Patent Application
20060097440
The present invention pertains to a method and an apparatus for placing and/or inserting printed supplements such as, for example, sheets, folded sections, CDs, merchandise samples and the like into printed core products.
In print converting, the term insertion refers to the addition of sheets, (folded) sections, CDs, merchandise samples and the like to finished products (e.g., newspapers, magazines, brochures). The printed supplements to be inserted are primarily used for advertising purposes. The inserting process is carried out before the printed core product in question is packaged. Known packaging systems with a modular design consist of a printed core product feeder, a series of supplement feeders and label dispensers for respectively placing or inserting the printed supplements on or into the printed core products, a foil wrapping machine for packaging the printed core products containing the printed supplements, an inkjet printer as well as a zip code control, diverters and compensating stackers.
The printed core products are conveyed into a conveying channel by pushers of a conveying means in a spaced-apart fashion, namely in the direction of their format height, i.e., such that their spine bindings extend along the conveying direction. In order to insert the printed supplements, the printed core products are opened by lifting the front edge of the first sheet off the printed core product by means of a rotating suction element and transferring this first sheet to downstream deflectors. The first sheet is guided on the deflectors at an acute angle of no more than 30-45′ referred to the main section of the printed core product. This means that, in essence, only the front section of the printed core product is opened while more than 60% of the page intended for the placement of the printed supplement is still covered by the opened sheet. If not only the first sheet needs to be lifted off, the printed core product is pushed against an opening blade with its leading foot or head side. After the insertion of the printed supplements, the printed core products are closed again by returning the opened sheets into the closed position and additional printed supplements can then be deposited onto the upper side of the printed core product, if so required.
The printed supplements are separately withdrawn from magazines with conventional rotary or drum feeders that are oriented transverse to the conveying direction of the printed core products and fed to the continuously conveyed printed core products essentially transverse to the conveying direction in order to be inserted into the opening in the front section of the printed core products. After their arrival, the printed supplements are subjected to a change in direction such that the depositing capacity of these inserting machines is limited with respect to a reliable and careful feed of the printed supplements.
EP 1 231 176 A1 describes an apparatus for feeding the printed supplements transverse to the conveying direction of the printed core products in an essentially horizontal plane, wherein the leading lateral edge of the printed supplements extends parallel to the guide wall of the conveying channel. The transverse conveying direction results in a speed component in the conveying direction of the printed core products such that the acceleration thrust caused by the pushers of the conveying channel is reduced on the trailing edge of the printed supplements. The speed component perpendicular to the conveying channel is reduced such that the speed of impact of the printed supplements on the opposite guide wall or the spine of the printed core product is reduced.
EP 0 738 682 A1 discloses a feeder for printed supplements, in which the printed supplements are fed transverse to the conveying direction and pre-accelerated in the conveying direction by means of two vacuum disks that rotate in the same direction. The vacuum disks are essentially arranged horizontally and respectively provided with a suction opening, wherein said vacuum disks respectively take hold of the printed supplements at one point and impose a corresponding translatory movement upon the printed supplements during a 90° rotation. Due to the acceleration forces occurring during this process, this apparatus is only suitable for processing light and stable printed supplements.
The present invention is based on the objective of making available a method and an apparatus for reliably and carefully feeding the printed supplements to the printed core products with a high processing capacity. Another objective of the invention is the placing or inserting the printed supplements in a precisely positioned fashion.
According to the invention, the objective with respect to the method is attained in opening at least one sheet of the printed core product at least to such a degree that more than half of the thusly exposed page for placing the printed supplement is accessible from the vertical direction, and feeding the printed supplements to the printed core products in the conveying direction of the conveying channel, wherein the feed direction lies in a vertical plane that is defined by the conveying direction. The objective with respect to the apparatus is attained with a guide that forms a supporting and guiding surface inclined relative to the conveying channel bottom such that the at least one sheet of the printed core product is opened at least to such a degree that more than half of the thusly exposed page intended for the placement of the printed supplement is accessible from the vertical direction. The feeder is oriented in the conveying direction of the conveying channel with respect to the feed direction of the printed supplements.
The inventive idea can be seen in that the printed core product is opened to such a degree that the printed supplements can be deposited onto the intended page from the top. This makes it possible to feed the printed supplements to the printed core products in the same conveying direction. Abrupt changes in direction no longer occur during the conveyance of the printed supplements such that a careful feed can be realized with high speeds. Unstable printed supplements, in particular, are no longer twisted and deposited exactly at the intended location. It is no longer required to place or insert the printed supplements while the trailing edge of the printed supplement is in contact with the pusher and/or a lateral edge is in contact with the spine of the printed core product. This means that the printed supplements can be precisely positioned at the predetermined location in the printed core product. At least the first sheet of the printed core product is preferably opened by approximately 90° such that the printed supplements can be fed to a position near the spine binding and precisely positioned on the intended page.
The following description of preferred embodiments is made with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein
The brochures 2 are continuously conveyed forward in a conveying channel 4 by the pushers 6 of a chain conveyor 5 such that they are equidistantly spaced apart from one another, wherein the spine bindings of the essentially flatly conveyed brochures 2 are oriented along the conveying direction F of the conveying channel 4. This conveying channel is composed of a channel bottom 7 and a lateral guide wall 8. According to
The brochures 2 need to be opened in order to insert the printed supplements 3a, b, c. In the embodiment shown in
As the brochures 2 are conveyed forward, the respective lifted sheets 9 and 32 are additionally opened by the deflector 24 that is progressively twisted along the longitudinal axis and the opening blade 31, respectively, wherein said sheets are then respectively transferred to guide plates 25 and guide rods 26. During this process, the respective sheets 9 and 32 are opened by an angle α of nearly 90°. The guide plates 25 and the guide rods 26 respectively provide the sheets 9 and 32 with a supporting and guiding surface and form a guide channel 27, in which the lifted sheets 9 and 32 are securely guided, together with the guide wall 8. After opening the upper portion of the brochures that comprises, in particular, several sheets 32, a flawless conveyance of the brochures 2 is ensured due to the support provided for the lifted sheets 32 during this process. This is achieved in that cams 30 of an endless conveyor belt 29 arranged along the guide channel 27 push the brochures 2 forward in addition to the respective pushers 6 of the chain conveyor 5.
Due to the 90° opening angle, nearly the entire page 10 intended for the placement of the printed supplements 3a, b to be inserted is accessible in the vertical direction. This makes it possible to feed the printed supplements 3a, b in the conveying direction F of the brochures 2. In the inserting machine 1 shown in
In the second embodiment of an inserting machine 1 that is shown in
After inserting the printed supplements 3a, b, the respective opened sheets 9 and 32 are returned to the brochure 2 by means of a return plate 28 that begins in the guide wall 8. This means that the brochures 2 with the printed supplements 3a, b inserted therein is closed. Additional printed supplements 3c can also be deposited onto the upper side of the brochures 2. An additional suction belt feeder 11 or an additional drum feeder 16 is respectively illustrated in
The method according to the invention for the first time makes it possible to feed printed supplements 3a, b, c to printed core products 2 in the same conveying direction F, 20. Lateral movements or changes in the conveying direction are not required in this case. The printed supplements are deposited with a synchronous conveying speed such that a positionally accurate feed can be realized without one edge of the printed supplements 3a, b having to be guided either along the binding or in front of a pusher 6. This makes it possible to achieve particularly high processing capacities. In addition, it is possible to fix the printed supplements 3a, b within the printed core product 2 in certain positions, for example, to glue cards or to electrostatically fix printed supplements 3a, b in position for the reliable additional processing in the subsequent packaging. More than 50% of the surface of the page 10 intended for the placement of the printed supplements are already accessible from the top at an opening angle α of 60°. This means that a feed in the conveying direction F is also possible for smaller printed supplements 3a, b.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2004 053 737.2 | Nov 2004 | DE | national |
