| Device for depositing individual printed products, supplied in succession, in shingle formation -> Monitor Keywords |
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Device for depositing individual printed products, supplied in succession, in shingle formationDevice for depositing individual printed products, supplied in succession, in shingle formation description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070164501, Device for depositing individual printed products, supplied in succession, in shingle formation. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
TECHNICAL FIELD [0001]This disclosure pertains to a device for depositing individual printed products that are supplied in succession in shingle formation. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002]DE 198 46 032 C2 describes devices for depositing flat objects such as tubular sections or bags consisting of paper, wherein the supplied objects are decelerated with a device that settles on the deposited objects from the top. Devices of this type are also suitable for depositing thicker printed products in shingle formation, e.g., magazines, brochures or book blocks. The objects are transported with a relatively high speed on a conveyor belt while being spaced apart from one another and transferred to an obliquely ascending downstream conveyor belt that revolves with a slower speed. In order to produce the shingle formation, the supplied objects are decelerated by one or more deceleration rolls that are rotatably supported on swiveling levers and roll on the shingle formation being produced with an adjustable pressing force. The device is adjusted to the length of the objects to be deposited by respectively displacing the deceleration rolls or the assigned lever relative to the cut-off of the first conveyor belt. [0003]In this case, it is complicated to adjust the device to the formats of the objects to be deposited and disruptions may occur due to objects being positioned obliquely when they come in contact with the deceleration rolls. The objects are not deposited with a constant shingle spacing, particularly when the transport speed changes, e.g., when powering up and powering down the conveyor system, namely because the objects approach the deceleration rolls along a speed-dependent trajectory over a relatively long distance. Gaps in the stream feed may occur, particularly when processing short formats. This results in corresponding disruptions during the mechanical finishing of the objects transported in shingle formation. [0004]It is known to utilize fan wheels driven in a revolving fashion, e.g., as described in EP 0 265 735 B1, for delivering flat printed products that emerge from the folding apparatus of a printing machine in shingle formation. The printed products are introduced into the pocket-shaped compartments of the fan wheel from the top about tangentially, wherein the printed products come in contact with the bottom of the compartments with their leading edge due to the higher feed speed and, after slightly more than one-quarter revolution of the fan wheel, are pushed out of the compartment once again by a stripping element (band, wheel or the like) and deposited in shingle formation. On the downstream conveyor, the printed products are taken hold of by pusher cams on their trailing edge referred to the transport direction and transported away. [0005]In devices with fan wheels, it is problematic that the printed products do not always lie on the bottom of the compartments due to rebound effects or the lack of an excess speed such that corresponding variations of the shingle spacing occur. Different auxiliary measures were developed in order to ensure that the printed products are properly positioned and therefore aligned on the bottom of the compartments, wherein said auxiliary measures generally consist of effectively taking hold of the trailing edge of the printed products with a slightly higher transport speed than that of the fan wheel. For example, EP 0 265 735 B1 proposes to already take hold of the printed products on their trailing edge and to transport away the printed products before they are removed from the compartments of the fan wheel. However, all these measures can only be realized if the printed products consist of relatively thin, flexible objects that are able to rebound during the alignment contrary to thicker and/or less flexible printed products, e.g., magazines, brochures or book blocks. These products usually have a rigidity that prevents a reliable penetration into the curved compartments of the fan wheel from the outset. [0006]Another device of this type for depositing flat objects in shingle formation is known from DE 34 04 459 A1. It essentially consists of a stream feeder that receives the arc-shaped products transported without overlap from the feed conveyor with the aid of rotating grippers that are opened and closed in the appropriate cycle by means of a stationary control cam and deposited on the downstream conveyor in shingle formation with a slower speed. The rotating grippers can be decelerated on a transport segment that extends from the feed conveyor to the downstream conveyor referred to the transport direction, namely from approximately the feed speed to approximately the delivery speed, wherein the grippers can be accelerated once again in the ensuing transport segment. [0007]In contrast to the known fan wheel feed, the products are always transported while being taken hold of by the decelerating grippers during their deceleration and only released once the stream feeding speed is reached. In this case, the grippers slide along the surface of the respective leading product such that markings may be produced. Another disadvantage can be seen in that the drum serving as the supporting device for the printed products revolves with a constant speed such that a relative speed results between the printed products transported by the decelerating grippers and the drum, wherein this relative speed is directed in such a way at the end of the closed gripper movement that the drum delays the printed products. The device according to DE 34 04 459 A1 has a complicated construction and is only conditionally suitable for processing thicker and/or less flexible printed products. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0008]The present embodiment is based on the objective of developing a device for depositing individual printed products, supplied in succession, in shingle formation, wherein said device should also make it possible to reliably and flawlessly deposit thicker and/or less flexible printed products at high processing speeds. It should be possible, in particular, to reliably deposit printed products with short dimensions referred to the shingle spacing if changes in the transport speed occur. [0009]According to the embodiment, this objective is attained by reducing the compartments known from the fan wheel feed to relatively short pockets such that the printed products also quickly come in contact with the bottom stop of the pockets if the difference between the feed speed and the speed of the rotating grippers is relatively small. This is particularly beneficial when processing small format lengths and less flexible printed products. In order to ensure that the printed products aligned on the bottom stop can no longer be displaced during their additional transport and are therefore transferred in a precisely positioned fashion, the printed products are subsequently transported while being taken hold of and deflected approximately in the stream feeding direction of the downstream conveyor during this process. The grippers are opened before the stripping element is reached, wherein the printed products drop on the downstream conveyor in the direction of the product thickness along the shortest path possible due to the centrifugal force and the downwardly acting weight. The dropping time therefore is so short that a faulty shingle formation is no longer produced, namely even if significant speed changes occur. In addition, the stripping element ensures that the printed products are reliably removed from the pocket of the opened gripper. To sum up, the printed products supplied with a high speed practically are reliably and carefully decelerated to the stream feeding speed in several successive deceleration processes. [0010]The embodiment allows a constant rotational speed of the grippers such that a simple construction of the device is achieved and no relative speed occurs between the printed products transported while being taken hold of by a gripper and the supporting disk. A format adjustment with respect to the format length of the printed products can be easily realized by turning the control cam. In order to achieve a trouble-free operation with high processing speeds, the trailing edge is displaced out of the moving path of the following printed product due to the deflection of the printed products by a defined angle in the stream feeder during the transport phase in which the printed products are taken hold of by the grippers. A constant shingle spacing is preferably realized during the depositing or dropping of the printed products in cooperation with pushers that are arranged at fixed distances from one another on the downstream conveyor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING [0011]One embodiment is described in greater detail below with reference to the drawing, consisting of a single FIGURE. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT [0012]The FIGURE shows a partially schematic side view of a stream feeder 1 for depositing individual brochures 4 (4.sup.I, 4.sup.II, 4.sup.III, 4.sup.IV), supplied in succession by means of a feed conveyor 2, on a downstream conveyor 3 with a slower transport speed v.sub.3 in shingle formation 5. The brochures 4 have a format length L and are successively transported obliquely downward with a feed speed v.sub.1 by the feed conveyor 2 that clamps the brochures 4 between conveyor belts 26, 27 such that they are spaced apart from one another by a distance A, wherein the brochures are then fed to the stream feeder 1 with their spine 4a pointing forward. The bottom conveyor belt 26 extends slightly farther than the upper conveyor belt 27 such that the brochures 4 are provided with a supporting surface. [0013]The stream feeder 1 features a plurality of rotating grippers 6a to 6e that are continuously driven in a rotative fashion with a constant gripper speed v.sub.2. The grippers 6a to 6e are respectively realized in the form of a gripper row featuring at least two adjacently arranged parallel grippers. Only one respective gripper of a gripper row is visible in the illustration shown in the FIGURE. The short pocket 7 realized on the respective grippers 6a to 6e features a bottom stop 8 and sides that are formed by a clamp 9 and the surface area 11 a of a supporting disk 11. The supporting disk 11 simultaneously serves as a receptacle for the grippers and consequently rotates synchronously with the grippers 6a to 6e. [0014]The brochures 4 are fed to the stream feeder 1 tangentially referred to the rotational path of the grippers and obliquely from the top. The spine 4 a represents the leading edge of a brochure 4.sup.III and is introduced into the pocket 7 of the assigned grippers 6a that is in an open state. Since the feed speed v.sub.1 is higher than the gripper speed v.sub.2, the brochures 4 come in contact with the bottom stop 8 such that they are aligned and can subsequently be additionally transported while being held by the closed grippers, wherein the moving direction of the brochures 4 is changed during the further motion sequence. The latter is indicated in the FIGURE in the form of the gripper 6e and the brochure 4.sup.II. [0015]The rotational movement of the stream feeder 1 or of its grippers 6a to 6e, respectively, is adapted to the feed of the brochures 4 in such a way that an opened gripper 6b is introduced into a gap between a leading brochure 4.sup.III and the brochure 4.sup.IV to be transferred. The above-described phase, in which the contacting and aligning of the brochure 4.sup.III takes place, occurs in a first angular range .alpha. in which the gripper 6a is still open, wherein an insertion aid in the form of an insertion ramp 9a is provided on the clamp 9 of the grippers 6a to 6e. The brochure 4.sup.III only lies on the supporting surface of the lower conveyor belt 26 by the time it comes in contact with the bottom stop 8 such that the brochure 4.sup.III can be decelerated to the gripper speed v.sub.2 without being compressed by the bottom stop. [0016]The clamped transport takes place in a second angular range .beta. of the rotational movement of the grippers, namely up to a defined distance upstream of the stripping element 10 where the grippers 6a to 6e are reopened in order to release and drop the respective brochure 4.sup.II onto the downstream conveyor 3 situated thereunder. The release of the brochure 4.sup.II consequently takes place in a third angular range .gamma. of the rotational movement of the grippers in which the grippers are opened once again and the downwardly acting weight is accelerated by the centrifugal force, wherein the brochure 4.sup.II is pushed out of the pocket 7 of the gripper 6e by the stripping element 10 in order to ensure that the brochure 4.sup.II is released from the gripper 6e. [0017]Two brushes that are stationarily arranged on the stream feeder 1 adjacent to the grippers 6a to 6e serve as stripping elements 10, wherein said brushes are oriented approximately tangential to the supporting disk 11 and feature bristles that are inclined in the feed direction (v.sub.3). Due to their elasticity, the brochures 4 are carefully pushed out of the grippers 6a to 6e and deflected downward onto the downstream conveyor 3. [0018]A guide plate 13 that guides and supports the trailing edge of the brochure 4.sup.II against the centrifugal force acting thereupon extends from the lower conveyor belt 26 in the direction of the rotational path of the grippers and essentially opens perpendicularly toward the downstream conveyor 3. [0019]The downstream conveyor 3 is arranged with an ascending incline and features at least two transport chains 14, on which pusher cams 15 are arranged within identical distances B from one another, wherein said pusher cams effectively act upon and thusly transport the trailing edges of the dropped brochures 4. Due to the insignificant drop from the stream feeder 1 to the downstream conveyor 3, brochures 4 are also deposited in a timely fashion on the respectively leading brochure 4.sup.I such that they lie in front of the assigned pusher cam 15 for their additional transport if the speed of the conveyor system changes. Brochures 4 with a small format referred to the shingle spacing B are reliably placed on top of one another in this fashion. Continue reading about Device for depositing individual printed products, supplied in succession, in shingle formation... Full patent description for Device for depositing individual printed products, supplied in succession, in shingle formation Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Device for depositing individual printed products, supplied in succession, in shingle formation patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Device for depositing individual printed products, supplied in succession, in shingle formation or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Paper cassette feeder for easily removing paper jam and image forming apparatus having the same Next Patent Application: Inserter and method for inserting postal items into envelopes Industry Class: Sheet feeding or delivering ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Device for depositing individual printed products, supplied in succession, in shingle formation patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.1526 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Qualcomm , Schering-Plough , Schlumberger , Seagate , Siemens , Texas Instruments , 174 |
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