AU723215B3 - A newspaper ejecting device - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: ANGELO CHRISOSTOMIDIS ANGELO CHRISOSTOMIDIS CULLEN CC Patent Trade Mlark Attorneys, 239 George Street, Brisbane, QId. 4000, Australia.

A NEWSPAPER EJECTING DEVICE The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me: 2 The present invention relates to a device for ejecting a rolled paper article and in particular a rolled newspaper from a paper rolling or wrapping machine. The present invention also relates to a paper rolling or wrapping machine having the ejecting device fitted thereto.

The present invention will be described with particular reference to a newspaper wrapping machine. However, it will be appreciated that the device may be suitable for use in machines for rolling and/or wrapping other types of paper products such as magazines or the like and no limitation is intended thereby.

Newspaper wrapping machines which roll a newspaper in a protective plastics film are well known. Such machines have a pair of rolling forks and a lower rolling bed. An edge of a newspaper is inserted between the two forks and rotation of the forks relative to the rolling bed winds the paper about the forks. The machine typically includes an overhead roll of a plastic film. A feed arm inserts an edge of the film into the nip formed as the paper begins to be rolled by the forks. At the end of the rolling step, a hot wire cuts the film.

Further rolling of the forks takes place such that the free edge of the film can adhere to itself. After completion of the rolling step, the rolled and wrapped paper is ejected from the forks by an ejector arm which pushed the paper off the forks.

The movement of the ejector arm is timed to coincide with a predetermined numbed of revolutions of the rolling forks. This is accomplished mechanically by means of a spring operated mechanism. As the forks are rotated, a spring becomes tensioned. After a predetermined number of rotations, the tension on the spring is suddenly released and it returns to the untensioned position. At the same time the force of the spring is used to drive the ejector arm to eject the paper. The machine also includes a return spring which returns the ejector arm to the pre-eject position. The cycle is then able to repeat itself.

The forces required to eject a newspaper are relatively high.

This is due to a combination of the weight of the paper and the force required to slide the paper off the forks upon which it is wound. In order to provide sufficient force, the ejector spring must be relatively strong and a relatively large amount of force is required to tension the spring. This force must be generated by the operating mechanism of the machine. The immediate release of the tension on such a spring releases a large amount of force and the ejector arm is driven rapidly to the ejection position. The movement of the ejector arm is stopped by impact against the machine body or frame. This generates a significant amount of noise as well as imparting a significant amount of force to the machine and parts therein. This noise produced by the impact, in many cases, exceeds safety requirements for an operator and/or local council noise restrictions. This can be a significant disadvantage as many of these known machines are used by suburban newsagents. In order to address the problem of the unacceptable noise level, it has been proposed to fit buffer rubbers, noise dampeners and the like to a newspaper wrapping machine. However, in practice it has been observed that an unacceptable noise level may still result, despite such precautions.

Still further, the forces generated within the moving parts of the machine generated by tensioning and release of the spring are significant.

This leads to wear and tear on the parts which in turn requires regular servicing and/or replacement of worn parts. This adds to operational costs. A significant disadvantage of parts wearing is that such wear can adversely affect the timing of the ejector sequence. Such timing disruptions can result in jamming of the newspaper in the machine which often requires manual intervention to remove a jammed paper.

The weight of newspapers can vary considerably, with weekend editions typically being significantly heavier than weekday editions. It has been observed that with the heavier papers, insufficient force is sometimes generated by the ejector spring to completely eject the paper. This again requires, manual intervention to remove the paper. It is possible to increase the force by supplying springs capable of greater tension, however this increases the subsequent impact noise generated and wear and tear on the machine.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device for ejecting a paper from a rolling and/or wrapping machine which may at least partially overcome the above disadvantages or provide the public with a useful choice.

According to a first broad form of the invention, there is provided a device for ejecting rolled papers from a paper rolling machine of the type having a pair of paper rolling forks, the device having an ejector arm movable between a pre-eject and an ejecting position, a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder operatively connected to the ejector arm for moving the ejector arm to the ejecting position and means for actuating the cylinder after a predetermined number of rotations of the rolling forks.

The device of the invention may be fitted to a conventional newspaper rolling or wrapping machine. The device is typically used to eject papers from a conventional newspaper wrapping machine of the type described above, although no limitation is intended thereby.

The device has an ejector arm which is actuated by an hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, and preferably a pneumatic cylinder. Typically the cylinder includes a pressure regulator valve. In this way the force imparted to the ejector arm can be regulated, depending upon the force required to eject a large weekend newspaper or a lighter newspaper.

Typically the actuating means is in the form. of a cam mounted to a rotating shaft which rotates at a speed proportional to the speed of rotation of the rolling forks. The rotating shaft can be operatively connected to the rolling forks by known means such as gear wheels. The cam may actuate the cylinder by any suitable means. The cam may actuate a follower operatively associated with a cylinder actuating switch. Alternatively, the cam may have a trip member projecting therefrom. When the cam completes a revolution, the trip member can depress a switch so as to actuate the cylinder.

Preferably, the cylinder is a two way cylinder. In this case, the device typically includes a return switch which is actuated when the ejector arm reaches the end of the ejecting action so as to return the ejector arm to the pr-eject position.

The device of the present invention may be mounted to a pre-existing rolling and/or wrapping machine so as to replace the conventional spring operated device as described above. Alternatively the device may be manufactured as part of a paper rolling and/or wrapping machine.

According to a second broad form of the invention there is provided a newspaper rolling machine having an ejector arm movable between a preeject and an ejecting position, a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder operatively connected to the ejector arm for moving the ejector arm to the ejecting position and means for actuating the cylinder after a predetermined number of rotations of the rolling forks.

By way of example only, the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures in which; Figure 1 is an isometric view of a preferred device of the present invention; Figure 2 is an isometric view of a newspaper wrapping machine having the device fitter thereto and Figure 3 is a front view of the machine of Figure 2.

Figure 1 illustrates a preferred device 11 of the invention. The device has an ejector arm 12. The ejector arm is shown in the pre-eject position. At the upper end of the ejector arm is connected first 13 and second 14 ejector members. Also associated with the ejector arm 12 are rolling forks 15. At the base of the rolling forks 15 is a base member 16 which in use is fixed to the frame of the wrapping machine. When the ejector arm 12 moves to the eject position, the ejector members 13, 14 moves in a horizontal direction in the direction marked by arrow A so as to push a rolled newspaper off the rolling forks.

The device further includes a shaft 20, which in use is operatively associated with a drive of a wrapping machine and rotates as the machine is operated. To the shaft 20 is mounted a cam 21. The cam has a projection 21a. To the ejector arm 12 is attached a piston 22 of a pneumatic cylinder 23.

The other end of the cylinder 22 is mounted to a mounting frame 24 which in use is mounted to the frame of the wrapping machine. To the arm is also mounted a pressure regulator 25 and control valve 26 and limit switch 27.

The pressure regulator controls air pressure from an external source such as a compressor (not illustrated).

It can be seen that after a complete revolution of cam 21, the projection 21a thereon is in a position to depress limit switch 27. This in turn actuates the cylinder 22 via control valve 26. Piston 22 pulls ejector arm 12 inwards.

The cylinder 23 also has a second limit switch 28 located at the end of the cylinder from which the piston 22 extends. When the edge of the ejector arm contacts the limit switch the cylinder 23 is actuated to return the piston and attached ejector switch to the pre-eject position. It can be seen that this location of the second limits switch can prevent or minimize an impact between the ejector arm 12 and the machine frame or body. In this way noise generated by such impact may be reduced. In practice the present inventor has observed that the present invention can reduce the noise level of a conventional device by up to 30dB The device also includes a second cam 30 mounted to shaft 20. The cam 30 is substantially circular with a locating groove 31 located therein. A follower arm 32 is associated with the cam 30. The follower arm is attached to a controlling means of a wrapping machine such that a paper rolling bed is lowered and rotation of the forks may stop when the follower arm 32 locates in groove 31. A spring 33 is attached at one end of the follower arm 33 and the other end to shaft 20 so as to bias the follower towards the periphery of the cam 30. The grove 31 is also relatively narrow. The combination of the spring 33 and groove.31 allows for quite precise movement of the follower arm 32. This allows for greater precision in correlating the action of depressing the roller bed and cessation of fork rotation relative to the ejector sequence. The present inventor has observed that it is difficult or not possible to obtain this degree of precision with conventional newspaper wrapping machines. Inaccurate lowering of the roller bed can result in the roller bed being incompletely lowered. This can result in drag between the newspaper and roller bed during ejection or may cause jamming of the newspaper.

Inaccuracy in stopping fork rotation may result in the forks ceasing motion when the forks are in positions other then directly above each other. For optimum speed in paper loading it is desirable that the forks lie directly above each other.

Figure 2 illustrates a newspaper wrapping machine 40 having a device of the present invention fitted thereto. The machine 40 has a frame 41. At the top of the machine 40 is mounted a roll of plastic film 42. It will be Sappreciated that the plastic roll forms no part of the invention. The machine has an electric motor (not illustrated) mounted thereto. The machine has a gear box 44 and control lever 45. A roller bed is located below the rolling forks 15, although this is not illustrated.

It may be seen that the device of the present invention can operate at much lower noise levels than conventional ejector mechanisms. Further, the device of the present invention is not subject to the force and consequent wear and tear generated by the large force involved with the spring loaded mechanism A further advantage of the present invention is that the ejection force may be varied by means of the pressure regulator. In this way a larger force may be employed for heavier papers. This adjustment is not possible with conventional spring loaded mechanisms without increasing the strength of the spring. However, as mentioned above, this increase in spring strength increases impact noise and increases wear and tear on the machine parts.

Insufficient ejector force can result in incomplete ejection which may require manual intervention to clear the newspaper from the machine. It is also desirable for all newspapers, regardless of size to be ejected the same distance from the machine. This is because, newspapers are typically ejected into a receiving container. Under or overshot papers must be manually picked up and placed in the container. Adjustment of the ejector force allows this to be achieved.

Also, the ejector force is not transmitted to the machine frame and parts as is the case with the spring loaded mechanism. The overall result is that there is less wear and tear on the working parts. This typically results in reduced costs due to less servicing, repair and replacement of worn parts.

Also, as parts such as the cams are not subject to as much wear and tear, the overall performance of the timing capabilities controlled by the respective cams may be improved.

It will be appreciated that various changes or modifications may be made to the present invention as described and claimed herein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

Claims (3)

1. A device for ejecting rolled papers from a paper rolling machine of the type having a pair of paper rolling forks, the device having an ejector arm movable between a pre-eject and an ejecting position, a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder operatively connected to the ejector arm for moving the ejector arm to the ejecting position and means for actuating the cylinder after a predetermined number of rotations of the rolling forks.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the actuation means is a cam mounted for rotation and operatively associated with the cylinder.

3. The device of claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1 or Figure 2. DATED this 22 d day of June 2000 Angelo CHRISOSTOMIDIS By his Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.