EP0140464B1

EP0140464B1 - Aligner sealer

Info

Publication number: EP0140464B1
Application number: EP84303293A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Elmer George Schultz; David Wagner
Original assignee: Moore Business Forms Inc
Current assignee: Moore Business Forms Inc
Priority date: 1983-09-29
Filing date: 1984-05-16
Publication date: 1987-12-02
Also published as: EP0140464A1; NO842120L; ES8602494A1; FI843809A0; FI843809L; BR8401788A; ZA842390B; ES536747A0; DE3467888D1; JPS6079997A; PT78359B; IE55067B1; PT78359A; DK428784D0; NO157057B; IE840804L; ATE31183T1; DK428784A; FI75117C; GR79893B

Abstract

The aligner sealer (10) includes a base or frame (14), heating structure (16), infeed conveyor structure (18), output conveyor structure (20) and stacking rack (22). Form sheets are fed in groups on the infeed conveyor (18) through the heating stucture (16), where they are sealed into form sets, then fed onto the outfeed conveyor (20) and stached against the rack (22). The infeed conveyor structure (18) includes means for aligning the from sheets of the groups before the groups enter the heating means (16).

Description

Background of the Invention

This invention relates to business forms handling equipment suitable for business offices, and more particularly, to an apparatus for conveying and sealing collated form sheets into form sets, the apparatus comprising a base, an infeed conveyor means, a sheet conveying means, a sealing means and an outfeed conveyor means.
Continuous business form assemblies have long been considered desirable for mass mailings and the like. High speed printers have been used for both custom and non-variable printing of such assemblies. However, certain desirable high speed printers print with toners which are set or fixed by heat. Such printers are incompatible with form assembly constructions having heat sealable adhesives. Consequently the assembly webs having the heat sealable adhesives cannot be fed through the printers or other heat generating equipment because otherwise the webs would prematurely, and undesirably, adhere to the equipment mechanisms. To overcome this difficulty it has been proposed that the webs of such assemblies having adhesive are assembled or collated with the webs printed using such toner printing systems after printing.
Yet with this sequence of assembly, sheet length differentials occur between the sheets of the adhesive coated webs, and the printed webs. The heating of the printed webs during the setting of toners dries the sheets of the printed webs, compounding a sheet length mismatch. Further, standard sealing equipment cannot accommodate a two ply collated form.
It has also been proposed in British Specification No. 1-255049 to provide a collating and tipping machine in which separate sheets one of which has had adhesive applied to it are registered with endless feed belts which converge so that the two sheets are brought together and secured together. The feed of the sheets on the respective endless bonds can be varied to obtain a predetermined spacing of the sheets when brought together. There is also proposed in DE Offenlegungsschrift 2939277 a device for feeding a series of cut off sheets of pressure sensitive paper in which the succeeding cut off sheets which travel at a normal speed are fed by a roller having a flattened area on to a conveyor so that the speed of feed of the sheets is reduced and the sheets are fed in shingled formation without affecting the pressure sensitive paper.

Summary of the Invention

An object of the inventors which led to the making of this invention was to provide business form sealing equipment capable of consistently, continuously collating and sealing form sheets of matched and mismatched form sheet lengths. Another object was to provide such equipment of a compactness, reliability and ease of use suitable for typical business offices and personnel.
The invention provides such sealing equipment, and proceeds, in part, with a reversal of sealing and detaching functions of standard sealing equipment. Form sheets are collated first, which allows sheet length differences to be accommodated, then detached from their webs, and then sealed. The invention also incorporates the conveying of the sets of sheets being sealed in an overlapped or shingled manner.
The present invention is characterized in that the conveying means incudes a plurality of nip rollers, said nip rollers being rotatable about a central axis and being adapted to be friction driven by the infeed conveyor means, said nip rollers being associated with the infeed conveyor means for receiving form sheets derived from respective collated detached continuous forms and for slowing the form sheet which first arrives on the conveyor means to align the leading edge with the leading edge of the subsequently arriving form sheet of the set of which at least one of the form sheets has a heat sealable surface, the speed of said infeed conveyor means is substantially less than the infeed speed of the form sheets so that the form sets are overlapped, and that the sealing means includes a heater means for heating the heat sealable adhesive in the sheets of the overlapped form sets to seal the sheets.

Brief Description of the Drawing

The preferred embodiment of the invention will be described by way of example in relation to the accompanying drawing, which consists of four views, or figures, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment with the infeed portion to the upper left;
Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the preferred embodiment, with the frame partially cut away to reveal internal details;
Fig. 3 is a top or plan view of the preferred embodiment, with the partial cover shown in Figs. 1 and 2 removed to reveal internal detail, and
Fig. 4 is a cross-section view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Referring to Fig. 1, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus conveying and sealing groups of form sets and sometimes referred to as a sealer/conveyor (10), which is adapted to operate on 110 Volt current and rest atop feet such as foot (11) on a mobile stand (12), for general office use. The sealer/conveyor (10) includes a base or frame (14), heating structure (16), infeed conveyor structure (18), output conveyor structure (20), and stacking rack (22). Form sheets are conveyed in groups on the infeed conveyor (18) through the heating structure (16), where they are sealed into form sets, then fed onto the outfeed conveyor 20, and stacked against the rack 22.
As shown only in Fig. 1, the infeed conveyor structure 18 includes an infeed conveyor of a plurality of conveyor belts such as belt 24 stretched about pulleys such as pulley 26 on pulley shafts such as shaft 28.
Also as shown only in Fig. 1, a plurality of alignment or nip rollers 30 are mounted to the base 14, above the conveyor structure 18. The rollers 30 are adapted to be friction driven by the infeed conveyor belts. Pivotable links 32 provide for rotation of the rollers 30 about their central axes, and pivoting of the rollers 30 about a shaft 34. The shaft 34 slides within slotted support brackets 36, for adjustment of the distance of the rollers 30 relative to the infeed end 38 of the infeed conveyor structure.
The sealer/conveyor 10 is usable with a detacher, a collator, or similar machines, for receiving form sheets from such equipment on the conveyor belts of the infeed conveyor. The infeed conveyor belts are driven to provide a form speed substantially less than that of an associated detacher or the like. The sealer/conveyor is attached by frame hooks 35 to the associated equipment. Collated form sheets, whether matched or mismatched, are deposited on the infeed conveyor belts 24. Where mismatching is expected, the rollers 30 are adjusted to be sufficiently close to the infeed end 38 that the distance from the end rollers of the detacher or the like to the rollers 30 is less than one form length. As a result of the conveyor speed and position of the rollers 30, form sheets of a form set arriving mismatched at the rollers 30 are jogged or slid relative to each other into alignment.
In more detail, where a plurality of mismatched form sheets are conveyed onto the conveyor belts 24, the leading edge of the form sheet which is first to arrive at the nip rollers 30 will be slowed to the speed of the belts 24 and rollers 30, at the nip of the belts 24 and rollers 30. Remaining form sheets, the leading edges of which have not arrived at the rollers 30, continue to be driven at higher speed to the rollers 30. As the leading edge of each remaining form sheet arrives at the nip of the belts 24 and rollers 30, the leading portion of each form sheet is slowed, and each leading edge is substantially aligned or matched with the leading edge of the first arriving sheet.
The aligned form sheets continue to move, at the reduced speed of the belts 24 and rollers 30, into the heating structure 16. As form sheets of further form sets arrive at the rollers 30, these further form sheets overlap the trailing portions of the form sheets of preceding form sets. The sealer/conveyor 10 accommodates such overlapped or shingled form sets, which remain shingled until racked.
The overlapped form sets move at the speed established by the infeed conveyor structure 18 into the heater structure means 16. As shown in Figs. 2-4, the heater structure 16 includes vertically spaced upper and lower heating platens 40, 42. Platen or pressure rollers such as roller 44 include roller segments such as 46 on shafts such as 48. The roller segments extend through cut-outs in the platens, to drive the shingled form sets through the heating structure 16, between the platens 40, 42..
As shown in Fig. 2, the platen rollers include idler rollers in the cover 52 of the heating structure 16, and driving rollers driven by a chain drive 50 from a motor 54. The motor 54 drives a shaft 56 of the output conveyor structure 20, which drives sprockets such as sprocket 58 mounted along the shafts of the driving platen rollers. The shaft 56 and sprocket 58 are portions of the drive 50.
The platens 40, 42 heat by electrical resistance to heat the heat sealable adhesive in each of the form sets to seal the form sheets of the form sets together. The speed of each form set through the heating structure 16 is equal to the speed of the infeed conveyor 18, while the number of form sets through the heating structure per unit time is determined by the speed of the detacher or other associated equipment. As an example, each form sheet may travel through the heating structure 16 at an infeed conveyor speed of thirty feed per minute, while the form sets may accumulate on the sealer/conveyor at a detacher speed of up to sixty feet per minute. The length and temperature of the platens 40, 42 are set to soften the heat-sealable adhesive of the form sets, as they pass between the platens 40, 42.
As most preferred, the platens 40, 42 soften the heat seal adhesive on form sets travelling at the conveyor speed stated as an example, thirty feet per minute, and accumulating at the detacher speed stated as an example, up to sixty feet per minute. Also as most preferred, the platens 40, 42 soften the heat seal adhesive on form sheets of weight from 18 pound bond to 99 pound index.
The resulting sealed form sets exit the heating structure 16 onto an output conveyor of a plurality of output conveyor belts such as 60 stretched about pulleys such as 62, as shown in Fig. 1. The output conveyor belts are driven at the same speed as the input conveyor belts. At the terminal end of the output conveyor structure 20, the form sets are driven onto the rack 22. Since the form sets remain shingled on the output conveyor belts, each form set acts as a guide for movement of following form sets onto the rack 22. The form sets remain stacked upon the rack 22, in condition for use, until manually removed.

Claims

1. Apparatus for conveying and sealing groups of form sets comprising separate form sheets, the apparatus comprising a base (14), an infeed conveyor means (18), a sheet conveying means (30), a sealing means (16) and an outfeed conveyor means (20) characterized in that the conveying means includes a plurality of nip rollers (30), said nip rollers being rotatable about a central axis and being adapted to be friction driven, by the infeed conveyor means (18), said nip rollers being associated with the infeed conveyor means (18) for receiving form sheets derived from respective collated detached continuous forms and for slowing the form sheet which first arrives on the conveyor means (18) to align the leading edge with the leading edge of the subsequently arriving form sheet of the set of which at least one of the form sheets has a heat sealable surface, the speed of said infeed conveyor means (18) is substantially less than the infeed speed of the form sheets so that the form sets are overlapped; and that the sealing means includes a heater means (16) for heating the heat sealable adhesive in the sheets of the overlapped form sets to seal the sheets.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the nip rollers (30) are adjustably mounted at a distance from the infeed end (38) of the infeed conveyor means.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the conveyor means (18) for slowing the form sheet includes a plurality of driven endless belts (24) and in that each nip roller (30) cooperates with each respective belt.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the heater means (16) includes heating platens (40,42) and a plurality of pressure rollers (44, 46) for simultaneously applying heat and pressure to the overlapped form sets passing the heater means (16).

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the outfeed conveyor means (20) includes a plurality of conveyor belts (60) driven at the same speed as conveyor belts (24) of the infeed conveyor means (18).