CA1189546A - Inserting system for newspapers - Google Patents
Inserting system for newspapersInfo
- Publication number
- CA1189546A CA1189546A CA000384332A CA384332A CA1189546A CA 1189546 A CA1189546 A CA 1189546A CA 000384332 A CA000384332 A CA 000384332A CA 384332 A CA384332 A CA 384332A CA 1189546 A CA1189546 A CA 1189546A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- belt
- plenum
- channels
- hopper
- inserts
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H39/00—Associating, collating, or gathering articles or webs
- B65H39/02—Associating,collating or gathering articles from several sources
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H3/00—Separating articles from piles
- B65H3/08—Separating articles from piles using pneumatic force
- B65H3/12—Suction bands, belts, or tables moving relatively to the pile
- B65H3/124—Suction bands or belts
- B65H3/126—Suction bands or belts separating from the bottom of pile
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2701/00—Handled material; Storage means
- B65H2701/10—Handled articles or webs
- B65H2701/17—Nature of material
- B65H2701/176—Cardboard
- B65H2701/1762—Corrugated
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Sheets, Magazines, And Separation Thereof (AREA)
- Separation, Sorting, Adjustment, Or Bending Of Sheets To Be Conveyed (AREA)
- Packaging Of Special Articles (AREA)
- Collation Of Sheets And Webs (AREA)
Abstract
Inserting System for Newspapers Abstract An inserter is provided for placing an insert into newspaper jackets as the jackets are fed at printing press speed. The inserts are fed from a hopper by a perforated endless continuously moving belt by means of selectively activating vacuum air pressure plenums located on the side of the belt opposite the inserts in the hopper. In one embodiment, the flow of air pressure of a vacuum to a plenum is controlled by a valve and in a second embodiment, the perforations and slots in the belt serve as the valve means.
The apparatus of this invention provides rapid acceleration of inserts selectively without the necessity of overcoming the inertia of mechanical holding and feeding devices.
The apparatus of this invention provides rapid acceleration of inserts selectively without the necessity of overcoming the inertia of mechanical holding and feeding devices.
Description
Description Inserting_System for Newspapers Technical F'ield _ This invention re]ates to a device for placing 05 inserts in newspapers and mo~e particularly, to such a system for placing the inserts in the newspapers when -the newspapers are moving at printing press speed. This is accomplished by providing a system which does not rely on mechanical gating operations for sequentially feeding the inserts into the newspapers.
Background A_ It is common practice for newspaper publishers to provide advertisers with the service of placing advertis-ing within their newspapers for distribution along with those newspapers. This method of distributing advertising is used extensively, especially in large metropolitan areas. It is attractive to both the newspaper publishers and the advertisers in that it provides the newspapers with additional revenue and the advertiser with a very economical means of distributing the advertising material to their potential customers.
One difficulty with inserters is that they are unable to keep up with high speed printing presses. In other words, the time required to place the insert in the news-paper is too long to be practical unless the publisher ispreparing a Sunday supplement wherein the supplement is prepared a number of days ahead and the inserts caA be placed in the supplement over a period of several days.
On the other hand, insertion into daily papers where the number of papers distributed each day may be a million or more, insertion is impractical. Thus, the use of inserts has been limited. One of the reasons for the slowness in inserting is that the inserting macllines have had mechanical gates for sequentially dispensing the inserts from the . ~
bottom of a hopper. Because of the inertia inherent in a mechanical gate, the time in cycling the gate is so slow that inserts cannot be placed in newspapers at a sufficient-ly rapid rate to be practical for most applications. An oS example of one mechanical inserter is shown in ~.S. Patent No. 908,469 to La Sor.
Various belt feeding devices in which elements are sequentially fed from the bottom of a hopper have included slotted endless belts with suction boxes wherein suction can be selectively applied to the bottommost element in the hopper for feeding it. However, these have been complex in operation and have no-t been practical for placing inserts in newspapers. An example of such a feeding apparatus is shown in U.S. Patent No. 3,941,372 to ~atsuo which is a device for feeding corrugated card-board sheets from the bottom of a stack. However, in addition to the suction boxes, the whole belt mechanism is arranged to tilt to move the device from a feeding mode to a non-feeding mode thereby incorporat~ng a mechanical system having the inertial drawbacks referred to above.
Disclosure of Invention In accordance with this invention, an apparatus for feeding inserts into newspaper jackets is provided having means for holding a supply of inserts for movement along a supply path for sequential feeding. An endless perforated belt runs between the supply path and a discharge point at or adjacent a jacket conveyer and has an air plenum means located on a side of the belt opposite the supply holding means. The belt runs at an appropriate speed for trans-mitting an insert from the supply holding means to an open jacket in proper sequence as jackets for receiving the inserts are fed at high speed along a separate conveyor.
The stack of in rts are held off of the endless belt by means of a posi ~e airflow through the air plenum and . . ~
through the holes in the belt. By an appropriate sensing means which senses the movement of the newspaper jackets, the airflow from the plenum means is stopped and may be reversed so as to pull the closest insert against the 05 conveyer where it is qulckly accelerated to the speed of thc conveyer and fed into the jacket, whereupon the positive airflow ls again introduced used through the plenum to hold the remaining inserts from contact with the endless belt un-til the next jacket is in position.
More particularly, in one embodiment, the present invention relates to an insert feeding appara-tus having a hopper in which inserts are stacked above a continuously moving belt conveyer passing beneath the forward portion of the lowest insert in the hopper and moving in a direction to sequentially withdraw the inserts from the hopper and insert them in a newspaper jacket. In one embodiment, the conveyer belt is perforated and passes over two plenums, one of which is a pressure plenum positioned beneath the upper surface of the belt totally within the area of the hopper and the other is a vacuum or hold-down plenum positioned beneath the downstream end of the hopper and having a portion which extends down-stream from the hopper past the gate to a point upstream of the jacket conveyer. A third or restraining plenum ~5 is positioned beneath the bottom insert in the hopper at a position upstream from the continuous conveyer and adjacent the pressure plenum. The wall of the hopper at the point where -the conveyer exits from the hopper has a gate brush which acts as a restraint holding the inserts within the hopper. The plenums have slits whose geometry is established to provide rapid acceleration of the inserts from the hopper by the conveyer belt and downstream to a discharge point where each insert is fed into a newspaper jacket.
In operation, a vacuum is drawn through the restrain-ing plenum in the hopper which holds the bottom insert in position within the hopper. Air pressure is provided to the switching plenum liftir;g the bottom insert in the hopper off of the surface of the continuous moving conveyer belt. When it is desired -to feed an insert, the vacuum to 05 the restraining plenum is discontinued, the positive pressure to the pressure plenum may be discontinued and a vacuum is applied to the hold-down plenum wl-ich draws the lowest inse.rt down against the moving belt which ~uickly accelerates the insert, moving it from the hopper beneath the gate brush and to the discharge point where it is fed into a jacket. The jacket may be opened by mech~nical means or by a series of air jets so that the insert can be put in place. The gate brush restrains the remaining inserts above from leaving the hopper. As the lower insert clears the hopper gate, the vacuum pressure is reinstituted -to the restraining plenum to hold a new bottom insert in position and pressure at the pressure plenum lifts the downstream end of the new bottom insert from the conveyer be]t.
Positioning and timing sensers are used to control the valving of the plenums in order to control the spacing between the inserts as they are withdrawn from the hopper and to feed the inserts in accordance with the movement of the ]ackets.
In another embodiment, a pressure plenum comprising a series of short channels located under the hopper provides positive air pressure to hold the leading edge of the lower-most insert off of the belt. A vacuum plenum comprises a series of interconnected long channels downstream of the hopper having upstream ends extending under the hopper and at least some of them being in-terleaved with the short channels. The belt has longitudinal rows of perforations ali~ned with the respective short channels and longitudinal slots which are aligned with said long channels, wherein the perforations and slots act as valves to control air flow through the channels and hence the movement of the inserts~
Furthermore, a restraining plenum located under the hopper and upstream of the belt may be provided which includes a .,_ . __ ._ _ .. ..
trans~erse rece~S filled with an open cell material to create an e~en air flow due to vacuum selectively applied thereto to hold the inserts within the hopper. As can be seen, this invention avoids the necessity of mechanical oS gating means which are slow in operation, but rather relies merely on switching air flow throu~h the perforated conveyer belt which belt runs at continuous speed and at a speed sufEicient to feed the inserts as rapidly as needed.
Additional advantages of this invention will become apparent when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Brief D scription of Drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective View of one form of the inserter of this invention;
Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the inserter of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 i5 an enlarged vertical section of the inserter, taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing an insert being fed from the hopper toward a newspaper jacket;
Fig. 4 is a greatly enlarged vertical section, taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3, showing the gating mechanism for 2Q the hopper containing the inserts;
Fig. 5 is a very greatly enlarged vertical section taken along line 5-5 of Fig. ~ showing further details of the gating mechanism;
Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section taken along lines 6-6 of Fig. 3 showing the perforated conveyer belt and plenum arrangement thereunder;
Fig. 7 is an enlarged horizontal section, taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 6, showing details of the switching plenum;
Fig. 8 is a fragmentary horizontal View, taken along line 8-8 of ~ig. 7, showing further details of the switching plenum and belt, with parts broken away for clarity of illustration;
Fig. 9 is an enlar~ed horizontal section, taken along line 9-9 of Fig. 6, showing.details of the restraining plenum;
Fig. 10 is an enlarged horizontal section, taken along 10 10 of Fig. 6, showiny details of the holding plenum;
Fig. 11 is a hori~ontal view, taken along line 11-11 of Fig. 10, showing fllrther details of the holding plenum, with 05 parts broken away for clarity oE illstration;
Fig. 12 is a diagramatic view of the pneumatic system for use with the inserter of this invention;
Fig. 13 is a vertical section, similar to Fig. 3, showing the position of the inserts prior to feeding;
Fig. 14 is a vertical section, similar to Fig. 13, but showing an insert being fed throu~h the gate of the hopper;
Fig. 15 is a vertical section similar to Figs~ 13 and 14 but showing the first insert being fed in-to an open newspaper jacket and a second insert being fed through the hopper gate;
Fig. 16 is a vertical section of a second embodiment wherein the hopper and conveyer belt are mounted in a horizontal position;
Fig. 17 is a horizontal section, taken along line 17-17 ~o of Fig. 16, showing a conveyer belt having perforations and slots which serve as the valving means for the pneumatic system for selectively and sequentially feeding the inserts from the bottom of the hopper;
Fig. 18 is a horizontal section, taken along line 18-18 of Fig. 16, showing channels which comprise a pressure plenum and a vacuum plenum by cooperating with the slots in the endless belt to provide the desired valving sequence;
and Fig. 19 is a vertical section, taken along line 19-19 of Fig. 17, showing further details of the hold-down plenum of Figs. 16 and 17.
Description_of Preferred Embodiments In accordance with this invention, in one embodiment an inserter I is provided, as bes;t seen in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein stacked inserts 1~ are fed along a supply conveyer 12 to a loading station 14, shown in dotted lines, from which the inserts ma~ be placed manually or by sui-table mechanical mechanism into hopper H. A newspaper jacket r conveyer 16 runs transversely to the inserter. It is supported by sp~ced rollers, such as roller 17, seen in Fig.
05 3, and sequentially carries newspaper jackets 18 past the inserter in the direction of arrow 20. The jackets of the newspaper are separated by a bar 22 which is supported by spaced brackets 24 attached to conveyer rail 25. The inserts are sequentially fed along a supply path fro~ hopper r H, in a manner to be described, and in synchronism with the movement of newspaper jackets 18 along conveyer 16 so that an insert is fed between brackets 24 and into an open news-paper jacket 18 of each newspaper jacket as it passes inserter I.
As best seen in Figs. 1-3, hopper H has opposed side walls 26 and 28 interconnected at their downstream edge by a generally U-shaped frame 30 in which a gate 32 is slide-ably mounted. Advantageously, the bottom o~ the gate is provided with a brush 34 and the height of the gate can be 20 adjusted by threaded post 36 which extends through a tapped hole in the center of bracket 30 and has an adjustment knob 38 attached to the outer end thereof, as shown. Thus, the height of the gate can be adjusted upwardly or downwardly depending on the thickness of the particular insert to be 25 dispensed.
Turning to Fig. 3, an endless belt 40 extends from the forward end of hopper 10 underneath the bottom insert past the gate and to a point adjacent newspaper conveyer 16 and is supported by spaced rollers 42 and 44 as 30 shown. Conveniently, the belt may be driven by any conven-tional power source, such as electric motor 46 through belt 48. Thus, the belt can feed the lowermost insert past brush 34 of ga-te 32 and into the opened newspaper jacket 18.
In order to sequentially cycle the inserts onto the 35 belt 40 for feeding into the jackets, a plurality of air plenums are provided. At the bottom of the hopper and upstream from belt 40, a restraining plenum 50 extends L
r . . .
transversely oE the ho~per as best seen in ~i~s. 6, 10, and 11. A plurality of longitudinal slots 52 are provided in the bottom wall 54 of hopper H, as best shown in Fig. 6, to provide communication be-tween the hopper and the plenum.
05 Conveniently, plenum 50 is connected to a vacuum hose 56 through a solenoid valve 58. Thus, when solenoid 58 is opened connectiny vacuum 56 -to plenum 50, the lower inser-t 10 in the hopper will be held tightly ayains-t the bottom 54 of the hopper so that it cannot be fed by endless ~elt 40 r 10 past gate 32. However, when the solenoid valve is closed so that the vacuum to plenum 50 is cut off, then the lower-most insert can be drawn forwardly past gate 32 by belt 40 .
in a manner to be described.
Conveniently, under the upper run of endless belt 40 is 15 a switching plenum 60 located below the forward end of ¦
hopper H and holding plenum 62 extends from the forward end L ~
of the hopper downstream toward the discharge point at the ! ¦
newspaper conveyer. Belt 40 is provided with a plurality O-f !
laterally spaced longitudinally extending rows of perfora-20 tions 68, the upper run extending over switching plenum 60 and holding plenum 62.
As best seen in Figs. 6-8, switching plenum 60 comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending, relatively short ~ t channels 70 interconnected by a transverse passageway 72.
25 Advantageously, one of channels 70, such as the centermost channel, is provided with an inlet 74 connected through a solenoid valve 76 which selectively provides air pressure I ~
through perforations 68 in the belt to hold the leading edge ¦ i of the lowermost insert off of the belt so that it is not 30 fed under gate 32. The pressure is provided through a ~ !
supply line 78 connected to valve 76, as shown in Fig. 7. ~ j As previously pointed out, plenum 60 is positioned under the hopper and just below the leading edge of inserts 10 posi- , tioned therein. Thus, when solenoid valve 76 is opened, the ~' 35 air pressure will pass through channel 70 and perforations 68 in the belt to hold the leading edge of the lowermost L
insert lO off of the belt while at the same time vacuum applied to restraining plenum 50 will hold the ups-tream r-end of the inser-ts so that the~ cannot be fed onto the belt, as best illus-trated in Fig. 13.
05 When it is desired to feed an insert, the vacuum is removed from plenum S0 and the air pressure is removed from pressure plen~m 60~ At the same time, vacuum is ~
applied to vacuum plenum 62 to draw the insert through -the r~
gate accelerating it to the speed of the belt to feed it into a newspaper jacket 18.
Referring again to Figs. 6-8, vacuum plenum 62 com- !
prises a first series of relatively long longitudinally extending channels 80 which are laterally spaced from each ,!
other and whose upstream ends are interleaved with short channels 70. In addition, plenum 62 includes a second set of short channels 82 whose upstream ends are aligned with channels 80 and are interleaved therewith and with short channels 70. The downstream end of short channels L
82 terminates in a transverse passageway 84 which joins 20 short channels 82 with long channels 80. An outlet 86 is provided in one of the long channels 80 and is connected F
through a solenoid valve 88 to a vacuum line 90, as best seen in Fig. 9.
When it is desired to feed an insert, vacuum to L
manifold 50 is discontinued and vacuum is applied to manifold 62. Alternatively, the air pressure to manifold 60 can either continue uninterrupted or can be shut off.
If it continues uninterrupted, the vacuum pressure to manifold 62 must be great enough to overcome the positive air pressure from slot 70 and since there are more vacuum slots 80 and 82, the apparatus can easily be designed to accomplish this. In any e~ent, by the application of ~.-vacuum thorugh manifold 62, the leadin~ edge of the lower-most insert lO is pulled down agains-t the belt and since 35 it is no longer held by manifold 50, is accelerated by the L
belt and passes unde~ brush 3~ on the bottom of gate 32 as shown in ~i~. 5 until it is moved to a dischax~e point ~' where it is fed into open newspaper jacket 18 as best seen in Fig. 15. A control s~stem for cyclin~ the feeding of 05 the inserts is shown in ~i~. 12. The respective valves 58, 76 and 88 are operated by a control circuit 92 which has an external input 94 to provide a signal to the control circuit indicating when an insert should be fed from hopper ~ so as to reach the position of an open newspaper jacket 18 at the appropriate time. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that such an external input can be ini-tiated by sensing the position of the newspaper jackets as they move along conveyer 16. A vacuum line 96 is 1~
connected to valve 58 for drawing a vacuum on plenum 50 ~, 15 and has an opposite end connected to a vacuum tank 98 on which a vacuum is drawn by compressor motor 100. Also, vacuum line 90 is connected to vacuum tank 98, as shown.
Conveniently, a first regulator 102 is provided to control the vacuum pressure. Pressure line 78 to manifold 60 is 20 connected to pressure tank 104 and is supplied pressure by compressor motor 100, the pressure being controlled by a second regulator 106.
An alternative second embodiment is shown in Figs.
16-19 wherein inserts 10' are fed from a vertical hopper 25 H' having a vertically adjustable gate 32' as shown. The inserts are sequentially fed by means of an endless belt 108 which is supported between an upstream roller 110 and a downstream roller 112. As in the previous embodi-ment, the inserts 10' are fed into newspaper jackets 18' 30 traveling along newspaper conveyer 16' supported by spaced rollers, such as roller 17'. The jackets are opened by a separating bar 22'. A restrainin~ plenum 114 is provided r upstream of the belt and under hopper H'. The restraining plenum has a transverse recess 116 filled with an open cell 5 35 material 118 to permit an even vacuum to be drawn across plenum 114 by a vaCUum hose 120 connected to the plenum by L
r a so]enoid valve 122. When VaCuU~ is applied, the inserts ., 10' will be held against the plenum and will not be fed by belt 108 under ~ate 32'. r In this embodiment, the valve control for feeding the 05 inserts is provid~d by use of appropriately placed perfor-ations and 510ts in belt 108. In this regard, the belt, as viewed in Fig. 17, has three longitudinal rows of perfora-tions 12~ with staggered slots 126 therebetween. Conven- ~
iently, an air pre$sure hose 128 is connected to an air r 10 pressure platen 130 which comprises three longitudinally extending relatively short channels 132 whose spacing corresponds with the spacing of perforations 124. Channels 132 are interconnected by a passageway 134 which in turn is connected to pressure hose 128. Thus, air supplied by pressure hose 128 will pass through passageway 134 to channels 132 and through the perforations 124 in belt 108 normally causing the forward end of inserts 10' to raise so that they are not fed by belt 108 under gate 32'.
Vacuum hose 136 is connected to vacuum platen 138 20 which comprises a plurality of relatively long channels 140 whose upstream ends are staggered in the same rela- ~
tionship as slo-ts 126. The channels are interconnected r by a passageway 142. Thus, when slots 1~6 come in alignment with the upstream end of channels 140, a 25 vacuum will be applied to the bottom of the lowermost insert 10' and because of the enlarged area for vacuum contact, the forward end of the lowermost insert 10' will be pulled down against the belt and against the pressure exerted by pressure manifold 130. When the insert comes 30 into frictional contact with belt 108 it will be accelerated to the speed of the belt and pass through gate 32' to be inserted into a newspaper jacket 18' as in the previous embodiment. Thus, with this eml)oc1i.ment, it is not necessary to continually open and close valves 35 to cycle the operation with the exception of the valve 122 for restraining platen 114 which must be closed when slots 126 come into alignment with channels 140 so that h the lowermost insert can be moved by the belt.
From the foregoing, the advantages of this invention 05 are readily apparent. An apparatus has been provided in a first embodiment for feeding inserts into newspaper jackets at prlnting press speed since the use of mechanical gates is not necessary, thereby overcoming the speed limitations inherent in mechanical feeding devices. This 10 is accomplished in one embodiment by holding inserts in place in a hopper by means of a restraining plenum which applies a vacuum to the lowermost insert while a belt b.
moves continuously under the forward end of the inserts.
The forward end of the insert is held off of the belt by !.
means of a pressure platen providing a positive air force which raises the forward edge of the lowermost insert above the gate of the hopper and off of the surface of the belt. When it is desired to feed an insert, the air supply to the pressure platen is turned off and a vacuum 20 is turned on to a vacuum platen having channels which r-interleave with channels on the pressure platen to pull the forwardmost end of the însert down against the belt whereupon vacuum on the restraining platen is removed and the insert is accelerated by the belt and fed to a discharge 25 point where it is received within the jacket of a news-paper which has been opened by a separating bar or other suitable means.
In a second embodiment, the valving of the platens is accomplished by the use of staggered slots in the 30 belt which sequentially come into registration with vacuum channels on the vacuum platen for overcoming air pressure from the pressure platen to pull the insert down against the belt and accelerate it to the speed of the belt so that it is fed into a newspaper jacket.
r .~.a.~
It will be understood that even though the embodiments which have been described provide for feeding the inserts '~
from a hopper above the endless belt, it is contemplated that inserts could be fed from a supply means below an end-05 less belt. The platens would then be located above the belt.
The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodirnents thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Background A_ It is common practice for newspaper publishers to provide advertisers with the service of placing advertis-ing within their newspapers for distribution along with those newspapers. This method of distributing advertising is used extensively, especially in large metropolitan areas. It is attractive to both the newspaper publishers and the advertisers in that it provides the newspapers with additional revenue and the advertiser with a very economical means of distributing the advertising material to their potential customers.
One difficulty with inserters is that they are unable to keep up with high speed printing presses. In other words, the time required to place the insert in the news-paper is too long to be practical unless the publisher ispreparing a Sunday supplement wherein the supplement is prepared a number of days ahead and the inserts caA be placed in the supplement over a period of several days.
On the other hand, insertion into daily papers where the number of papers distributed each day may be a million or more, insertion is impractical. Thus, the use of inserts has been limited. One of the reasons for the slowness in inserting is that the inserting macllines have had mechanical gates for sequentially dispensing the inserts from the . ~
bottom of a hopper. Because of the inertia inherent in a mechanical gate, the time in cycling the gate is so slow that inserts cannot be placed in newspapers at a sufficient-ly rapid rate to be practical for most applications. An oS example of one mechanical inserter is shown in ~.S. Patent No. 908,469 to La Sor.
Various belt feeding devices in which elements are sequentially fed from the bottom of a hopper have included slotted endless belts with suction boxes wherein suction can be selectively applied to the bottommost element in the hopper for feeding it. However, these have been complex in operation and have no-t been practical for placing inserts in newspapers. An example of such a feeding apparatus is shown in U.S. Patent No. 3,941,372 to ~atsuo which is a device for feeding corrugated card-board sheets from the bottom of a stack. However, in addition to the suction boxes, the whole belt mechanism is arranged to tilt to move the device from a feeding mode to a non-feeding mode thereby incorporat~ng a mechanical system having the inertial drawbacks referred to above.
Disclosure of Invention In accordance with this invention, an apparatus for feeding inserts into newspaper jackets is provided having means for holding a supply of inserts for movement along a supply path for sequential feeding. An endless perforated belt runs between the supply path and a discharge point at or adjacent a jacket conveyer and has an air plenum means located on a side of the belt opposite the supply holding means. The belt runs at an appropriate speed for trans-mitting an insert from the supply holding means to an open jacket in proper sequence as jackets for receiving the inserts are fed at high speed along a separate conveyor.
The stack of in rts are held off of the endless belt by means of a posi ~e airflow through the air plenum and . . ~
through the holes in the belt. By an appropriate sensing means which senses the movement of the newspaper jackets, the airflow from the plenum means is stopped and may be reversed so as to pull the closest insert against the 05 conveyer where it is qulckly accelerated to the speed of thc conveyer and fed into the jacket, whereupon the positive airflow ls again introduced used through the plenum to hold the remaining inserts from contact with the endless belt un-til the next jacket is in position.
More particularly, in one embodiment, the present invention relates to an insert feeding appara-tus having a hopper in which inserts are stacked above a continuously moving belt conveyer passing beneath the forward portion of the lowest insert in the hopper and moving in a direction to sequentially withdraw the inserts from the hopper and insert them in a newspaper jacket. In one embodiment, the conveyer belt is perforated and passes over two plenums, one of which is a pressure plenum positioned beneath the upper surface of the belt totally within the area of the hopper and the other is a vacuum or hold-down plenum positioned beneath the downstream end of the hopper and having a portion which extends down-stream from the hopper past the gate to a point upstream of the jacket conveyer. A third or restraining plenum ~5 is positioned beneath the bottom insert in the hopper at a position upstream from the continuous conveyer and adjacent the pressure plenum. The wall of the hopper at the point where -the conveyer exits from the hopper has a gate brush which acts as a restraint holding the inserts within the hopper. The plenums have slits whose geometry is established to provide rapid acceleration of the inserts from the hopper by the conveyer belt and downstream to a discharge point where each insert is fed into a newspaper jacket.
In operation, a vacuum is drawn through the restrain-ing plenum in the hopper which holds the bottom insert in position within the hopper. Air pressure is provided to the switching plenum liftir;g the bottom insert in the hopper off of the surface of the continuous moving conveyer belt. When it is desired -to feed an insert, the vacuum to 05 the restraining plenum is discontinued, the positive pressure to the pressure plenum may be discontinued and a vacuum is applied to the hold-down plenum wl-ich draws the lowest inse.rt down against the moving belt which ~uickly accelerates the insert, moving it from the hopper beneath the gate brush and to the discharge point where it is fed into a jacket. The jacket may be opened by mech~nical means or by a series of air jets so that the insert can be put in place. The gate brush restrains the remaining inserts above from leaving the hopper. As the lower insert clears the hopper gate, the vacuum pressure is reinstituted -to the restraining plenum to hold a new bottom insert in position and pressure at the pressure plenum lifts the downstream end of the new bottom insert from the conveyer be]t.
Positioning and timing sensers are used to control the valving of the plenums in order to control the spacing between the inserts as they are withdrawn from the hopper and to feed the inserts in accordance with the movement of the ]ackets.
In another embodiment, a pressure plenum comprising a series of short channels located under the hopper provides positive air pressure to hold the leading edge of the lower-most insert off of the belt. A vacuum plenum comprises a series of interconnected long channels downstream of the hopper having upstream ends extending under the hopper and at least some of them being in-terleaved with the short channels. The belt has longitudinal rows of perforations ali~ned with the respective short channels and longitudinal slots which are aligned with said long channels, wherein the perforations and slots act as valves to control air flow through the channels and hence the movement of the inserts~
Furthermore, a restraining plenum located under the hopper and upstream of the belt may be provided which includes a .,_ . __ ._ _ .. ..
trans~erse rece~S filled with an open cell material to create an e~en air flow due to vacuum selectively applied thereto to hold the inserts within the hopper. As can be seen, this invention avoids the necessity of mechanical oS gating means which are slow in operation, but rather relies merely on switching air flow throu~h the perforated conveyer belt which belt runs at continuous speed and at a speed sufEicient to feed the inserts as rapidly as needed.
Additional advantages of this invention will become apparent when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Brief D scription of Drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective View of one form of the inserter of this invention;
Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the inserter of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 i5 an enlarged vertical section of the inserter, taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing an insert being fed from the hopper toward a newspaper jacket;
Fig. 4 is a greatly enlarged vertical section, taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3, showing the gating mechanism for 2Q the hopper containing the inserts;
Fig. 5 is a very greatly enlarged vertical section taken along line 5-5 of Fig. ~ showing further details of the gating mechanism;
Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section taken along lines 6-6 of Fig. 3 showing the perforated conveyer belt and plenum arrangement thereunder;
Fig. 7 is an enlarged horizontal section, taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 6, showing details of the switching plenum;
Fig. 8 is a fragmentary horizontal View, taken along line 8-8 of ~ig. 7, showing further details of the switching plenum and belt, with parts broken away for clarity of illustration;
Fig. 9 is an enlar~ed horizontal section, taken along line 9-9 of Fig. 6, showing.details of the restraining plenum;
Fig. 10 is an enlarged horizontal section, taken along 10 10 of Fig. 6, showiny details of the holding plenum;
Fig. 11 is a hori~ontal view, taken along line 11-11 of Fig. 10, showing fllrther details of the holding plenum, with 05 parts broken away for clarity oE illstration;
Fig. 12 is a diagramatic view of the pneumatic system for use with the inserter of this invention;
Fig. 13 is a vertical section, similar to Fig. 3, showing the position of the inserts prior to feeding;
Fig. 14 is a vertical section, similar to Fig. 13, but showing an insert being fed throu~h the gate of the hopper;
Fig. 15 is a vertical section similar to Figs~ 13 and 14 but showing the first insert being fed in-to an open newspaper jacket and a second insert being fed through the hopper gate;
Fig. 16 is a vertical section of a second embodiment wherein the hopper and conveyer belt are mounted in a horizontal position;
Fig. 17 is a horizontal section, taken along line 17-17 ~o of Fig. 16, showing a conveyer belt having perforations and slots which serve as the valving means for the pneumatic system for selectively and sequentially feeding the inserts from the bottom of the hopper;
Fig. 18 is a horizontal section, taken along line 18-18 of Fig. 16, showing channels which comprise a pressure plenum and a vacuum plenum by cooperating with the slots in the endless belt to provide the desired valving sequence;
and Fig. 19 is a vertical section, taken along line 19-19 of Fig. 17, showing further details of the hold-down plenum of Figs. 16 and 17.
Description_of Preferred Embodiments In accordance with this invention, in one embodiment an inserter I is provided, as bes;t seen in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein stacked inserts 1~ are fed along a supply conveyer 12 to a loading station 14, shown in dotted lines, from which the inserts ma~ be placed manually or by sui-table mechanical mechanism into hopper H. A newspaper jacket r conveyer 16 runs transversely to the inserter. It is supported by sp~ced rollers, such as roller 17, seen in Fig.
05 3, and sequentially carries newspaper jackets 18 past the inserter in the direction of arrow 20. The jackets of the newspaper are separated by a bar 22 which is supported by spaced brackets 24 attached to conveyer rail 25. The inserts are sequentially fed along a supply path fro~ hopper r H, in a manner to be described, and in synchronism with the movement of newspaper jackets 18 along conveyer 16 so that an insert is fed between brackets 24 and into an open news-paper jacket 18 of each newspaper jacket as it passes inserter I.
As best seen in Figs. 1-3, hopper H has opposed side walls 26 and 28 interconnected at their downstream edge by a generally U-shaped frame 30 in which a gate 32 is slide-ably mounted. Advantageously, the bottom o~ the gate is provided with a brush 34 and the height of the gate can be 20 adjusted by threaded post 36 which extends through a tapped hole in the center of bracket 30 and has an adjustment knob 38 attached to the outer end thereof, as shown. Thus, the height of the gate can be adjusted upwardly or downwardly depending on the thickness of the particular insert to be 25 dispensed.
Turning to Fig. 3, an endless belt 40 extends from the forward end of hopper 10 underneath the bottom insert past the gate and to a point adjacent newspaper conveyer 16 and is supported by spaced rollers 42 and 44 as 30 shown. Conveniently, the belt may be driven by any conven-tional power source, such as electric motor 46 through belt 48. Thus, the belt can feed the lowermost insert past brush 34 of ga-te 32 and into the opened newspaper jacket 18.
In order to sequentially cycle the inserts onto the 35 belt 40 for feeding into the jackets, a plurality of air plenums are provided. At the bottom of the hopper and upstream from belt 40, a restraining plenum 50 extends L
r . . .
transversely oE the ho~per as best seen in ~i~s. 6, 10, and 11. A plurality of longitudinal slots 52 are provided in the bottom wall 54 of hopper H, as best shown in Fig. 6, to provide communication be-tween the hopper and the plenum.
05 Conveniently, plenum 50 is connected to a vacuum hose 56 through a solenoid valve 58. Thus, when solenoid 58 is opened connectiny vacuum 56 -to plenum 50, the lower inser-t 10 in the hopper will be held tightly ayains-t the bottom 54 of the hopper so that it cannot be fed by endless ~elt 40 r 10 past gate 32. However, when the solenoid valve is closed so that the vacuum to plenum 50 is cut off, then the lower-most insert can be drawn forwardly past gate 32 by belt 40 .
in a manner to be described.
Conveniently, under the upper run of endless belt 40 is 15 a switching plenum 60 located below the forward end of ¦
hopper H and holding plenum 62 extends from the forward end L ~
of the hopper downstream toward the discharge point at the ! ¦
newspaper conveyer. Belt 40 is provided with a plurality O-f !
laterally spaced longitudinally extending rows of perfora-20 tions 68, the upper run extending over switching plenum 60 and holding plenum 62.
As best seen in Figs. 6-8, switching plenum 60 comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending, relatively short ~ t channels 70 interconnected by a transverse passageway 72.
25 Advantageously, one of channels 70, such as the centermost channel, is provided with an inlet 74 connected through a solenoid valve 76 which selectively provides air pressure I ~
through perforations 68 in the belt to hold the leading edge ¦ i of the lowermost insert off of the belt so that it is not 30 fed under gate 32. The pressure is provided through a ~ !
supply line 78 connected to valve 76, as shown in Fig. 7. ~ j As previously pointed out, plenum 60 is positioned under the hopper and just below the leading edge of inserts 10 posi- , tioned therein. Thus, when solenoid valve 76 is opened, the ~' 35 air pressure will pass through channel 70 and perforations 68 in the belt to hold the leading edge of the lowermost L
insert lO off of the belt while at the same time vacuum applied to restraining plenum 50 will hold the ups-tream r-end of the inser-ts so that the~ cannot be fed onto the belt, as best illus-trated in Fig. 13.
05 When it is desired to feed an insert, the vacuum is removed from plenum S0 and the air pressure is removed from pressure plen~m 60~ At the same time, vacuum is ~
applied to vacuum plenum 62 to draw the insert through -the r~
gate accelerating it to the speed of the belt to feed it into a newspaper jacket 18.
Referring again to Figs. 6-8, vacuum plenum 62 com- !
prises a first series of relatively long longitudinally extending channels 80 which are laterally spaced from each ,!
other and whose upstream ends are interleaved with short channels 70. In addition, plenum 62 includes a second set of short channels 82 whose upstream ends are aligned with channels 80 and are interleaved therewith and with short channels 70. The downstream end of short channels L
82 terminates in a transverse passageway 84 which joins 20 short channels 82 with long channels 80. An outlet 86 is provided in one of the long channels 80 and is connected F
through a solenoid valve 88 to a vacuum line 90, as best seen in Fig. 9.
When it is desired to feed an insert, vacuum to L
manifold 50 is discontinued and vacuum is applied to manifold 62. Alternatively, the air pressure to manifold 60 can either continue uninterrupted or can be shut off.
If it continues uninterrupted, the vacuum pressure to manifold 62 must be great enough to overcome the positive air pressure from slot 70 and since there are more vacuum slots 80 and 82, the apparatus can easily be designed to accomplish this. In any e~ent, by the application of ~.-vacuum thorugh manifold 62, the leadin~ edge of the lower-most insert lO is pulled down agains-t the belt and since 35 it is no longer held by manifold 50, is accelerated by the L
belt and passes unde~ brush 3~ on the bottom of gate 32 as shown in ~i~. 5 until it is moved to a dischax~e point ~' where it is fed into open newspaper jacket 18 as best seen in Fig. 15. A control s~stem for cyclin~ the feeding of 05 the inserts is shown in ~i~. 12. The respective valves 58, 76 and 88 are operated by a control circuit 92 which has an external input 94 to provide a signal to the control circuit indicating when an insert should be fed from hopper ~ so as to reach the position of an open newspaper jacket 18 at the appropriate time. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that such an external input can be ini-tiated by sensing the position of the newspaper jackets as they move along conveyer 16. A vacuum line 96 is 1~
connected to valve 58 for drawing a vacuum on plenum 50 ~, 15 and has an opposite end connected to a vacuum tank 98 on which a vacuum is drawn by compressor motor 100. Also, vacuum line 90 is connected to vacuum tank 98, as shown.
Conveniently, a first regulator 102 is provided to control the vacuum pressure. Pressure line 78 to manifold 60 is 20 connected to pressure tank 104 and is supplied pressure by compressor motor 100, the pressure being controlled by a second regulator 106.
An alternative second embodiment is shown in Figs.
16-19 wherein inserts 10' are fed from a vertical hopper 25 H' having a vertically adjustable gate 32' as shown. The inserts are sequentially fed by means of an endless belt 108 which is supported between an upstream roller 110 and a downstream roller 112. As in the previous embodi-ment, the inserts 10' are fed into newspaper jackets 18' 30 traveling along newspaper conveyer 16' supported by spaced rollers, such as roller 17'. The jackets are opened by a separating bar 22'. A restrainin~ plenum 114 is provided r upstream of the belt and under hopper H'. The restraining plenum has a transverse recess 116 filled with an open cell 5 35 material 118 to permit an even vacuum to be drawn across plenum 114 by a vaCUum hose 120 connected to the plenum by L
r a so]enoid valve 122. When VaCuU~ is applied, the inserts ., 10' will be held against the plenum and will not be fed by belt 108 under ~ate 32'. r In this embodiment, the valve control for feeding the 05 inserts is provid~d by use of appropriately placed perfor-ations and 510ts in belt 108. In this regard, the belt, as viewed in Fig. 17, has three longitudinal rows of perfora-tions 12~ with staggered slots 126 therebetween. Conven- ~
iently, an air pre$sure hose 128 is connected to an air r 10 pressure platen 130 which comprises three longitudinally extending relatively short channels 132 whose spacing corresponds with the spacing of perforations 124. Channels 132 are interconnected by a passageway 134 which in turn is connected to pressure hose 128. Thus, air supplied by pressure hose 128 will pass through passageway 134 to channels 132 and through the perforations 124 in belt 108 normally causing the forward end of inserts 10' to raise so that they are not fed by belt 108 under gate 32'.
Vacuum hose 136 is connected to vacuum platen 138 20 which comprises a plurality of relatively long channels 140 whose upstream ends are staggered in the same rela- ~
tionship as slo-ts 126. The channels are interconnected r by a passageway 142. Thus, when slots 1~6 come in alignment with the upstream end of channels 140, a 25 vacuum will be applied to the bottom of the lowermost insert 10' and because of the enlarged area for vacuum contact, the forward end of the lowermost insert 10' will be pulled down against the belt and against the pressure exerted by pressure manifold 130. When the insert comes 30 into frictional contact with belt 108 it will be accelerated to the speed of the belt and pass through gate 32' to be inserted into a newspaper jacket 18' as in the previous embodiment. Thus, with this eml)oc1i.ment, it is not necessary to continually open and close valves 35 to cycle the operation with the exception of the valve 122 for restraining platen 114 which must be closed when slots 126 come into alignment with channels 140 so that h the lowermost insert can be moved by the belt.
From the foregoing, the advantages of this invention 05 are readily apparent. An apparatus has been provided in a first embodiment for feeding inserts into newspaper jackets at prlnting press speed since the use of mechanical gates is not necessary, thereby overcoming the speed limitations inherent in mechanical feeding devices. This 10 is accomplished in one embodiment by holding inserts in place in a hopper by means of a restraining plenum which applies a vacuum to the lowermost insert while a belt b.
moves continuously under the forward end of the inserts.
The forward end of the insert is held off of the belt by !.
means of a pressure platen providing a positive air force which raises the forward edge of the lowermost insert above the gate of the hopper and off of the surface of the belt. When it is desired to feed an insert, the air supply to the pressure platen is turned off and a vacuum 20 is turned on to a vacuum platen having channels which r-interleave with channels on the pressure platen to pull the forwardmost end of the însert down against the belt whereupon vacuum on the restraining platen is removed and the insert is accelerated by the belt and fed to a discharge 25 point where it is received within the jacket of a news-paper which has been opened by a separating bar or other suitable means.
In a second embodiment, the valving of the platens is accomplished by the use of staggered slots in the 30 belt which sequentially come into registration with vacuum channels on the vacuum platen for overcoming air pressure from the pressure platen to pull the insert down against the belt and accelerate it to the speed of the belt so that it is fed into a newspaper jacket.
r .~.a.~
It will be understood that even though the embodiments which have been described provide for feeding the inserts '~
from a hopper above the endless belt, it is contemplated that inserts could be fed from a supply means below an end-05 less belt. The platens would then be located above the belt.
The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodirnents thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims (17)
1. An apparatus for feeding printed inserts sequentially into newspaper jackets as the jackets are fed along a predetermined path at high speed, said apparatus comprising:
means for holding a supply of said inserts for movement along a supply path from which the inserts may be sequentially fed;
a continuously moving endless perforated conveyer belt extending from said supply path downstream to a discharge point to selectively move inserts from said supply holding means to said discharge point and into the newspaper jackets;
plenum means located on a side of said belt opposite said supply holding means to selectively apply positive pressure through perforations in said belt to the leading edge of the closest insert so that this leading edge is held off of said belt and the insert cannot be moved out of said supply path by said moving belt or to selectively apply negative pressure through said perfora-tions in said belt to said leading edge to pull the closest insert into intimate contact with said moving belt and accelerate it to the speed of said belt and move it down-stream to said discharge point.
means for holding a supply of said inserts for movement along a supply path from which the inserts may be sequentially fed;
a continuously moving endless perforated conveyer belt extending from said supply path downstream to a discharge point to selectively move inserts from said supply holding means to said discharge point and into the newspaper jackets;
plenum means located on a side of said belt opposite said supply holding means to selectively apply positive pressure through perforations in said belt to the leading edge of the closest insert so that this leading edge is held off of said belt and the insert cannot be moved out of said supply path by said moving belt or to selectively apply negative pressure through said perfora-tions in said belt to said leading edge to pull the closest insert into intimate contact with said moving belt and accelerate it to the speed of said belt and move it down-stream to said discharge point.
2. Apparatus, as claimed in Claim 1, wherein:
said plenum means includes:
a pressure plenum mounted adjacent the upstream end of said belt along said supply path and having openings in communication with a first portion of said belt per-forations;
means for supplying air under pressure to said pressure platen to cause air to be blown through said first portion of belt perforations to hold the leading edge of the closest insert off of said belt;
a vacuum plenum mounted downstream of said pressure plenum having openings in communication with a second portion of said belt perforations;
means for drawing a vacuum through said vacuum plenum to cause air drawn through said second portion of belt perforations to pull the leading edge of the closest insert against said belt to accelerate it to the speed of said belt and move it to said discharge point and into a newspaper jacket; and means for controlling the supplying of air and vacuum to feed the inserts in response to movement of the jackets.
said plenum means includes:
a pressure plenum mounted adjacent the upstream end of said belt along said supply path and having openings in communication with a first portion of said belt per-forations;
means for supplying air under pressure to said pressure platen to cause air to be blown through said first portion of belt perforations to hold the leading edge of the closest insert off of said belt;
a vacuum plenum mounted downstream of said pressure plenum having openings in communication with a second portion of said belt perforations;
means for drawing a vacuum through said vacuum plenum to cause air drawn through said second portion of belt perforations to pull the leading edge of the closest insert against said belt to accelerate it to the speed of said belt and move it to said discharge point and into a newspaper jacket; and means for controlling the supplying of air and vacuum to feed the inserts in response to movement of the jackets.
3. An apparatus, as claimed in either Claim 1 or Claim 2, further including:
a restraining plenum located along said supply path upstream of said endless belt; and means for drawing a vacuum through said restrain-ing plenum to hold the closest insert against said restrain-ing plenum so that it cannot be fed by said belt.
a restraining plenum located along said supply path upstream of said endless belt; and means for drawing a vacuum through said restrain-ing plenum to hold the closest insert against said restrain-ing plenum so that it cannot be fed by said belt.
4. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said perforations are arranged in rows extending longi-tudinally on said belt, said pressure plenum including:
a plurality of longitudinally extending plenum channels spaced laterally across said belt, each channel being aligned with only one of said rows of perforations;
a first fluid passageway extending transversely across said channels placing them in fluid communication with each other; and first valve means connected between said air supplying means and one of said channels for selectively controlling flow of air through said pressure plenum in response to the position and movement of newspaper jackets to receive the inserts.
a plurality of longitudinally extending plenum channels spaced laterally across said belt, each channel being aligned with only one of said rows of perforations;
a first fluid passageway extending transversely across said channels placing them in fluid communication with each other; and first valve means connected between said air supplying means and one of said channels for selectively controlling flow of air through said pressure plenum in response to the position and movement of newspaper jackets to receive the inserts.
5. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said vacuum plenum includes:
a first plurality of relatively long channels spaced laterally across said belt, each long channel being aligned with only one of selected ones of said rows and having first ends extending upstream into said supply path and being interleaved with said pressure platen channels and having second ends extending downstream and terminating adjacent said discharge point;
a second plurality of relatively short channels spaced laterally across said belt, each short channel being aligned with other selected ones of said rows and extending upstream into said supply path and being interleaved between said pressure plenum channels and said first ends o-f said long channels;
a second fluid passageway extending transversely across the downstream ends of said short channels and through said long channels; and second valve means connected between said vacuum drawing means and one of said vacuum plenum channels for selectively controlling vacuum through said vacuum plenum in response to the position and movement of newspaper jackets to receive the inserts.
a first plurality of relatively long channels spaced laterally across said belt, each long channel being aligned with only one of selected ones of said rows and having first ends extending upstream into said supply path and being interleaved with said pressure platen channels and having second ends extending downstream and terminating adjacent said discharge point;
a second plurality of relatively short channels spaced laterally across said belt, each short channel being aligned with other selected ones of said rows and extending upstream into said supply path and being interleaved between said pressure plenum channels and said first ends o-f said long channels;
a second fluid passageway extending transversely across the downstream ends of said short channels and through said long channels; and second valve means connected between said vacuum drawing means and one of said vacuum plenum channels for selectively controlling vacuum through said vacuum plenum in response to the position and movement of newspaper jackets to receive the inserts.
6. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 5, wherein:
said second valve means is connected to one of said long channels.
said second valve means is connected to one of said long channels.
7. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 6, further including:
a restraining plenum in said supply path and located upstream of said endless belt; and means for drawing a vacuum through said restraining plenum to hold the closest insert against said restraining plenum so that it cannot be fed by said belt.
a restraining plenum in said supply path and located upstream of said endless belt; and means for drawing a vacuum through said restraining plenum to hold the closest insert against said restraining plenum so that it cannot be fed by said belt.
8. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 7, wherein said vacuum drawing means comprises a third valve means, said apparatus further including:
control means connected to said first, second and third valve means responsive to movement of the newspaper jackets to cycle the feeding of the inserts from said supply path so that an insert is fed into a jacket each time a jacket passes said discharge point.
control means connected to said first, second and third valve means responsive to movement of the newspaper jackets to cycle the feeding of the inserts from said supply path so that an insert is fed into a jacket each time a jacket passes said discharge point.
9. An apparatus for feeding printed inserts sequen-tially into newspaper jackets as the jackets are fed along a predetermined path at high speed, said apparatus comprising:
a hopper for supplying said inserts and having a gate through which the inserts may be sequentially fed;
a continuously moving endless perforated conveyer belt extending from within said hopper downstream past said gate to a discharge point to selectively move inserts from said hopper to said discharge point and into the newspaper jackets;
plenum means located on a side of said belt oppo-site said hopper to selectively apply positive pressure through perforations in said belt to the leading edge of the lowermost insert so that this leading edge is held off of said belt and out of alignment with said gate so that it cannot be moved out of said hopper by said moving belt or to selectively apply negative pressure through said perforations in said belt to said leading edge to pull said lowermost insert into intimate contact with said moving belt and accelerate it to the speed of said belt and move it down-stream and past said gate and to said discharge point.
a hopper for supplying said inserts and having a gate through which the inserts may be sequentially fed;
a continuously moving endless perforated conveyer belt extending from within said hopper downstream past said gate to a discharge point to selectively move inserts from said hopper to said discharge point and into the newspaper jackets;
plenum means located on a side of said belt oppo-site said hopper to selectively apply positive pressure through perforations in said belt to the leading edge of the lowermost insert so that this leading edge is held off of said belt and out of alignment with said gate so that it cannot be moved out of said hopper by said moving belt or to selectively apply negative pressure through said perforations in said belt to said leading edge to pull said lowermost insert into intimate contact with said moving belt and accelerate it to the speed of said belt and move it down-stream and past said gate and to said discharge point.
10. Apparatus, as claimed in Claim 9, wherein:
said gate comprises:
a closure extending across the forward end of said hopper and being vertically adjustable toward and away from said belt to provide a discharge slot of a height to accommodate the dispensing of inserts of varying thickness;
and means connected between said hopper and said gate to adjust the height of said gate from said belt.
said gate comprises:
a closure extending across the forward end of said hopper and being vertically adjustable toward and away from said belt to provide a discharge slot of a height to accommodate the dispensing of inserts of varying thickness;
and means connected between said hopper and said gate to adjust the height of said gate from said belt.
11. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 10, wherein:
a closure extending across the forward end of said hopper and being vertically adjustable toward and away from said belt to provide a discharge slot of a height to accomodate the dispensing of inserts of vary-ing thickness;
means connected between said hopper and said gate to adjust the height of said gate above said belt;
a plurality of first relatively short longi-tudinally extending channels spaced laterally below said belt and located entirely below said hopper;
means supplying air pressure to said first channels;
a longitudinal row of perforations in said belt aligned to pass over each of said first channels, respectively;
a plurality of second relatively long longi-tudinally extending channels spaced laterally below said belt and extending from a point below said hopper to a point downstream of said hopper;
means drawing a vacuum through each of said second channels; and a longitudinal slot in said belt aligned to pass over each of said second channels respectively, and serve as a valve for selectively applying a vacuum to the lowermost insert in said hopper.
a closure extending across the forward end of said hopper and being vertically adjustable toward and away from said belt to provide a discharge slot of a height to accomodate the dispensing of inserts of vary-ing thickness;
means connected between said hopper and said gate to adjust the height of said gate above said belt;
a plurality of first relatively short longi-tudinally extending channels spaced laterally below said belt and located entirely below said hopper;
means supplying air pressure to said first channels;
a longitudinal row of perforations in said belt aligned to pass over each of said first channels, respectively;
a plurality of second relatively long longi-tudinally extending channels spaced laterally below said belt and extending from a point below said hopper to a point downstream of said hopper;
means drawing a vacuum through each of said second channels; and a longitudinal slot in said belt aligned to pass over each of said second channels respectively, and serve as a valve for selectively applying a vacuum to the lowermost insert in said hopper.
12. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 11, wherein:
a portion of said second channels extend upstream a sufficient distance to be interleaved with said first channels.
a portion of said second channels extend upstream a sufficient distance to be interleaved with said first channels.
13. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 12, wherein:
the upstream ends of said second channels are staggered.
the upstream ends of said second channels are staggered.
14. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 13, wherein:
said slots are staggered in the same relation-ship as the upstream end of said second channels.
said slots are staggered in the same relation-ship as the upstream end of said second channels.
15. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 14, wherein:
the upstream end of said second channels and said slots are spaced further downstream from the outside of the belt toward the center.
the upstream end of said second channels and said slots are spaced further downstream from the outside of the belt toward the center.
16. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 11, wherein:
the area of said slots under said hopper is greater than the area of said perforations when said slots pass under said hopper to overcome the air pressure through said perforations so that the lowermost insert is pulled down onto said belt and fed through said gate by said belt.
the area of said slots under said hopper is greater than the area of said perforations when said slots pass under said hopper to overcome the air pressure through said perforations so that the lowermost insert is pulled down onto said belt and fed through said gate by said belt.
17. An apparatus, as claimed in Claim 11, further including:
a restraining plenum extending transversely under said hopper upstream of said belt and said first channels for selectively holding the lowermost insert so that it is not fed under said gate;
a source of vacuum connected to said restrain-ing plenum; and open cell material in said restraining plenum to cause vacuum to be drawn evenly across said plenum.
a restraining plenum extending transversely under said hopper upstream of said belt and said first channels for selectively holding the lowermost insert so that it is not fed under said gate;
a source of vacuum connected to said restrain-ing plenum; and open cell material in said restraining plenum to cause vacuum to be drawn evenly across said plenum.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US18523680A | 1980-09-08 | 1980-09-08 | |
| US185,236 | 1980-09-08 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1189546A true CA1189546A (en) | 1985-06-25 |
Family
ID=22680156
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000384332A Expired CA1189546A (en) | 1980-09-08 | 1981-08-20 | Inserting system for newspapers |
Country Status (5)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPS57166265A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1189546A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3135527A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2083447B (en) |
| SE (1) | SE8105305L (en) |
Families Citing this family (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US7419154B2 (en) * | 2004-05-03 | 2008-09-02 | Zih Corporation | Feeder device having adjustably flexible gate apparatus and associated method |
| DE102005035331A1 (en) * | 2005-07-28 | 2007-02-01 | Kolbus Gmbh & Co. Kg | Method and device for gathering printed sheets |
-
1981
- 1981-08-20 CA CA000384332A patent/CA1189546A/en not_active Expired
- 1981-08-25 GB GB8125837A patent/GB2083447B/en not_active Expired
- 1981-09-07 SE SE8105305A patent/SE8105305L/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1981-09-08 DE DE19813135527 patent/DE3135527A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1981-09-08 JP JP56140399A patent/JPS57166265A/en active Pending
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB2083447A (en) | 1982-03-24 |
| DE3135527A1 (en) | 1982-06-16 |
| JPS57166265A (en) | 1982-10-13 |
| GB2083447B (en) | 1984-06-13 |
| SE8105305L (en) | 1982-03-09 |
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