DE102012019051B4 - Transport device for sheets with overhead blast air chamber - Google Patents

Abstract

Transport device (60) for transporting sheet-like elements (6.1) such as paper, cardboard, plastic and the like in a sheet transport plane (E) having at least one driven transport element (61, 62, 63, 64) and having at least one blast air chamber (65) for production of blown air streams (L) aligned with the sheet transport plane (E) for pressing a respective sheet-shaped element (6.1) onto the at least one transport element (61, 62, 63, 64), the at least one driven transport element (61, 62, 63, 64) on one side, in particular below, and the at least one blown air chamber (65) on the other side, in particular above, of the sheet transport plane (E), and with a respective sheet-shaped element (6.1) being arranged in a transport direction (B) through the Transport device (60) is moved through, the distance (a) between the at least one transport element (61, 62, 63, 64) and the at least one blowing air t chamber (65) is variable and adjustable, the at least one blown air chamber (65) is connected to at least one actuator (66) for adjusting the distance (a) of the at least one blown air chamber (65) from the at least one transport element (61, 62, 63 , 64), and the at least one blown air chamber (65) is connected to the at least one actuator (66) via a gear (67), characterized in that the blown air chamber (65) has a nozzle field (69.1) with a large number of nozzles which are designed as throttle nozzles (69.2).

Description

The invention relates to a transport device for transporting sheet-like elements according to the preamble of claim 1.

State of the art

Numerous transport devices for sheets are known from the prior art, which feed sheets in particular from a sheet feeder to a subsequent sheet-processing machine. In addition to the pure transport movement, the sheet can also be aligned in the transport direction, transversely to the transport direction and at an angle to the transport direction during the feeding process, so that a respective sheet is fed in the aligned state to a first processing station of the sheet-processing machine.

In order to ensure that the sheets rest well on the transport elements during transport and thus a defined sheet transport is guaranteed, for example as in DE 34 10 029 C1 or the DE 10 2004 022 141 A1 described suction tapes used. The suction belts are conveyor belts on which the sheets rest and via which an additional suction force is applied to the sheets. Alternatively, pressing elements can be used, as for example in the U.S. 2,190,416 A are shown as balls and rollers. These pressing elements are attached above the transport plane and press a respective sheet onto transport elements attached below the transport plane. The disadvantage of this is that the pressing elements can produce markings on the sheet.

In DE 195 23 076 A1 describes an air guiding element which is mounted in linear guides via rollers, with a drive being articulated via a link and a coupler on one of the rollers in order to bring about a displacement of the air guiding element.

task

It is the object of the present invention to provide a transport device in which reliable transport by the transport elements due to the sheets lying in a defined manner on the transport elements and transport without markings are guaranteed at the same time.

This object is achieved by a transport device for transporting sheet-like elements with the features of claim 1.

The transport device according to the invention is used to transport sheet-like elements such as paper, cardboard, plastic and the like, in a sheet transport plane, in particular for feeding them to a sheet-processing machine such as a sheet-fed printing press, a sheet-fed punching machine or a folding machine. The transport device has at least one driven transport element and at least one blown air chamber with an air cushion aligned with the sheet transport plane for pressing a respective sheet-shaped element onto the at least one transport element, with the at least one transport element on one side, in particular underneath, and the at least one blown air chamber on the other Side, in particular above, the sheet transport plane are arranged, and wherein a respective arcuate element is moved in a transport direction through the transport device. By pressing the sheet using air cushions, a pressing force acts on the sheet, which ensures reliable contact with the transport element. Depending on the format of the arcuate elements, the blast air chamber can be segmented, with each segment being switchable individually. Alternatively, several blast air chambers can also be used. The streams of blown air emerging from the blown air chamber produce said air cushion between the blown air chamber and the arcuate element.

According to the invention, the distance between the at least one transport element and the at least one blast air chamber is variable and adjustable. This has the advantage that a non-contact application of variable clamping force is made possible. The air flow through the blast air chamber does not have to be changed and the blast air chamber can be operated at its optimum operating point.

According to the invention, the at least one blown air chamber is connected to at least one actuator for adjusting the distance of the at least one blown air chamber from the at least one transport element.

According to the invention, the at least one blown air chamber is connected to the at least one actuator via a gear, wherein the actuator can be designed as a hydraulic, pneumatic, electric motor or manual drive. In particular, the actuator can have an electric motor.

According to the invention, the blast air chamber has a nozzle field with a large number of nozzles, the nozzles of the nozzle field being designed as throttle nozzles which throttle the air flow effect. Throttle nozzles of this type are described, for example, in the document KR 10 2005 0084 761A described. They have the advantage that there is little air loss and that the nozzles have a low long-distance effect and thus a low disruptive effect, e.g. B. at the edges of a respective arcuate element.

In a particularly advantageous and therefore preferred embodiment, a variation in the electric current for operating the electromotive actuator causes a variation in the distance between the at least one blown air chamber and the at least one transport element and thus a variation in the effective contact pressure. Since the relationship between current and distance is known, the pressing force that acts on a particular sheet can be easily controlled. A distance or flow measurement is not required.

In other words, a change in current causes a change in distance, which in turn causes a change in contact pressure. The current can therefore be changed or set in such a way that the blown air chamber is at a desired distance from the transport element or in such a way that a desired contact pressure becomes effective.

In an advantageous refinement, the blown air chamber can be supplied with blown air from a compressed air source in a clocked manner, namely only when the arcuate element is to be clamped, ie pressed onto the at least one transport element.

Depending on the requirements of the transport device, it is configured. If not only a pure transport of the arcuate elements, but also an alignment of the arcuate elements is to take place at the same time, two transport elements can be provided, which are designed as circulating transport belts or as rotatingly driven transport rollers. Alternatively, if only one transport element is provided, this can be designed as a rotatingly driven transport roller, which can in particular be designed to twist, or as a contact plate that can be displaced and rotated in one plane. A suitable transport roller is in the DE 10 2011 113 632 A1 described and illustrated on whose 1 and 2a until 4b and the associated description is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

It is particularly advantageous if the at least one transport element can be controlled by a control device in such a way that a respective sheet-shaped element can be aligned in the transport direction and/or transversely to the transport direction and/or obliquely to the transport direction and the sheet-shaped elements are thus aligned for subsequent processing will. In this case, inclined to the transport direction means a rotary movement in the sheet transport plane.

The invention described and the advantageous developments of the invention described also represent advantageous developments of the invention in any combination with one another.

With regard to further advantages and configurations of the invention that are advantageous in terms of construction and function, reference is made to the subclaims and the description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

character list

• 1 eine erfindungsgemäße Transportvorrichtung mit einer nachgelagerten, Bogen bearbeitenden Maschine am Beispiel einer Bogenstanzmaschine
• 2a die erfindungsgemäße Transportvorrichtung mit einer obenliegenden Blasluftkammer in einer Ansicht
• 2b eine vorteilhafte Ausgestaltung einer Blasluftkammer mit Düsenfeld
• 3a bis 3c alternative Ausführungsvarianten des Transportelements
• 4a bis 4c die Alternativen aus 3a bis 3c in einer Draufsicht

The invention will be explained in more detail using preferred exemplary embodiments. It show in schematic representation

• 1 a transport device according to the invention with a downstream sheet processing machine using the example of a sheet punching machine
• 2a the transport device according to the invention with an overhead blown air chamber in a view
• 2 B an advantageous embodiment of a blown air chamber with a nozzle array
• 3a until 3c alternative variants of the transport element
• 4a until 4c the alternatives 3a until 3c in a top view

In 1 a sheet punching and/or embossing machine 100 for punching, breaking out, depaneling and depositing sheets of paper, cardboard, plastic and the like is shown as an example of a sheet-processing machine. The punching and embossing machine 100 has a feeder 1, a punching station 2, a stripping station 3 and a boom 4 with a storage and blank separating station, which are carried and enclosed by a common machine housing 5 and are driven by a main drive 17. The processing stations 2, 3, 4 are accessible from one side, the so-called operator side; on the opposite side, the so-called drive side, is the drive train of the sheet-fed die-cutting and embossing machine 100. A machine controller 15 controls the processes within the die-cutting machine 100.

The sheets 6.1 are separated from a stack 6.2 by a feeder 1 by a so-called suction head 18, fed to the sheet transport system 7 via a feed table by a transport device 60, aligned in the process and gripped at their front edge by grippers attached to gripper bridges of a gripper carriage 8 and in the sheet transport direction B intermittently drawn through the various stations 2, 3 and 4 of the stamping and embossing machine 100.
The sheet transport system 7 has several gripper carriages 8, so that several sheets 6.1 can be processed simultaneously in the various stations 2, 3 and 4. The gripper carriage 8 can be driven by a chain drive or, in an alternative embodiment, by an electromagnetic linear drive with traveling field motors, such as in FIG DE 20 2007 012 349 U1 described.

The punching station 2 consists of a lower crucible, a so-called lower table 9, and an upper crucible, a so-called upper table 10. The upper table 10 is mounted such that it can be moved back and forth vertically and is provided with an upper tool 30 with punching and scoring knives. The lower table 9 is mounted firmly in the machine frame and is provided with a counter-plate 20 for the punching and creasing knives. Alternatively, the upper table 10 can be stationary and the lower table 9 can be moved. When embossing, embossing tools, in particular in the form of so-called embossing clichés, are used instead of punching and creasing tools.

The gripper carriage 8 transports the sheet 6 from the stamping and embossing station 2 to the subsequent stripping station 3, which is equipped with stripping tools 21, 23. In the stripping station 3, the scrap pieces 11 that are not required are ejected downwards from the sheet 6.1 with the aid of the stripping tools 21, 23, as a result of which the scrap pieces 11 fall into a carriage-like container 12 inserted under the station.

From the stripping station 3, the sheet 6.1 arrives in the delivery 4, where the sheet 6.1 is either only deposited once, or at the same time the individual copies of a respective sheet 6.1 are separated. For this purpose, the boom 4 has a panel separation tool 21, 23. The boom 4 can also contain a pallet 13 on which the individual sheets 6.1 or panels are stacked in the form of a stack 14, so that after a certain stack height has been reached, the pallet 13 with the Sheet stack 14 can be moved away from the area of the punching and embossing machine 100. Auxiliary stacking devices can be used so that the machine 100 does not have to be stopped during the stack exchange.

2a 1 shows a transport device 60 according to the invention. This serves to transport a sheet 6.1 in a transport plane E in a sheet transport direction B. A blown air chamber 65 is arranged above the sheet transport plane E. This is supplied with blown air by a pump 68 as a compressed air source. The blast air chamber 65 is connected via a gear 67, designed here as a spindle, to an actuator 66, designed here as an electric motor. If the current I acting on the actuator 66 is changed, the spindle 67 rotates and thus a change in height h in the sense of a displacement movement of the air blast chamber 65. This allows the distance a between the air blast chamber 65 and the transport element 61 to be changed. This changes both the size of the air gap S between the air blast chamber 65 and the sheet 6.1 to be transported and the effective contact pressure exerted by the air blast chamber 65 on the sheet 6.1. To control the transport device 60 , the actuating drive 66 and the drive of the transport element 61 (not shown) are connected to a controller 15 .

In 2 B a possible embodiment of the blown air chamber 65 is shown in detail. A compressed air source 68 supplies the blown air chamber 65 with compressed air L. The blown air chamber 65 itself is designed as a nozzle field 69.1 with a large number of individual throttle nozzles 69.2. Compressed air L exits through a respective throttle nozzle 69.2, which acts on the sheet 6.1 and causes a pressing force F on the sheet 6.1 and thus presses it onto the conveyor belt 61. If, as already described above, a displacement movement h of the blown air chamber 65 is carried out, the effective contact pressure F of the sheet 6.1 on the conveyor belt 61 changes and it can be ensured that the sheet 6.1 is securely held on the sheet transport direction B during its transport Conveyor belt 61 rests.

As an alternative to using the 2a and 2 B described embodiment of the transport element as a transport belt 61, also indicated in 3a , the transport element can alternatively, as indicated in 3b , be designed as a transport roller 62 or as a transport roller 63. Another alternative is in 3c shown, the transport element being designed as a contact plate 64 here. If only one sheet 6.1 is to be transported by the transport device, it is sufficient if a transport element is provided. If, in addition to simply transporting a sheet 6.1, a respective sheet 6.1 is also to be aligned in sheet transport direction B and obliquely thereto, when using belts 61 or Rollers 62 require at least two transport elements. This is made closer by the 4a until 4c shown.

In the variant according to 4a Two conveyor belts 61 that can be controlled independently of one another are provided, thereby enabling a respective sheet 6.1 to be aligned in the sheet transport direction B and at an angle thereto. In 4b 1 shows an embodiment variant which has two transport rollers 62 that can be controlled independently of one another, so that an alignment of a respective sheet 6.1 in the sheet transport direction and at an angle thereto is also made possible. The based on 4b 2 sketched variant provides a torsionable transport roller 63 and according to the in 4c In the embodiment variant outlined, a contact plate 64 is used, which can be displaced at least in and counter to the sheet transport direction B and can be rotated about its vertical axis.

If an additional alignment of the sheet 6.1 is to be provided transversely to the transport direction B, the transport elements 61, 62, 63 and 64 are as in FIGS 5a until 5c shown transversely displaceable q executed.

Reference List

1

investor

2

Stamping and/or embossing station

3

stripping station

4

Outrigger, possibly with panel separation station

5

machine housing

6.1

bow

6.2

stack of sheets

7

sheet transport system

8th

Gripper carriage with grippers

9

Lower table / lower crucible

10

Upper table / upper crucible

11

waste pieces

12

container

13

palette

14

display pile

15

Control with interface and input devices

17

main drive

18

suction head

20

lower tool

21

Upper tool with stamps

23

Panel separation grid or stripping board (bottom tool)

30

Upper tool (punching tool)

60

Infeed table with a unit for aligning the sheets/transport device

61

conveyor belt

62

Transport roller / transport wheel

63

transport roller

64

Contact plate (possibly with friction-optimized surface)

65

air blast chamber

66

actuator (e.g. electric motor)

67

gear (spindle)

68

pump/compressed air source

69.1

nozzle field

69.2

throttle nozzle

100

Flatbed sheet-fed die-cutting and/or embossing machine (die-cutting machine)

a

Distance

H

Displacement movement of the blast air chamber

q

lateral displacement

B

sheet transport direction

E

sheet transport level

f

pressing force

L

blown air

S

air gap

Claims (6)

Transport device (60) for transporting sheet-like elements (6.1) such as paper, cardboard, plastic and the like in a sheet transport plane (E) having at least one driven transport element (61, 62, 63, 64) and having at least one blown air chamber (65) for production of blown air streams (L) aligned with the sheet transport plane (E) for pressing a respective sheet-shaped element (6.1) onto the at least one transport element (61, 62, 63, 64), the at least one driven transport element (61, 62, 63, 64) on the one hand, in particular below, and the at least one blown air chamber (65) on the other side, in particular above, the sheet transport plane (E), and further wherein a respective sheet-shaped element (6.1) extends in a transport direction (B) through the Transport device (60) is moved through, wherein the distance (a) between the at least one transport element (61, 62, 63, 64) and the at least one blown air chamber (65) is variable and adjustable, the at least one blown air chamber (65) is connected to at least one actuator (66) for setting the distance (a) of the at least one blown air chamber (65) of the at least one transport element (61, 62, 63, 64) and the at least one air blast chamber (65) is connected to the at least one actuator (66) via a gear (67), characterized in that the air blast chamber ( 65) has a nozzle field (69.1) with a large number of nozzles, which are designed as throttle nozzles (69.2). transport device claim 1 , characterized in that the at least one actuator (66) has an electric motor. transport device claim 2 , characterized in that a variation in the electric current (I) for operating the actuator (66) causes a variation in the distance (a) of the at least one blown air chamber (65) from the at least one transport element (61, 62, 63, 64). Transport device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the blown air chamber (65) is charged with blown air (L) in a clocked manner. Transport device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one transport element (61, 62, 63, 64) takes the form of a circulating transport belt (61), a rotating, driven transport roller (62) or roller (63) or a transport element in one plane displaceable and rotatable contact plate (64) is executed. Transport device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has a control device (15) and that the at least one transport element (61, 62, 63, 64) can be controlled by the control device (15) in such a way that a respective curved element (6.1 ) undergoes an alignment in the transport direction (B) and/or transversely to the transport direction (B) and/or obliquely to the transport direction (B).

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