The present invention relates to a method and device for delivering, in the lying-flat condition, book blocks or books which are fed in, standing on their back or on the front cut and at defined timing intervals along their height, from a preceding machine in a transport path.
In bookbinding, during final processing the book block is united with the book cover to form the book (book-casing-in machine) and is subjected to final shaping (fold-burning-in and pressing machine). The finished book is then completed, depending upon the get-up of the books, with various additional elements, such as, for example, a protective jacket (protective-jacket wrapping machine) and supplements (slipping-in machine). For further processing, for example packing and/or pelletizing, the books are usually arranged one above another in layers to form stacks of books. In industrial bookbinding, the individual machines necessary for these purposes are often coupled to one another to form production sections, emergency delivery apparatuses being provided at suitable points in the production section in order to maintain operating capability. In many cases, these emergency delivery apparatuses are coupled to book-stacking apparatuses in order, on the one hand, to permit orderly emergency delivery and, on the other, to feed books which have already been given their desired get-up by the time of this delivery, out of the production section and into stacks of books in a regular manner.
In known book-stacking apparatuses, the books are fed, in the lying-flat condition, to a lifting apparatus which operates in a timed manner and which lifts the books into a stacking shaft. In this operation, a newly fed-in book is raised under the stack of books which has hitherto been formed, while blocking pawls, which protrude laterally into the stacking shaft and can be disengaged, prevent the stack which has been formed from dropping back down. Rotating apparatuses are mostly disposed upstream of the book-stacking apparatuses for selectively rotating, by 180°, the books that have been fed in a timed manner, which makes possible book-stacking patterns with books which lie one above the other with the front cut and the back alternately.
In the known fold-burning-in and pressing machines, the books are moved forwards intermittently, along their back and standing on the latter, the said books being transported onwards with transporting tongs which are moved forward and back and which engage in the folds of the books; whereas, when the backward movement of the transporting tongs occurs, the books are clamped in between pressing plates that act on the sides of the book over the entire surface area thereof. The books are thus transported in a timed manner. In the feeding-out system of the fold-burning-in and pressing machine, the books are picked up laterally by a clamping gripper which is moved in the opposite direction to the transporting tongs, and are transferred into a delivering position. If the fold-burning-in and pressing machine forms the end of a production section, the books are deposited, in the delivery position, onto a transporting band at the side with an ejector rake. An alternative variant for the feeding-out system is intended for coupling to the protective-jacket wrapping machine, through the fact that the books pass, in the delivery position, onto a continuously driven feeding-out band which conveys them onwards by frictional-contact entrainment.
In the protective-jacket wrapping machine, continuous conveying of the books, which continue to stand on their backs, is brought about, fixed timing intervals being realized through the fact that the books are conveyed resting, with their head or foot side, against entrainment means belonging to the transporting band carrying said books, which entrainment means are disposed at equal mutual intervals from one another. Here too, the books are transported forwards in a timed manner as a result of fixed timing intervals, so that pre-arranged cyclic feeding is necessary. In the feeding-out system of the protective-jacket wrapping machine, the books are conveyed against a stop and deposited onto a transporting band at the side. In a similar manner, the books are also delivered, in the lying-flat condition, in the emergency delivery apparatus which is sometimes disposed between the fold-burning-in and pressing machine and the protective-jacket wrapping machine.
After each delivery of the books in the lying-flat condition, said books are transported onwards by frictional contact connection on the transporting bands, which are preferably disposed transversely to the original direction of conveyance, with the back or the front cut foremost, and are optionally fed to book-stacking apparatuses. The timed conveying operation still existing in the preceding machines (fold-burning-in and pressing machine, emergency delivery apparatus, protective-jacket wrapping machine) is lost in the aforesaid delivery apparatuses and has to be brought about again, with a comparatively high technical outlay (on components and a control system), in the infeed system of the book-stacking apparatuses connected downstream. Another disadvantage is the deposition and onward conveyance, which are somewhat damaging to the product, of the books which have just been cased in, shaped and, optionally, further got up.
The underlying object of the present invention is to provide a method for delivering, in the lying-flat condition, book blocks or books which are fed in, standing on their back or on the front cut and at defined timing intervals along their height, from a preceding machine in a transport path, and a device for performing said method, which make it possible to deliver the books from the preceding machines in a manner which is careful to the product and while maintaining the cycling.
The concept of the invention lies in maintaining the timed conveyance during delivery and transferring the books into a defined delivery position which is spaced apart from the transport path and is essentially a lying-flat position. For that purpose, the books are picked up in accordance with the timing and swung out transversely to the direction of infeed conveyance. The books can be fed to subsequent machines, such as a book-stacking apparatus for example, without cyclic feeding having to be carried out again. The structural space required is reduced enormously and the investment costs, which are determined to a considerable extent by the technical outlay on components and the control system, are minimized.
The present invention may be better understood and its numerous objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Represented in
The books 5 are passed over by the transporting tongs 9 in a stationary condition to an accelerating conveyer 11, through the fact that toothed conveyer belts 12 a, b belonging to said accelerating conveyer 11 clamp said books 5 in laterally and then accelerate them to a speed of conveyance v, at which the said books 5 are then passed over to a continuously driven clamping conveyer 14. For the purpose of opening and closing the accelerating conveyer 11, the toothed conveyer belts 12 a, b are actuated by pneumatic cylinders 13 with associated guide units.
The clamping conveyer 14 is formed from two specularly symmetrical, telescopically adjustable toothed conveyer belts 15 a, b which revolve at the constant speed of conveyance v and which, clamping the books 5 in laterally in the transport path 6, transport them onwards right into a picking-up position 7 defined by a barrier 17, the onward transport being assisted by a transporting band 16 which is driven at the same speed of conveyance v and on which the books 5 are supported by their back 5a. The barrier 17 and the telescopically adjustable toothed conveyer belts 15 a, b can be set to the format height H of the books 5 in such a way that the latter each come to a standstill centrally in the picking-up position 7. In
After reaching the picking-up position 7, the books 5 are picked up by a gripper 27a by lateral clamping-in with clamping plates 28, 29, and are swung out of the transport path 6 with a rotating apparatus 25. Said rotating apparatus 25 comprises a total of four grippers 27 a to d disposed at equal mutual angles from one another, and accordingly executes a revolution 32 which is intermittent within the 90° timing, as can be seen in
As can be seen from
As already stated above, the delivering device 1 in
The clamping conveyer 19 conveys the books 5 as far as a (feeding-in) transporting band 22 equipped with lateral guides 24 a, b and belonging to the protective-jacket wrapping machine 3, the passing-over of the books 5 taking place through the fact that entrainment means 23, which are mounted on the transporting band 22 at fixed timing intervals T2 entrain the books 5 at their head or foot side which lies at the rear. It should be observed that the entire system is coordinated in such a way that the books 5 are transported in the delivering device 1 at the same speed of conveyance v as that at which they are also processed, in continuous conveyance, in the protective-jacket wrapping machine 3. With this in-line coupling of the fold-burning-in and pressing machine 2 and the protective-jacket wrapping machine 3, an additional timing-coordinating device, such as is otherwise customary, is no longer necessary.
A second position 20″ of the clamping conveyer 19 is defined for the discharge of the books 5 from the transport path for the above described feeding of said books 5 to the book-stacking apparatus 4. The toothed conveyer belts 20 a, b are retracted to an extent such that even the books 5 having the largest format height H are exposed, in the picking-up position 7, for swinging out of the transport path 6. The two positions 20′ and 20″ can be activated during operation so that individual books 5 can be discharged from the transport path 6, for example during the in-line processing of books 5.
A second exemplified embodiment of a delivering device 1′ according to the invention is represented in
In addition to the above described adjustments VH as regards the format height H of the books 5, adjustments VD are provided which take account of the format thickness D. The adjustments VD are operative for the transport path 6 as well as for the grippers 27 a to d. Adjustments as regards the format width B of the books 5 are not necessary.
While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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DE 103 33 587.0 | Jul 2003 | DE | national |
10 2004 006 128.9 | Feb 2004 | DE | national |