1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a device for distributing successive products of a product flow, particularly the folding products formed by a cross cutter by dividing a material web, to two branch flows.
2. Description of the Related Art
In known arrangements of the type mentioned above, splitting devices include a swivelable tongue, which alternately feeds the successive products to one branch flow or the other. The tongue is a stationary structural component part in relation to the moving products. Therefore, owing to the relative movements between the products and the tongue, marks may be produced on the products and, when processing printed products, ink smears and the like may occur. Therefore, the known arrangements have not proved sufficiently production-friendly.
EP 0054963 A1 shows a splitting arrangement with wedges that are arranged in a stationary manner in the transporting plane of the product flow and which are arranged adjacent to one another transverse to the transporting direction. Together with two belts which are guided through the splitting arrangement, the wedges form a path fork which is symmetric to the transporting plane and opens downward. Adjoining the wedges below the path fork on the inner side are transporting belts which define the two paths leading out of the fork. Two cam rollers which flank the wedge and which have cams and recesses in an area between the wedges are associated with the two side faces of the wedge. Each cam on one cam roller has associated with it an area on the other cam roller serving as a holding surface at which no cams are provided and over which the transporting belt is guided. Accordingly, the transporting belts run laterally next to the cams through the splitting device. Therefore, the products passing through the splitting device cannot be supported or deflected by the cams in these areas of the respective belts.
It is an object of the present invention to improve a device of the type mentioned above in a simple and economical manner in such a way that the products are handled with care and a high quality of the product is ensured.
In a device of the type mentioned above having a wedge arrangement which is arranged in a stationary manner in the transporting plane of the product flow and which engages between two cam rollers which flank it and which are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center working plane, the above-stated object is met according to the invention in that the wedge arrangement is arranged between two guide plates which flank the wedge arrangement and which, together with the wedge arrangement, define a path fork, wherein the guide plates have slots through which they are alternately penetrated by cams of the respective adjacent cam roller which are associated with the slots, so that the penetrating cams and the guide plate which is not penetrated form a feed for a belt guide associated with a branch flow.
The products are preferably guided between the guide plates and the cams reliably and along their entire width. The products can also be fed to and carried away from the splitting device at high speeds in a reliable manner and without damage. To this end, it is necessary for the products to be guided at their lateral edges in the belt guide leading to and away from the splitting device, and this guidance can be ensured even when the product widths correspond to the distance between the outer belts. Altogether, this prevents a paper backup which would occur in a known device when the lateral product edges which are not deflected collide with the tip of the stationary wedge arrangement.
In an advantageous manner, there is no relative movement between the cams of the rotating cam rollers and the products so that marks and smeared ink, etc. are prevented.
In an advantageous manner, the cam rollers have a plurality of cams arranged in a closely spaced manner next to one another along their length, and the guide plates have a plurality of slots associated with the cams, e.g., 10 to 20, or more, cams and slots. Further, the cam rollers can advantageously have continuous shafts on which are clamped a plurality of cam carriers provided with a quantity of cams. In this connection, it is particularly advantageous when the wedge arrangement comprises a quantity of wedges which are continuous at least along the width of the cam rollers which is provided with cams. The plurality of closely spaced, thin cams reliably deflect the product over the wedge or wedge arrangement into the respective continuing belt guide across the entire width of the product. The wedge arrangement and the guide plates through which the cam disks penetrate define the free space of the products and prevent the products from being overturned and damaged.
The wedge arrangement comprises one or more wedges. The wedge or wedges can lie with their tips behind the area swept over by the two cam rollers. In this case, the close spacing of the splitting cams prevents either the front edge of the product or the end of the product from coming into contact with the stationary wedge tip. The wedge can also be slotted toward the cam rollers like the guide plates so that the wedge or wedges can also be penetrated by the cams of the cam rollers, and their side walls offer additional support of the products toward the inner side.
When the cams of the two cam rollers each extend over a circumferential segment, preferably of substantially identical dimensions, which sweeps over an entire product length given a suitable circumferential speed, the front edge of the product, after exiting the belt guide, is deflected and guided by the cams in the corresponding direction of the continuing belt guide. When the front edge of the product reenters the belt guide downstream of the splitting device, the end of the product is still guided in the belt guide in front of the splitting device. This ensures a continuous guiding of the product.
Accordingly, the belt guide need not be guided through the device, but runs on the outer side around the device and subsequently resumes guiding the product so that a good guiding is ensured on the path formed by the guide plates, cams and—optionally—the side walls of the wedge without the above-mentioned risk of a paper backup.
Advantageous constructions and advisable further developments of the principal steps are indicated in the subclaims and are described in more detail by examples in the following description with reference to the drawings.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.
In the drawings which will be described in the following:
The device shown in
The longitudinally folded material, designated hereinafter as webs 1a and 2a, respectively, is subsequently divided into products in sheet form by a cross cutting device 9. The resulting product flow is subsequently divided into two branch flows by a splitting device 10 and transported to a product delivery 13 by two belt guides 11, 12 following the splitting device. A braking device 14 is associated with each belt guide 11, 12 in the end region of the latter followed by a delivery fan 15. Delivery belts 16 on which the products are deposited in a layered flow are arranged below the delivery fans 15.
The above-mentioned units are arranged downstream of the draw-in devices 5, 6 in a machine frame 17 into which the webs 1a, 2a exiting from the formers 3, 4 run. The machine frame 17 has two side walls on which the above-mentioned devices are mounted. A superstructure wall 18 carrying the belt guiding members 19, such as the guide rods and/or turn-over bars, etc, associated with the formers 3, 4 is mounted on the machine frame 17. These belt guiding members 19 are arranged in a cantilevered manner and are accordingly accessible from their end remote of the superstructure wall 18. The web 1a exiting from the lower former 3 preferably runs downward without being deflected. The web 2a which exits from the upper former 4 and which is designated in practice as a balloon web is preferably deflected to the side for passing around the lower former 1. For this purpose, the web 2a must be guided through the superstructure wall 18 which is provided with a through-window 20 for this purpose.
The superstructure wall 18 is arranged in such a way that the cantilevering guide members 19 are easily accessible from the side of the web feed indicated by arrow 21. The superstructure wall 18 is laterally offset relative to a center plane of the former arrangement. The direction of the web feed depends upon the arrangement of devices located upstream and can therefore change. When the web feed takes place from the side opposite to arrow 21, the superstructure wall 18 must be arranged on the other side of the former arrangement as is indicated by the dashed line in
To simplify variations of the type mentioned above, the machine frame 17 is formed of a plurality of modules which are arranged one on top of the other and which are rotatable by 180° relative to one another and can be fastened to one another in the respective end positions. Two modules are sufficient in practice. Consequently, two modules, namely, an upper module 22 and a lower module 23, are provided in the present example. The upper module 22 contains the draw-in devices 5, 6 with associated guiding and deflecting rollers 7, 8, the cross cutting device 9 and the splitting device 10. The lower module 23 contains the belt guides 11, 12 following the splitting device 10, and the braking devices 14, delivery fans 15 and delivery belts 16 associated with these belt guides 11, 12. In the area of the dividing line 24 between the modules 22 and 23 which extends at right angles to the vertical axis of rotation, these modules 22 and 23 which are rotatable relative to one another have mutual contacting surfaces and fastening means 25, indicated by their center lines, for anchoring with respect to one another in any desired final rotational position when placed on top of one another. These fastening means 25 are arranged symmetrically with respect to a vertical working plane of an adjacent unit, which working plane contains the axis of rotation.
In order that the products can be guided past the dividing line 24 in the same manner in any rotational end position, the units provided in the area of the dividing line 24 are formed symmetrically with respect to their vertical working plane containing the axis of rotation and consequently symmetrically with respect to their vertical center plane. The vertical working plane containing the axis of rotation corresponds to a vertical center plane, i.e., the transporting plane of the products when passing through the dividing line 24. In the present embodiment example, this symmetry applies to the output of the splitting device 10 and the input of the belt guides 11, 12 adjoining the latter.
To facilitate the rotatability of the modules 22 and 23, every module is preferably formed with independent driving means. For this purpose, every module has at least one drive motor associated with it. In the present example, a plurality of drive motors are provided on every module. For example, each draw-in device 5, 6 has its own drive motor 26, 27. The cross cutting device 9 has its own drive motor 28, and the splitting device 10 has its own drive motor 29. Accordingly, the upper module 22 contains four drive motors 26-29 which are independent from one another. The braking devices 14, delivery fans 15 and delivery belts 16 of the lower module are also assigned their own drive motors 30, 31 and 32, 33 and 34, 35, respectively. The lower module 22 accordingly contains six drive motors 30-35 which are preferably independent from one another. The mutual independence of the drive motors 26-35 facilitates the control and implementation of leading or lagging, which has an advantageous effect on accuracy and careful operation.
In the present example, the belt guides 11, 12 traverse the dividing line 24. Therefore, the belts of the belt guides 11, 12 are removed before one of the modules 22, 23 is rotated. However, the inner belt pulleys 36 of the belt guides 11, 12 provided in the area of the dividing line 24 are arranged symmetrically with respect to the working plane mentioned above so that the belt configuration is the same before and after the rotation of one of the modules 22, 23.
After combining, the webs 1a, 2a exiting from the formers 3, 4 can be transported further so as to lie one on top of the other or side by side depending on the former arrangement. To keep every possibility open and to ensure high flexibility, all members and devices are formed in two tracks downstream of the combining point 37, i.e., in such a way that two webs can run side by side if required. The side walls of the frame of the modules 22, 23 are far enough apart to give the required working width. The devices according to
The cutting device 9 shown in
The length of the products depends on the diameter of the cutting cylinders 38. In case of a change in length, the cutting cylinders 38 must be exchanged. In order to facilitate this, the cutting cylinders 38 are mounted in lateral eccentric bearings 41. Therefore, the axial distance can be changed by rotating the eccentric bearings 41.
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In every case, the shaft 57 rotates over its entire length. However, the belts 58 associated with the two tracks can be activated or deactivated per track. For this purpose, the associated belt pulleys or belt drums 59 can be selectively coupled to the shaft 57 by means of a coupling 62. The drive can be transmitted to other driven belt rollers by the shaft 57 of the first belt roller 55, which shaft 57 has a drive-connection to the cross cutting device 9. For this purpose, a second belt disk 63, from which a driving belt 64 leads to a corresponding belt disk of another belt roller, is provided on one end of the shaft 57.
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According to the example described above, the machine frame 17 contains only the upper module 22 and the lower module 23, that is, only two modules. However, it would also be possible to provide a plurality of modules. For this purpose, for example, the upper module 22 of the arrangement shown in
Thus, while there have shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2008 025 415.0 | May 2008 | DE | national |
10 2008 032 622.4 | Jul 2008 | DE | national |