Patent Grant
6929260
1. Field of the Invention
2. Description of Related Art
The present invention relates to a method and a device for transferring at least two sheets, which are arranged in a shingled mode of arrangement in a sheet or paper transport direction, to a sheet or paper handling machine in which the at least two sheets are moved at a first speed after the transfer.
In the prior art, paper handling systems are known in which e.g. 2-up printed sheets are supplied to a cutter, separated from one another by this cutter and then placed ready for further processing by a subsequent device. For this purpose, the 2-up printed sheets are placed one on top of the other by means of suitable machines, such as mergers, and, in this condition, they are applied to subsequent paper handling machines for further processing.
For further processing the individual sheets provided in this way, the subsequent machines take over, per machine clock cycle, one such waiting sheet; depending on the subsequent machines, individual groups must e.g. be formed from the sheets provided, these groups being then e.g. put in envelopes.
The clock cycle with which the cutter operates and with which the individual sheets are made available to the subsequent machines is faster than the clock cycle of a subsequent enveloping unit. By way of example, it is assumed that the cutter can carry out 1,000 cutting operations within a predetermined period of time, whereas the enveloping unit can carry out 100 enveloping operations within this period of time. This has the effect that, in a first case, in which the enveloping unit processes only single sheets, the cutter will be stopped at certain intervals, since it would provide too many sheets, whereas in a second case, in which the enveloping unit envelops fifteen sheets at a time, the enveloping unit will have to be stopped at certain intervals, since the cutter is not able to provide a sufficient number of sheets. The prior art already discloses solutions which, for avoiding the disadvantages resulting from the above, interpose a buffer between the cutter and the subsequent machines so as to permit a continuous operation of the cutter. In this case, the individual sheets discharged by the cutter are introduced in the buffer, and, when a predetermined number of sheets has been reached, switching over to e.g. a second buffer plane is effected so that the sheets contained in the first buffer plane can be advanced for further processing, whereas sheets discharged by the cutter are simultaneously introduced in the second buffer. Such a device is described e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,769.
Devices of this type are, however, disadvantageous insofar as the transfer of the sheets which are discharged by the cutters and which have been merged by the merger takes too much time, since the individual sheets must be transferred to the buffer one after the other. When the sheets are provided in pairs, two sheets at a time can be transferred in parallel. In the case of large groups two sheets at a time are transferred in parallel, the respective pairs of sheets being transferred in succession. Furthermore, the performance will be impaired in the case of comparatively large buffers or uneven numbers of sheets or group sizes or in the case of even numbers of sheets and a discharge which does not take place in pairs, since, for forming a group, such systems need two or more clock cycles depending on the number of sheets.
Starting from this prior art, it is the object of the present invention to provide a method and a device which support a simple and a faster formation of groups with a minimum number of necessary machine clock cycles in paper handling systems.
This object is achieved by a method according to claim 1 and a device according to claim 7.
It is the object of the pre-sent invention to provide a method and a device which support a simple and a faster formation of groups with a minimum number of necessary machine clock cycles in paper handling systems.
The present invention is a method of transferring at least two sheets, which are arranged in a shingled mode of arrangement in a sheet transport direction, to a sheet handling machine in which the at least two sheets are moved at a first speed after the transfer, a first and a second sheet of the at least two sheets being spaced by a certain length of displacement in the sheet transport direction,
The present invention is a device for transferring at least two sheets, which are arranged in a shingled mode of arrangement in a sheet transport direction, to a sheet handling machine which comprises a transport unit which moves the at least two sheets at a first speed after the transfer, a first and a second sheet of the at least two sheets being spaced by a certain length of displacement in the sheet transport direction, the device having
The present invention is based on the finding that the above-described disadvantages in the prior art can be overcome by arranging, in accordance with the present invention, the sheets to be processed in a pre-shingled mode of arrangement by superimposing the 2-up printed sheets with a small displacement in the longitudinal direction, i.e. the sheets are pre-shingled, so that they can easily be separated from one another later on. Comparatively large groups can thus be formed in a simple way by forming a comparatively large shingled stream with additional sheets which have already been pre-shingled. The machines known in the prior art do not permit this course of action, but they only permit a formation of the shingled stream from individual sheets or with non-displaced 2-ups (two sheets arranged adjacent each other with the printed text facing upwards/downwards). In comparison with this prior art, the present invention is advantageous insofar as, by means of the transfer method according to the present invention and the transfer device according to the present invention, at least two sheets, which are already arranged in a shingled mode of arrangement, can be transferred to a paper handling machine in one clock cycle, without these pre-shingled sheets sliding over one another, as would have been the case in the prior art. According to the present invention, this problem is solved in that the leading sheet is decelerated at the leading edge and the trailing sheet at the trailing edge.
According to one embodiment, the first speed is equal to the third speed.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the group thus formed and the resultant shingled stream are then advanced by a distance which is equal to the number of sheets in the group multiplied by the shingle length, the movement taking place towards a subsequent transport device which then takes over the group.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a further transport unit is additionally provided to which the sheets continuously collected and deposited in a shingled mode in the first transport unit are transferred when a predetermined number of sheets has been reached in the first transport unit, the second transport unit being moved in a clocked mode depending on the number of sheets to be distributed so that the shingled stream deposited therein is moved towards a distributing unit, the respective leading sheet in the paper transport direction being discharged from the paper handling machine at the distributing unit. By means of this implementation, a predetermined number of sheets can easily be distributed in the form of a group by slightly increasing the duration of the clock cycle.
The present invention is advantageous insofar as it permits a continuous feed of the merged sheets and, consequently, a high increase in performance. A method permitting the provision of at least two sheets in a shingled mode of arrangement is described in DE 199 35 186 A.
In accordance with a further advantage, the present invention permits a paper handling machine to be operated with medium-sized groups, the number of sheets per group lying between the above-mentioned limits at which a preceding machine (e.g. a cutter) or a subsequent machine (e.g. an enveloping unit) has to be stopped.
In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail making reference to the drawings enclosed, in which:
The description following hereinbelow refers to a paper handling system in which the device according to the present invention and the method according to the present invention are implemented. With regard to the individual figures, reference is made to the fact that identical elements or elements producing the same effect are provided with identical reference numerals in these figures.
In section A of the paper handling system, 2-up printed sheets 100 are supplied to a cutter and the paper web is cut longitudinally and transversely so as to obtain the individual sheets 100a and 100b which are merged in section B by means of a merger such that the sheets 100a and 100b are arranged in a shingled mode of arrangement, i.e. they are displaced by a predetermined length (shingle length) X in a sheet or paper transport direction P. From the merger section B, the two shingled sheets 100a and 100b are transferred to section C where the sheets supplied are stored intermediately before they are advanced in section D, e.g. to a collecting station.
Section C is divided into sections C1 and C2, section C1 representing a section which is part of the sheet and paper handling machine and which will be described in detail hereinbelow on the basis of FIG. 3. Also section C2 represents a section which is part of the paper handling machine and which will be described hereinbelow in more detail on the basis of FIG. 5. Section C represents in its entirety the paper handling machine which will be described later on making reference to FIG. 6.
In section C1 the shingled sheets 100a and 100b are supplied continuously until a predetermined number has been reached, whereupon the shingled stream thus formed is transferred in a single clock cycle to section C2 from which individual sheets or groups of sheets are then transferred to the collecting station in a clocked mode, as will be described in detail hereinbelow.
As will be described later on with reference to the following figures, the present invention permits a very simple transfer of these shingled sheets to section C and the distribution of the sheets in groups to the subsequent processing machines D.
Making reference to the figures following hereinbelow, an exemplary paper handling machine will be described in which the present invention is implemented. In the description following hereinbelow, the individual components of the machine shown in
As has already been stated hereinbefore, the present invention starts from sheets which have already been arranged in a shingled mode of arrangement; to make things easier, it will first be assumed in the description of the method and of the device following hereinbelow that only two shingled sheets have to be transferred.
In
The length of displacement X and the shingle length X, respectively, are defined by the distance between the edge 200a of the first sheet 200, which is the leading edge in the paper transport direction P, and the edge 202a of the second sheet, which is the leading edge in the paper transport direction P.
In addition,
The sheets 200 and 202 are supplied at a second speed by means of a feed device which is not shown in
In
When the sheets 200, 202 reach the shingle roll 204, their supply speed is decelerated, and, for preventing the two sheets 200 and 202 from sliding over one another, the brake roll 206 is switched over from its first position shown in
The transport unit used for advancing the transferred sheets is driven continuously and, when the two sheets have reached the first shingle roll 204, they are advanced by a distance which corresponds to the number of sheets multiplied by the shingle length X.
In
Furthermore, two additional sheets 210 and 212 have been supplied and since these sheets have not yet arrived in the area of the shingle roll 204, the brake roll 206 is located at its first position where an engagement with the sheets does not take place.
In
The section of the device shown in
The inlet section 302 comprises an inlet 306 which is defined by two guide means 306a and 306b converging in the paper transport direction P and which serves to feed the at least two sheets in the paper transport direction P to the section 300. A pair of feed rolls 308a, 308b is arranged in the vicinity of the ends of the guide means 306a and 306b constituting the front ends in the paper transport direction P, the feed roll 308a being driven by a motor which is not shown in FIG. 3. The contact force between the rolls 308a and 308b can be adjusted via an adjustment screw 310 by means of which the position of the roll 308b relative to the roll 308a can be changed. The rolls 308a and 308b are secured to a frame 312 of the inlet section 302. The feed rolls 308a and 308b are driven such that sheets supplied are moved at a speed of 2 m/s to 6 m/s, preferably 3 m/s.
The feed rolls 30ea and 308b are followed by an optional trap 314 in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3. The trap 314 comprises a deflection element 316 as well as two deflection guide means 318a and 318b arranged adjacent the deflection element. The deflection means 316 can be switched over between the position shown in
Each of the sheet paths 320a and 320b has associated therewith a brake roll 323a and 323b. By actuating a magnetic positioning element 324a and 324b, the respective brake roll 322a and 322b is moved from its first position in which engagement with the sheets supplied via the sheet paths does not take place to its second position in which engagement with the respective trailing edge of the second sheet of the sheets supplied takes place so as to decelerate this second sheet. The two brake rolls 322a and 322b are driven by a motor, which is not shown in
When the activation of the positioning element 324a has been terminated, the brake roll 322a is returned to its first position by the force of gravity, whereas the roll 322b is returned to its position of rest or first position by the restoring force of a spring 326, when the activation of the positioning element 324b has been terminated. In the case of another embodiment, where the force of gravity does not suffice to move back the brake roll 322a within a sufficiently short period of time, this brake roll has also associated therewith a spring.
The first transport unit 304, which forms a buffer for receiving therein a plurality of “dual sheets” in which these sheets are accommodated in a shingled mode of arrangement, comprises a conveying belt 328 which is driven continuously, if possible, and which extends over two guide pulleys 330a and 330b, the conveying belt 328 being driven via a motor, which is not shown in
The transport unit 304 additionally comprises two guide means 342 and 344, which are arranged in parallel and which extend along the whole transport unit 304, so that the dual sheets supplied can reliably be transferred from the inlet 302.
The mode of operation of section 300 is such that the dual sheets are supplied via the inlet 306 and, as soon as the first sheet of the dual sheets has reached the first shingle roll 334a, the dual sheets are decelerated and, in order to prevent the sheets from sliding over one another, one of the brake rolls 322a and 322b, respectively, is activated, at the moment at which a leading edge of the first sheet reaches the shingle roll 334a, by actuating the respective positioning element so as to engage a trailing edge of the second sheet of the dual sheets so that the sheets will be prevented from sliding over one another. Subsequently, the sheets are advanced by the transport unit 304; in so doing, additional dual sheets are simultaneously supplied until a predetermined number of dual sheets is contained in the transport unit 304. As soon as the predetermined number of dual sheets is contained in the unit 304, these dual sheets are advanced, in one clock cycle, to a subsequent transport unit, which will be described later on.
With regard to the embodiment shown in
Furthermore, it is pointed out that, instead of the driven brake roll, a brake roll may also be used which has an increased roll resistance in comparison with conventional rolls so that a suitable deceleration of the second sheet will be achieved, when this brake roll is pressed against a trailing edge of the second sheet.
Making reference to
In
In
The advantage of this course of action is that, due to the shingled arrangement and due to the method of moving the stream of sheets which has been chosen, it is not necessary to move the sheets by a complete format length in order to distribute e.g. two sheets, but it suffices to bridge only a distance which is essentially determined by the displacement of the sheets arranged.
By means of this method of distributing the individual sheets from the stream of sheets, the grouping of the individual sheets, which has already been shown on the basis of
The second transport unit 502 comprises a pair of guide means 506 and 508 extending from an inlet of the transport unit 502 to an outlet 512 thereof. The transport unit 502 additionally comprises a conveying belt 514, which is adapted to be driven in a clocked mode by a motor, not shown in
Furthermore, four transport rolls 520a to 520d are provided, which co-operate with the conveying belt 514 and which are arranged such that they are displaced relative to one another by a predetermined distance. The individual transport rolls 520a to 520d are secured to a chain 522 which is schematically shown in
The sheets accommodated in the first transport unit, which is shown in
The outlet 512 of the second transport unit 502 is followed by the distributing unit 504 with its inlet 528, a stopper means 530 being provided immediately after the inlet 528; the stopper means 530 is secured to a section of the frame 532 of the distributing unit 504.
With the aid of the stopper means a group of sheets can be stopped or placed ready. When the subsequent paper handling machine, e.g. the collecting station, is ready to receive sheets, and when the sheets have been placed ready at the stop point or stopper means, the path into the collecting station will be shorter, whereby the performance can be increased still further. As a further example, it will assumed that an enveloping unit is arranged subsequent to the paper handling device. While a group of sheets or individual sheets contained in this enveloping unit is/are being put in an envelope by means of this enveloping unit, no further sheets are distributed to the enveloping unit. In this situation, the next group to be processed or the next sheet to be processed can already be moved by the stopper means in the direction of the outlet of the paper handling machine and placed ready at the stopper so that, when the enveloping unit is ready to accept the next group or the next sheet, the path to be bridged will be shorter than in cases in which this group or sheet is supplied from the second transport unit so that a faster supply will take place.
Furthermore, the stopper means provides, alternatively to or in addition to the first-mentioned, above-described functionality of the stopper means, the possibility of “buffering” (intermediately storing) a group while the shingled stream is being transferred from the first transport unit to the second transport unit in the example shown in FIG. 6A. Hence, the slightly longer intermediate clock cycle, which may be necessary for the transfer, will not reduce the performance.
A pair of sensor rolls 534a and 534b, by means of which the sheets passing between these two rolls 534a and 534b are counted, is arranged after the stopper means 530, when seen in the paper transport direction P. The counting is carried out such that, by means of the sheets passing, a certain space is caused between the two rolls 534a and 534b; this space causes, in turn, a displacement of the signalling lever 536 relative to an inductive measuring element 538, whereby a change of inductance will be caused on the basis of which the number of sheets passing between the rolls 534a and 534b can be detected. In an alternative embodiment, the sensor can also be arranged in front of the outlet 512.
The distributing rolls 540a and 540b are positioned after the rolls 534a and 534b, when seen in the paper transport direction P; these distributing rolls 534a and 534b are driven continuously via motors, which are not shown in
When section 500 is in operation, it is first determined how many of the sheets contained in the transport unit 502 are to be distributed to a subsequent processing means during one clock cycle. Depending on the number of sheets to be distributed, the distance by which the shingled stream arranged in the transport unit 502 is to be moved in the direction of the distributing unit is determined, and this movement is then carried out, the distributing rolls 540a and 540b removing the sheet of the shingled stream constituting the respective leading sheet in the paper transport direction, i.e. if e.g. only a single sheet is to be removed from the shingled stream, the shingled stream will be moved in a suitable manner by the transport unit 502 in such a way that only the leading sheet of these sheets is placed ready for distribution by the distributing rolls 540a and 540b so that, during this cycle, only this single sheet will be distributed. If a plurality of sheets, e.g. three sheets, are to be distributed, the shingled stream will be moved for a period of time which is slightly longer than the clock duration required for distributing a single sheet, but which is markedly shorter than the time required for distributing two separate sheets, so that, in this case, sheets arriving in succession at the distributing rolls will be supplied to the subsequent processing unit. In this way, a group is placed ready within a period of time that is much shorter than the period of time which is normally necessary for supplying e.g. three individual sheets for a group to a subsequent processing unit.
Depending on the number of sheets to be distributed, i.e. on the size of the group, the sheets are accelerated more strongly so as to achieve the highest possible speed when they are being distributed.
In
In addition to the embodiments of the transport units described in the preceding figures, other realizations are possible as well, especially also in connection with the adjustment of the respective formats.
Making reference to
In
In
As can clearly be seen from the above description of the present invention, this device achieves, in comparison with the devices known from the prior art, a plurality of advantages by means of pre-shingling, continuous feeding and the clocked discharge.
The 2-up printed sheets are placed one on top of the other with a small longitudinal length of displacement so that these sheets are pre-shingled and can easily be separated from one another later on. When larger groups are formed, a larger shingled stream will be formed by the additional, pre-shingled sheets. In the case of the machines known from the prior art, this is only possible with individual sheets or with non-displaced 2-ups. Displaced, i.e. pre-shingled sheets would slide over one another in such machines. As has been described hereinbefore, this problem is solved by decelerating the leading sheet at the leading edge thereof and the trailing sheet at the trailing edge thereof. For advancing the group, the shingled stream is moved to a subsequent transport device which takes over the group, the distance by which the shingled stream is moved being equal to the number of sheets multiplied by the shingle length.
The above-described paper handling machine permits a continuous feed of merged sheets and, consequently, a high increase in performance, since even if groups are separated within the merged sheets, these merged sheets can be distributed together by the precursor. Hence, only one clock cycle is necessary. This permits the use of continuously operating precursors, e.g. rotary cutters and the like, which means that the performance will be increased still further.
As has been described hereinbefore, a paper handling machine, which comprises essentially an inlet transport device with a brake, a trap, a shingle transport device, and a distributing transport device, is defined according to one embodiment of the present invention; the various devices have been described hereinbefore making reference to the figures. The inlet transport device provided with a brake serves to prevent the incoming sheets from slipping and from being damaged, and, as has already been described as well, the shingle transport devices can be arranged in two planes and they are adapted to be operated independently of one another.
When the above-described paper handling systems are in operation, a paper web is first cut longitudinally and transversely in a cutter (FIG. 1). The sheets cut in this way are transferred to the merger (
The sheets superimposed (merged) by the precursor are taken over by the inlet transport device 302 of the paper handling machine with a small longitudinal displacement of approx. 20 mm. The leading edge of the leading sheet is decelerated at the shingle roll 334a, the trailing sheet is decelerated at the trailing edge. This prevents the sheets from sliding over one another. Depending on the position of the trap 314, further “dual sheets” are shingled selectively in an ascending or descending mode and transported continuously into the transport unit 304 of the buffer until the path has been filled completely.
In the embodiment described on the basis of
In the arrangement shown in
Due to the fact that the individual sheets are displaced relative to one another in the longitudinal direction, individual sheets or whole groups of sheets can be transferred to the distributing transport device 504 in the correct sheet sequence by means of a short feed or a longer feed (clock cycle). This distributing transport device will then transfer the group e.g. to a collecting station, in which the sheets are jogged longitudinally and transversely so as to position them precisely on top of one another. Following this, the group is transferred to a subsequent device, e.g. a folder or an enveloping machine.
The advantages of the present invention are that a very high sheet performance can be achieved, since sheets can be taken up continuously, without any necessity of paying attention to group changes. Another advantage is that the preceding and the subsequent machines can be operated independently of one another, i.e. the cutter and the collecting station do e.g. not mutually retard one another. Due to the fact that the sheets are arranged in a shingled mode of arrangement, they can easily be separated from one another and groups can easily be formed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 199 40 406 | Aug 1999 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP00/07801 | 8/10/2000 | WO | 00 | 7/8/2002 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO01/14234 | 3/1/2001 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 01256447 | Oct 1989 | JP |
