Claims
- 1. Cyclically operable signature gathering machine having a supply station from which folded signatures, each with a folded backbone and two sheets or legs extended therefrom, of which one sheet is longer to present an extended free margin beyond that of the shorter sheet, are to be extracted one by one by capturing the backbone of each by extracting grippers on a cyclically rotating extracting cylinder, said cylinder being defined by at least a pair of spaced discs, whereafter the captured signature is released from the extracting cylinder in the course of one turn and the two legs of the released signature opened respectively by gripper means on a pair of opening cylinders which then in turn release the opened signature to a signature gatherer, characterized by wipers supported by and between said discs for rotary movement cyclically therewith, said wipers being pivotally supported for movement from a retracted position within the perimeter of the discs to an actuated position slightly beyond the perimeter to forcefully displace the free margins of the released signature toward the path of the gripper means of one of the opening cylinders, means to oscillate the wipers, and means cyclically to time oscillation of the wipers so that the wipers are in actuated position to force the free margins of the released signature toward the gripper means on said one of the opening cylinders at the time those gripper means are being presented to the free margins of the released signature.
- 2. Machine according to claim 1 in which the wipers are supported on a rock shaft, the rock shaft having a pinion gear, a segment gear engaged with the pinion gear, and means to oscillate the segment gear.
- 3. Machine according to claim 2 in which the timing means includes a cam and a cam follower on the segment gear.
- 4. Machine according to claim 3 in which the extracting cylinder has at least three sets of extracting grippers spaced about the circumference thereof so that at least three signatures are extracted in one cycle of rotation of the extracting cylinder, and in which there are three circumferentially spaced sets of said wipers trailing the gripper sets on the extracting cylinder.
- 5. Machine according to claim 1 in which the extracting grippers and wipers are supported on respective rock shafts carried by said discs, the machine having fixed cams about which rotate cam followers related respectively to timing actuation of the extracting grippers and wipers, and means operated by the cam followers to actuate the grippers and wipers.
- 6. Cyclically operable signature gathering machine having a supply station from which folded signatures, each with a folded backbone and two sheets or legs extended therefrom, of which one sheet is longer to present an extended free margin beyond that of the shorter sheet, are to be extracted one by one by capturing the backbone of each by extracting grippers on a cyclically rotating extracting cylinder, said cylinder being defined by at least a pair of spaced discs, whereafter the captured signature is released from the extracting cylinder in the course of one turn and the two legs of the released signature opened respectively by gripper means on a pair of opening cylinders which then in turn release the opened signature to a signature gatherer, characterized by wipers supported by said discs for rotary movement cyclically therewith, said wipers being in trailing position compared to the extracting rippers and being supported for oscillating movement from a retracted position within the perimeter of the disc to an actuated position slightly beyond the perimeter to forcefully displace the free unsupported margins of the released signature toward the path of the gripper means of one of the opening cylinders, means to oscillate the wipers, and timing means cyclically to time oscillation of the wipers so that the wipers are in actuated position to force the free margins of the released signature toward the gripper means on said one of the opening cylinders at the time those gripper means are being presented to the free margins of the released signature.
- 7. Machine according to claim 6 in which the wipers are supported on a rock shaft, the rock shaft having a pinion gear, a segment gear engaged with the pinion gear, and means to oscillate the segment gear.
- 8. Machine according to claim 7 in which the timing means includes a cam and a cam follower on the segment gear.
- 9. Machine according to claim 6 in which the extracting cylinder has a plurality of sets of extracting grippers spaced about the circumference thereof so that a plurality of signatures are extracted in one cycle of rotation of the extracting cylinder, and in which there are a like number of sets of said wipers trailing the gripper sets on the extracting cylinder.
- 10. Machine according to claim 6 in which the extracting cylinder is defined by a plurality of discs keyed for rotation to a driven shaft, the extracting grippers and wipers being supported on respective rock shafts carried by said discs, the machine having fixed cams about which rotate cam followers related respectively to timing actuation of the extracting grippers and wipers, and means operated by the cam followers to actuate the grippers and wipers.
- 11. Machine according to claim 6 in which the extracting cylinder is defined by a pair of spaced discs, each of which carried sets of extracting grippers, and said discs also carrying sets of wipers in trailing position compared to the extracting grippers.
- 12. Cyclically operable signature gathering machine having a supply station from which folded signatures, each with a folded backbone and two sheets or legs extended therefrom, of which one sheet is longer to present an extended free margin beyond that of the shorter sheet, are to be extracted one by one by capturing the backbone of each by extracting grippers on a cyclically rotating extracting cylinder and moving the backbone to a fixed register gauge in the path of the extracted signature, said cylinder being defined by at least a pair of spaced discs, whereafter the captured signature engaged with the register gauge is released by the extracting grippers on the extracting cylinder in the course of one turn and the two legs of the released signature are subsequently opened by gripper means on a pair of opening cylinders which then in turn release the opened signature to a signature gatherer, characterized by wipers supported by said discs for rotary movement cyclically therewith, said wipers being located in trailing position compared to the extracting cylinder grippers and being so supported on a pivotal axis for oscillating movement from a retracted position within the perimeter of the discs to an actuated position beyond the perimeter to forcefully displace the free unsupported margins of the released signature toward the path of the gripper means of one of the opening cylinders, the trailing position of the wipers being such that the arc occupied by the released signature on the extracting cylinder is greater than the arc separating the register gauge and the wipers when actuated whereby the wipers when actuated engage the free ends of the signature, means to oscillate the wipers about their pivotal axes, and means cyclically to time oscillation of the wipers so that the wipers are in actuated position to engage and force the free margins of the released signature toward the gripper means on said one of the opening cylinders at the time those gripper means are being presented to the free margins of the released signature.
- 13. Signature gathering machine according to claim 12 in which the extracting cylinder is defined by a pair of spaced discs, each of which carries sets of extracting grippers, and said discs also carrying sets of wipers in trailing position compared to the extracting grippers.
- 14. Machine according to claim 12 in which the extracting cylinder has a plurality of sets of extracting grippers spaced about the circumference thereof so that a plurality of signatures are extracted in one cycle of rotation of the extracting cylinder, and in which there are circumferentially spaced like sets of said wipers trailing the gripper sets on the extracting cylinder.
- 15. Machine according to claim 12 in which the extracting cylinder is defined by a plurality of discs keyed for rotation to a driven shaft, the extracting grippers and wipers being supported on respective rock shafts carried by selected of said discs, the machine having fixed cams about which rotate cam followers related respectively to timing actuation of the extracting grippers and wipers, and means operated by the cam followers to actuate the grippers and wipers.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 100,273 filed on Sept. 23, 1987 now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
100273 |
Sep 1987 |
|