EP2520525B1 - Method for manufacturing stacks of vertical printed products - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a rod and a method for producing this rod, in which a plurality of printed sheets combined to form a book block and several book blocks with the same orientation each lower edges of the sheet together to form a bar and pressed, with two adjacent book block before pressing against each other offset and fixed after pressing in their position. Such rods are produced for intermediate storage of printed sheets by means of so-called rod jib. For this purpose, stand-together printed sheets are formed forming a rod, pressed together and strapped.

In the production of glued-bound printed products such as books, paperbacks and similar products, the required printed sheets and envelopes are known to be printed and stored in any order in a first step. Subsequently, the printed sheets, which can besispielsweise be folded sheets or sheets with glued attachment sheet, collected in the correct order to loose book block and supplemented with other book parts, such as covers for hardcover products, attachment sheet, combined attachment sheets or envelopes and fed to a perfect binder where they are tied in the back and glued with the envelope or Fälzelstreifen. By separating the printing process from the binding process, both are processes feasible with the optimal speed corresponding to them. The disadvantage is that the binding process can only be carried out when all printed sheets and envelopes are printed, which requires a relatively large stock of printed sheets and envelopes.

Next printing presses are known to successively print all the pages of a book and then provide complete, loose book block that can be fed directly to an adhesive binder. From the US3518940A Such a printing press is known. With this method, which is rarely used in practice, it is possible to avoid the temporary storage of printed signatures, which requires a very complex printing press. Moreover, this method is economical only for very long runs and the achievable print quality is low.

For some time, digital printing machines have been known, which also successively print all pages of a book and then deliver complete, loose book blocks that can be bound without further operations. Accordingly, with a digital press, it is possible to optionally produce complete book blocks with different contents one after the other. Another advantage of digital printing machines is that no printing plates are needed. In addition to avoiding the costs incurred for the production of the printing plates, also eliminates the necessary for the printing plate changes business interruptions. The book block forming sheet or single sheets are designed as a stack and stored, for example, offset on a pallet to each other, so that they are later manually separated from each other in a simple manner. Alternatively, full-surface layers of book blocks can be formed, which are separated from each other by an intermediate layer. Such stacked book blocks can be stored for any length before they are fed to a perfect binder.

The laying of loose stacks on pallets can be carried out automatically or manually with a so-called palletizer. Such a device is in the EP2098465 A1 disclosed. The loose sheet stacks of horizontal printed products are later removed manually from the pallet and inserted into the feed area of an adhesive binder. A disadvantage of this solution is known that the loose book block are pressed too little in the seams, making thick products in the fold substantially thicker than in the flat part. In addition, the lower book blocks are pressed the strongest and the top not at all. Poor or differently pressed book blocks can lead to serious problems in further processing or impede further processing.

In the EP2159070 A1 It is proposed to glue the printed sheets of a stack in an edge region mutually. This ensures that at a later time, before further processing, the stacks can be clearly separated again. Also in this method, the sheets are pressed irregularly or too little, with the disadvantages already mentioned. In addition, the glued sheets in the perfect binder can no longer align each other. Another disadvantage is the area required for the gluing surface of the sheet, which must be cut off necessarily in the final trimming in the three-knife trimmer and thus can significantly increase the consumption of paper. A further disadvantage results from the thickening of the stacks at the points where adhesive is applied to the printed sheets, which makes further processing more difficult.

It is also known to glue the printed sheets together at their front sides instead of between their flat sides. In addition to the above-mentioned disadvantages of such a gluing, this method additionally has the disadvantage that the adhesive can deposit on paper guides during further processing, which can cause machine malfunctions and cleaning effort.

Instead of storing the printing sheet stack on pallets or similar devices, methods are also known in which the printing press in a line operated with the perfect binder. Since the printing press, as already mentioned, can print continuously, a buffer gap must be provided between the printing press and the further processing, the buffer capacity of which is sufficient to store the book block printed during the conversion of the further processing individually. Additional buffer capacity is to be provided in case the further processing is at a standstill for some reason. Alternatively, the printed in such a phase book block can also be ejected and fed back later.

The EP1950159 A1 discloses a stacked array of flat printed products where the printed products in the stack are all aligned identically. One of the four sides of the printed products is thicker than the others because, for example, the printed products on that side have a fold or even a staple. So that these stacks are just as stable as those stacks which are formed of partial stacks alternately offset by 180 °, here the stacks of stacks are offset alternately to one another transversely to the thicker side. The partial stacks are offset perpendicular to the lower edges in the direction of the height of the stack. Trays designed in this way have the disadvantage that the printed products within the stack are pressed to different extents in the region of the thicker side, whereby the non-pressed seam areas tend to fan out.

The invention has for its object to provide a method with which formed from gathered sheet blank loose book blocks and after the intermediate storage are again clearly separated from each other. It is a further object of the invention that the book blocks are pressed during the interim storage with a defined force.

The object is achieved according to the invention in that loose book blocks are brought together to form rods, wherein a book block is offset parallel to the lower edges of the printed sheets and transversely to a height of the rod to be formed, a side edge of the book block protrudes from a side edge of an adjacent book block. The lateral offset of book block to book block, which forms by this method within the resulting rod, creating clear separation points, which later allow to separate the loose book blocks safely from each other. Only by such a storage of the book block in the form of a rod can be ensured that all book blocks and printed sheets are pressed with the same force and that no deformations of individual book block occur until the removal of the book block at a later date, for example shortly before further processing.

It is advantageous if the book blocks are collected in such a way that the rod is formed such that folding edges of the printed sheets are used as bottom edges. When folded sheet, it is particularly advantageous if the last in the course of the folding process resulting folding edge, which is referred to as "last folding edge" is used as the lower edge, since the mechanical strength is highest.

In a development of the method, the n book blocks can be formed from at least one first and one last book block part of the same format and the book block parts each have a side edge on both sides of the bar to be formed. In this case, the side edge of the last book block part of a book block is alternately offset laterally relative to the side edge of the first book block part of an adjacent book block on a first or a second side of the rod to be formed or on both sides. This results in a simple manner, an offset that is advantageous, for example, for a uniform separation of the book block.

In a development of the invention, the book blocks of the rod can each be formed from printed sheets with different print contents. In doing so come from for example, the printed sheets of a digital printing machine, which can optionally produce successively complete book blocks with different contents.

With the method described rods can be made from book block in which several sheets are combined to form a book block and several book blocks are pressed with the same orientation each lower edge of the sheet standing to a rod. Each two adjacent book blocks are offset from each other and fixed in position. According to the invention, in such a bar, a book block is offset parallel to the lower edges of the signatures and transversely to a height of the bar such that one side edge of the at least one book block protrudes from a side edge of an adjacent book block. Preferably, folding edges of the printed sheets in the bar form the lower edges.

In a further development of the rod, the book blocks are formed from at least a first and a last book block part of the same format and the book block parts each have a side edge. In this case, the side edge of the last book block part of a book block is alternately offset laterally relative to the side edge of the first book block part of an adjacent book block on a first or a second side of the bar or on both sides.

In the event that the book blocks of the rod are each formed of printed sheets that have been printed for example by a digital press with different print contents, the book blocks of the rod can each have a different print content.

In another development of the rod according to the invention, in addition to the printed sheets combined to form book blocks, other book parts, such as, in particular, book covers for hardcover products, attachment sheets, combined attachment sheets or envelopes, can also be arranged.

It is advantageous if the printed sheets and / or the book blocks and / or the rods have at least one information carrier for their identification. As a result, in the further processing either each individual bar or its components can be assigned, for example, an individual processing.

Fig. 1

eine schematische Darstellung eines erfindungsgemässen Verfahrens zur Herstellung einer Stange,

Fig. 1a

einen einzelnen Druckbogen,

Fig. 2a

eine aus Buchblocks gebildete Stange,

Fig. 2b

eine aus Teilbuchblocks gebildete Stange,

Fig. 2c

eine weitere Variante einer aus Teilbuchblocks gebildeten Stange.

The invention will be explained below with reference to the drawing and the cited prior art with reference to embodiments. In the drawing show:

Fig. 1

a schematic representation of a method according to the invention for producing a rod,

Fig. 1a

a single sheet,

Fig. 2a

a rod formed from book blocks,

Fig. 2b

a bar formed from parts book blocks,

Fig. 2c

another variant of a formed from part book block rod.

The Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a bar former 6 with upstream printing machine 4. The printing machine 4, for example, a digital printing machine, printed on a unwound from a paper roll 39 paper web, which is cut into sections 40 after printing. These sections 40, also called signature, can be designed either as folded in a folding device 37 or as unfolded printed sheet 10 in a scale flow 11. The printed sheets 10 have a lower edge 7, which may be a folded edge 5, as in Fig. 1a shown. The book blocks 3 _{1... N} thus formed have two side edges 17 ₁ .

The folding device 37 is in Fig. 1 illustrated as sword folder, in which the sections 40 are conveyed by means of a sword between two folding rollers and folded by them. The end of the conveying path of the sections 40 in front of the folding device 37 can be selected by means of a stop 41 which can be adjusted in the direction U. By cyclically adjusting the stop 41 can be transverse to a conveying direction F offset sub-shed 12 form. If the stop 41 is adjusted alternately after every last section 40 of a book block 3 _1... , Subsheds 12 offset transversely to the conveying direction F are formed, which are alternately offset to the left and right in the conveying direction F, corresponding to the content of a book block 3 and which are further conveyed with a scale flow conveyor 38 in the conveying direction F. Alternatively, instead of being folded, portions 40 may be conveyed transversely directly away from the stop to form a scale flow 11. As a further alternative, the formation of stacks of sections 40 can take place, these subsequently being converted into a shingled stream 11. In addition to the printed sheets 10 combined into book blocks 3 _{1... N} , other book parts 20, such as, in particular, book covers for hardcover products, attachment sheets, combined attachment sheets or envelopes, can also be arranged.

The shingled stream 11 is piled up in the bar former 6 into a bar 13 with a height H ( Fig. 2b ), provided with end boards 14, pressed with an adjustable force and strapped with a tension element 15. Due to the offset of the partial shed 12 to each other, the book blocks 3 _{1 ... n} stacked in the rod 13 are also staggered. In the strapped rods 13, the pressing force is maintained, whereby all contained in the bars 13 sheet 10 remain pressed with the same force. By squeezing the spring-back of the book block 3 _{1 ... n} in the region of the folds when loosening the tension element 15 can be significantly reduced, which during a further processing of the book block 3 _{1 ... n} higher product quality can be achieved because no deformation of the book blocks 3 _{1 ... n} more occur. As rod-forming 6, for example, the generic device to EP623542 A1 be used. A slider 16 then pushes the strapped rod 13 in the sliding direction S on, for example, a buffer device.

For pressing and stabilizing the rods 13 other devices are also conceivable instead of end boards 14 and tension members 15. For example, the rods 13 could be held together and pressed by means of reusable clips, which clips could be automatically or manually returned to the rod former 6 after opening.

The Fig. 2a shows the basic structure of a rod 13 of book block 3 _{1 ... n} , in which several printed sheets 10 (FIG. Fig. 1 ) are combined to form a book block 3 _{1... n} and a plurality of book blocks 3 _{1... n} with the same orientation in each case on lower edges 7 (FIG. Fig. 1 ) of the sheet 10 are pressed down standing to a rod 13. Each two adjacent book blocks 3 _{1 ... n} are offset from each other and fixed in position, with a book block 3 _{1 ... n} parallel to the lower edges 7 of the sheet 10 (FIG. Fig. 1 ) and transverse to a height H of the rod 13 is offset such that a side edge 17 _{1 ... n} at least one book block 3 _{1 ... n} opposite a side edge 17 _{1 ... n of} an adjacent book block 3 _{1 ... n} protrudes. By way of example, 13 information carriers 19 ₁ , 19 ₂ , 19 ₃ are shown here within the rod 13, which serve to identify the printed sheets 10 and / or the book blocks 3 _{1... N} and / or the rods 13, depending on where they are mounted.

Further embodiments of a rod 13 are in the Fig. 2b and 2c shown. The book blocks 3 _{1... N are formed} from at least one first and one last book block part 35 _{1... N of the} same format, and the book block parts 35 _{1... N} each have a side edge 36 ₁ Side edge 36 _{1 ... n of} the last book block part 35 _{1 ... n of} a book block 3 _{1 ... n} respectively opposite the side edge 36 _{1 ... n of} the first book block part 35 _{1 ... n of} an adjacent book block 3 _{1 .. n. .n} on a first or a second side 21, 22 of the rod 13 (FIG. Fig. 2b ) or alternating on both sides 21, 22 ( Fig. 2c ) is offset laterally.

Claims (12)

1. Method of producing a bundle (13) of book blocks (3_1...n), in which several printed sheets (10) are gathered to form a book block (3_1...n) and several book blocks (3_1...n) with the same orientation each standing on lower edges (7) of the printed sheets (10) are combined to form a bundle (13) and compressed, wherein two adjacent book blocks (3_1...n) each are offset from one another before the compressing operation and fixed in position after the compressing operation, characterised in that one book block (3_1...n) is offset parallel to the lower edges (7) of the printed sheets (10) and transversely to a height (H) of the bundle (13) to be formed in such a manner that a side edge (17_1...n) of the book block (3_1...n) projects relative to a side edge (17_1...n) of an adjacent book block (3_1...n).
2. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the bundle (13) is formed in such a manner that folded edges (5) of the printed sheets (10) are used as the lower edges (7).
3. Method according to claim 2, characterised in that the bundle (13) is formed in such a manner that a last folded edge (5) of the printed sheets (10) in each case is used as the lower edge (7).
4. Method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the book blocks (3_1...n) are formed of at least a first and a last book block part (35_1...n) of the same format and the book block parts (35_1...n) on either side of the bundle (13) to be formed each have a side edge (36_1...n), wherein the side edge (36_1...n) of the last book block part (35_1...n) of one book block (3_1...n) is offset laterally relative to the side edge (36_1...n) of the first book block part (35_1...n) of an adjacent book block (3_1...n) on a first or a second side (21, 22) of the bundle (13) to be formed or alternating between the two sides (21, 22).
5. Method according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the book blocks (3) of the bundle (13) are each formed of printed sheets (10) with differing print content.
6. Bundle (13) of book blocks (3_1...n), in which several printed sheets (10) are gathered to form a book block (3_1...n) and several book blocks (3_1...n) with the same orientation each standing on lower edges (7) of the printed sheets are combined to form a bundle (13) and compressed, wherein two adjacent book blocks (3_1...n) each are offset from one another and fixed in position, characterised in that one book block (3_1...n) is offset parallel to the lower edges (7) of the printed sheets (10) and transversely to a height (H) of the bundle (13) in such a manner that a side edge (17_1...n) of one book block (3_1...n) projects relative to a side edge (17_1...n) of an adjacent book block (3_1...n).
7. Bundle (13) according to claim 6, characterised in that folded edges (5) of the printed sheets (10) form the lower edges (7) in the bundle (13).
8. Bundle (13) according to claim 7, characterised in that the last folded edge (5) of the printed sheets (10) in each case forms the lower edge (7) in the bundle (13).
9. Bundle (13) according to one of claims 6 to 8, characterised in that the book blocks (3_1...n) are formed of at least a first and a last book block part (35_1...n) of the same format and the book block parts (35_1...n) each have a side edge (36_1...n), wherein the side edge (36_1...n) of the last book block part (35_1...n) of one book block (3_1...n) each is offset laterally relative to the side edge (36_1...n) of the first book block part (35_1...n) of an adjacent book block (3_1...n) on a first or a second side (21, 22) of the bundle (13) or alternating between the two sides (21, 22).
10. Bundle (13) according to one of claims 6 to 9, characterised in that the book blocks (3_1...n) of the bundle (13) are each formed of printed sheets (10) with differing print content.
11. Bundle (13) according to one of claims 6 to 10, characterised in that other book parts (20), such as, in particular, cases for hardcover products, endsheets, combined endsheets or covers are arranged in the bundle (13) in addition to the printed sheets (10) gathered to form book blocks (3_1...n).
12. Bundle (13) according to one of claims 6 to 11, characterised in that the printed sheets (10) and/or the book blocks (3_1...n) and/or the bundles (13) have at least one information carrier (19₁, 19₂, 19₃) for the purposes of identification.

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