DE102019134715B4 - Sheet processing machine with a transport system - Google Patents

Abstract

Sheet processing machine with a transport system for conveying sheet-form printing material in a transport direction (05) along a transport path, the transport system having an electric linear drive (01) and at least one gripper bar (02) driven in rotation by the electric linear drive (01), the electric linear drive (01) comprises a first and a second stator (03; 04), which are arranged on different sides of the printing material transversely to the transport direction (05), the electric linear drive (01) has a plurality of runners ( 06; 07), a first runner (06) assigned to the first stator (03) and a second runner (07) assigned to the second stator (04) being coupled by means of a gripper bridge (02), the at least one gripper bridge ( 02) Gripper supports (13) and gripper fingers (14) interacting with them for gripping the printing material and the gripper supports (1st 3) has a supporting profile, characterized in that stationary guide elements (29) are formed between the gripper fingers (14) and extend in the transport direction (05) over the entire length or a region of the transport path, between the gripper fingers (14) and the gripper supports (13) guide the fixed printing material on its side facing the at least one gripper bridge (02) during conveying.

Description

The invention relates to a sheet-processing machine with a transport system for conveying sheet-form printing material in one transport direction, the transport system having an electric linear drive and a gripper bridge driven in rotation by the electric linear drive.

According to the DE 10 2007 033 936 A1 a pre-gripper for sheet feeding from a feed table to a transfer drum is known, which has a non-uniformly revolving sheet holding system. The circulating sheet holding system is accommodated in a right-hand guide track and in a left-hand guide track. The guideways form a self-contained curve. The guideways are designed as a stator of a linear drive.

through the DE 10 2004 041 472 A1 a device for transporting a sheet of printing material is known, which comprises a holding traverse for holding the sheet of printing material and a traveling field motor with a first runner and a second runner for driving the holding traverse. The holding traverse is mounted on a spring.

the DE 10 2005 048 104 A1 discloses an apparatus for feeding sheets through a rotary printing press having grippers mounted on rotating members for feeding a sheet through a nip between two cooperating printing cylinders. The links are coupled with separately controllable linear drives. To avoid collisions, the shaft journals of the cylinders are assigned collision discs, which are connected to the cylinders via slip clutches.

From the DE 10 2008 021 317 A1 a device for correcting the position of a printing material held by a gripper bridge and conveyed in a transport direction in the lateral direction is known. The device comprises an electric linear drive with a plurality of secondary parts which are each assigned to a primary part and which can be arranged on different or the same side of the printing material. The secondary parts designed as carriages can be connected to one another via couplers and used synchronously for the joint advance of the gripper bridge. Asynchronous propulsion of the carriages can cause the gripper bridge to be aligned in the lateral direction.

the DE 10 2008 031 734 A1 describes a method for separating at least two bridges of a segmented transport system for printing materials, the transport system comprising a segmented, electric linear drive which has a first and a second primary part and secondary parts, each primary part being designed as a segmented long stator and the secondary parts being designed as carriages and are coupled in pairs via a traverse.

The invention is based on the object of creating a sheet-processing machine with a transport system that ensures a high level of process reliability when transporting sheet-shaped printing materials.

The object is achieved according to the invention by the features of claim 1.

The advantages that can be achieved with the invention are that the transport of the sheet-shaped printing material is effected with a high transport quality.

In particular, the advantage of the invention is that the transport system is made up of elements which, because of their low moving mass, avoid the excitation of undesired vibrations in the sheet-processing machine.

A further advantage can be that damage to the transport system can be avoided by early ejection of undesired aggregations of sheet-type printing material, for example in the form of double sheets, or by ejection of only partially fixed sheet-type printing material.

A further advantage can consist in particular in the gentle way in which the bow is guided.

Another advantage of the invention is that collisions between the elements involved in transporting the sheet-like printing material can also be avoided in the event of a fault, in particular in the event of a power failure or the failure of a sensor.

Another advantage of the invention can consist in particular in the fact that the position and/or the alignment of sheet-form printing material can be corrected during transport. The sheet-form printing material is preferably separated from a stack, accelerated to machine speed and transferred to the processing units or processing units of the sheet-processing machine. It is particularly advantageous that the arrangement of several acceleration means, the acceleration means due to the comparatively low delay genes or accelerations are only exposed to low mechanical loads.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings and are described in more detail below.

• 1 eine Darstellung des Transportsystems mit vorgelagerter Beschleunigungsvorrichtung;
• 2 eine vereinfachte perspektivische Darstellung einer Greiferbrücke des Transportsystems;
• 3 eine vereinfachte Darstellung des Transportsystems an einem Übergabepunkt zwischen einer Greiferbrücke und einer Anlegtrommel;
• 4 eine Detaildarstellung zu 3;
• 5 eine Detaildarstellung in Transportrichtung zu 4;
• 6 eine schematische Darstellung einer Variante eines Beschleunigungssystems und einer Vereinzelungsvorrichtung;
• 7 eine schematische Darstellung einer zweiten Variante eines Beschleunigungssystems und einer Vereinzelungsvorrichtung;
• 8 eine schematische Darstellung einer dritten Variante eines Beschleunigungssystems und einer Vereinzelungsvorrichtung;
• 9 eine Darstellung des Transportsystems mit einer Führungseinrichtung und Führungselementen;
• 10 eine detaillierte Darstellung der Führungseinrichtung aus 9;
• 11 eine schematische Darstellung des Transportsystems mit Verzögerungsbereich und Beschleunigungsbereich;
• 12 eine vereinfachte Darstellung der Greiferbrücke mit zugeordneten Läufern und Statoren;
• 13 eine vereinfachte Darstellung der Greiferbrücke mit zugeordneten Läufern und in einer Variante zugeordneten Statoren;
• 14 eine schematische Darstellung des Transportsystems mit einer ersten Variante einer Ausschleußvorrichtung;
• 15 eine schematische Darstellung des Transportsystems mit einer zweiten Variante einer Ausschleußvorrichtung;
• 16 eine schematische Darstellung des Transportsystems mit einer dritten Variante einer Ausschleußvorrichtung;
• 17 eine schematische Darstellung des Transportsystems mit Rollenführungen.

Show it:

• 1 a representation of the transport system with upstream acceleration device;
• 2 a simplified perspective view of a gripper bridge of the transport system;
• 3 a simplified representation of the transport system at a transfer point between a gripper bridge and a feed drum;
• 4 a detailed presentation 3 ;
• 5 a detailed representation in the direction of transport 4 ;
• 6 a schematic representation of a variant of an acceleration system and a separating device;
• 7 a schematic representation of a second variant of an acceleration system and a separating device;
• 8th a schematic representation of a third variant of an acceleration system and a separating device;
• 9 a representation of the transport system with a guide device and guide elements;
• 10 a detailed representation of the guide device 9 ;
• 11 a schematic representation of the transport system with deceleration area and acceleration area;
• 12 a simplified representation of the gripper bridge with associated runners and stators;
• 13 a simplified representation of the gripper bridge with associated runners and associated stators in a variant;
• 14 a schematic representation of the transport system with a first variant of an ejection device;
• 15 a schematic representation of the transport system with a second variant of an ejection device;
• 16 a schematic representation of the transport system with a third variant of an ejection device;
• 17 a schematic representation of the transport system with roller guides.

The sheet-processing machine can be designed as a rotary printing machine, an inkjet printing machine, a varnishing machine or a punching machine.

According to one embodiment, the sheet-processing machine can have a feeder, a delivery and one or more offset printing units and/or varnishing units and/or non-impact printing units, in particular inkjet printing units, arranged between the feeder and the delivery. Each offset printing unit and/or each coating unit preferably includes at least one sheet guiding cylinder with fixing means for gripping the leading edges of the sheet, wherein the fixing means can be embodied by mechanical or pneumatic gripper systems, for example.

An offset printing unit preferably has a sheet-guiding cylinder configured as a printing cylinder and a rubber-blanket cylinder that interacts with the printing cylinder and a plate cylinder that interacts with the rubber-blanket cylinder. Each plate cylinder is assigned an inking unit for inking a printing plate that can be fixed on the plate cylinder and, preferably but not necessarily, a dampening unit. Each coating unit preferably includes a plate cylinder which is assigned directly to the printing cylinder and has means for clamping a coating plate.

The non-impact printing units can have one or more sheet guiding cylinders with gripper systems for grasping the leading edges of the sheet and one or more non-impact printing devices, in particular inkjet printing units, assigned to one or more of the cylinders.

Instead of the sheet guiding cylinder, a non-impact printing unit can also have a sheet transport device in the form of a circulating belt, in particular a suction belt, to which a non-impact printing device is assigned.

The display preferably includes a chain conveyor system. It can have chains running around rear and front sprockets. Gripper devices are preferably arranged on the chains, which revolve with the chains.

The feeder preferably comprises a stacking space with a stack carrier, in particular a stack carrier plate, which can be vertically displaced with a stack 35 that can be positioned on the stack carrier by means of a lifting system. For separating the present as a stack 35 arcuate Printing material, a separating device 36, in particular a sheet separator 36, can be provided, which is preferably arranged above the pile support plate in the pile space.

The sheet separator 36 can be designed in a manner known per se as a leading edge separator or as a trailing edge separator and can include lifting suction devices and trailing suction devices. The lifting suckers lift a respective uppermost sheet of the stack 35 from this and preferably transfer it to the trailing suckers for onward transport in the transport direction 05 sheet guiding cylinder. Sheet-form printing material means a single sheet or a sequence of sheets.

The separation of the uppermost sheet from the stack 35 can be supported by means of blown air from separating fans, not shown, or by blown air from a feeler foot, also not shown.

An acceleration system 26 can be arranged downstream of the sheet separator 36 in a transport direction 05 of the sheet processing machine. The acceleration system 26 can comprise an acceleration element that is driven by a drive or a plurality of acceleration elements that are arranged at a distance from one another transversely to the direction of transport 05 and that are driven or can be driven independently of one another by a number of drives. An acceleration element can in each case be formed by a circulating conveyor belt 37, in particular a suction belt. Such a conveyor belt 37 is preferably guided on a suction box 40 at least in certain areas. The conveyor belt 37 or each conveyor belt 37 can be guided in such a way that it forms a guide surface facing an underside of the printing material to be transported. In this case, the sheet-like printing material, in particular the sheets, is guided lying on the conveyor belt 37 .

The conveyor belt 37, in particular the suction belt, can also be guided at least in some areas on a suction box 40 and form a guide surface facing an upper side of the printing material to be transported. In this case, the sheet-like printing material, in particular the sheet, is guided hanging and temporarily fixed to the suction belt.

The suction belts are preferably designed as endless, circulating belts which are interrupted by suction openings and have an acceleration strand. In the area of the acceleration strand, the suction belts are assigned to the suction box 40 in such a way that suction openings formed in the suction box 40 are swept by the suction openings in the suction belts. If a vacuum is generated in the suction box 40 by a suction air source (not shown), this spreads via the suction openings in the suction box 40 and the suction openings in the suction belts and causes sheet-shaped printing material to be fixed, in particular the undersides or tops of sheets, when these enter the effective area reach the suction air.

Likewise, the acceleration system 26 can include an acceleration element, which is formed by at least one rotating suction roller 38 and/or a plurality of suction rollers 38, the surface lines of which form a guide surface. In particular, at least one surface line of each suction roll 38 lies in a plane with at least one surface line of every other suction roll 38, which corresponds to the guide surface.

Between the separating device 36 and the acceleration system 26 there can be arranged a rotatingly driven transport roller 45 and a cycle roller 46 which moves towards and away from the transport roller 45 in the machine cycle. The machine cycle can correspond to the cycle of circulating gripper systems, in particular the cycle of a circulating gripper bar 02.

The timing roller 46 can be driven by a piezoelectric actuator for its displacement. The lower transport roller 45 can be accelerated to the transport speed of the sheet guiding system, which can be designed in the form of a sheet guiding cylinder or a sheet guiding belt. The timing roller 46 is preferably freely rotatably mounted on a roller lever and, when pivoted in the direction of the lower transport roller 45, brings a sheet located between the lower and the timing roller 46 into contact with the transport roller 45, thereby accelerating it to the speed of the lower transport roller 45. The transport roller 45 can also rotate at a speed that is greater than the transport speed of the sheet guiding system.

Immediately downstream of the separating device 36 or as part of it, a flap shaft 47 can also be arranged, which is pivoted in the machine cycle or can be pivoted and forms a stop in one position and a sheet guiding surface in another position.

The towed sucker transports a respective sheet into the gap formed between the transport roller 45 and the clock roller 46 . Instead of the pair of transport roller 45 and timing roller 46 or downstream of this, a pair of rollers can also be arranged, consisting of two with each other interacting and always rotating at the same speed rollers is formed.

The separating device 36, in particular the sheet separator 36 and/or the acceleration system 26, are preferably configured or controlled in such a way that a sheet gap is formed between two consecutive sheets viewed in the transport direction 05. In contrast to the imbricated stream that is customary, particularly in conventional printing presses, a non-imbricated, in particular a single-sheet system is thus implemented.

An ejection device 41 for printing material can be configured between the separating device 36 and the acceleration system 26 . The ejector device 41 can be switched between two operating modes and, in one operating mode, conveys the printing material separated by the separating device 36 to the acceleration system 26 and, in the other operating mode, feeds the printing material separated by the separating device 36 to a printing material tray 42. The ejection device 41 serves in particular to eject double sheets.

Double sheets are understood to mean, in particular, sheet aggregations made up of two of the sheets that adhere more to one another. Double sheets are caused, for example, by technical faults or incorrect settings of the separating device 36.

A double sheet sensor 51 is designed to detect such double sheets, which is arranged upstream of the ejection device 41 on the transport path. The double sheet sensor 51 is preferably arranged upstream of the ejection device 41 and/or in the region of the separating device 36 or arranged directly downstream of the separating device 36 . The ejection device 41 is preferably in signal communication with the double sheet sensor 51 . In particular, it is designed to change its operating state as a function of the signal from the double sheet sensor 51 . The ejection device 41 can include a sheet diverter, which has a displaceable sheet guiding element 43 . The sheet guiding element 43 can be assigned a pair of rollers 44 which has a conveying gap and to which printing material can be fed for removal depending on the position of the displaceable sheet guiding element 43 .

The pair of rollers 44 is preferably arranged above or below the acceleration system 26 . The ejection device 41 can include a printing material tray 42, the angular position of which can be adjusted with respect to the horizontal. Due to the adjustability, the loading of the printing material tray 42 with printing material during ejection on the one hand and the removal of printing material from the printing material tray 42 on the other hand can be facilitated. The printing material tray 42 is preferably arranged below the acceleration system 26 .

The sheet-processing machine includes a transport system for conveying sheet-type printing material in a transport direction 05, which is arranged downstream of the separating device 36 when viewed in the transport direction 05. The transport system can be arranged directly downstream of the separating device 36, in particular without the interposition of an acceleration system 26 and/or a transport roller 45. An acceleration system 26 can also be formed between the separating device 36 and the transport system.

The transport system has an electric linear drive 01 and at least one gripper bar 02 that is driven in rotation by the electric linear drive 01.

The gripper bridge 02 preferably comprises a gripper shaft 18 that carries gripper fingers 14 that are mounted pivotably. The gripper shaft 18 has a gripper opening lever 22; 54, which interacts with a stationary gripper opening curve 48. The gripper opening lever 54 can be associated with the gripper shaft 18 in the middle or at one end in relation to its axial extent.

The electric linear drive 01 comprises at least a first and a second stator 03; 04, which are arranged on different sides of the printing material when viewed transversely to the direction of transport 05. Part of the electric linear drive 01 are several movable along the stators 03; 04 guided runners 06; 07, a first rotor 06 assigned to the first stator 03 and a second rotor 07 assigned to the second stator 04 being coupled by means of a gripper bar 02. The stators 03; 04 can be designed as segmented long stators. The transport system can have a plurality of gripper bridges 02, in particular three or six.

The runners 06; 07 can be displaced in the transport direction 05 by electromagnetic interaction and their movement/type of movement can be individually controlled at least in sections and/or at times.

Preferably between the runners 06; 07 and the stators 03; 04 formed roller guides, the respective runners 06; 07 along respective stators 03; 04 lead. In particular, they can runner 06; 07 be designed as a trolley. In this case, the rollers of the roller guides are rotatably mounted via bearing points formed on the carriage.

In particular, each runner 06; 07 may be assigned a roller guide, each of which includes a front guide roller 20 and a rear guide roller 21 . The front guide roller 20 and the rear guide roller 21 can be connected to one another via a guide coupler 24 . The guide coupler 24 is preferably firmly connected to the gripper bridge 02. The axis of rotation of the rear guide roller 21 in the direction of transport 05 is preferably aligned with the pivot axis of the gripper shaft 18.

The stators 03; 04 a closed path on which the gripper bridges 02 are guided in a circumferential manner. The movement of the gripper bridges 02 preferably takes place exclusively in one direction on the orbit along the closed path. The closed path and thus the orbit is oriented in a vertical plane parallel to the transport direction 05.

The gripper bridges 02 are preferably moved, in particular driven, discontinuously.

The transport system is described below in a simplified manner by way of example with reference to a gripper bar 02, which in each case also stands for a plurality of gripper bars 02.

The gripper bar 02 can be driven by more than one first runner 06 assigned to the first stator 03 and one second runner 07 assigned to the second stator 04. In particular, at least one third rotor 56 can be provided, which is connected to the first or second rotor 06; 07 is connected. It goes without saying that each first runner 06 and each second runner 07 can be connected to more than one third runner 56.

Accordingly, the first runner 06 can be permanently connected to the gripper bridge 02 and there can be a positive connection between the first runner 06 and the third runner 56 via a coupler 57, with the third runner 56 being assigned to the first runner 06 in a leading or trailing manner. The first runner 06 can also be connected, in particular coupled, to a leading and a trailing third runner 56. Instead of a single coupler 57, a plurality of couplers 57 connected to one another in an articulated manner can also be formed, which form a parallelogram.

A third runner 56 can also be firmly connected to the gripper bar 02 and a third, between the first and the second stator 03; 04 arranged third stator 55, cooperating with this, assigned. The third stator 55 has an open path. The third stator 55 is oriented in the transport direction 05 and is centered or off-center between the first and the second stator 03; 04 arranged.

A gripper bridge 02 can also be permanently connected to a plurality of third runners 56. In this case, between the first and the second stator 03; 04 several third stators 55 are formed, each of which is assigned a third rotor 56.

The areas in which one or more third stators 55 are arranged allow the gripper bridge 02 to be accelerated or decelerated particularly strongly. Since such an acceleration or deceleration of the gripper bridge 02 is only necessary in certain areas of the orbit of the gripper bridge 02, the formation of third stators 55 be limited to these areas.

A feed drum 12 or a sheet-guiding cylinder can be arranged downstream of the transport system, to which sheets guided by the gripper bridge 02 are transferred. The third stator 55 or all third stators 55 preferably extend over an acceleration area 52 of the gripper bar 02 formed along the transport path between the acceleration system 26 or the separating device 36 on the one hand and the feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder on the other.

The third stator 55 or all third stators 55 can also extend over a deceleration region 53 of the gripper bridge 02 formed proportionally along the travel path of the at least one gripper bridge 02 between the feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder on the one hand and the acceleration system 26 or the separating device 36 on the other. On the travel path to the acceleration system 26 or to the separating device 36, the gripper bridge 02 does not guide any arcs. The deceleration area 53 is preferably in the range of 1 to 50 percent of the length of the entire travel path of the at least one gripper bridge 02 between the feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder on the one hand and the acceleration system 26 or the separating device 36 on the other. More preferably, the deceleration area 53 extends directly to the acceleration system 26 or to the separating device 36. Outside of the deceleration area 53 and/or the Acceleration area 52 preferably no third stator 55 is formed.

The movement of at least one gripper bar 02 is preferably controlled in such a way that the acceleration of this gripper bar 02 corresponds to the deceleration of another gripper bar 02, which has a particularly beneficial effect in terms of energy consumption and vibration excitation. Likewise, a plurality of gripper bridges 02 can be accelerated and decelerated in such a way that their accelerations and decelerations correspond at all times. In order to accept a sheet from a separating device 36 upstream of the transport system, a rest can be provided in the movement sequence of a respective gripper bar 02.

Preferably, the organs of the acceleration system 26 and/or the linear drive 01 of the gripper bridge 02 are controlled as a function of sensor-detected position values of a sheet that is or is being transported in each case.

For this purpose, at least one sensor 39 can be arranged between the separating device 36 and the transport system, which sensor detects the position of the printing material and interacts with a controller which, depending on the signals from the at least one sensor 39, activates the linear drive 01 and/or the drive of an acceleration element and/or or independently controls several drives of acceleration elements arranged at a distance from one another transversely to the direction of transport 05.

The independent activation of the drives of several acceleration elements makes it possible, in particular, to correct the skew of a sheet that is being transported by acceleration system 26 before it is transferred to a particular gripper bridge 02.

The interaction of the separating device 36 with the acceleration system 26 and the transport system can be described as follows.

First, the separating device 36, in particular the sheet separator 36, separates sheets from a stack 35 and pushes a respective leading edge of the sheet into the detection area of transport roller 45 and timing roller 46. Immediately behind timing roller 46, one or more suction belts take over the sheet by means of vacuum from below or from above and transport it to the transfer area to the gripper bar 02.

On this stretch, the suction belt or belts accelerate the sheet to almost machine speed, so that the sheet shingle is pulled apart and each sheet lies individually.

At the beginning and/or at the end of the path on which the suction belt or belts convey sheets, at least one sensor 39 is arranged, which detects the position of the leading edge of the sheet, in particular the inclined position.

Using the signals from the at least one sensor 39 arranged at the start of the path, the plurality of suction belts are controlled independently of one another to correct the skewing of a respective sheet.

Alternatively or additionally, the linear drive 01 is controlled using the signals from the at least one sensor 39 located at the end of the path, so that the inclined position of the sheet gripped by the gripper bar 02 is corrected by a change in position, in particular an inclined position, of the gripper bar 02.

Irrespective of the procedure for correcting the skewing of the leading edge of the sheet, the gripper bridge 02 accelerates the sheet to machine speed.

If the acceleration elements are designed as suction rollers that are spaced apart from one another transversely to the transport direction 05, the procedure is the same, with the suction rollers taking the place of the suction belts.

The at least one sensor 39 can be designed to detect the inclined position and/or the phase position of the leading edge of the sheet during the transport of the sheet-shaped printing material through the acceleration system 26 or the separating device 36. In particular, two sensors 39 designed as light sensors or reflex sensors can be arranged upstream of the transport system for detecting the inclined position and/or the phase position of the leading edge of the sheet.

The signals of the at least one sensor 39 can also be evaluated to pre-align gripper bar 02.

A controller of the linear drive 01 connected to the at least one sensor 39 is designed for this purpose. The at least one sensor 39 detects the position of the sheet-shaped printing material before it is fixed by the gripper fingers 14 of the gripper bar 02, generates a signal representing the position of the sheet-shaped printing material and feeds this to the controller. The control is preferable manner for controlling the electric linear drive 01 as a function of the signal representing the position of the sheet-shaped printing material.

In particular, the sensor 39 detects the inclined position of the leading edge of the sheet-shaped printing material before it is fixed by the gripper fingers 14 and supplies the controller with a signal representing the inclined position of the leading edge of the sheet.

The controller is designed to control the electric linear drive 01 as a function of the signal representing the inclined position of the leading edge of the sheet in such a way that the at least one gripper bar 02 is decelerated before the sheet-type printing material is fixed by the gripper fingers 14 by uneven deceleration or acceleration of the runners 06; 07 can be or will be aligned in advance to the leading edge of the sheet.

The at least one sensor 39 can also be configured to detect the phasing of the leading edge of the sheet of printing material in transport direction 05 before the sheet of printing material is fixed in place by gripper fingers 14. In particular, it can generate a signal representing the phase position of the leading edge of the sheet and feed it to the controller. The controller is preferably designed to control the electric linear drive 01 as a function of the signal representing the phase position of the leading edge of the sheet, in such a way that the at least one gripper bar 02 can be or is aligned in advance of the sheet-type printing material being fixed in place relative to the leading edge of the sheet.

In addition to or as an alternative to controlling the movement of gripper bridge 02, the phase position of a respective sheet can also be corrected by specifically controlling acceleration system 26 and/or separating device 36. To do this, the at least one sensor 39 detects the phasing of the sheet leading edge of the sheet-type printing material in transport direction 05 before the sheet-type printing material is fixed in place by gripper fingers 14 and feeds the controller with a signal representing the phasing of the sheet leading edge. The controller is preferably designed to control the acceleration system 26 and/or a separating device 36 depending on the signal representing the phase position of the leading edge of the sheet and controls the drive(s) of the acceleration organs and/or the elements of the separating device 36 accordingly. In contrast to the correction of the inclined position of a respective sheet, when the phase position is corrected by the acceleration system 26, the drives of the acceleration elements are controlled synchronously with one another but ahead of or behind the machine cycle.

If no acceleration system 26 is provided, the phase position of each sheet is corrected by the targeted control of gripper bridge 02 and/or the separating device 36.

In the area of the transport system, at least a second sensor 50 that detects the position of the sheet transversely to transport direction 05 during fixation by gripper fingers 14 and/or at least a third sensor that detects the phase position of the leading edge of the sheet in transport direction 05 during fixation by gripper fingers 14 and/or a sensor 49 that detects the inclined position of the sheet when it is fixed by the gripper fingers 14 can be provided. In particular, two third sensors 49 embodied as light sensors or reflex sensors and/or a second sensor 50 embodied as a camera can be provided.

The at least one second and/or the at least one third sensor 50; 49 are preferably connected to a control of the electric linear drive 01. The controller is preferably used to control the electric linear drive 01 depending on the signals or a signal sequence of the at least one second and/or the at least one third sensor 50; 49 trained.

The values recorded by the at least one second sensor 50 and/or the at least one third sensor 49 for the phasing and/or for the inclined position of a respective sheet are used in particular to realign it.

The post-alignment can follow a pre-alignment of the sheet that has taken place.

The interaction of the transport system with the separating device 36 and, if such is formed, also with the acceleration system 26, can be described as follows for the realization of pre-alignment and post-alignment.

A sheet is fed from a separating device 36 to a gripper bridge 02 of the transport system. Before the transfer, the sheet position is measured on the infeed section by two sensors 39 in particular.

The two sensors 39 can be fixed in the minimum format range, since they only have to supply sufficiently precise values for a pre-alignment of the gripper bar 02 with respect to the sheet leading edge of the sheet being fed. Then the gripper bridge 02 to Über gripper bridge 02 by actuating the linear motor 01 to prealign the sheet to the leading edge of the sheet being fed. This is advantageous so that the gripper fingers 14 can also securely grip a sheet with a larger positional offset.

The gripper fingers 14 are closed with a stationary gripper opening curve 48 in the specified transfer line. The gripper opening cam 48 is arranged in the center of the machine with the gripper opening lever 54 of the gripper shaft 18 to be controlled. In contrast to a gripper opening lever 22 arranged laterally, in particular eccentrically, this enables the closing and opening movements of the gripper fingers 14 to take place at the specified point in time, even if the gripper bar 02 assumes an inclined position due to the pre-alignment or subsequent realignment.

After it has been taken over by the gripper bridge 02, in particular by being fixed with the gripper fingers 14, the gripper bridge 02 is aligned at right angles to the transport direction 05 by pivoting it back by the prealignment path. Following this or superimposed on this, a correction of the phase position can take place.

At this point, the pre-alignment of each sheet is complete, which can be followed by post-alignment. To do this, the sheet position is recorded again using the at least one second sensor 50 and/or the at least one third sensor 49, and the linear drive 01 for displacing the gripper bar 02 is actuated accordingly to correct the inclined position and/or the phase position, which results in a superimposed transport movement of the gripper bridge 02 can take place in the transport direction 05.

A feed drum 12 with a gripper 19 mounted displaceably on this or a sheet-guiding cylinder with a gripper 19 displaceably mounted on this can be arranged downstream of the transport system. The displaceably mounted gripper 19 can be used to correct the position of a respective sheet transversely to the direction of transport 05.

For this purpose, at least a second sensor 50 that detects the position of a sheet-form printing material transversely to transport direction 05 is preferably arranged in the area of the transport system and is connected to a controller that has a drive for displacing gripper 19 with the sheet-form printing material fixed by gripper 19 transversely to transport direction 05 depending on the signals of the second sensor 50 controls. After the gripper 19 has been moved, the realignment is complete.

The sensor 39 and/or the second sensor 50 and/or the third sensor 49 are preferably designed as a CCD camera or video camera or are formed by a video-technical device. The video technical device can also be used for another application such as an image inspection or an inspection of the printing material.

As part of the pre-alignment, the phase position of a sheet to be aligned can also be corrected solely using the separating device 36 . In this case, the elements of the separating device 36 are activated ahead of or behind the machine cycle instead of the prealignment of the gripper bar 02 before a respective sheet is fixed by the gripper fingers 14. All other steps of the prealignment and fine alignment remain unchanged.

In order to optimize the movement sequences and to increase the transport speed, it has proven particularly advantageous to design the gripper bar 02 to have a low mass. Accordingly, the gripper bridge 02 can have gripper supports 13 and gripper fingers 14 that interact with them for gripping the printing material, as well as a profile that supports the gripper supports 13. The profile is preferably formed with a first wall 15, which extends in a plane to which the transport direction 05 forms the normal. In the direction of transport 05, the first wall 15 preferably has an extent that is many times smaller than the further extent of the first wall 15 at right angles to the plane in which the gripper supports 13 move during the transport of sheet-type printing material. The further extent of the first wall 15 is in particular 5 to 12 times or 6 to 10 times the extent in the transport direction 05. The first wall 15 can be penetrated by openings in the transport direction 05.

The gripper pads 13 are preferably attached to the first wall 15 in a detachable or non-detachable manner or are part of the first wall 15. The gripper fingers 14 are preferably arranged on a gripper shaft 18 so that they can be replaced. The gripper shaft 18 can be mounted pivotably in bearing blocks formed on the first wall 15 or fastened to the first wall 15 .

On its side facing the sheet-shaped printing material, the first wall 15 can be connected to a second wall 16 of the profile. The connection of both walls 15; 16 has an L-shaped cross section when viewed transversely to the transport direction 05 . In particular, the longer leg is through the first or the second wall 15; 16 formed. The second wall 16 of the profile is preferably penetrated at right angles to the transport direction 05 by openings through which the gripper fingers 14 pass. The front end of the second wall 16 in the transport direction 05 can be connected to the end of the first wall 15 that is not connected to the second wall 16 via a third wall 17 or a framework structure or a honeycomb structure or support rods. The gripper shaft 18 is positioned upstream or downstream of the first wall 15 as seen in the transport direction 05 of the profile. In order to minimize the weight, the gripper bar 02 and/or the profile and/or the gripper fingers 14 can be formed from a fiber composite material and/or a carbon fiber composite material and/or aluminum and/or an aluminum alloy and/or a steel alloy and/or a titanium alloy. The at least one gripper bar 02 and/or the gripper fingers 14 are preferably produced using an additive manufacturing process. The first or second wall 15; 16 made of a carbon fiber material and the respective other wall 15; 16 may be formed from aluminum.

In order to prevent undesired deflection of the gripper bridges 02, between the first and the second stator 03; 04, a stationary support 08 may be formed, which interacts with a guide element 09 formed on the gripper bridge 02. The support 08 can be embodied as a guide track or cam groove and/or the guide element 09 can be embodied as a support roller that is rotatably mounted on the at least one gripper bar 02. The support 08 is preferably arranged centrally between the first and the second stator 03, 04

Instead of a single support, two supports 08 can also be arranged spaced apart from one another transversely to the transport direction 05 and can each interact with one of two guide elements 09 formed on the at least one gripper bridge 02. If two supports 08 are formed, these are formed or arranged in the Bessel points or at the level of the Bessel points of the at least one gripper bar 02.

The formation of two supports 08 is particularly advantageous if the gripper opening lever 54 of the gripper shaft 18 is centered between the first and second rotor 06; 07 is assigned.

The stators 03; 04 preferably each have a closed path with at least one curved section 10 and a straight section 11, with one or more supports 08 being arranged at least or exclusively in a curved section 10 or curved sections 10.

A transfer point for transferring the sheets can be formed between the gripper bar 02 guided by the stators 03, 04 on the straight section 11 and a feed drum 12 assigned to the transport system or a sheet-guiding cylinder assigned to the transport system.

Stationary guide elements 29 are preferably formed between the gripper fingers 14 and extend in the transport direction 05 over the entire length or a region of the transport path. The guide elements 29 are designed in such a way that they guide a sheet that is fixed between the gripper fingers 14 and the gripper supports 13 when it is being conveyed through the gripper bar 02 on its side facing the at least one gripper bar 02. The side of a sheet in question that faces the at least one gripper bridge 02 corresponds to its underside. The guide elements 29 use the gaps formed between the gripper fingers 14 . The extension of the guide elements 29 transversely to the transport direction 05, i.e. the extension in the axial direction of the gripper shaft 18, is smaller than the distance between adjacent gripper fingers 14. When sheets are conveyed, the gripper shaft 18 moves below the guide elements 29 guiding the respective sheet, the means on the side of the guide elements 29 facing away from the underside of the respectively transported sheet. The gripper fingers 14 protrude beyond the leading edge of the respectively transported sheet.

The guide elements 29 can be designed in one piece and/or as support rods. The guide elements 29 preferably have a stationary bearing 32, which is formed outside of a path traversed by the at least one gripper bridge 02. More preferably, the gripper bar 02 has cutouts in the area of the guide elements 29 .

A pneumatic guide device 30 is preferably formed on the side of the transport path which is remote from the transport system and thus from the guide elements 29 . The pneumatic guide device 30 can be designed as a sheet guide plate. On the side of the guide device 30 facing the transport path, a guide surface 31 with blowing nozzles 33 or with suction nozzles can be formed. The suction nozzles can be subjected to suction air. An air supply 34 is designed to act on the suction nozzles.

The pneumatic guide device 30 is preferably designed for suspended floating guidance of printing material. It can have a guide surface 31 with blower nozzles 33 on its side facing the transport path, the blower nozzles 33 being designed to generate an air flow parallel or approximately parallel to the guide surface 31 . The blast nozzles 33 are supplied with blast air. The blowing nozzles 33 are designed in particular as Venturi nozzles. The blowing nozzles 33 generate or can generate air flows that are preferably aligned transversely to the transport direction 05 in the direction of the side edges of the transport path.

The bow is thus held using the effect of the aerodynamic paradox.

In particular, the pneumatic guide device 30 can have a guide surface 31 facing the transport path, with the shortest distance to a path traversed by the gripper supports 13 when conveying printing material being in the range of 4 to 12 millimeters or 8 millimeters for each point on the guide surface 31.

On the side of the transport path facing away from the transport system, a device for sheet numbering and/or an imprinting unit for a partial area and/or an imprinting unit for an entire area and/or a panel marking station for a format wide and/or panel marking stations that can be adjusted transversely to the direction of transport 05 and/or a device for inspection of the printing material and/or a device for measuring the color and/or a device for measuring the opacity and/or a device for detecting the tension in the printing material.

In order to apply sufficient forces to drive the at least one gripper bridge 02 for all applications, the electric linear drive 01 must be subjected to the appropriate current levels, which can result in unwanted heating. In order to dissipate the heat, the first and/or the second stator 03, ; 04 be assigned a cooling system through which a heat-exchanging medium flows. The cooling system preferably comprises a heat exchanger or is designed with a circulation system. The heat exchanger can also interact with the circulatory system or be part of the circulatory system. In particular, heat exchangers along the stators 03; 04; 55 formed paths the stators 03; 04; 55 to be assigned. Have the stators 03; 04 each have a closed path, are preferably heat exchangers through which the medium flows, which are at least partially along the stators 03; 04 extend, the stators 03; 04 assigned within the closed path. The heat exchangers can the stators 03; 04; 55 can also only be assigned in certain areas. So the stators 03; 04; 55 exclusively in the area of the stators 03; 04; 55, which extends directly between the acceleration system 26 and the feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder, be associated with heat exchangers. Preferably, the stators 03; 04 arranged heat exchangers each have an inlet 27 for temperature-controlled medium on their side facing one or the acceleration system 26 and an outlet 28 for heat-loaded medium on their side facing away from the acceleration system 26 . The cooling system can include one or more cooling units.

Such a cooling unit can be connected to at least one other system of the sheet processing machine for its temperature control directly via lines or indirectly with the interposition of a heat exchanger. Such a cooling unit can also be assigned to the other system of the sheet processing machine in the structural vicinity or be part of the same. In this case, an original cooling system of another system of the sheet processing machine would be used in addition to cooling the stators 03; 04; 55 used. The at least one further system can be an ink distributor temperature control and/or a dampening solution temperature control and/or an oil temperature control of a main drive having a gear train for several units of the sheet processing machine.

A feed drum 12 or a sheet-guiding cylinder with grippers 19 and gripper supports 25 projecting beyond its lateral surface can be arranged downstream of the transport system. The grippers 19 accept the sheets conveyed by the transport system, interacting with the gripper supports 25 . The grippers 19 of one feed drum 12 or of the sheet-guiding cylinder correspond in terms of their function and/or their nature to the full or almost full extent to the gripper fingers 14 of the gripper bar 02 of the transport system. The gripper fingers 14 of the at least one gripper bridge 02 of the transport system are arranged spaced apart from one another, viewed in the direction of the axis of rotation of the feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder, forming gaps. When transferring sheets, the gripper pads 13 are aligned; 25 of the feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder and the gripper bar 02 involved in the transfer. In particular, they lie on a virtual straight line that extends transversely to transport direction 05.

Gaps are also formed between the grippers 19 of the feed drum 12 or of the sheet-guiding cylinder, viewed in the direction of the axis of rotation of the sheet-guiding cylinder. The position of the gaps between the gripper fingers 14 of the at least one gripper bar 02 viewed in the direction of the axis of rotation of the feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder corresponds to the position of the grippers 19 of the feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder. In other words, the gripper fingers 14 are arranged to correspond to gaps between the grippers 19 and the grippers 19 to correspond to gaps between the gripper fingers 14 . Between a circumferential contour of the at least one gripper bridge 02 and a circumferential contour of the lateral surface of feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder, a spacing region 23 is formed, which is exclusively formed by gripper fingers 14, gripper supports 13; 25 and the grippers 19 is run through.

In particular, no further elements of feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder or the at least one gripper bridge 02 will pass through spacing region 23. In particular, the lateral surface of the feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder is designed with a diameter dimensioned in the aforementioned sense and also has no other raised area.

The design of the spacing area 23 has the advantage that a collision between the feed drum 12 or the sheet-guiding cylinder and a gripper bridge 02 is impossible.

Reference List

01

linear actuator

02

gripper bridge

03

stator, first

04

stator, second

05

transport direction

06

runner, first

07

runner, second

08

support

09

guide element

10

section, more curvilinear

11

section, straighter

12

feed drum

13

gripper pad

14

gripper fingers

15

wall, first

16

wall, second

17

wall, third

18

gripper shaft

19

gripper

20

Guide roller, front

21

Guide roller, rear

22

Gripper opening lever, end

23

distance range

24

guide coupler

25

gripper pad

26

acceleration system

27

inlet

28

outlet

29

guide element

30

guide device

31

guide surface

32

storage

33

air nozzle

34

air supply

35

stack

36

Separating device, sheet separator

37

conveyor belt

38

suction roll

39

sensor

40

suction box

41

reject device

42

substrate tray

43

sheet guiding element

44

pair of rollers

45

transport roller

46

clock roller

47

flap shaft

48

gripper opening curve

49

sensor, third

50

sensor, second

51

double sheet sensor

52

acceleration range

53

delay range

54

Gripper opening lever, middle

55

stator, third

56

runner, third

57

paddock

Claims (11)

Sheet processing machine with a transport system for conveying sheet-form printing material in a transport direction (05) along a transport path, the transport system having an electric linear drive (01) and at least one gripper bar (02) driven in rotation by the electric linear drive (01), the electric linear drive (01) comprises a first and a second stator (03; 04), which are arranged on different sides of the printing material transversely to the transport direction (05), the electric linear drive (01) has a plurality of runners ( 06; 07), a first runner (06) assigned to the first stator (03) and a second runner (07) assigned to the second stator (04) being coupled by means of a gripper bridge (02), the at least one gripper bridge ( 02) Gripper supports (13) and gripper fingers (14) interacting with them for gripping the printing material and the gripper supports (1st 3) has a supporting profile, characterized in that stationary guide elements (29) are formed between the gripper fingers (14) and extend in the transport direction (05) over the entire length or a region of the transport path, between the gripper fingers (14) and the gripper supports (13) guide the fixed printing material on its side facing the at least one gripper bar (02) during conveying. sheet processing machine claim 1 , characterized in that the guide elements (29) are formed in one piece and/or as support rods. sheet processing machine claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the guide elements (29) have a stationary bearing (32) which is formed outside of a path traversed by the at least one gripper bar (02). sheet processing machine claim 1 , 2 or 3 , characterized in that the gripper bridge (02) has recesses in the area of the guide elements (29). sheet processing machine claim 1 , 2 , 3 or 4 , characterized in that a pneumatic guide device (30) is formed on the side of the transport path facing away from the transport system. sheet processing machine claim 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 or 5 , characterized in that one or the pneumatic guide device (30) is designed as a sheet guide plate and/or has a guide surface (31) with blowing nozzles (33) on its side facing the transport path. sheet processing machine claim 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 or 6 , characterized in that one or the pneumatic guide device (30) is designed for suspended floating guidance of printing material and/or has a guide surface (31) with blower nozzles (33) on its side facing the transport path, the blower nozzles (33) for generating a to the guide surface (31) parallel or approximately parallel air flow are formed. sheet processing machine claim 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 or 7 , characterized in that one or the pneumatic guide device (30) comprises blowing nozzles (33) which are designed as Venturi nozzles and/or with which air flows directed transversely to the transport direction (05) in the direction of the side edges of the transport path are generated or can be generated. sheet processing machine claim 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 or 8th , characterized in that one or the pneumatic guide device (30) has a guide surface (31) facing the transport path, wherein for each point of the guide surface (31) the shortest distance to a path traversed by the gripper supports (13) when conveying printing material is im range from 4 to 12 millimeters or is 8 millimeters. sheet processing machine claim 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8th or 9 , characterized in that on the side of the transport path facing away from the transport system, a device for sheet numbering and/or an imprinting unit for a partial area and/or an imprinting unit for a full area and/or a format-wide panel marking station and/or adjustable transversely to the transport direction (05). Panel marking stations and/or a device for printing material inspection and/or a device for color measurement and/or a device for opaque white measurement and/or a device for detecting the tension of the printing material is arranged. sheet processing machine claim 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8th , 9 or 10 , characterized in that the sheet-processing machine is a rotary printing machine with several ren offset printing units or an inkjet printing machine or a varnishing machine or a die-cutting machine.

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