EP0155633B1 - Process and device for uniting two flows of overlapping articles - Google Patents

Description

According to a first idea of the invention, the invention relates to a method for combining two shingled streams running side by side, in particular consisting of folded products, into a common product stream and, according to a further inventive idea, relates to an apparatus for carrying out this method.

The folding products produced in a folding device and designed in the form of one or more shingled streams are generally subsequently fed to a packaging device in order to form dispatchable units. With the delivery in the form of two parallel streams of shingles, which either come from two folding units or can be formed by pulling together, folded jointly folded products, two packing devices and the operating personnel required for two packing devices are required, which has an unfavorable effect on the production costs.

In the unpublished patent application DE-33 36 507, a method and a device for combining two scale streams are now proposed. According to this known proposal is the one of the two turned to each other to be united shingled streams by 180 ⁰ and placed on the other scale flow. The result is a common product stream. However, this is a product stream with two shingled streams lying on top of each other in mirror image. A product stream of this type, however, is very difficult to process in some cases, especially if comparatively inferior paper is used. In addition, the turning process can lead to heavy stress on the products, so that this type of shingled stream combination is in some cases not practicable for this reason alone. In some cases, the mirror image position of the products, which is also present here in the area of the stacks to be produced after the shingled stream combination, is undesirable. Furthermore, the turning station required here can result in a large amount of space and construction.

Proceeding from this, it is therefore the object of the present invention to create a method and a device for combining two streams of shingles while avoiding the disadvantages and retaining the advantages of the known proposal, not only ensuring comparatively simple feasibility, but also universal applicability .

The procedural solution to this problem is, according to the invention, that the two scale streams have a displacement of their products corresponding to half a scale distance in the running direction, brought together in a common transport plane at an acute angle to a complete overlap and alternately in the area of the meeting of the mutual products from the common one Transport level can be deflected.

In this case, the two shingled streams to be combined are advantageously pushed together to form a common shingled stream with half the shingled spacing, a trouble-free pushing together being achieved due to the mutual displacement of the two shingled streams in the running direction and due to the alternating deflection of the successive products between the two shingled streams. The end product is advantageously a uniform stream of flakes with the same products. As a result of halving the scale spacing, this common scale flow has a comparatively high stability, which has a positive effect on the further processing, for example in a packing device. Nevertheless, this ensures that all products in the area of the combined stream flow have the same position and orientation, which is often desirable for reasons of sorting. At the same time, the measures according to the invention ensure gentle treatment of the products, since they practically do not leave their original transport level. From this it can be seen that the invention solves the task set with simple and inexpensive means.

In an advantageous development of the superordinate measures, in the case of processing folded products, these are expediently transported with their folded back. This makes it easier to push the two shingled streams into one another.

A further expedient measure can consist in the removal of the product stream combined to form a shingled stream in a direction corresponding to the course of the bisector between the directions of the two shingled streams to be combined. This measure advantageously facilitates the alignment of the front product edges perpendicular to the end direction.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the superordinate measures, the two shingled streams to be combined can be non-positively detected at least in the area of their outer side edges and can be guided while maintaining the non-positive engagement until the products of the two shingled streams are only laterally offset from one another by the respective non-positively captured area. These measures result in a reliable forward transport with simultaneous side transport.

The device-based solution of the above object is achieved according to the invention two shingled flow guides (inlet branches 1, 2) converging in a V-shape and having the same speed in the transport direction, the end regions (ia, 2a) having the same transport planes are designed in the manner of a miter symmetrical to the bisector between their transport directions and in the area of the intersection of the inner peripheral edges of the shingled streams (4 or 5) lying on them have a support-free area (14, 14a) to which a deflection device (15 or 15a) arranged above the inner edge edges of the shingled streams (4 or 5) is assigned , by means of the edge region of the successive products (13) of the two shingles (4 or 14) corresponding to half a shingle spacing (S) in the direction of travel of their products (13, 14a) of the shingled flow guides (1, 2) 5) can be lowered from the original transport level .

The table provided here advantageously provides reliable, level support for the two streams of shingles in the overlap area. With the help of the table recess and the deflection device assigned to it, the formation of insertion gaps located in the transport plane for mutually pushing the products of the two scale streams into one another is achieved despite this fixed support. The recess provided in the region of the table advantageously ensures that the shingled flow region which is unsupported in the region of the recess can be deflected from the transport plane in the desired manner simply by gently pressing it down, which proves to be particularly advantageous when processing multilayer folded products. The measures according to the invention accordingly result in a high degree of reliability and functional reliability with a comparatively simple construction.

In an expedient further development of the superordinate measures, the deflection device can be designed as a cam disk arranged above the table, driven in time with the incoming products and engaging with its circumference in the recess of the table. In an advantageous manner, this is a very robust, continuously drivable component for depressing the scale flow areas going beyond the table recess. If only one cam disk is provided, it is expediently arranged in such a way that its plane of rotation corresponds to a plane perpendicular to the table and running along the bisector between the two shingled flow guides converging at an acute angle. This ensures that the circumferential cams of the cam disk alternately come into engagement with one or the other shingled stream offset in the running direction.

A further advantageous measure can consist in the fact that the shingled flow guides each have at least one pair of clamping bands which detects the outer edge of the respectively associated shingled flow and extends beyond the clamping gap and runs parallel to the assigned transport direction. These measures advantageously result in a force-locking detection of the shingled streams to be combined with one another in the common overlap region and thus in a reliable forced transport.

A further advantageous measure can consist in the fact that, following the pair of clamping bands assigned to the outer marginal edges of the two shingled streams, alignment bands are provided which run parallel to this and are arranged perpendicular to the table plane, preferably with lead. are driven relative to the pair of clamping bands. These alignment belts straighten the individual products of the combined stream of shingles. H. with its front edge perpendicular to the end running direction, which advantageously corresponds to the course of the bisector between the transport directions of the two shingled streams to be combined with one another.

Further expedient further developments and advantageous refinements of the superordinate measures result from the following description of a preferred exemplary embodiment with reference to the drawing in conjunction with the remaining subclaims.

• Figur 1 eine Draufsicht auf eine erfindungsgemäße Schuppenstromauslage,
• Figur 2 eine Seitenansicht der Anordnung gemäß Figur 1 und
• Figur 3 eine vergrößerte Darstellung der Auslenkeinrichtung in Figur 2 entsprechender Darstellung.

The drawing shows:

• FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a scale flow delivery according to the invention,
• Figure 2 is a side view of the arrangement of Figure 1 and
• Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the deflection device in Figure 2 corresponding representation.

The scale flow delivery according to the invention is, as can best be seen from FIG. 1, a top view of a Y-shaped scale flow guide with two inlet branches 1, 2 converging at an acute angle in the transport direction and a direction corresponding to the course of the bisector between the transport directions of the inlet branches Discharge branch 3 based. The outlet-side ends of the inlet branches 1, 2 overlap each other, so that the shingled streams 4 and 5 arriving on the outlet branches 1, 2 are pushed together to form a common shed stream 6, which is transported away on the outlet branch 3.

The inlet branches 1, 2 and the outlet branch 3 are formed by sets of belts which run in the respective direction indicated by arrows and are arranged in accordance with the desired Y-shaped basic configuration and are driven synchronously at the same speed. The outlet branch 3 has a plurality of belts 7 arranged next to one another in order to achieve reliable support. The same applies to the inlet branches 1, 2, which are also several in addition have mutually arranged belts 8a and 8b on which the products of the associated shingled stream rest. These bands 8a and 8b end in the overlap area in such a way that there is no engagement with the shingled stream resting on the other inlet branch in order to prevent rotation of the products. Accordingly, as can best be seen from FIG. 2, the respective outer bands 8a go through to the end of the overlap region. The inner bands 8b already end in the area where the two inlet branches 1 and 2 begin to overlap. The products forming the shingled streams 4, 5 are supported in this area by means of a table 9 formed by a plate of sheet metal or plywood or the like, over which the upper run of the outer bands 8a and the inner bands 8b partially passes.

Outside the overlap area, the products of the shingled streams 4, 5 simply rest on the belts 8a, 8b of the respectively assigned belt set. In the overlap area, however, guidance and forced transport of the products are required. For this purpose, a clamping gap 10 is provided in the area of each inlet gap 1, 2, in which the corresponding products with their outer, ie. H. shrink away from the edge. A pair of clamping bands is provided in order to form the clamping gap 10, which is effected by forced movement and transport, which is simply formed here by the respective outer band 8a as the lower band and by an upper clamping band 11 associated therewith, which extends approximately over the length of the table 9 . The lower run of the upper clamping band 11, as best shown in FIG. 2, is pressed against the upper run of the respectively assigned lower band 8a by pressure rollers 12 in order to effect a reliable engagement. The limitation of the clamping gaps 10 by a respective upper clamping band 11 results in a particularly reliable forced transport. In simple cases, however, it would also be easily conceivable to simply assign pressure rollers to the lower belt 8a. The belts 8 and 7 forming the inlet branches 1 and 2 and the outlet branch 3 are forcibly driven, with at least the belts 8 of the inlet branches 1 and 2 having the same speed. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the belts 7 of the outlet branches should also have the same speed as the belts 8 of the inlet branches 1, 2. However, it would also be conceivable to drive the belts 7 at a greater or lesser speed than the belts 8 in order to achieve an increase or decrease in the scale spacing resulting in the region of the outlet branch 3, which in the exemplary embodiment shown is half that in the region of the inlet branches 1 , 2 existing scale spacing corresponds. The upper clamping bands 11 or the pressure rollers 12 assigned to them do not require any drive and are simply taken along by friction. The frictional engagement in the area of the lateral clamping gaps 10 results in a reliable transport of the respectively assigned scale streams 4 and 5 while maintaining their respective running direction in the overlap area, so that the scale streams 4 and 5 in the mutual overlap area of the inlet branches 1, 2 while maintaining the exact Position and orientation of your products can be reliably pushed into each other.

The products forming the shingled streams 4, 5 to be combined may be cardboard blanks or the like. In the exemplary embodiment shown, these are supposed to be folding products 13 which are designed by a folding apparatus arranged downstream of a printing press. In many cases, two shingled streams are already designed to reduce the working speed. However, it is also conceivable to design interlocking products in the form of a simple shingled stream and then pulling the products apart to such an extent that two parallel shingled streams result. In any case, there are equal scale spacings, the scale streams 4, 5 to be combined with one another are guided in such a way that the fold back of the fold products 13 points in the direction of transport in the overlap region. At the same time, the shingled streams 4, 5 to be combined with one another are offset from one another in the transport direction by about half a shingled spacing, so that the folded products 13 of the two shingled streams 4, 5 in the region of the intersection of the inner marginal edges of these two shingled streams, i.e. H. meet at the beginning of the mutual overlap, with an offset corresponding to half a scale distance, d. H. the inner front corner of the folded products 13 of the one shingled stream meets the side edge of the respectively associated folded product 13 of the opposite shingled stream approximately in the region of the center of the shingled distance. The scale spacing of the combined scale stream 6 accordingly corresponds to half the scale distance of the scale streams 4, 5 to be combined.

In order to facilitate the insertion of the folded products 13 of the one shingled stream 4 or 5 between the folded products 13 of the respective other shingled stream, in the region of the mutually facing inner edge edges of the shingled streams 4, 5 to be combined, at the point at which the mutual folded products 13 meet, alternating insertion gaps formed, into which the respectively arriving folding products 13 of the adjacent stream of shingles can enter. After a first mutual intervention has been established, the folded products 13 of the two shingled streams 4, 5 are pushed further together in the course of the further forward transport, with one folded product 13 of the respective shingled stream 4 being in each case on one folded product 13 other scale flow 5 follows. The required side transport results automatically from the arrangement of the two inlet branches 1, 2 converging at an acute angle.

To form the insertion gaps, the inner marginal edges of the successive products of the two scale streams 4, 5 are alternately deflected downward from their transport plane defined by the table 9. For this purpose, the table 9 is in the area of the intersection of the inner marginal edges of the two scale streams 4, 5, d. H. in the area of the beginning of the mutual overlap of the two inlet branches or the shingled streams associated therewith, i.e. in the area in which the folded products 13 of the two shingled streams 4, 5 meet, are provided with a recess 14 into which one is rotatably mounted above the table 9 Cam disk 15 dips with its circumferential cams 16, as can best be seen from FIG. 3. The recess 14 can, as shown in Figure 1, be rectangular and be arranged so that the bisector between the inlet branches 1, 2 converging at an acute angle forms a line of symmetry. The plane of rotation of the cam disc 15 corresponds to a perpendicular to the table 9, the aforementioned bisector containing level. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cam disk 15 is provided with a plurality of tooth-shaped cams 16, the spacing of which corresponds to half the scale spacing in the area of the inlet-side scale flows 4, 5. The cam disc 15 is in time with the incoming products, i. H. driven so that each of the folded products 13 of the two shingled streams 4 passing underneath them comes into engagement with a circumferential cam 16. This ensures that whenever a folded product 13 of the right or left shingled stream 4 or 5 approaches the opposite edge of the other shingled stream, the preceding folding product 13 of this shingled stream by means of a circumferential cam 16 somewhat in the recess 14 of the table 9 is pushed in so that there is an insertion gap 17 located in the region of the transport plane defined by the table 9 for the folded product 13 of the opposite shingled stream approaching from the inner edge edge, as can best be seen in FIG. The cam disc 15 is adjusted so that the engagement of the circumferential cams 16 with the folded product 13 to be depressed takes place in the region of the center of the scale spacing, as can also be seen in FIG. 3. This results in wide insertion gaps. The edge regions 18 of the recess 14 can be angled slightly downwards to protect the products to be pressed down. In the illustrated embodiment, a center, ie. H. provided in the region of the bisector 15 which alternately depresses the successive products of one or the other scale flow. However, it would also be conceivable to prefer two cam disks arranged next to one another, each of which presses down the folded products i3 of the respectively associated shingled stream at an offset cycle. These cams could be arranged on a common shaft and driven at the same speed. The distance between the circumferential cams provided would correspond to the scale spacing in the area of the inlet-side scale flows 4, 5, the circumferential cams of the two cam disks being offset from one another by half a scale spacing.

The front edges or side edges of the folded products 13 are at right angles or parallel to the end direction, ie. H. aligned with the direction of the outlet branch 3. For this purpose, at the outlet-side end of the overlap region, alignment strips 19 are provided, which are assigned to the outer marginal edges of the already combined scale stream 6, the running surface of which is perpendicular to the plane of the table 9, i. H. to the transport level. The alignment belts 19 run parallel to the outer peripheral edges of the respectively assigned inlet branch 1 or 2 or the scale stream 4 or 5 respectively received thereon. The alignment belts 19 have a grippy outer surface and are driven at a somewhat higher speed than the transport speed, so that the from the clamping bands 11 released folding products 13, each of which still have the orientation predetermined by the clamping bands 11, are pivoted in such a way that their front edges are oriented approximately perpendicularly and their side edges approximately parallel to the running direction of the outlet branch 3. The aligning belts 19 are expediently arranged so far outside that their running surfaces practically only come into engagement with the front corners of the folded products 13 to be pivoted. In the illustrated embodiment, the aligning belts 19 are followed by a vibrating device with vibrating bars 20 running parallel to the side edges of the outflow-side scale flow 6, which can be displaced in a shaking movement perpendicular to the transport direction of the outflow-side scale flow 6, as indicated by the double arrows shown in FIG. 1 is. The aligning belts 19 aligned parallel to the edge edges of the respectively assigned inlet branch 1 or 2 thereby practically constitute an inlet funnel bridging the fork-shaped transition from the two inlet branches 1, 2 to the outlet branch 3 for the vibrating ledges 20 running parallel to the edge edges of the outlet branch 3 Shaking device represents. In the area of the shaking device practically only a fine alignment of the folded products 13 takes place. The actual alignment is accomplished by the alignment belts 19.

Claims (10)

1. A method for combining two adjacently moving streams of overlapped products, more especially folded ones, to form a common stream of products characterized in that the two streams (4 and 5) of overlapped products have an offset of their products (13) in the direction of travel by half the product pitch, are moved together in a common plane of conveyance at an acute angle till they completely overlap and at the point of confluence of the respective products (13) are diverted alternately out of the common plane of conveyance.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that in the case of the processing of folded items (13) the latter are conveyed with their spines to the fore.

3. The method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims characterized in that the outer side edges of the two overlapped product streams (4 and 5) are firstly gripped by frictional means and guided while maintaining such frictional engagement until the products of the two streams (4 and 5) of overlapped products are only offset laterally in relation to each other by an amount equal to the parts which are respectively frictionally engaged and in that the products (13) after the termination of the frictional guiding action are aligned with their leading edge normal to the final direction of travel which corresponds to the course of the bisector between the directions of the two overlapped products (4 and 5) to be combined.

4. An apparatus for performing the method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims characterized by two overlapping product stream guides (inlet sections 1 and 2) running together in the form of a letter V and having the same speed, whose end parts (1a and 2a) having the same plane of conveyance are formed like a miter symmetrically about the bisector of the angle defined by the directions of transport and at the point of intersection of the inner edges of the overlapping product streams resting thereon (4 and 5, respectively) have a part (14 and 15, respectively) which is associated with a diverting device (15 and 15a, respectively) coming into engagement with the inner edges of the overlapping product streams (4 and 5, respectively) and placed above the latter, and by means of this diverting devices the edge part moving over the support-free part (14 and 14a) of the overlapping product stream guides (1 and 2) of the sequentially following products (13) of the overlapping product streams (4 and 5, respectively) having an offset of their products in the direction of travel corresponding to half the pitch of the overlapped products, may be lowered from the original conveying plane.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 characterized in that the diverting device has at least one cam (15) having its periphery extending into a recess (14) of table (9), over which the cam is preferably arranged, said cam being driven in step with the incoming products (13), the plane of rotation of the cam preferably corresponding to a plane perpendicular to the table (9) running along the bisector between the two overlapped product guides running together at an acute angle.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 characterized in that the cam (15) has a plurality of tooth-like humps (16) on its periphery, whose mutual spacing is equal to half the product pitch and in that the cam (15) is preferably so arranged that the products (13) come into engagement with it at the middle of the distance between the overlapped products.

7. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 4 through 6 characterized in that the overlapped product guides each have at least one gripping belt pair (8a and 11) engaging the outer edge of the respectively associated overlapping product stream (4 and 5), delimiting the gripping gap extending over the table (9) and parallel to the associated direction of conveyance, the upper belts (11) of the pair of gripping belts being preferably pressed by pinch rollers (12) on the respectively associated lower belt (8a) resting on the table (9).

8. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 4 to 7 characterized in that the table (9) or the overlapped product guides passing over it is followed by a set of belts (7) preferably running through one lateral edge aligning device, whose direction of conveyance is the same as the direction of the bisector between the two overlapped product guides running towards each other at an acute angle.

9. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 7 through 8 characterized in that adjoining the pairs (8a and 11) of gripping belts associated with the outer edges of the two streams overlapped products (4 and 5) there are aligning belts (19) which are parallel to them and are arranged so as to be perpendicular to the plane of the table (9), such belts being preferably driven with a lead in relation to the speed of conveyance.

10. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 7 through 9 characterized by a shaking device, preferably arranged after the aligning belts (19) with lateral shaking rails (20) running parallel to the direction of removal.

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