EP0675061B1 - Device for continuously feeding flat articles to a delivery point - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device for the uninterrupted supply of flat products to a delivery point, according to the preamble of claim 1, and a device for supplying flat products to a further processing point according to claim 8.

DE-A-25 02 790 discloses a circular stack feeder with a lower loading table and a removal table arranged above it. A conveying and deflecting device transports the shingled sheets deposited on the loading table in a first conveying direction to the underside of a reversing drum and with the aid of the reversing drum around it upwards on the removal table in a second conveying direction opposite to the first conveying direction. The conveying and deflecting device has the reversing drum over an angle of almost 180 ° wrapping conveyor belts which are guided at the end of the conveying gap facing the removal table around a deflecting roller which is higher than the reversing drum.

US-A-2,589,428 discloses a device for collating sheet-like products with a collating conveyor having controllable grippers arranged on a revolving chain. Below the collating conveyor, several devices are arranged one behind the other for the uninterrupted delivery of the products to delivery points, at each of which the uppermost product of a stack-like supply is raised by means of a suction device and fed to a gripper. To hold the supply, each device has a stacking shaft which is inclined forwards in relation to the vertical, in the conveying direction of the collating conveyor, the stacking wall at the front of which is provided with a support strip against which the products rest with one of their edges. Furthermore, the stack-like stock rests on a liftable and lowerable shaft floor, which is controlled in such a way that the uppermost product of the stock is in each case at the delivery point. To ensure uninterrupted delivery of the products, each stacking shaft is assigned a second shaft floor, which is used for this purpose is, alternating with the first-mentioned manhole bottom, to raise the supply stack to the delivery point or to take up a replacement stack and to lift this from below onto the supply stack so that the manhole base carrying it can be moved out of the stacking duct in order to take up a new replacement stack. The construction and control of this device is complex, since two shaft floors must be individually driven and controlled. Furthermore, the accessibility to the stacking shaft is limited, which represents a certain hindrance when inserting a replacement stack.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device for the uninterrupted delivery of flat products to a delivery point, which ensures simple loading with a simple construction.

This object is achieved by a device which has the features in the characterizing part of independent claim 1. A conveyor belt and a deflection wheel form a curved stacking shaft that automatically adapts to the size of the products and at the same time exerts an aligning effect on them. Seen in the feed direction, before the bend, free access from above is guaranteed, which enables easy loading. The scale-like formation, in which each product rests on the preceding one, enables a stack part to be easily formed at the delivery point by inserting the products from below. An almost complete overlap enables a large storage capacity with a small space requirement and gives the products both in the approximately horizontal part of the storage and in the Curvature a particularly good stability. Even at high processing speeds, the products are only moved at a low conveying speed, which, for example, allows the supply to be supplemented by placing products arranged in so-called bars on the conveyor belt, the products being tilted forward after being deposited in the feed direction. The low conveying speed also leads to a smooth running of the products into the stack part and thus prevents abrupt movements of the stack part.

A particularly preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention is specified in claim 2. In this form of training, the products take up a position at the delivery point which is approximately 45 ° inclined from the vertical. On the one hand, this ensures the stability of the products and, on the other hand, automatic alignment.

A further preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention enables the formation of a stack part of a certain size with products lying congruently against one another.

The further preferred embodiment defined in claim 4 enables the processing of products with considerably different dimensions in a simple manner.

The also preferred form of training according to claim 5 increases the reliability of the facility by preventing individual products in the circumferential direction the deflection wheel can be seen beyond the delivery point. Furthermore, the stop element can be used to "set up" the products, which means that, due to their own weight, they rest in a defined manner with the edge located at the bottom on the conveyor belt or the support element.

The drive of the conveyor belt by means of a stepping motor means that the products in the supply are exposed to vibrations which promote the alignment of the products.

Claim 7 defines a particularly simple form of training for the user-friendly generation of the scale-like formation, in which each product rests on the preceding one with almost complete overlap. Products which, because of their weight or size, cannot be placed on the conveyor belt in a rod-like manner, can be processed in a simple and user-friendly manner.

The device defined in claim 8 for feeding flat products to a further processing station takes advantage of the particular advantages of the device defined in claims 1 to 7.

Fig. 1

in Ansicht eine erfindungsgemässe Vorrichtung;

Fig. 2

in Draufsicht einen Teil der in der Fig. 1 gezeigten Vorrichtung; und

Fig. 3

in Ansicht einen Bereich der in den Fig. 1 und 2 gezeigten Vorrichtung bei der Abgabestelle und einer Fördereinrichtung, die mit ihren Greifern jeweils ein Erzeugnis zum Weitertransport erfasst.

The present invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawing. It shows purely schematically:

Fig. 1

in view a device according to the invention;

Fig. 2

in plan view a part of the device shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3

in view an area of the device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 at the delivery point and a conveying device, each of which grips a product for further transport with its grippers.

A self-contained conveyor belt 10 is guided at a delivery point 12 around a deflection roller 16 which is freely rotatably mounted on a frame 14, the axis of which runs in the horizontal direction. On the frame 14 there is also a drive roller 20 which is connected to a controlled drive, preferably a stepper motor 18 and is parallel to the deflection roller 16 and which is arranged deeper in relation to that in the vertical direction and at right angles to the axis in the horizontal direction. The active strand 22 of the conveyor belt 10 extending between the drive roller 20 and deflection roller 16 loosely wraps around a deflection wheel 24, which is freely rotatably mounted on the free end of a lever 26 which is pivotably articulated on the frame 14 below the active strand 22. The lever 26 and thus the deflection wheel 24 are biased in the direction against the deflection roller 16 by means of a spring element 28, preferably an air spring. The diameter of the deflection wheel 24 is substantially larger than that of the deflection roller 16, for example 5 to 20 times, preferably approximately 8 to 12 times, and its axis of rotation 24 'running parallel to the axis of the deflection roller 16 is approximately at the same height as the deflection roller 16 , preferably by an amount less, but which is much smaller than the radius of the deflection wheel 24. The highest point 24 '' of the Deflection wheel 24 is thus higher than deflection roller 16.

The inactive back strand 22 'of the conveyor belt 10 is guided between the deflection roller 16 and the drive roller 20 around a further deflection roller 30, which is arranged on the frame 14 in such a way that the active strand 22 of the yieldable conveyor belt 10 can deflect with respect to the deflection wheel 24.

The active strand 22 forms, together with the deflection wheel 24, a conveyor gap 32 for the flat products 34 to be delivered to the delivery point 12. These can be single-page or multi-page printed products, such as cards, inserts, magazines or the like, which are at a further processing station in a major product will be introduced. But it can also be about samples and the like. Flexible flat products are particularly suitable.

The products 34, viewed in the feed direction Z, lie in a scale-like formation 36 on the active strand 22, in which each product 34, viewed in the feed direction Z, rests on the preceding one with approximately complete overlap. Furthermore, the products 34 rest on the conveyor belt 10 with their trailing edge 38 viewed in the feed direction Z. They are carried along due to friction with the conveyor belt 10 and are held in the conveyor gap 32 between the active run 22 and the deflection wheel 24, against which they rest with the leading edge 38 '. As can be seen in particular from FIG. 2, both the conveyor belt 10 and the deflection wheel 24 are considerably narrower than the products 34 Formation, the curved conveyor gap 32, and the compressive force of the conveyor belt 10 and the deflection wheel 24 acting in a central region, the products 34 are kept extremely stable. The friction between the conveyor belt 10 and the products 34, as well as the lower friction between these and the deflection wheel 24 and the possible yielding of the conveyor belt 10 leads to an orderly fanning out of the products 34 in the conveyor gap 32, as can be seen particularly well from FIGS. 1 and 3 is recognizable.

The conveyor gap 32 ends approximately in the vertical direction. At the delivery point 12, this leads to the formation of a partial stack 40 with congruent products 34 which, with their lower, previously trailing edge 38, rest on a support element 42 arranged at the deflection roller 16 and supported on the frame 14. They assume a position that is preferably inclined by approximately 45 ° with respect to a vertical. The partial stack 40 is built up from below by inserting products 34 from the conveyor gap 32. The uppermost product 34 'of this partial stack 40 is accessible both on its exposed surface and along all edges.

On the side of the partial stack 40 facing away from the support element 42, a strip-like detachment element 44 is arranged on each side of the deflection wheel on the frame. The periphery of the deflection wheel 24 cuts the release element 44 in every position to ensure that none of the products 34 could be taken away by the deflection wheel 24. As seen in view, the detachment element 44 forms, together with the deflection wheel 24, an open one towards the support element 42, obtuse angle and is arranged with respect to that in such a way that when a product 34 arrives under the partial stack 40, this runs with its leading edge 38 ′ onto the detachment element 44 and is lifted off the deflection wheel 24. This facilitates the insertion of the subsequent products 34 and promotes the quality of the partial stack 40 in that the products 34 are pressed against the support element 42.

A sensor element 46 is arranged at the delivery point, which is connected via a line 48 to a controller 50 which controls the stepper motor 18 in such a way that the uppermost product 34 ′ of the partial stack 40 is always located at the delivery point 12.

The conveyor belt 10 is preceded by a ribbon conveyor 52 with a plurality of endless ribbons arranged next to one another, which are guided at the beginning and at the end of the ribbon conveyor 52 around ribbon rollers 54 fixedly mounted on the frame 14. The end region of the ribbon conveyor 52 overlaps the initial region of the conveyor belt 10, the ribbon rollers 54 on this side being connected to the stepping motor 18 in order to drive the ribbon conveyor 52 at approximately the same speed as the conveyor belt 10. Viewed in the feed direction Z, the ribbon conveyor 52 rises slightly, the active run 22 of the conveyor belt 10 essentially forming a straight line continuation of the ribbon conveyor 52 when there are no products 34 in the conveyor gap 32; compare the position of the deflection wheel 24 shown in broken lines in FIGS. 1 and 3.

In the beginning of the ribbon conveyor 52 is above a schematically indicated shaft 56 is arranged there, which, viewed in the feed direction Z, is inclined obliquely backwards with respect to a vertical. In this shaft 56, for example, stacks of products 34 can be inserted by hand, from which the scale-like formation 36 is produced with an almost complete overlap of the products 34 when the belt conveyor 52 is driven. It has been shown that in this formation 36 the products 34 essentially maintain their position, ie that they are arranged approximately at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the shaft 56. In other words, the formation 36 can be adjusted by correspondingly inclining the shaft 56 with respect to the ribbon conveyor 52.

1 and 3, a suction head 58 is designated 58, which is intended to capture the uppermost product of the partial stack 40 adjacent to the trailing edge 38, which is now located below, and to raise it in the direction of arrow A, where it travels with the trailing edge 38 protrudes into the path of movement of the clamps 60 of a conveyor 62. A clamp 60 grips the product 34 in the region of the trailing edge 38 with the clamp mouth directed forward in the circumferential direction U and pushes it off from the partial stack 40, as is indicated in broken lines. The brackets 60 are arranged on arms 64 of a rotatably driven wheel 66 and controlled by means of a link control 68. A conveyor 62 which is particularly suitable for this purpose is disclosed in the simultaneous EP-A-0 675 062. A similar conveyor, also suitable for the present purpose, is disclosed in EP-A-0 606 550. But it is also conceivable that the conveying device 62 has, for example, individually controllable grippers arranged on a rotating chain, each of which grips a product and transports it away. For the sake of completeness, reference is made to EP-A-0 553 455, which discloses a particularly suitable drive device for the suction head 58.

It is possible to dispense with the support element 42. The uppermost product of the partial stack 40, which in this case has correspondingly few products, is also supported on the conveyor belt 10 in the region of the deflection roller 16. The delivery point 12 is preferably located at a point at which the uppermost product 34 'with its lower edge 38 is arranged at the highest point of the conveyor belt 10.

It is also conceivable to dispense with the detachment element 44, in particular if the deflection roller 16 is approximately at the same level as or lower than the axis of rotation 24 '.

If there are no products 34 in the conveying gap 32, the deflection wheel 24 assumes the position indicated by dash-dotted lines. It is easy to see that the first products 34 of the formation 36 form a wedge shape, which can easily run into the conveyor gap 32 when the conveyor belt 10 is driven. As a result, the yieldable conveyor belt 10, on the one hand, diverts with respect to the deflection wheel 24 in the radial direction towards the outside, and the latter is pushed back against the force of the spring element 28 as soon as the formation 36 enters the rising area of the conveyor gap 32. There is therefore an automatic Adaptation of the conveyor belt 10 and the position of the deflecting wheel 24 to the formation 36. At the exit end of the conveying gap 32, the products 34 run with the leading edge 38 'onto the detachment element 44 and are thus lifted off the deflecting wheel 24, and at the same time they run with it trailing edge 38 on the support member 42 to form the partial stack 40. As soon as the first product 34 'has reached the sensor element 46, the stepping motor 18 is stopped until this product 34' is lifted off and transported away, whereupon the formation 36 is immediately tracked by starting the stepping motor 18 again, so that at the delivery point 12 a product 34 is always ready for delivery.

It has been shown that the device according to the invention can be used to process a large number of products 34 which differ in terms of format and quality. Their overlap depends on the thickness of the products, but is usually more than 90%, preferably more than 95%. However, it should be mentioned that the overlap can also be significantly less.

The resilient conveyor belt 10 can consist of a material with elastic properties, but it can also be replaced by an inextensible one, which is then to be arranged to be resilient. For this purpose, for example, the further deflecting roller 30 could be suspended in a resilient manner.

The conveyor belt 10 or the ribbon conveyor 52 can also be from a winding in which the products 34 are arranged in a scale formation together with a winding belt on a Winding core are wound, are fed. The overlap of the products is increased, preferably when the products are transferred to the conveyor belt or the belt conveyor.

Claims (8)

1. Apparatus for the uninterrupted feeding of sheet-like products to a discharge location, having an endless conveying belt (10) which is intended for supporting the products (34), forming a supply, and for displacing the products (34) to the discharge location (12), and is guided, at least approximately at the discharge location (12), around a stationary deflection roller (16), and of which the conveying and load-bearing strand (22) loops around the bottom of a deflection wheel (24) in order to form a conveying gap (32) for the products (34), which are arranged in an imbricated formation (36) in which each product (34), as seen in the feed direction (Z), bears on the respectively preceding product, with overlapping, and the products (34) butt against the conveying belt (10) by means of their trailing edge (38), and having a drive (18) which is connected to the conveying belt (10) and is intended for adjusting the discharge side (34') of the supply to the discharge location (12) such that in each case one product (43') is located at the discharge location, the preferably virtually completely overlapping products (34) forming a stack-like supply and being supported on the conveying belt (10) by way of one of their edges, and the deflection wheel (24), which forms the conveying gap (32) together with the strand (22), being pushed approximately in the direction towards the deflection roller (16), characterized in that the highest point (24'') of the deflection wheel (24) is located at a higher level than the deflection roller (16), with the result that the products (34) leaving the conveying gap (32) at the deflection roller (16) assume a position in which, with respect to a vertical, they are inclined towards the deflection wheel (24).
2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that the rotational axis (24') of the deflection wheel (24) is located approximately at the same level as the deflection roller (16), and the conveying gap (32), at the deflection roller (16), ends at least approximately in the vertical direction.
3. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized by a supporting element (42) which is arranged at the discharge location (12) and against which the products (34) which are leaving the conveying belt (10) come into abutment by means of their trailing edge (38), in order to form an oblique stack part (40) with products (34) butting congruently against one another.
4. Apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the deflection wheel (24) is arranged on a spring-loaded lever (26) which is mounted beneath the conveying and load-bearing strand (22).
5. Apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized by a removal element (44) which is mounted downstream of the conveying gap (32), as seen in the feed direction (Z), forms an obtuse angle with the periphery of the deflection wheel (24) and is spaced apart from the deflection roller (16) and/or the supporting element (42) by a distance which is smaller than the product length.
6. Apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the drive (18) exhibits a stepping motor.
7. Apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that provided upstream of the conveying belt (10) is a strap conveyor (52) above which there is arranged a shaft (56) which is inclined rearwards with respect to the feed direction (Z) and is intended to receive a stack of products (34) in order, with the strap conveyor (52) being in the driven state, to form the imbricated formation (36).
8. Device for feeding sheet-like products to a further-processing location, having an apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 7 for feeding the products (34) to a discharge location (12), having a conveying device (62) which is provided downstream of said discharge location and is intended for receiving and transporting the products (34) further, and having a sucker arrangement (58) for raising the product (34') located at the discharge location (12) and for feeding the same into the conveying region of the conveying device (62).

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