EP0418529B1 - Apparatus for trilateral trimming of signatures - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a device for the three-sided trimming of, in particular, folded printed copies by means of first and second cutting elements, a transport means being present which transports the printed copies from the first to the second cutting elements.

From DE-OS 36 13 493 a three-knife cutting machine is known with which a three-sided trimming of books, brochures or magazines can be carried out. The specimens to be trimmed are fed to the interface via an upstream feed device which has a tongs station as a holder. In the interface or in the cutting station, the products which are fed one after the other and are to be trimmed are then again held in holders or in pliers stations during the trimming. Due to the cutting mechanisms used in the device, the required rotation of the specimens and the serial mode of operation, the working speed of this known three-knife cutting machine is relatively slow. The same applies to the basically similar devices according to DE-OS 35 18 579 and 35 24 512.

From FR 1 219 826 a device for three-sided trimming of books is known, in which initially two knives arranged parallel to one another cut two pages of a lying book. The book is then turned 90 ° and one of the two knives cuts the book again on a third page perpendicular to the first two pages. With this device, therefore, only a single book or printed copy can be processed, a rotational movement of the frame on which the book is located also being necessary between the two cutting processes.

A generic device for cutting printed copies is known from US 3,732,766. There, too, only a single printed copy is fed to a first cutting knife, and after the first cut is transported via transport means to second cutting knives, which are arranged at right angles to the first cutting knife and trim the printed copy on two opposite sides.

This device also has the disadvantage that only a single printed copy can be processed at a time.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device for trilateral trimming of preferably folded printed copies, with which a large number of products, which may also have a different thickness, can be trimmed simultaneously in one operation.

That is, as stated in claim 1, solved.

The devices according to the invention have the advantage that very little space is required for the large number of printed copies because their surfaces are arranged next to one another.

Fig. 1

eine Gesamtansicht der erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung;

Fig. 2

eine detailliertere Darstellung der Vorrichtung gemäß Fig. 1 in einer anderen Ansicht;

Fig. 3 bis 5

eine der Vorrichtung gemäß Fig. 1 und 2 verwendeten Transportvorrichtung für die zu beschneidenden Druckexemplare in drei Ansichten;

Fig. 6

eine in der erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung verwendete Einrichtung für den seitlichen Beschnitt der Druckexemplare;

Fig. 7 und 8

einen in der Einrichtung gemäß Fig. 6 verwendeten Messerschlitten für den seitlichen Beschnitt der Druckexemplare;

Fig. 9 bis 11

vergrößerte Ausschnitte aus der Darstellung des Messerschlittens gemäß den Fig. 7 und 8 in verschiedenen Ansichten und

Fig.12 bis 14

Darstellungen des in der Vorrichtung gemäß Fig. 1 und 2 verwendeten Messerschlittens für den dem Falzrücken gegenüberliegenden Beschnitt.

Since the print copies to be trimmed are each individually fixed in holders during the cutting process, this results on the one hand in a clean cut, comparable to a paper cut, and on the other hand, print copies of different thicknesses can be fixed and trimmed at the same time in the holders. Compared to the known devices, this results in both a considerable increase in the speed of setting or working, as well as a qualitative improvement in the cut, in particular compared to known cutting machines which have so-called cutting punches. A particular advantage of the device according to the invention is that when the format of the specimens to be trimmed is changed, no complex adjustment processes are required. Further advantages of preferred embodiments of the invention result from the subclaims and from the description in conjunction with the drawings. In these show:

Fig. 1

an overall view of the device according to the invention;

Fig. 2

a more detailed representation of the device of Figure 1 in another view.

3 to 5

one of the device of Figures 1 and 2 used transport device for the trimmed copies in three views.

Fig. 6

a device used in the device according to the invention for the lateral trimming of the printed copies;

7 and 8

a knife carriage used in the device according to FIG. 6 for the lateral trimming of the printed copies;

9 to 11

Magnified sections from the representation of the knife carriage according to FIGS. 7 and 8 in different views and

Fig. 12 to 14

Illustrations of the knife carriage used in the device according to FIGS. 1 and 2 for the trimming opposite the fold back.

The device for three-sided trimming according to the invention is preferably the print copies 2 to be trimmed simultaneously from a storage cassette 1, i.e. fed in parallel, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The printed copies 2 are taken from a zigzag-shaped storage structure 3 by means of rotating drives. Such storage structures and the removal of products from them are described in detail, for example, in DE-OS 36 21 832, so that there is no need to go into them here. Furthermore, DE-OS 36 44 423 describes the discharge in detail, i.e. the expedient simultaneous removal of the print copies 2 to be trimmed from the storage structures 3 so that they can be inserted into the device according to the application. For this purpose, the printed copies 2 are individually captured by a transport device, which is described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

3 to 5, a carrier 5 with holders 6 and 7 can be seen, which are fastened to guides 8. Shafts 9 are supported in the carrier 5 and carry spur gears 10. The drive takes place from a chain 11 via a sprocket 12 with the aid of deflection pieces 13, the returning strand being supported by a guide 14. As can be seen in particular from FIG. 5, which shows a top view of the transport device, the spur gears 10 mesh with each other in opposite directions and transmit a torque via shafts 9, elastic couplings 15 and shafts 16 to toothed belt wheels 17 which are mounted in carriers 18. Lower toothed belt wheels 19 only serve to deflect toothed belts 20.

As shown in FIG. 5, the toothed belts 20 lie opposite one another in pairs. They are carried over the carrier 18 by brackets 21 and 22, of which a bracket 21 is rigid and a bracket 22 is elastic. These are mounted on rails 23 and 24, which are held by guides 25 on the carrier 5. If the rails 23 and 24 are moved in opposite directions according to the arrows 26 and 27 by a tensioning device (not shown in detail), the toothed belts 20 are each guided in opposite directions to a printed copy 2 to be transported and this is thereby fixed or clamped. For this purpose, the entire transport device is raised with the help of the guides 8 and a drive, not shown here, in the direction of arrow 28, so that the toothed belt 20 occupy the position 20 'and capture the printed copies 2 (Fig. 1). The elastic design of the bracket 22 results in a resilient pressure on the toothed belt 20, which enables the printed copies 2 to be guided securely.

By actuating drives 29 rails 31 and thus the structures 3 are now moved in opposite directions in the directions of arrows 32 and 33 via racks 30, so that they occupy the positions 3 'and thus release the printed copies 2. After switching on the drive of the chain 11, the arches are now moved in the direction of arrow 34. In the meantime, the device 35 can also be used for individual addressing, as described in the older DE-OS 34 05 877. For transporting the printed copies 2 in the position 2 ', the entire transport device along the guides 8 in the direction of arrow 34 is moved downward until the lower toothed belt wheel 19 reaches position 19'. Thus, the printed copies 2 can be reliably moved into the position 2 ', where they are aligned by adjustable stop rails 39 in the directions of arrows 36 and 37 and 38 depending on the sheet size. In this position 2 'of the printed copies 2, these are individually clamped in a method described below and trimmed at the upper edge.

Then they are gripped by toothed belts 40 of another transport device similar to that described above and in brought the position 2 ", where they are individually clamped on both sides after alignment by tongues 41 and then trimmed on both sides in one operation, as will be described. After release by the tongues 41 by moving them over rails 43 in the direction of arrow 42 (FIG. 9), the printed copies 2, which are now trimmed on three sides, reach with the help of the transport belt 40 via guide tongues 44 to a lower-lying stacking device, as shown in FIG older DE-OS 38 11 289 has been described.

A device for lateral trimming and with the help of FIGS. 9 to 11 the cutting geometry are described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

FIG. 6 shows a front view of the complete lateral cutting unit, FIG. 7 in a view in the direction I of FIG. 6 and FIG. 8 in a section along the line II-III of FIG. 7 the knife carriage.

With the help of supports 44 and plates 45 and 46, a longitudinal support frame is formed which receives continuous slide rails 47. A plate 48 forms, together with sliding shoes 49 to 52, a sled which is pulled back and forth by a chain 54 via a support frame 53 by a drive 55. A cutting knife 59 is suspended from this slide 49 to 52 at two joints 56 and 57 and at a joint 58. The hinge 58 is supported by a compression spring 60, the force of which acts in the direction of the arrow 61, a pull rod 62 having a stop 63. Each individual printed copy 2 is now firmly clamped by a clamping unit, which consists of a fixed part 64 with a counter knife 65, a movable clamping jaw 66, a wedge 67, an articulated rod 68, a pivoting lever 69 and a pneumatic cylinder 70.

As shown, the clamping unit is completely connected to the plates 45 and 46 via the fixed part 64. The pneumatic cylinder 70 presses now in each case the wedge 67 in the direction of the arrow 71, the pivot lever 69 in the extreme case the position 69 'and the wedge 67 occupies its lowest position in the direction of the arrow 71. The movable clamping jaw 66 is thus pressed completely against the counter knife 65. With these arrangements, the clamping devices are able to clamp completely different printed copies 2 at the same time, since each clamping unit has its own pneumatic cylinder 70. The wedge 67 also presses the clamping jaw 66 securely over its entire length against the printed copy 2, which thereby lies flat on the counter knife 65. In an extreme case, a printed copy 2 with a maximum number of pages, in which a single sheet directly adjacent to it can be securely clamped and cut by the function of a scissor cut, which is explained below with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11, can thus be cut in a clamping unit.

As shown in FIG. 9 and has already been described above, the cutting knife 59 is movably suspended on the three joints 56, 57 and 58. If it is moved with the carriage in the cutting direction (arrow 72), it slides with its oblique cutting edge 73 first in its lower region onto a curvature 74 of the counter knife 65, whereby it is pressed in the direction of arrow 61 by the compression spring 60. In the position shown in FIG. 9, it has already left the curvature 74, so that it begins to cut the printed copy 2. The cutting of the printed copy 2 is complete when the cutting edge 73 has reached the line 75. Only now can it be realigned again by the curvature 74 of the next counter knife. The stop 63 prevents the knife from hanging too deep in the direction of the arrow 61. The cutting is also supported by the slight inclination of the knife 59, as shown in FIG. 10. As a result, a component of the cutting force acts in the direction of arrow 61 and supports the spring 60.

During the cutting process, the cutting waste is continuously transferred from a suction fan 76, which is fixedly mounted on the knife carriage Sucked container 77, which is disposed of in the end position of the cutting carriage in the direction of arrow 72. For this purpose, a slide 79 is opened by a stationary pneumatic cylinder 78 so that the waste can fall into a corresponding container. The suction fan 76 is supplied with power via a conductor line 80.

In the end position of the knife carriage, the cutting knife 59 is also raised via the pull rod 62 against the force of the spring 60 by a further stationary pneumatic cylinder 81 in the direction of the arrow 82 (FIG. 6) and in this position by a bolt 83 under the pressure of a spring 84 locked. After the slide 79 has been closed, the knife carriage can now reach its starting position in a rapid return against the cutting direction (arrow 72), in which the pull rod 62 is unlocked by a further stationary pneumatic cylinder 85 by pulling on a pull rod 86 in the direction of arrow 87 and the cutting knife 59 returns to its oblique cutting position.

By moving the clamping wedges 67 in the direction of the arrow 71, all the clamping devices are relaxed at the same time, the movable clamping jaws 65 and 113 are brought back to their starting position by tension springs 88. The clamping devices are protected against the ingress of cutting waste by seals 89, FIG. 10.

The entire cutting unit according to FIG. 6 can be moved overall in the direction of arrow 61 or in the opposite direction in order to adapt to the width of the printed product 2.

The cutting device for the upper trimming is described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14, the mode of operation of which essentially corresponds to that of the lateral cutting device. As here, a knife carriage, consisting of the plate 90 and the slide shoes 91 to 94, runs on slide rails 95 and is also pulled in the cutting direction 72 by chains 96 via a lever 97. A cutting knife 98 is suspended from joints 99 to 102, a compression spring 103 presses a pull rod 104, which is fastened to a joint 102, on the stop 105.

In the end position of the knife carriage, this pull rod 104 is raised by a stationary pneumatic cylinder 106 and locked by a bolt 107, so that the knife carriage can begin its rapid return movement. Here, the bolt 107 is unlocked by a stationary pneumatic cylinder 109 with the aid of a rod 108 in order to bring the cutting knife 98 back into the cutting position. Pneumatic cylinders 110 actuate the clamping unit for each individual print copy 2. This consists of clamping wedges 111, a fixed clamping jaw 112, a movable clamping jaw 113 and tension springs 114. The fixed clamping jaws 112 in turn carry a counter knife 115 which is curved in the lower area. The cutting functions correspond to those of the lateral ones Cutting unit.

The cutting waste is suctioned off by a suction blower 116 also mounted on the knife carriage, the container 117 of which in the end position is opened and closed on a slide 118 by a stationary pneumatic cylinder 119. The power supply for the suction fan 116 takes place via a conductor line 120. In contrast to the lateral cutting devices, the upper cutting device is stationary, the format adaptation, as already mentioned, is carried out by the stop rails 39.

Claims (14)

1. Device for the three-sided trimming of, in particular, folded printed copies (2) by a first cutting device (98) and a second cutting device (59), there being transport means (40) which transport the printed copies (2) from the first cutting device (98) to the second cutting device (59), characterised in that during a first cutting procedure the printed copies (2) are retained with their surfaces adjacent to each other and spaced apart by means of first holding devices (112, 113), first counter blades (115) being arranged at the same time between the printed copies (2) and co-operating with the first cutting device (98) whilst, secured on a first support (90), this cutting blade is guided by conveyor means (96) along a first guide means (95) past the first counter blades (115), whereby the printed copies (2) are respectively trimmed on the side opposite the fold, in that the printed copies (2) are transported from the first cutting device (98) by the transport means (40) to the second cutting device (59) in which they are again retained during a second cutting procedure, by means of two holding devices (64, 66) with their surfaces adjacent to each other and spaced apart, second counter blades (65) being arranged at the same time between the printed copies (2) and co-operating with the second cutting device (59) whilst, secured on a second support (48) this cutting device is guided along a second guide means (47) past the second counter blades (65), whereby the printed copies (2) are trimmed on both sides on two sides opposite each other and perpendicular to the already trimmed side.
2. Device according to claim 1, characterised in that the holding devices (112, 113; 64, 66) each have a fixed clamping jaw (64; 112) and a movable clamping jaw (65; 113) which can each be pressed against each other by movable wedges (111, 67) for clamping the printed copies (2).
3. Device according to claim 2, characterised in that the parts (11, 67) can be moved by pneumatic pistons (70, 110).
4. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that cutting device (98, 59) is secured articulatedly (e.g. 99) on the respective support in the form of a plate (90, 48) and, in each case with spring-loading, co-operates with the counter blades (115, 65) each having a curvature (e.g. 74).
5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the cutting device (98, 59) can be separated from the counter blades (115, 65) by means of a lifting device (e.g. 104) and conveyed back in a fast backwards movement.
6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the printed copies (2) are respectively picked up by pairs of steerable toothed belts (20) and can be transferred from a zig-zag shaped storage structure (3) to the first holding devices (112, 113).
7. Device according to claim 6, characterised in that the toothed belt wheels (17) driving the toothed belts (20) can themselves be driven by means of shafts (16) which are connected on both sides by elastic couplings (15, Fig. 5), and in that the pairs of toothed belts (20) are pivotable for the purpose of gripping and releasing the printed copies (2).
8. Device according to claim 6 and 7, characterised in that the pairs of toothed belts (2) are respectively connected by means of a rigid holding device (21) and an elastic holding device (22) to a carrier (5) which can be moved along guideways (8, Fig. 1, 3).
9. Device according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the pneumatic pistons (e.g. 70) move the wedges (e.g. 67) by means of centrally mounted rocking levers (69) in order to press the movable clamping jaw (66) resiliently against the stationary one (64) in order to grip the printed copies (2).
10. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that a respective suction device (116, 76) can be moved with each cutting device (98, 59).
11. Device according to claim 10, characterised in that the suction devices (76, 116) have containers (e.g. 117) which are opened by means of stationary pneumatic cylinders (e.g. 119) via sliders (e.g. 118) so as to empty the containers (e.g. 117) at end positions of the cutting device (98, 59).
12. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the holding devices (64, 66) can be moved, together with the associated cutting and counter blades (59, 65), in dependence on the width of the printed copies to be trimmed.
13. Device according to claim 12, characterised in that for the first cutting procedure the position as regards height of the printed copies (2) can be adjusted in dependence on the height of the printed copies (2) to be trimmed.
14. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that after the three-side-trimming the printed copies can be transferred, for the purposes of stacking, to a lower receiving device (Fig. 2) having guide tongues (44).

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