DK177626B1

DK177626B1 - Automatic collating machine

Info

Publication number: DK177626B1
Application number: DKPA201270090A
Authority: DK
Inventors: Jan Pedersen; Claus Henrik Dybdahl
Original assignee: Fk Distrib As
Priority date: 2012-02-27
Filing date: 2012-02-27
Publication date: 2013-12-16
Also published as: SE1250231A1; DK201270090A; SE536790C2

Abstract

An automatic collating machine (1) comprising one or more feeding stations (2,3) and an endless conveyor belt, which endless conveyor belt has an upper run (4) and a lower run (5) between two conveying wheels (23), which 5 upper run (4) has an operational moving direction (6) and supports one or more collecting units (7), which one or more collecting units (7) are attached to said endless conveyor belt, each of said one or more collecting units (7) comprises a plurality of plate segments (12,13), each of said plurality of plate segments (12,13) comprises a front plate segment (12), which front plate segment (12) comprises a bottom (8) and a side wall (9) upstanding at a front edge (10) of said bottom (8) in said operational moving direction (6), and a rear plate segment (13), which rear plate segment (13) comprises a bottom (8), each of said one or more collecting units (7) has a downwardly inclination angle (11) in relation to said upper run (4) and in said operational moving direction (6) in order to receive sheets from said one or more feeding stations (2,3), wherein in each of said one or more collecting units (7) said plate segments (12,13) are detached from each other, and wherein said plurality of plate segments (12,13) are individually pivotal during their passage around a conveying wheel (23).

Description

i DK 177626 B1

Automatic collating machine Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an automatic collating machine comprising one or 5 more feeding stations and an endless conveyor belt, which endless conveyor belt has an upper run and a lower run between two conveying wheels, which upper run has an operational moving direction and supports one or more collecting units, which one or more collecting units are attached to said endless conveyor belt, each of said one or more collecting units comprises a plurality of plate segments, each of said plurality of 10 plate segments comprises a front plate segment, which front plate segment comprises a bottom and a side wall upstanding at a front edge of said bottom in said operational moving direction, and a rear plate segment, which rear plate segment comprises a bottom, each of said one or more collecting units has a downwardly inclination angle in relation to said upper run and in said operational moving direction in order to receive 15 sheets from said one or more feeding stations.

Background of the Invention EP 1726552 discloses a machine for collecting printed products, comprising a continuous traction device (e.g., a conveyor belt) to which conveying elements for receiving a printed sheet from a plurality of feeding stations are fixed. In an embodiment, each of 20 the conveying elements has a bearing surface delimited by a wall on the front end and inclined towards the wall, wherein the wall is aligned perpendicularly to the bearing surface.

US 3370843 discloses an automated collating machine where each conveying element 25 consists either of a plate or a plate with a collating finger, i.e., a plate having a bottom and a side wall placed at a front edge of the bottom in a direction opposite to the operational moving direction of the machine.

In EP 1726552 and US 3370843, when a conveying element transporting a stack of 30 printed sheets shall move around the conveying wheel and at the same time shall transfer the stack to a second conveyor belt for further processing, the trailing part of the 2 DK 177626 B1 conveying element rises so high that the stack lands on the second conveyor belt such that the sheets are not anymore piled stably and ordered, which translates in problems for the further processing (e.g., packing) of the product.

5 US 8 056 892 discloses an automatic collating machine of the type described above, wherein the problem with the rising of the trailing part of the conveying element is solved by a conveying element comprising a plurality of plate segments being interconnected through hinges. However, this construction has the drawback that the hinges produce noise when operating the collating machine.

10 Hence, there is a need in the technical field of automatic collating machines for printed products of overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks of the state-of-the-art solutions.

Object of the Invention

The object of the invention is to assure that the stack of printed sheets remains stable 15 and ordered after being transferred from a first conveyor belt to a second conveyor belt and may be transferred in a collating machine with a minimum of noise.

Description of the Invention

The aforementioned object of the invention is achieved by an automatic collating machine as described in the preamble of claim 1, being peculiar in that in each of said one 20 or more collecting units said plate segments are detached from each other, and in that said plurality of plate segments are individually pivotal during their passage around a conveying wheel.

Due to the fact that the plate segments have a shorter length in the operational moving 25 direction than the total length of the bottom, the outer radius during the movement around the conveying wheel is smaller that it would be with a bottom consisting of only one single plate.

The sheets which form a stack in a collecting unit will be placed against the front wall 30 in a secure way due to the inclination of the bottom. Furthermore, the feeding speed of the individual sheets may be slightly higher than the operational moving speed of the 3 DK 177626 B1 conveyor. Hereby, the individual sheets will be “forced” against the front wall in a secure way.

The advantage of the invention is that when a collecting unit shall move around a con-5 veying wheel and, at the same time, shall transfer the stack of printed sheets to a following conveyor belt for further processing, the plurality of mutually displaceable plate segments permits to the trailing part of the collecting unit not to rise so high. Thereby, the trailing end of the stack will only be lifted slightly or would not be lifted when the plate segment moves around the conveying wheel. Therefore, the stack will be transit) ferred with the bottom arranged along a substantially rectilinear line and will land stable and ordered after the passage between the two conveyor belts. Advantageously, it is possible for the plate segments to pivot independently of each other.

As said plurality of plate segments are detached from each other, it is possible to obtain 15 the advantage that the noise produced by the collecting units is totally cancelled.

In an embodiment, said plurality of detached plate segments are detached from each other of di = 8 mm in a direction parallel to said endless conveyor belt. The advantage of this embodiment is that the printed sheets do not fall or get stuck in between the 20 plate segments of the collecting unit. Moreover, the front and rear plate segments do not collide with each other right before or after moving around the conveyor wheels.

In an embodiment, said plurality of detached plate segments are detached from each other of d2 = 2 mm in a direction perpendicular to said endless conveyor belt, wherein 25 said rear plate segment is higher than the front plate segment. The advantage of this embodiment is that there is no risk that a printed product (i.e., one or more sheets) that slides over the bottom of the collecting unit will be caught and fastened in the space between the two plate segments.

30 With the present invention it is thus possible to operate with a comparable large bottom in the collecting unit and simultaneously avoid the need to have large diameter of the conveying wheels in order to have a stable transfer of a stack to the following belt.

4 DK 177626 B1

In an embodiment of the invention, a plurality of feeding stations is placed in a subsequent order with respect to said operational moving direction. The advantage of this embodiment is that an arbitrarily high number of stacks may be produced at the same process line and an arbitrarily high number of different printed products from different 5 providers may be stacked together (e.g., one provider per feeding station), thus greatly increasing the efficiency of the collating process.

In an embodiment, one or more feeding stations are placed above said endless conveyor belt. The advantage of this embodiment is that the printed sheets fall down directly 10 in the collecting units. Nevertheless, in another embodiment, said one or more feeding stations are placed on a side of said endless conveyor belt and the printed sheets are pushed into said collecting units.

In an embodiment of the invention, a plurality of collecting units is placed in a subsequent 15 order with respect to said operational moving direction. The advantage of this embodiment is that an arbitrarily high number of stacks may be produced at the same process line, thus greatly increasing the efficiency of the collating process.

In an embodiment of the invention, said plurality of collecting units is mutually, equally 20 spaced. The advantage of this embodiment is that a more predictable interaction between the one or more feeding stations and the collecting units is achieved. Also, this makes the programming of the automatic collating machine easier. Nevertheless, an arbitrarily spacing between the collecting units may also be used.

25

In an embodiment, said plurality of plate segments comprise one or more intermediate plate segments placed between the front plate segment and the rear plate segment, wherein said one or more intermediate plate segments are individually pivotal with respect to each other and/or with respect to the front and rear plate segments. The ad-30 vantage of this embodiment is that the process is more easily customizable, for example, with respect to the radii of the conveyor wheels.

5 DK 177626 B1

In an embodiment of the invention, said front and rear plate segments have the same inclination angle. The advantage of this embodiment is that the printed sheets slide down in the collecting unit without curling, thus forming one after each other a stable and ordered stack.

5

In an embodiment of the invention, a trailing part of said rear plate segment is parallel with respect to said endless conveyor belt. The advantage of this embodiment is that the trailing part will follow a smaller radius when passing around a conveying wheel that a plate in which the trailing part have same inclination as the remainder of the bot-10 tom. This will further prevent the stack from rising too much when transferred from a collecting unit to a second conveyor belt.

In an embodiment of the invention, said endless conveyor belt comprises a number of transporting belts, which number of transporting belts are transversally aligned with 15 respect to said operational moving direction.

In another embodiment of the invention, said number of transporting belts is three. The advantage of this embodiment is that even a small printed product can be transported by the automatic collating machine of the invention by resting on the middle collecting 20 unit, which is attached on the middle transporting belt.

It is noted that the width of the transporting belts shall be dimensioned in such way that it is possible to operate with two transporting belts in a following conveyor. The two belts being arranged between the three transporting belts of the first conveyor in order 25 to form a stable support for the stacks even if the stack is formed of sheets having a short length in direction transversal to the operational moving direction.

Moreover, it is beneficial if there is substantial distance between the transporting belts in order to obtain a directionally stable support for the collecting units seeing that a 30 minor displacement of the aligned collecting units will only influence slightly on the orientation of the stack, which shall have its leading edge arranged substantially transversal to the operational moving direction.

6 DK 177626 B1

In an embodiment of the invention, each of said number of transporting belts comprises an equal number of collecting units, which number of collecting units is transversally aligned with respect to said operational moving direction. The advantage of this embodiment is that such a design allows a higher operating speed of the machine as the 5 mass of the machine elements to be swung about the conveyor wheels is only half.

In an embodiment, each front and rear plate segments have a width less or equal to that of the transporting belt to which they are attached to. For example, each collecting unit may be 75 mm wide and each transporting belt 100 mm wide. Hereby, 12.5 mm free 10 belt is provided on each side of collecting units. This allows the use of support rollers bearing on the two outermost parts (10 - 12.5 mm) of the conveyor and which still allows the collecting units to pass between the support rollers.

Dimensioning of the collating machine is a compromise seeing that it is desired to have 15 collecting units as large as possible in order to give a support for larger sheets. However, the collating machine shall also be able to give secure support for smaller sheets resting only on an intermediate of three aligned collecting units and simultaneously the machine shall be able to establish a secure transfer of such stack to a following conveyor.

20 Hereafter, the invention will be described in connection with drawings illustrating non-liming examples of an automatic collating machine.

Description of the Drawings F1G.1: Lateral view of an automatic collating machine.

F1G.2: Close-up of the transfer from a first conveyor belt to a second conveyor belt.

25 FTG.3: Close-up of a collecting unit according to one of the embodiments of the invention. F1G.4: Lateral view of an automatic collating machine with three transporting belts.

Detailed Description of the Invention FIG. 1 shows an automatic collating machine 1 comprising an endless conveyor belt and a plurality of feeding stations 2,3, which are placed in a subsequent order with respect 30 to an operational moving direction 6 of the endless conveyor belt and above the endless conveyor belt. The latter has an upper run 4 and a lower run 5 between two conveying 7 DK 177626 B1 wheels 23, wherein the upper run 4 has an operational moving direction 6 and supports a plurality of collecting units 7, which are mutually, equally spaced and which are placed in a subsequent order with respect to said operational moving direction.

5 Each of the plurality of collecting units 7 comprises a plurality of plate segments 12,13. Each of the plurality of plate segments 12,13 comprises a front plate segment 12 and a rear plate segment 13. The front plate segment 12 comprises a bottom 8 and a side wall 9 upstanding at a front edge 10 of the bottom 8 in the operational moving direction 6.

The rear plate segment 13 comprises a bottom 8. Each of the plurality of collecting 10 units 7 has a downwardly inclination angle 11 in relation to the upper run 4 and in the operational moving direction 6 in order to receive sheets from the plurality of feeding stations 2,3. In each of the plurality of collecting units 7 the plate segments 12,13 are detached from each other. The plurality of plate segments 12,13 are individually pivotal during their passage around a conveying wheel 23.

15 FIG.2 shows a close-up of an automatic collating machine, where the sheets are transferred from a first endless conveyor belt 18 to a second endless conveyor belt 19. Note how the trailing part 14 of the rear plate segment 13 is parallel with respect to the first endless conveyor belt 18 and thus permits to transfer the stack 20 perfectly stable.

20 FIG.3 shows a close-up of a collecting unit 7, wherein the front and rear plate segments 12,13 are detached from each other of di = 8 mm in a direction parallel to the endless conveyor belt and d2 = 2 mm in a direction perpendicular to the endless conveyor belt, wherein the rear plate segment 13 is higher than the front plate segment 12, 25 and the front and rear plate segments 12,13 have the same inclination angle 11. As shown in FIG.3, the collecting unit 7 may be fastened to the endless conveyor belt by means of screws 21,22.

FIG.4 shows an automatic collating machine 1, where the endless conveyor belt com-30 prises three transporting belts 15,16,17, which are transversally aligned with respect to the operational moving direction 6. Each transporting belt 15,16,17 comprises a number of collecting units 7, which are also transversally aligned with respect to the operational moving direction 6. Each collecting unit 7 comprises a front plate segment 12 8 DK 177626 B1 and a rear plate segment 13, wherein each front and rear plate segments have a width smaller than that of the transporting belt to which they are attached to.

Claims

9 DK 177626 B1

An automatic coordination machine (1) comprising one or more supply stations (2, 3) and an endless conveyor belt, said endless conveyor belt having an upper barrel (4) 5 and a lower barrel (5) between two conveyor wheels (23), said upper barrel (4) having an operating direction of movement (6) and carrying one or more collection units (7) attached to the endless conveyor belt, each of said collection units (7) comprising a plurality of plate segments (12, 13), each of which of the plurality of plate segments (12, 13) comprises a plate segment (12) having a bottom (8) and a side wall (9) which protrudes at a front edge (10) of the bottom (8) in the direction of movement (6) and a backplate segment (13) having a bottom (8), each of the one or more collection units (7) having a downwardly inclined angle of inclination (11) relative to the upper race (4) and in the operating direction of movement (6) for receiving sheets from the one or more supply stations (2, 3), characterized in that in each of the one or more supply stations (7), the plate segments 15 (12, 13) are spaced apart and that the several plate segments (12, 13) are individually pivotable during their passage around a conveyor wheel (23).

Automatic coordination machine (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of supply stations (2, 3) are placed in a sequential order relative to the direction of movement (6).

Automatic coordination machine (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that a plurality of collection units (7) are arranged in a sequential order relative to the direction of movement (6). 25

Automatic coordination machine (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the plurality of collection units (7) are spaced apart at equal distances.

Automatic coordination machine (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the front and back plate segments (12, 13) have the same inclination angle (11).

Automatic coordination machine (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that a rear part (14) of the backplate segment (13) is parallel to the endless conveyor belt. 10 DK 177626 B1

Automatic coordination machine (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the endless conveyor belt comprises a plurality of conveyor belts (15, 16, 17) which are aligned transversely of the direction of movement (6).

Automatic coordination machine (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the number of conveyor belts (15, 16, 17) is three.

Automatic coordination machine (1) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that each of the plurality of conveyor belts (15, 16, 17) comprises a similar number of collection units (7), the number of collection units (7) being aligned across the operating direction of movement (6).