EP0242702B1 - Method and device for turning continually arriving flat products - Google Patents

Abstract

1. A method of turning continually arriving flat products in a stream formation, in which individual products are taken hold of and are scattered out of the stream formation by acceleration and at the same time are turned about a lateral axis arranged transversely to the conveying direction and are then conducted to a path conveyor in such a way that a new stream formation occurs, characterised in that the flat products are taken hold exclusively in the region of their front end and are then accelerated and turned with the following area moving freely and are slowed down before release onto the path conveyor operating as the supply conveyor in the opposite direction.

Description

The present invention relates to a method according to the preamble of patent claim 1 and an apparatus for carrying out the method according to the preamble of patent claim 3.

In the device known from DE-A 34 17 053, the supplied flat structures are introduced with their leading edge ahead into the conveying gap between a deflection drum and a support belt that wraps around it. The peripheral speed of the deflection drum is equal to the peripheral speed of the support belt and these speeds are considerably greater than the speed of the sheetlike structures supplied. This accelerates the flat structures, separates them from the scale formation and at the same time deflects them in their direction of movement by approximately 180 °. A stationary stop is provided at the exit of the conveying gap, which stops the sheets emerging from the conveying gap at high speed and then drops them onto a conveyor, the conveying direction and speed of which essentially corresponds to that of the supplied sheets. This again creates a scale formation on the conveyor, but in which the edge leading in during the feeding of the flat structures becomes the trailing edge and vice versa the edge trailing in the feeding becomes the leading edge.

What has been explained above for DE-A 34 17 053 in relation to the supplied and the removed scale formation also applies to the device known from AU-A 522 596, namely that the leading edges of the supplied sheetlike structures follow the trailing edges of the removed ones Become fabrics. This is undesirable in certain cases if the fabrics are formed by folded printed sheets, for example newspapers, in which the leading edge in the scale formation is generally formed by the fold. This is because it is often necessary for newspapers thus produced in a scale formation from a rotary printing press to be subjected to further processing both on one side and on the other flat side, although the original scale formation must be retained.

The invention is therefore based on the object of designing a method and a device of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that the leading edge of the supplied flat structures remains the leading edge even in the removed flat structures, which overlaps part of the preceding flat structure.

This object is achieved in the proposed method by the steps described in the characterizing part of claim 1. The device proposed for carrying out the method has the features described in the characterizing part of patent claim 3.

Preferred embodiments of the proposed method and the proposed device are described in the dependent claims 2 and 4-9.

• Fig. 1 eine Seitenansicht einer Vorrichtung,
• Fig. 2 einen etwas schematisierten Schnitt etwa längs der Linie 11-11 der Fig. 1, und
• Fig. 3 in sehr schematisierter Darstellungsweise eine Ausführungsvariante.

The invention is explained in more detail below, for example, with reference to the drawing. It shows :

• 1 is a side view of a device,
• Fig. 2 shows a somewhat schematic section approximately along the line 11-11 of Fig. 1, and
• Fig. 3 in a very schematic representation of an embodiment.

Reference is first made to FIGS. 1 and 2. In the device 10 shown, a feed conveyor 11 and a removal conveyor 12 and a deflection mechanism 13 arranged between them can be seen.

The feed conveyor 11 effective in the direction of the arrow 14 has driver cams 16 fastened at regular intervals from one another on an endless, guided chain 15 indicated by dash-dotted lines, each of which pushes a printed product 17 in front of it. The mutual distance of the driving mocks 16 from one another is smaller than the format of the printed products 17 measured in the direction of the arrow 14, so that their leading edge (here the cut edge or flower) overlaps the trailing edge (here the fold or collar) of the preceding printed product. The printed products 17 thus occur here in an orderly scale flow with a regular, so-called «scale spacing».

The removal conveyor 12 effective in the direction of arrow 19 is constructed analogously. Driving cams 20 are fastened at intervals from one another to an endless, revolvingly driven and guided chain, which in turn push the now-turned printed products 17 (it will be come back to this later) at their trailing edge. The distances of the driving cams 20 from one another correspond to those of the driving cams 16 from one another and the speed of the chain 19 corresponds - apart from the direction - to that of the chain 15.

The deflection device 13 - as can be seen in FIG. 2 - has two pairs of chains 21-21 and 22-22 rotating in parallel to one another, the deflection wheels 23, 24 (FIG. 1) arranged in pairs and in parallel axes and in between in upper rails 25, 25 'and lower rails 26, 26' are guided in a straight line.

Each of the chain pairs 21-21 and 22-22 is equipped with a total of six outwardly projecting supports 27 and 28, the spacing of which from one another - as seen in the straight-line sections of the chain pairs 21-21 and 22-22 - the distances between the driving cams 16 or 20 correspond from each other. Each of the supports 17, 18 consists of two articulated couplers 29, 30 and 31, 32, which are articulated at their outer ends at 33 and 34 and are articulated at their inner ends at a distance from one another on the corresponding pair of chains 21-21 and 22-22.

At their outer ends, the carriers 27 and 28 are each provided with a gripper 35 or 36, which has a jaw 37 or 38 which is fixed with respect to the corresponding articulated coupling 29 or 31 and which is fixed to the fixed jaw 37 by springs 40 or 41 or 38 to, d. H. Has pivoted jaw 42 or 43 biased in the closed position. The pivotable jaws 42 and 43 are via an invisible lever mechanism, of which only a laterally protruding plunger 42 ', 43' is visible, by means of stationary scenes 44, 45 from the closed position into the opening shown in dash-dotted lines in FIG. 2 and controllable back.

The parallel pairs of chains 21-21 and 22-22 are each driven via a sprocket 46 or 47 via chains, not shown, in synchronism with one another, at the same speed as the chains 15 and 19. The distance between the carriers 27 and that the carrier 28 from each other - as long as they are on the straight line of the chain pairs 21-21 and 22-22 located between the deflection wheels 23, 24 - corresponds to that of the driving cams 16 and 20 from each other.

It can be seen from this that the grippers 35 and 36, as long as their carriers 27 and 28 on the rectilinear strands of the chain pairs 21-21 and 22-22 are absolutely synchronous with those from the feed conveyor 11 on a sliding table 48 (FIG. 1 above) deferred print products 17 run. The sliding table 48 is less wide than the printed products 17, so that they protrude on both sides. Shortly before one of the carriers 27, 28 or its articulated coupling 30 or 32 with its articulation point on the chain pair 21-21 or 22-22 begins to run onto the deflection wheel 23, the grippers 35 and 36 are closed, as shown in FIG. 1 is shown at the top right next to section line 11-11. In this way, they grasp the printed product 17 located in their area on its lateral edges. Since the carriers 27, 28 now project outwards from the chain pairs 21-21 and 22-22, their outer end or the gripper present there experiences acceleration. The grippers 35, 36 are accelerated until the articulation points of both the articulated coupling 30 and 32 and the articulated coupling 29 and 31 on the corresponding chain pairs 21-21 and 22-22 are on the deflection wheel. As a result, the printed products 17 are separated and - held by the grippers 35, 36 - individually deflected about a deflection axis corresponding approximately to the axis of rotation of the deflection wheel 23.

In order to support and / or prevent the printed products 17 from being damaged due to the centrifugal force during this deflection process, on the one hand a roller track 49 is provided which follows the trajectory of the grippers 35, 36 and on the other hand one of the trajectory of the grippers 35, 36 following guide rail 50 around the outside.

As soon as the pivot point of the articulated couplers 30 and 32 on the corresponding chain pairs 21-21 and 22-22 leaves the deflection wheel, the deceleration phase of the carriers 27, 28 and thus the grippers 35, 36 begins. This deceleration phase continues until the The articulation point of the articulated coupling 29, 31 on the corresponding chain pair 21-21 or 22-22 has left the deflection wheel 23. The grippers 35, 36 thus run at the same speed as the conveyor 12 and the grippers can thus be opened, whereupon the corresponding printed product 17 is transferred to the conveyor 12.

In Fig. 1, the upper side of the printed products 17 accumulating on the feed conveyor 11 is indicated by a thick line. When the printed product has reached the conveyor 12, this side which was at the top lies at the bottom, but the scale formation present on the conveyor 11 has been preserved in the sense that the leading edge of each printed product overlaps the trailing edge of the preceding printed product 17 . Each printed product is therefore turned around turning axes parallel to the conveying direction and the original formation has been retained. Of course, the printed products 17 can also be produced with the leading bundle and the trailing flower on the feed conveyor 11 and can be carried away on the away conveyor.

The embodiment outlined in FIG. 3 differs from the previously described embodiment primarily in that one and the same individual conveyor 51 serves as the feed conveyor and as the away conveyor. This is essentially the same as the single conveyor described in CH-PS 644.816 (largely identical in content to DE-OS 3 102 242.1 and US-PS 4,381,056) with one difference. This difference consists in the fact that its grippers 52 are coupled at regular intervals from one another via a coupling element 54 to the chain 53, which is only indicated, but at the same time each gripper is pivotably articulated on the coupling member 54 about a pivot pin 55 directed transversely to the chain 53. In addition, a roller 56 is arranged on the housing of each of the grippers 52, which are controlled in the open or closed position in the same way as in the abovementioned patents, and which cooperates with stationary scenes 57, 58, so that ultimately the scenes 57, 58 determine the pivoting position of the grippers 52 determine with respect to chain 53.

The printed products 17 resulting from the strand of the individual conveyor 51 appearing at the top in FIG. 3 in the same formation as in FIG. 1 are now taken over by an intermediate conveyor 59 constructed in a manner similar to the feed conveyor 11 or the removal conveyor 12, the driving catches 60 of which are at a greater distance are attached to each other on the only indicated chain 61 as the mutual distance of the grippers 52 on the chain 53. In contrast, the conveying speed of the intermediate conveyor 59 is so much higher than that of the individual conveyor 51 that one of the driving cam 60 always meets one of the grippers 52. The driving mocks 60 thus pull the printed products 17 out of the mouth of the now opened grippers 52 and push them in front of them onto the sliding table 48, where they are taken over by the deflection mechanism 13, which is only shown schematically. The carriers 27, 28 which carry the grippers 35, 36 and protrude outwards from the chains 21-21, 22-22 are not formed here by two articulated couplers, but rather are suitably fastened to the associated chains 21-21, 22-22 that they protrude from them at right angles.

The spacing of the carriers 27, 28 from one another corresponds to that of the driving cam 60 from one another and the rotational speed of the chains 21-21, 22-22 corresponds here to that of the intermediate conveyor 59.

Thus, the grippers 35, 36 and the printed product 17 captured by them suddenly get a higher speed as soon as the corresponding carrier 27, 28 or its associated chains 21-21, 22-22 runs onto the deflection wheel 23, which in this case is smaller than the deflection wheel 24 is.

Therefore, the straight lines of the chains 21-21, 22-22 between the wheels 23 and 24 are not parallel to each other. The "returning run of the chains 21-21 and 22-22 appearing at the bottom in FIG. 3 leads essentially radially to the deflection wheel 62 of the individual conveyor 51, on which the empty and still open grippers 52 meanwhile through the scenes 57, 58 into one pivoting position projecting at right angles from the chain 53 have been brought. As a result, the leading edge of the printed products 17 is now gripped by the grippers 52, and these are then hung away on the lower run of the individual conveyor 51.

If the printed products 17 carried away were dragged over a sliding table 63 indicated by dashed lines, it becomes clear that the formation in which the printed products 17 were supplied has remained practically the same, i. H. the "leading" edge (here the flower) overlaps the trailing edge (here the bunch) of the previous printed product. The printed products have also been turned by the deflection mechanism, because the upper sides of the supplied printed products, which are labeled with a short part, are now in the “quasi” scale formation on the sliding table 63 below. In the course of this turning, however, the grippers 52 also changed in the sense that when the printed products 17 were fed, they gripped their trailing edges (here the collar) and when they were carried away, the opposite edge, here the flower.

Claims (9)

1. A method of turning continually arriving flat products in a stream formation, in which individual products are taken hold of and are scattered out of the stream formation by acceleration and at the same time are turned about a lateral axis arranged transversely to the conveying direction and are then conducted to a path conveyor in such a way that a new stream formation occurs, characterised in that the flat products are taken hold exclusively in the region of their front end and are then accelerated and turned with the following area moving freely and are slowed down before release onto the path conveyor operating as the supply conveyor in the opposite direction.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterised in that the flat products taken hold of in the supply direction in the region of their front end are conveyed before turning with the same speed - as in the feed apparatus for turning.

3. Apparatus for turning continually arriving flat products (17) in a stream formation on a supply conveyor (11) with a turning mechanism (13) arranged after the supply conveyor, consisting of at least one endlessly circulating driven traction member (21, 22) which is guided around a guide wheel at which the flat products are scattered out of the stream formation by acceleration and are turned about a lateral axis arranged transversely to the conveying direction and with a path conveyor receiving the flat products from the turning mechanism and transporting these in stream formation, characterised in that the traction member (21, 22) is provided with carriers (27, 28) arranged equidistantly from one another and projecting outwardly, and grabbers (35, 36) are mounted at their outer ends the purpose of which is to take hold of a flat product from the side in the region of its front end.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterised in that the turning mechanism (13) has two pairs of parallel circulating driven chains (21-21, 22-22) which are each provided with outwardly projecting carriers (27, 28), and that the grabbers (35, 36) are fitted to the turning mechanism in order to take hold of a supplied flat product (17) in the region of its front end from one side edge and from the other side edge, respectively, as a pair.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, characterised in that each of the carriers (27, 28) consists of two jointed couplings (29, 30 ; 31, 32) joined to each other at one end and joined at the other end to two coupling locations spaced apart from one another on the corresponding chains (21-21 ; 22-22).

6. Apparatus according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterised in that the tuming speed of the traction member (21-21 ; 22-22) corresponds at least to the conveying speed of the supply conveyor (11) and the path conveyor (12).

7. Apparatus according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterised in that guide means, for example guide rails (50) and/or guide rollers (49) are arranged for the flat products (17) in the region of each section of the continuous path of the grabbers (35, 36), in which the traction member (21-21 ; 22-22) is guided around the guide wheel (23).

8. Apparatus according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterised in that the supply conveyor is formed by one run and the path conveyor is formed by the other run of a single conveyor (51) mounted with controlled grabbers (52) for taking hold of one of the edges respectively of one of the flat products (17) extending transversely to the conveying direction.

9. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterised in that the distance of the coupling locations of the jointed couplings (29, 30 ; 31, 32) from the corresponding chains (21-21 ; 22-22) is less than the distance of consecutive carriers (27 ; 28) from one another.

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