- 271 137
- 271 145
- 271 167
- 271 169
- 271 165
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International Classifications
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Abstract
A pile restrictor includes a restrictor body and a restricting blade attached to the body, the restricting blade being adjustable angularly with respect to the body during an operating mode of a sheet feeder. The present invention also provides a pile feed device having a front guide and at least one pile restrictors, each of the pile restrictors connected to the front guide and including a body and a restricting blade attached to the body, the blade being adjustable angularly with respect to the body during the operating mode. Also disclosed is a method of restricting a sheet pile comprising the steps of placing a pile of sheets in a feeder so that the nose of the pile is restricted by a restrictor; and adjusting an angle of the restrictor furing operation of the feeder.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to printed product collation and more particularly to a device and method for providing sheets in a stack to a conveyance device.
2. Background Information
U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,302 (“the '302 patent”) discloses an apparatus for removing paper products from a stack on a feeder, also known as a hopper. The apparatus has a rotatably mounted gripper drum which takes the bottom sheet or signature from a stack or pile of sheets. FIG. 3 of the '302 patent shows a sheet of signatures stacked for removal by the gripper drum. A part of the sheets rests on a platform, so that a nose of the stack protrudes over the end of the platform and is restricted by a pile restrictor.
Restrictors maintain the position of the nose of the pile, prohibiting the pile from bending down over the edge of the platform. Restrictors also help prevent the second sheet or signature from being vacuumed down along with the sheet to be transferred to the gripping device.
The restrictor of the '302 patent may inadvertently permit more than one sheet to be pulled into the gripper area, thus leading to malfunction, sheet damage, or hopper blockages. Moreover, the pile restrictor of the '302 device may not permit adequate adjustment, which may for example be advantageous when different types of papers or other stacked products are to be transferred to a gripper drum. The '302 patent is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,251,943 discloses a signature gathering machine, the signatures being stacked against an abutment or wall, as shown in FIG. 2, which suffers from the same problems described with respect to the pile restrictor of the '302 patent.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a pile restrictor which permits easy adjustment of a restrictor. An additional or alternate objective is to provide a reliable and effective restrictor and related method for restricting the pile.
The present invention provides a pile restrictor for a feeder comprising a body and a restricting blade attached to the body, the restricting blade being adjustable angularly with respect to the body while the feeder is in an operating mode.
By providing the angular adjustment, the pile restrictor of the present invention can be adjusted to provide system adjustment even while the associated hopper is running, and permits for more accurate and repeatable adjustment of the restriction function of the feed device. “Restricting blade” as defined herein need not be a blade, but can be any object used for contacting the product nose, including but not limited to a sheet-like extension, a rod, or a bar.
Preferably, the restricting blade is also adjustable along an axis of the body, so that for example a height of the pin can be set.
The pile restrictor preferably further includes a lever arm for holding the restricting blade, the restricting blade preferably being releasable from the lever arm. A spring may be provided to operate to force the blade into an open position, with the lever arm including a flat surface. An adjusting knob acting against the flat surface and threadedly supported in the body can then be used to set the angle of the restricting blade. The adjusting knob preferably is outside of a front guide of the feeder.
The pile restrictor also preferably includes a support for supporting the body and attaching the body to the front guide of the feeder. The body preferably is slidingly adjustable within the support, so that a height of the restricting blade can be adjusted. An rotatable adjustment knob threadedly supported in the body and acting against the support can adjust the position of the body with respect to the support.
The present invention also provides a pile feeder having an operating mode comprising a front guide, and at least one pile restrictor, each of the pile restrictors connected to the front guide and including a body and a restricting blade attached to the body, the restricting blade being adjustable angularly with respect to the body during the operating mode.
The pile restrictors preferably are connected in an easily replaceable fashion, i.e. by a support plate and bolts, to the front guide. The pile restrictors also preferably are adjustable along the front guide in a direction perpendicular to the height.
The present invention also provides a method of restricting a sheet pile for a feeder comprising the steps of:
placing a pile of sheets in a feed device so that the nose of the pile is restricted by a restrictor; and
adjusting an angle of the restrictor while the feeder is in an operating mode.
Preferably the method further includes adjusting a height of the restrictor.
The present invention advantageously allows for tool-less height and angle adjustments and “on-the-fly” adjustments, i.e. while the hopper or feeder is still running. A releasable restricting blade can permit quick replacements, as can the releasablity of the entire restrictor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described below by reference to the following drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
shows a perspective view of a feed device with two pile restrictors according to the present invention;
FIG. 2
shows a side view of a pile restrictor of the present invention in different positions;
FIG. 3A
shows a preferred construction of the restricting blade and lever of the present invention; and
FIG. 3B
shows the restricting blade of
FIG. 3A
being released.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1
shows a pile feed device
1
having a front guide
5
and two pile restrictors
10
and
20
. Pile restrictor
10
has a support bar
11
, a support plate
12
and bolts
13
which can force support plate
12
in the direction of support bar
11
so as to tighten pile restrictor
10
about front guide
5
. As shown in
FIG. 2
, support bar
11
may have an indentation
14
to interact with support bar
11
. Bolt
13
can fit threadedly in a support arm
15
fixedly attached to support bar
11
. Supported for movement with respect to the support arm
15
and support plate
12
is a restrictor body
22
, which has two side walls
24
connected by an crosspiece
26
at a top end, a lower crosspiece
28
, and by a pin
27
at a bottom end. Crosspiece
26
has an internally-threaded hole into which an externally-threaded height adjustment knob
30
fits. Knob
30
rests rotatably on support arm
15
, so that the rotational movement of knob
30
moves restrictor body
22
up or down with respect to support arm
15
as indicated by arrow
70
, due to the screw-type interaction of the threads.
Knob
30
also has an unthreaded interior hole through which fits an extension
42
of an angular adjustment knob
40
. Extension
42
at a lower end has external threads which interact with interior thread of a hole in lower cross piece
28
. A lower end of extension
42
contacts a flat surface
52
of a lever
50
, lever
50
being rotatably supported about pin
27
. Lever
50
is spring-loaded about rod
27
in a clockwise manner so as to act against extension
42
. The rotation of knob
40
thus causes extension
42
, through a screw-like action, to move up or down with respect to lower crosspiece
28
, side wall
24
and pin
27
, and thus can rotate lever
50
about pin
27
as indicated by arrow
80
. Attached to lever
50
on a side opposite the flat surface
52
is a restricting blade
60
.
Restricting blade
60
may be made of metal, preferably spring-steel, and be of any shape as defined above, and may be integral or fixedly connected to lever
50
.
FIG. 3A
shows a preferred embodiment of a restricting blade
60
fixedly connected to lever
50
, which is spring-loaded about pin
27
by a spring
53
. Restricting blade
60
has a curved support extension
62
which is held between a retaining pin
54
and a support surface
57
at one end. At the other end of extension
62
, restricting blade
60
is held by a release pin
55
which fits tightly in a slot
56
of lever
50
. When release pin
55
is in the position shown in
FIG. 3A
, the restricting blade
60
is held fixedly with respect to lever
50
. Thus the rotation of lever
50
about rod
27
can cause the restricting blade
60
to move angularly with respect to restrictor body
22
and support bar
11
, as indicated by arrow
80
in FIG.
2
.
Restricting blade
60
can extend through a cut-out
90
in support bar
11
, as shown in FIG.
1
.
Restricting blade
60
preferably is releasable for easy replacement, as shown in FIG.
3
B. Release pin
55
can be moved to a release position within hole
56
, so that restricting blade
60
can be slid downwardly along support surface
57
away from retaining pin
54
and removed.
The present invention thus permits for accurate height and angle adjustment of restricting blade
60
during operation of the feeder, which may be indicated by adjustment markers
95
,
96
.
It should be understood that restrictor
20
may be of exactly the same construction as restrictor
10
, and that the restrictors
10
,
20
may move along the front guide
5
as indicated by arrow
92
in
FIG. 1
by loosening bolts
13
. The positioning of the restrictors
10
,
20
along the nose of the sheets thus may be adjusted to optimize their effect on the printed products in the pile.
Claims
- 1. A pile restrictor for a feeder having an operating mode, the pile restrictor comprising:a restrictor body; a restricting blade rotatably supported in the body so as to be adjustable angularly with respect to the body during the operating mode; and a support, the restrictor body being movably connected to the support during the operating mode so as to permit a translational movement of the restricting blade supported in the restrictor body with respect to the support.
- 2. The pile restrictor as recited in claim 1 wherein the restrictor body is threadedly connected to the support so that the restricting blade is adjustable along an axis of the body.
- 3. The pile restrictor as recited in claim 1 further comprising a lever rotatably supported in the restrictor body, the restricting blade being connected to the lever.
- 4. The pile restrictor as recited in claim 3 further comprising a pin supported in the restrictor body, the lever being spring-loaded about the pin.
- 5. The pile restrictor as recited in claim 3 further comprising an angular adjusting rod, the angular adjusting rod threadedly supported in the restrictor body and acting to rotate the lever with respect to the restrictor body.
- 6. The pile restrictor as recited in claim 1 wherein the restrictor body is slidingly adjustable with respect to the support.
- 7. The pile restrictor as recited in claim 6 further comprising a rotatable adjustment knob threadedly supported in the restrictor body for adjusting a position of the restrictor body with respect to the support.
- 8. The pile restrictor as recited in claim 1 wherein the restricting blade is releasably connected to the restrictor body.
- 9. The pile restrictor as recited in claim 1 further comprising an adjustment marker for indicating a position of the restricting blade.
- 10. The pile restrictor as recited in claim 1 further comprising an angular adjustment knob for setting an angular adjustment of the restricting blade, the knob being located outside of a front guide of the feeder.
- 11. A pile feeder having an operating mode comprising:a front guide; and at least one pile restrictor, the at least one pile restrictor connected to the front guide and including a body and a restricting blade rotatably supported in the body so as to be adjustable angularly with respect to the body during the operating mode; the body being movably connected to the front guide during the operating mode so as to permit a translational movement of the restricting blade supported in the restrictor body with respect to the body.
- 12. The pile feeder as recited in claim 11 wherein the at least one pile restrictor includes two pile restrictors.
- 13. A pile restrictor for a feeder having an operating mode, the pile restrictor comprising:a restrictor body; a restricting blade rotatably supported in the body so as to be adjustable angularly with respect to the body during the operating mode; and means for supporting the restrictor body, the restrictor body being movably connected to the support means during the operating mode so as to permit a translational movement of the restricting blade supported in the restrictor body with respect to the support means.
US Referenced Citations (6)