EP1878680A2

EP1878680A2 - Sheet handling device and process

Info

Publication number: EP1878680A2
Application number: EP07100381A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Francesco Valentinis
Original assignee: CEM SpA Trezzano Sul Naviglio
Current assignee: CEM SpA Trezzano Sul Naviglio
Priority date: 2006-07-12
Filing date: 2007-01-11
Publication date: 2008-01-16
Also published as: EP1878680A3; JP2008018708A; ITMI20061355A1

Abstract

The sheet handling device (1) comprises a connection module for transporting sheets (3) to a cutter (5) for cutting the sheets (3) to define documents (3a, 3b), and a receiver (7) for receiving the documents (3a, 3b) from the cutter (5) and for feeding them to a discharge device (8). The receiver (7) is directly connectable in line to a printer (4), such that documents (3a, 3b) are printed by the printer (4) and are subsequently handled while maintaining the sequence in which they were printed. The sheet handling process consists of cutting the sheets (3) to separate the documents (3a, 3b), collecting the cut documents (3a, 3b) and making them available for subsequent processing. The papers are directly fed from the printer (4) to a device in line to the printer (4), such that documents (3a, 3b) are printed by the printer (4) and are subsequently handled while maintaining the sequence in which they were printed.

Description

This invention relates to a device and process for handling printed sheets leaving digital sheet printers, able to be directly connected in line with the printer to obtain an integrated system for printing sheets of various formats containing several single-page or multiple-page documents, and their conversion into documents by cutting them transversely to the sheet movement direction and by other operations subsequent to the transverse cut.
The sheets generated by the printers may have different formats and contain texts and images which constitute the pages of one or more documents, which are made of a fixed or variable number of pages.
The handling device and process are applicable both to digital sheet printers in which the paper moves from right to left in the printer and to digital sheet printers in which the paper moves from left to right in the printer.
As known, many companies belonging to the most varied sectors and all over the world use industrial digital sheet printers, i.e. printers having high printing speed (for exemple for printing the pay envelopes usually in A4 format) which print A4 format sheets for generating A4 format documents though they have printers and printing methods which allow two A4 format documents to be printed on A3 format sheets, because there are no devices integrated with the printers able to convert A3 format sheets into A4 format documents, while maintaining the integrity of the single document and the sequence in which the printed documents were printed.
Nevertheless, the industrial printer producers charge the printer users a fixed amount (independently of the printed format) proportional to the number of printed sheets.
For this reason, ITM12004A001540 of the same applicant discloses a device and a process allowing the wished documents to be simultaneously printed on one single sheet and then to cut the sheet in two portions to get documents made of one single sheet or more than one sheet which are stacked maintaining the sequence in which they were printed.
This device and process disclose to collect and stack the documents (i.e. the cut sheets) in vertical (i.e. laid at one of their bottom or upper border but, in every case, not at one of its faces).
This allows some practical advantages to be attained, but it gives the implemented device and the process a rigid structure, which allows the flow of documents to be adapted to the particular needs only for some machine types and processing downstream of the printing, but it does not allow this to a plurality of machines for post-print processing, both integrated in-line with the printer or working off-line and, therefore, not integrated.
The technical aim of the present invention is therefore to provide a device and process which overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.
Within the framework of this technical aim an object of the invention is to provide a device connectable directly to digital sheet printers upstream and to other devices and/or machines downstream of the device itself, to allow post-print operations and processes which are very flexible while at the same time enabling the digital sheet printers to totally utilize their printing versatility towards a plurality of applications in the most varied sectors in which digital sheet printing is used.
In particular, according to the invention the sheets being handled (of A3 or other than A3 format) can be cut in various ways for their conversion into documents (of A4 or other than A4 format) or the cutting step can be bypassed and the documents (i.e. the cut sheets) be collected differently according to specific requirements.
Another object of the invention is to provide a device and process adaptable to the downstream processes and machines.
For example, according to the invention the documents are collected in piles, the flow of these document piles being adaptable to the characteristics of the printer (which for example may not be able to accommodate frequent successive stoppages and starts) and/or to the specific needs of the downstream machines or processes which, for example, may require the sheets to be fed in a specific direction or in a predetermined manner.
The technical aim, together with these and other objects are attained according to the present invention by a device and process in accordance with the accompanying claims.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will be more apparent from the ensuing description of a preferred but non-exclusive embodiment of the device and process of the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1-4 are schematic views showing different embodiments of the process;
Figure 5 is a schematic view of a device according to the present invention;
Figures 6 and 7 show two embodiments of the device according to the invention associated with document finishing machines; and
Figures 8A-8F show an example of the implementation of the process of the invention.
Figures 9, 9A, 10, 10A, 11, 11A, 12 show a storage element according to the invention in different configurations.

With reference to said figures, these show a sheet handling device indicated overall by the reference numeral 1.
The device 1 comprises a printer connection module for transporting sheets 3 with registration 2, which receives said sheets 3 from an industrial digital sheet printer 4 and feeds them to a cutter 5 (for example of rectilinear blade and counter-blade type with electronically controlled reciprocating movement) which transversely cuts (at 90° to the direction in which the sheets originating from the printer move) the sheets 3 and generates two or more documents 3a, 3b (in this description the term "document" means any sheet part which is cut, such documents 3a, 3b being able to be combined to generate complex documents comprising a plurality of pages).
From the latter (cutter 5) the documents 3a, 3b are fed to a receiver 7 which receives them, stacks them while maintaining their print sequence and transfers them to a discharge device 8; the receiver is directly connectable in line to the printer, such that documents are printed by the printer and are subsequently handled while maintaining the sequence in which they were printed.
The receiver 7 stacks the documents 3a, 3b horizontally face to face and maintained in the sequence in which they were printed; this is shown in Figure 5 which shows three piles 9 of documents.
The cutter 5 cuts the sheets 3 into two or more parts to form documents 3a, 3b of equal or different dimensions; in particular, Figure 1 shows an embodiment in which each sheet 3 is cut to form two equal documents 3a, 3b.
The documents can be stacked into a single pile 9 (Figure 1), however in other examples the receiver 7 is arranged to stack the documents into two or more piles 9.
The documents 3a are all stacked into a first pile and the documents 3b are all stacked into a second pile or, alternatively, the documents 3a and 3b are all superposed into a single pile then, when this has reached the set limit, all the parts 3a, 3b are stacked into another pile.
The discharge device 8 is arranged to feed the document piles in a direction aligned to the direction in which the documents 3 advance during processing or, alternatively, in a direction inclined, preferably by 90°, to the direction in which they advance during processing; this is shown by the arrow F of Figure 6.
The device 1 comprises control means 11 interfaced with the printer 4 positioned upstream of the printer connection module for transport with registration 2; these control means 11 implement the offset function in the receiver 7 as shown in Figure 2, in addition to controlling devices of the printer and of the device 1 to facilitate restoration of the automatic cycle after possible errors in both machines and to ensure integrity of the converted documents.
The piles of superposed documents 3a, 3b can also be fed automatically to a finishing machine 10 to implement an automatic document forming system which starting with blank or pre-printed documents enables printed documents possibly composed of several bound pages to be obtained.
In this case a conveyor is preferably provided downstream of the device 1 (after cutting by the cutter 5) to feed an automatic booklet former of type CEM series CSG (Figure 7).
The device 1 can also comprise a trimming device 13 with one or more pairs of circular blades, to longitudinally trim the documents 3a, 3b already cut by the cutter 5; this trimming device 13 is interposed between the cutter 5 and the receiver 7.
Advantageously the device 1 comprises a longitudinal cutting device 15 for example of circular blade type, to cut the documents 3a, 3b along a longitudinal direction (in the direction in which the sheets move through the printer); the longitudinal cutting device 15 is also positioned between the cutter 5 and the receiver 7.
This embodiment is particularly suitable for satisfying book-on-demand requirements.
A member for intercepting and discarding defective sheets is also suitably provided (not shown), to ensure the quality of the documents produced; this device is of a type known to the expert of the art. The member is integrated into the device 1 and is positioned between the exit of the cutter 5 and the receiver 7 and comprises an intermediate collection station enabling the converted documents to be accumulated during pile discharge and offset in order not to have to temporarily halt the printer, hence allowing uninterrupted operation.
The control means 11 control the device operation and are arranged to implement bypassing of the cutter 5 (to enable the sheets 3 to pass through the cutter without being cut into parts of smaller dimensions) and to implement bypassing of stacking by an additional conveyor device. Alternatively these uncut sheets can be fed to the stacking system by the already described methods.
The control means 11 enable the device to receive commands from the printer 4 and to feed the printer 4 with data enabling the device and printer to operate in a coherent manner, including the error situations which can arise in both machines. The control means 11 can also be provided with systems for sensing control codes printed on the sheets by the printer to enable control and/or mechanical operations on the documents to be carried out.
The operation of the conveyor according to the invention is apparent from that described and illustrated, and is essentially the following.
The printer 4 prints the desired information on the sheets 3.
For example the sheets are of A3 dimensions, the information being printed (by the digital sheet printer) on each half of the A3 sheet.
The sheets 3 are then fed, by the printer connection module for transport with registration 2, to the cutter 5 which transversely cuts the A3 sheets into two A4 sheets which are stacked by the receiver 7.
Stacking can take place by one of the previously indicated methods.
If the documents have to be further cut (for example to form documents of A5 size) the longitudinal cutting device 15 is also operated and the documents 3a, 3b are further cut longitudinally to obtain documents of the desired format.
The documents must be correctly printed on the sheet 3 fed to the printer, the subsequent cutting steps then separating each document from the others printed on the same sheet; this operation is executed flexibly and rapidly by the device of the invention.
The present invention also relates to a sheet handling process consisting of cutting the sheets 3 to separate documents 3a, 3b, collecting the cut documents 3a, 3b and making them available for subsequent processing by directly feeding the papers from a printer to an device in line to said printer, such that documents are printed by the printer and are subsequently handled while maintaining the sequence in which they were printed.
Preferably, according to the invention the documents 3a, 3b are collected by stacking them horizontally face to face while maintaining the print sequence, with continuous production of complex documents.
The sheets are divided into two or more documents of equal or different dimensions and are stacked into a number of piles.
In a first example of the process, after cutting, each of the documents 3a, 3b is stacked on a different pile. This enables reduced dimension documents to be printed, such as cheques or other documents, on sheets which can contain two columns of them, each column containing multiple names. By means of the invention two document piles are created, one for each of the two print columns, the documents of each pile being grouped on the basis of identical multiple names by the offset function, ready to pass to the subsequent post-print operations. A typical example is the processing of cheques or other documents to be formed into booklets by finishing machines not integrated with printers.
In another example, after cutting, all the documents 3a, 3b are stacked onto one and the same pile.
When necessary, as shown in Figure 2, the documents 3a, 3b are stacked by implementing the offset function. This can also be done by adjusting the spread set for the documents (i.e. the dimension d) in accordance with preset parameters and in relation to the printer commands related to the sheets being printed.
According to the process the cutting step can be bypassed, to obtain at discharge not only documents with smaller dimensions than those of the initial sheets because they have been converted into documents of the required dimensions, but also documents with the initial dimensions.
According to the invention the stacking operation can also be bypassed, both for sheets on which the conversion cut is not made and also for documents resulting from conversion by single or multiple cutting of the printed sheets. This enables sheets or documents to be fed to other post-print handling systems integrated with the printer while maintaining the device of the invention interposed and operating, ready at any moment to easily pass to other applications for which its main functions are required. The conversion cutting bypass and the stacking bypass functions, if associated with a configuration of the conveying device by which the document piles are conveyed in a direction at 90° to the paper flow, give an exceptional degree of flexibility and versatility to an automatic post-print finishing system completely integrated with the printers.
Figures 8A-8F show a further example of implementation of the process of the invention particularly suitable for satisfying the book-on-demand market, in which runs of even a single title (i.e. a single volume) are printed in digital format.
In this respect, a plurality of documents 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 are printed on a single sheet 30 (Figure 8A).
The transverse cuts 37 (Figure 8B) and the longitudinal or trimming cuts 38 (Figure 8C) are then made to separate from one another the documents 31-36 (Figure 8D).
Finally the documents 31-36 are superposed on each other (Figure 8E) in a prearranged scheme depending on the printing method, to form the finished complex document 40 (Figure 8F).
This is achieved by transferring the individual documents 31-36 from left to right or from right to left, according to the print sequence, to mutually superpose them in their exact print sequence by a known device of the type described in IT 1 244 770 .
In this manner piles can be formed consisting of a single complex document (book or volume), to satisfy the book-on-demand sector for one-off books.
This is particularly advantageous because the market tendency indicates that in the digital book printing sector the run make-up now tends towards a single example per run.
Advantageously, with the process of the present invention, runs subsequent to the first can be produced, each consisting of a single complex document (evidently, this is also true for the first run); in other words, those runs subsequent to the first (and also the first run) can comprise even a single volume or book.
In practice, printing is carried out such that the document J (i.e. page J) is superposed on the other documents to form the Jth document (i.e. the Jth page) of the complex document (i.e. the book or volume).
In a further embodiment of the invention the device is provided with a storage element arranged to store the documents cut and to make them allowable when required by the complex document to be realised.
The storage element is particularly useful when a number of documents (such as checks) are printed by a digital sheet printer on one and the same page; in these cases, the documents (checks) are printed usually in two columns and afterwards each document is separated from the others by cutting and is stacked.
Digital sheet printers are able to print documents in a fast fashion only if the documents which are printed have similar features, for example each page should contain only checks.
Nevertheless, it is often necessary to provide a complex document with some documents having different features from the others, for example a checks booklet may be provided with a front page, nine checks, a document for requesting a new check booklet and a further last check; finally the check booklet may be provided with a rear page.
Therefore, printing all the documents constituting each check booklet in the order in which they must be stacked slows down the printer and decreases its productivity.
To solve this drawback, the device of the invention is provided with the storage element 50.
The storage element 50 has a closed circular path 51 and is arranged to receive and store documents and to release them on request on a conveyor 63.
In particular, the circular path 51 is defined by couples of rollers 52, 53 placed in circle (in order to define the circular path 51) and by curvilinear guides 55, 56 (shaped like sectors of circles) that are placed between laterally adjacent rollers.
For example, figures 11 and 12 show that between the adjacent rollers 52A-52B and 53A-53B there is respectively provided a guide 55 and 56.
The rollers are rotatable and are activated by a motor 57 through a belt 58 and idle rollers 59.
The guides 55, 56 have dimension such that a document inserted in the storage element 50 is always gripped at least between a couple of rollers 52, 53.
The storage element 50 comprises means for catching in or discharge documents from it.
The catching/discharging means comprise (in the embodiment shown) one pivotable guide 61 (hinged in 60) arranged to be brought into a catching position (shown in figures 9, 9A) in which a document 62 is caught by the storage element 50, a discharge position (shown in figures 10, 10A) in which a document 62 is discharged by the storage element 50.
In these configurations the rollers 52, 53 are preferably activated at the same velocity of the conveyor 63, i.e. the periphery of each roller 52, 53 has the same velocity of the conveyor 63.
In addition, the pivotable guide 61 is arranged to be brought into a by-pass position (shown in figures 11, 11A).
In such a configuration (by-pass position) the guide 61 allows the documents stored in the storage element 50 to circulate within it and, during such movement, the documents are not caught or discharged. This allows the documents within the storage element 50 to change their position within it so as to bring a particular document in a particular position; for example (see figure 11) a document 62A a may be brought in the position occupied by the document 62B in order to make it ready to be discharged or may be moved to free a portion of the storage element 50 to receive a further document. In this configuration the rollers 52, 53 may rotate at a velocity independent of the velocity of the conveyor 63 (i.e. the rollers 52, 53 may be faster than the conveyor 63).
In addition, the by-pass position allows a document 62 moving on the conveyor 63 to overcome the storage element 50 without being caught by it.
It has been found in practice that the device and process of the invention are particularly advantageous because they enable documents to be formed in a vary flexible and economically convenient manner, even for very small print runs.
The device and process conceived in this manner, although applicable to all digital sheet printers of industrial type of currently known handlable format and printing speed, are susceptible to numerous modifications and variants, all falling within the scope of the inventive concept; moreover all details can be replaced by technically equivalent elements.
In practice the materials used and the dimensions can be chosen at will according to requirements and to the state of the art.

Claims

A sheet handling device (1) comprising a connection module for transporting sheets (3) to a cutter (5) for cutting the sheets (3) to define documents (3a, 3b), and a receiver (7) for receiving the documents (3a, 3b) from the cutter (5) and for feeding them to a discharge device (8), characterised in that said receiver (7) is directly connectable in line to a printer (4), such that documents (3a, 3b) are printed by the printer (4) and are subsequently handled while maintaining the sequence in which they were printed.
A device (1) as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said receiver (7) is arranged to stack the documents (3a, 3b) horizontally face to face.
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised in that said cutter (5) is arranged to cut said sheets (3) into two or more parts to form documents (3a, 3b) of equal or different dimensions.
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised in that said receiver (7) is arranged to stack said documents (3a, 3b) into two or more piles (9).
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised in that said discharge device (8) is arranged to feed the document piles (9) in a direction inclined, preferably by 90 degrees, to the direction in which the documents (3a, 3b) advance during processing.
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised by comprising control means (11) interfaced with the printer (4) positioned upstream of said device (1) and arranged to implement the offset function in said receiver (7) and/or the discharge of document piles (9) and/or the restoration of the automatic cycle after stoppages which have occurred due to errors of the printer (4) and/or of the device (1).
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised in that the piles (9) are fed automatically to a finishing machine (10) to implement an automatic document forming system.
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised by comprising a trimming device (13) arranged to longitudinally cut the documents (3a, 3b) already cut by said cutter (5), said trimming device (13) being interposed between the cutter (5) and the receiver (7).
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised in that said trimming device (13) comprises one or more circular blades arranged to cut the documents (3a, 3b) in a longitudinal direction.
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised by comprising a member for intercepting and discarding defective sheets.
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised by comprising an intermediate collection member positioned between the cutter (5) and the receiver (7) to accumulate converted documents during the receiver discharge and offset steps.
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised by comprising control means (11) for controlling its operation and for implementing bypassing of the cutting operation by the cutter and of the stacking operation by the additional conveyor device.
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised in that said control means (11) are provided with systems for sensing control codes printed on the sheets by the printer, to enable control and/or mechanical operations to be carried out on the documents.
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised by comprising a storage element (50) having a closed path (51) and arranged to receive and store documents and to release them on request.
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised in that said closed path (51) is defined by couples of rollers (52, 53) placed in circle in order to define a circular path (51).
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised in that said closed path (51) is defined by curvilinear guides (55, 56) placed between laterally adjacent rollers.
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised in that said rollers (52, 53) are rotatable and are activated by at least a motor (57).
A device (1) as claimed in one or more of the previous claims, characterised in that said storage element (50) comprises means for catching in or discharging documents from it comprising at least a pivotable guide (61) arranged to be brought into a catching position in which a document is caught by the storage element (50), a discharge position in which a document is discharged by the storage element (50), a by-pass position in which a document may move in the storage element (50) or may move on a conveyor (63) overcoming the storage element without being caught or discharged by it.
A sheet handling process consisting of cutting the sheets (3) to separate the documents (3a, 3b), collecting the cut documents (3a, 3b) and making them available for subsequent processing, characterised by directly feeding the papers from a printer (4) to a device (1) in line to said printer (4), such that the documents (3a, 3b) are printed by the printer (4) and are subsequently handled while maintaining the sequence in which they were printed.
A sheet handling process according to claim 19, characterised in that collection is achieved by stacking the documents (3a, 3b) horizontally face to face while maintaining the print sequence, with continuous production of complex documents.
A process as claimed in one or more of claims 19 onwards, characterised in that said sheets (3) are divided into two or more documents (3a, 3b) of equal or different dimensions.
A process as claimed in one or more of claims 19 onwards, characterised in that said cut documents (3a, 3b) are stacked into single or multiple piles (9).
A process as claimed in one or more of claims 19 onwards, characterised in that after cutting, each of the documents (3a, 3b) is stacked on a different pile (9).
A process as claimed in one or more of claims 19 onwards, characterised in that after cutting, all the documents (3a, 3b) are stacked on the same pile (9).
A process as claimed in one or more of claims 19 onwards, characterised in that the documents (3a, 3b) are stacked by implementing the offset function.
A process as claimed in one or more of claims 19 onwards, characterised in that the cutting step is bypassed.
A process as claimed in one or more of claims 19 onwards, characterised in that the stacking step is bypassed.
A process as claimed in one or more of claims 19 onwards, characterised in that successive runs of complex documents are produced, each consisting of a single complex document.
A storage element (50) for temporary storing document under working in a document production line has a closed path (51) and is arranged to receive and store documents and to release them on request.
Storage element (50) as claimed in claim 29, characterised in that said closed path (51) is defined by couples of rollers (52, 53) placed in circle in order to define a circular path.
Storage element (50) as claimed in claim 30, characterised in that said closed path (51) is defined by curvilinear guides placed between laterally adjacent rollers.
Storage element (50) as claimed in claim 30, characterised in that said rollers (52, 53) are rotatable and are activated by at least a motor.
Storage element (50) as claimed in claim 29, characterised by comprising means for catching in or discharging documents from it comprising at least a pivotable guide (61) arranged to be brought into a catching position in which a document is caught by the storage element (50), a discharge position in which a document is discharged by the storage element (50), a by-pass position in which a document may move in the storage element (50) or may move on a conveyor overcoming the storage element (50) without being caught or discharged by it.