Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
  • B65H29/70—Article bending or stiffening arrangements
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
  • B65H29/12—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by means of the nip between two, or between two sets of, moving tapes or bands or rollers
  • B65H29/14—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles by means of the nip between two, or between two sets of, moving tapes or bands or rollers and introducing into a pile
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2404/00—Parts for transporting or guiding the handled material
  • B65H2404/20—Belts
  • B65H2404/25—Driving or guiding arrangements
  • B65H2404/256—Arrangement of endless belt
  • B65H2404/2561—Arrangement of endless belt twisted around an axis parallel the transport direction

Definitions

• the present invention pertains to an apparatus and method for stacking conveyed sheets of media without scratching the media.
• air jets have been used to lubricate and support the emerging sheets. Air injected between the emerging sheet and the top stacked sheet delays contact until the sheets are aligned whereby the emerging sheet simply drops onto the stack. With air jets there is a lack of lateral or transverse motion between the sheets; hence, no scratching. Adding air jets has the disadvantage of increasing machine complexity, cost and space requirements. In addition, air jets can disturb previously stacked sheets causing scratching, and can create airborne particles that can contaminate sensitive media. Also, the use of air jets destabilizes the stacking process causing stacker jams. Drooping is a major cause of scratching because the free end of the emerging sheet drags across the stack.
• an apparatus for stacking sheets of material traveling along a conveyor comprises a plurality of entrance rollers; a plurality of exit rollers downstream of the plurality of entrance rollers arranged horizontally in a contoured pattern; a plurality of conveyor belts, one for each roller of the plurality of exit rollers, each conveyor belt twisting between an associated one of the plurality of entrance rollers and an associated one of the plurality of exit rollers; and means for pinching the belts and improving tracking of the belts on the entrance and exit rollers.
• the means for pinching the belts and improving tracking includes a first plurality of twist rollers positioned between the plurality of entrance rollers and the plurality of exit rollers, and a second plurality of twist rollers positioned between the plurality of entrance rollers and the first plurality of twist rollers.
• AU belt twisting occurs between the first plurality of twist rollers and the second plurality of twist rollers so that there is no tracking problem at the entrance and exit rollers.
• the exit rollers are arranged in a U-shaped contoured pattern.
• Each sheet adopts the U-shaped contoured pattern which increases the moment of inertia of the sheet and prevents the sheet from drooping as it emerges from the exit rollers. Without drooping, there is no scratching.
• the U-shape of each sheet has a top projected view wherein the width of the sheet is less than the width of the stacked sheets making sheet steering less critical.
• a method for stacking sheets of material traveling along a conveyor comprises the steps of: aligning a plurality of entrance rollers horizontally; arranging a plurality of exit rollers horizontally in a contoured pattern; providing a plurality of conveyor belts, one for each roller of the plurality of exit rollers; positioning a pair of twist rollers for each conveyor belt between the entrance and exit rollers; twisting each the conveyor belt during travel between associated twist rollers; and passing the sheet along the contoured exit rollers whereby the sheet adopts the contoured pattern of the exit rollers.
• the method includes arranging the exit rollers in a U-shaped contoured pattern. Each sheet adopts the U-shaped contoured pattern increasing its moment of inertia to prevent drooping and scratching of the preceding sheet.
• the method also includes pinching the belts and improving tracking of the belts using twist rollers positioned between the entrance and exit rollers.
• FIG. 1 is diagrammatic side view of the roller arrangement for a preferred embodiment of an apparatus for conveying and stacking according to the present invention
• FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a conveyed sheet of media entering the stacker
• FIGS. 3-5 are diagrams illustrating belt tracking error
• FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic front view illustrating an exit roller configuration
• FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating other roller configurations for stiffening a media sheet.
• an apparatus 10 for stacking sheets 12 of material traveling along a conveyor 14 into a receiving bin 16 shapes each sheet 12 as the sheet 12 exits conveyor 14. Shaping sheet 12 increases its moment of inertia adding rigidity so that the sheet supports itself as it enters bin 16 without dragging across the top of the stack of sheets in the bin.
• Apparatus 10 includes a plurality of primary exit rollers arranged horizontally in a contoured pattern. As illustrated, the contoured pattern is a U-shaped pattern (FIG. 6) that increases the moment of inertia thereby adding rigidity so that the sheet supports itself as it enters bin 16 without dragging across the top of the sheets stacked in the bin.
• An upper conveyor belt 26 is entrained about upper entrance and exit rollers 22, 18, and a lower conveyor belt 28 is entrained about lower entrance and exit rollers 24, 20.
• Belts are equal in number to the number of sets of entrance and exit rollers. For the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 6, there are four sets of upper rollers and four sets of lower rollers so that there are a total of eight belts.
• FIG. 7 illustrates other patterns or configurations (FIG. 7) that could be used that would have the desired effect of increasing the moment of inertia thereby adding rigidity so that the sheet supports itself as it enters b>in without dragging across the top of the sheets stacked in the bin.
• Pattern A. is a general concave shape
• pattern B is a general convex shape
• pattern C shape is a W
• pattern D is an M shape.
• Pattern E is a V shape while pattern F is an inverted V shape.
• Pattern G is channel configuration while pattern H is an inverted channel configuration.
• Pattern I is a partial circle with an open portion oriented upward and pattern J is a partial circle with an open portion oriented downward.
• Patterns K and L are multi-channel configurations.
• conveyor 14 has a plurality of conveyor belts arranged in pairs of upper and lower belts 26, 28, one pair for each pair of upper and lower exit rollers.
• exit roller 18 is offset from entrance roller 22.
• Each of the conveyor belts 26, 28 twists between entrance rollers 22 and exit rollers 18. Twisting is required for th.e belts because the contoured exit rollers are set at an angle horizontally relative to the entrance rollers.
• twisting causes the belt to want to slip or track in the direction of arrow C which would cause instability.
• Upper twist rollers include upper entrance twist roller 30 and upper exit twist roller 32. Twist roller 30 has the same orientation as entrance roller 22 while twist roller 32 has the same orientation as exit roller 18 so that there is no belt twisting between upper entrance roller 22 and upper twist roller 30, and there is no belt twisting between upper twist roller 32 and upper exit roller 18. All belt twisting occurs between twist rollers 30 and 32. Locating the twist rollers close to the entrance and exit rollers minimizes tracking error because the belts are close together when they twist.
• lower twist rollers include lower entrance twist roller 34 adjacent lower exit roller 20 and lower exit twist roller 36 adjacent lower entrance roller 24. Twist roller 34 has the same orientation as exit roller 20 while twist roller 36 has the same orientation as entrance roller 24 so that there is no belt twisting between lower entrance roller 24 and lower twist roller 36, and there is no belt twisting between lower twist roller 34 and lower exit roller 20. All belt twisting occurs between twist rollers 34 and 36. Locating the twist rollers close to the entrance and exit rollers minimizes tracking errors because the belts are close together when they twist.
• the invention pertains to the stacking of sheet type product from a conveyance process. As the sheet enters the stack it is folded into a "U" shape. This allows the sheet to be suspended over the stack, fully supporting its own weight. The sheet can then be driven its full length into the stacker without sliding on any of its surfaces. Once the sheet has traveled the full length into the stacker it is released from the conveyance process and drops straight down into the stacker with little to no relative movement or pressure between the sheet and stack.
• the belt approaching the idler is shifted to one side of the belt departing the idler.
• This action of entering one side of the exit idler and departing from the other causes the belt to aggressively track off.
• This problem is resolved by the present invention by placing the approaching and departing belt paths very close together, twisting the belt paths, then spreading them back apart to accommodate idlers.
• the apparatus includes upper and lower exit rollers arranged horizontally in a contoured pattern to fold the media sheets into a U-shape, or other pattern, that increases the rigidity due to increased moment of inertia. This allows a sheet to support itself as it enters the stacker without touching the top of the stack.
• the entering sheet is suspended above the stack until it reaches the stacker backstop where it drops into place without scratches.
• the U-shape of a sheet washes out product variation that would normally influence the stacking process, such as beam strength. Also, steering of a sheet is not critical because the U-shape of the entering top sheet has projected a top view less than that of the stacker.
• the method for stacking sheets of material traveling along a conveyor comprises the steps of: aligning a plurality of entrance rollers horizontally; arranging a plurality of exit rollers horizontally in a contoured pattern; providing a plurality of conveyor belts, one for each roller of the plurality of exit rollers; positioning a pair of twist rollers for each conveyor belt between the entrance and exit rollers; twisting each conveyor belt during travel between associated twist rollers; and passing the sheet along the contoured exit rollers whereby the sheet adopts the contoured pattern of the exit rollers.
• the method includes arranging the exit rollers in a U-shaped contoured pattern.
• Each sheet adopts the U-shaped contoured pattern increasing its moment of inertia to prevent drooping and scratching of the preceding sheet.
• the method also includes pinching the belts and improving tracking of the belts using twist rollers positioned between the entrance and exit rollers.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Delivering By Means Of Belts And Rollers (AREA)
• Separation, Sorting, Adjustment, Or Bending Of Sheets To Be Conveyed (AREA)
• Pile Receivers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=35432268

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (2)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 2004
  • 2004-10-19 US US10/967,992 patent/US20060082045A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2005
  • 2005-09-07 WO PCT/US2005/032147 patent/WO2006044057A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2005-09-07 EP EP05795646A patent/EP1812327A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2005-09-07 JP JP2007537887A patent/JP2008516874A/ja active Pending
  • 2005-09-07 CN CNA2005800353943A patent/CN101039858A/zh active Pending

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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