EP3118013B1 - Manufacturing system for manufacturing books - Google Patents

Description

More particularly, the invention relates to a book-making production system in which first book-covers and book-blocks are produced separately from each other before being assembled into books.

The patent document DE 42 92 990 T1 discloses a sheet feeding system having a platform for supporting a sheet stack with an exposed cover sheet. The sheet feeding system comprises a first gripping member comprising a first vacuum means for holding the topsheet and along a vertical path between a first position and a second position in a first direction in which the cover sheet is held and in a second direction in which the Cover sheet is not held, is movable. The sheet feed system also includes first switching means for turning the first vacuum means on and off, holding the cover sheet when the first vacuum means is in the "ON" position. In addition, the sheet feeding system includes a first guide device for supporting and displacing the first gripping member along the substantially vertical path and a second gripping member having a second vacuum means movable along a substantially horizontal path between a third position and a fourth position in a first direction with the topsheet held and movable in a second direction is without holding the cover sheet. The sheet feed system also includes second switching means for turning the second vacuum means on and off, holding the cover sheet when the second vacuum means is in the "ON" position. A second guide is used to assist and move the second gripping member along the horizontal path.

The patent document US 5,033,730 discloses a device for picking up individual articles by means of negative pressure, these articles being, for example, paper sheets. The individual articles can have different dimensions and be randomly stacked. The apparatus includes vacuum holding members and spacers arranged to provide a clearance between the vacuum holding members and the articles when the spacers contact the stack of articles. The apparatus further comprises means for varying the height of the vacuum holding members and the spacers, which means comprise components for lowering the vacuum holding members and the spacers until the spacers contact the stack of articles. The apparatus also includes means for urging the spacers against the stack of articles and locking means for locking the vertical height of the vacuum holding members after the spacers have contacted the stack of articles. In addition, the device comprises means for withdrawing the spacers so that they no longer touch the article stack after the top article has been received by the vacuum holding elements.

The patent document US 2006/0261536 A1 discloses a device with movable vacuum holding elements that can be placed on a top sheet of a stack of sheets to suck the topmost sheet. During the suction process, a central portion of the sheet is held down by means of a very wide hold-down element located between the vacuum holding elements and extending substantially from edge to edge of the sheet. The vacuum holding members with the sucked sheet can be moved to a desired location where the sheet can be stored.

The patent document US 3,826,485 (equals to DE 22 56 793 A1 ) discloses a device for aspirating a topmost sheet of a stack of sheets, the apparatus having a first suction member and a second suction member. Between the suction a spring-loaded hold-down element is provided. The device is designed such that, in use, the first suction element is disposed above an edge of the sheet to be lifted, whereas the second suction element is disposed above an intermediate region of the sheet which extends between the opposite Edge of the sheet and the middle of the sheet is located. The device is controlled so that initially only the first suction is raised to lift the edge of the sheet, after which also the second suction is raised to lift the sheet as a whole.

The patent document DE 297 13 871 U1 discloses a device for separating sheet metal parts, wherein the device comprises grippers and a stop against which the sheet metal part strikes during gripping. The stop and the grippers are vertically movable relative to each other to elastically deform the uppermost sheet metal part.

The patent document EP 0 343 522 A2 discloses an apparatus for fully automatic bookbinding of unique and small series consists of a receiving station in which the data required for binding are created and stored, a book block manufacturing station in which the separating notches and gluing and trimming the book block is made, and a sleeve station, in which the cover is reinforced with a Reco-sleeve. The system also includes a paving station, where, based on the data provided at the receiving station, the ceilings are made to fit the block, a hanging track that adjusts the pitch of the book block and joins the book block to the cover, and a rounding station where Book block pressed into the cover and rounded using consumption of the slope. The processing operations for the production of the book block and the cover and the merging of book block and cover are performed computer controlled.

It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus, methods, and computer programs that enable faster production of books, particularly photobooks.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a destacker for destacking a stack of book covers and for laying individual book covers, the destacker a) a pick unit for picking up and holding a top book cover from a stack of book covers and b) a moving unit for moving the pickup unit with the book cover removed and held from the stack of book covers to a delivery location.

The destacker is preferably designed to receive a stack of book covers, to unstack this stack of book covers, that is to separate the book covers, and deliver the individual book covers. The destacker allows managing book covers such that book covers can initially be stored in a stacked storage in stacks, and if they are needed to make a book, they can be outsourced from the stack storage as a stack, to then separate them by means of the destacker , The isolated book covers can then be stored in a shelving system be stored before they are used to make the books, that is, to connect to book blocks. The destacker thus enables a combined storage of stacks of book covers and individual book covers in a storage system.

This makes it possible to produce book covers in advance, that is, before the book covers are needed for the production of a book, these can be stored in stacks, so that when they are actually needed for the production of the book, they are quickly made available can. This can lead to a fast book production or a high book production rate.

The pickup unit has holding elements for temporarily holding a book cover and a hold-down element for holding down a draft of the book cover. The destacker is adapted, when removing the top book cover, to hold down the top book cover by means of the hold down member to lift and release the pages of the top book cover and, after the pages of the top book cover have been released, the pick unit to move to the delivery location by means of the movement unit. By previously loosening the pages of the topmost book cover from corresponding sides of the underlying book cover, the likelihood of the pickup unit picking up two book covers at the same time can be reduced, thereby increasing the singulation quality. The holding elements of the pickup unit are preferably vacuum nozzles which hold the respective book cover by negative pressure. The hold-down element is elastically formed by means of a spring. The destacker includes a sensor for monitoring the hold-down element, wherein the sensor is adapted, when placed on the book cover, to measure the distance biased by the spring, the destacker being adapted to stop seating on the book cover after a predetermined distance. The unstacker therefore preferably comprises a controller that stops the placement on the book cover when the measured, biased by the spring distance has reached a predetermined distance. This can be ensured with a technically relatively low cost that the force exerted on the Schrenz the book cover pressure is not so great that the usually very sensitive Schrenz is damaged.

Preferably, the Abnehmeeinheit comprises a plate on which the holding elements and the hold-down element are arranged, wherein the holding elements preferably at corners of a imaginary rectangles are arranged and the hold-down element is preferably arranged centrally between the holding elements. That is, preferably located on each side of the hold-down element, a group of two holding elements, wherein the holding elements of a same group are arranged on a straight imaginary line which is parallel to the hold-down element. Preferably, the two straight imaginary lines are arranged on opposite sides of the hold-down element with the same distance to the hold-down element. Such an arrangement leads to a further improved destacking of the respective stack of book covers.

The destacker is preferably adapted, for removing a topmost book cover, in a first step, first to move the plate upwardly so as to retain the topbook cover thickness held down by the hold down element while the sides of the topmost book cover are raised at the same time, after which, in a second step, the plate is moved upwards so that the uppermost book cover, including the Schrenzes is completely raised. This allows a very gentle release of the top book cover from the underlying book cover, so that during the removal process only the top book cover and not also an underlying book cover underlying book cover is removed safely.

The holding elements are preferably vacuum nozzles. In addition, the destacker preferably comprises a pressure sensor for monitoring a negative pressure created in the attached vacuum nozzles, the destacker is preferably adapted to lift the Abnehmeeinheit after placing on the top book cover only when the pressure sensor measures a sufficient negative pressure, and by means of a comparison of measured negative pressure with a threshold to decide whether the negative pressure is sufficient. This can be ensured with a technically relatively low cost that the pickup unit is only raised when the measured negative pressure is sufficient to keep the top book cover safely, whereby the destacker can be further improved.

The above object is also achieved by a storage system for conveying book covers, wherein the storage system a stacking warehouse for storing stacks of book covers, a destacker for unstacking the stacks of book covers and for dispensing individual book covers according to one of claims 1 to 5, and Shelving system for storing individual book covers includes.

• eine Regaleinheit zum Lagern mehrerer einzelner Buchdecken, wobei die Regaleinheit eine Einlagerungsseite und eine der Einlagerungsseite gegenüberliegende Auslagerungsseite aufweist,
• ein erstes Regalnutzungsgerät zum Einlagern von einzelnen Buchdecken in die Regaleinheit über die Einlagerungsseite, und
• ein zweites Regalnutzungsgerät zum Auslagern von Objekten aus der Regaleinheit über die Auslagerungsseite.

The shelving system for storing individual book covers preferably comprises the following units:

• a shelf unit for storing a plurality of individual book covers, the shelf unit having a storage side and a storage side opposite storage side,
• a first shelf-use device for storing individual book covers in the shelf unit on the storage side, and
• a second shelf utilization device for retrieving objects from the shelf unit via the page.

Since the storage takes place by means of the first storage and retrieval device on the storage side and the outsourcing by means of the second storage and retrieval device on the paging side, the automatic storage and automatic retrieval can be decoupled. This enables faster storage and retrieval processes, and thus faster manufacturing processes, when the individual and stored individual book covers are needed for the manufacturing process.

The shelf-use device is a device that allows storage and / or outsourcing of objects. In particular, it is a device that can pick up, transport and deliver an object, for example, for loading and unloading it into the rack unit. The rack utilization device can be, for example, a stacker crane or another device for loading and / or unloading objects into a rack unit.

The shelving system is adapted to store and retrieve individual book covers. Book covers, which can also be referred to as covers, are used together with book contents, that is to say together with book blocks, to produce books, in particular photo books.

The first shelf utilization device preferably has a starting position relative to the shelf unit and is preferably adapted to receive individual book covers in the starting position and to store them in the shelf unit in storage locations such that distances from the starting position to the storage locations and / or times required for the respective storage are minimized.

The first rack utilization device can be adapted to store the individual book covers with the smallest possible distance to the starting position. This means, for example, that in each case that unoccupied storage location from a variety of unoccupied Storage locations closest to the home position where each book cover is taken. The first shelf-use device can also be designed to select the unoccupied storage location that is the fastest to reach starting from the starting position at which the individual book cover is received. Differences in terms of the criterion "shortest distance" and the criterion "fastest storage time" can result from the fact that the first rack utilization device can be moved in different directions at different speeds. In addition, the first shelf-use device can be adapted such that the distance for the second shelf-use device is minimized when retrieving the respective individual book cover. In particular, the first shelf-use device can be designed such that the storage takes place in such a way that the total distance traveled by the first shelf-use device for storage and the second shelf-use device for removal is minimized. In addition, the first shelf-use device can be designed so that the removal time or the total time that the first rack-use device for storage and the second shelf-use device for retrieval requires is minimized.

The starting position of the first storage and retrieval unit, on which the individual book covers are received, is preferably centered with respect to the storage locations of the shelf unit. This centering can be a) a purely horizontal centering, b) a purely vertical centering or c) a horizontal and vertical centering. The centering can lead to reduced storage routes and reduced times required for storage. Also, a dispensing position at which the second shelf-use device emits the respective outsourced individual book cover to, for example, a conveyor belt can be centered with respect to the storage locations of the shelving system, whereby also this centering a) a purely horizontal centering, b) a purely vertical centering or c) a horizontal and vertical centering can be. The starting position of the first storage and retrieval unit, at which the first rack utilization device receives a single book cover, and the starting position of the second storage and retrieval device, on which the second rack utilization device dispenses a single book cover, can be arranged at the same locations or at different locations with respect to the storage locations of the shelving system ,

The shelving system may have shelves on which the individual book covers can be stored. The storage locations can therefore be located on the shelves. The storage locations on a shelf can be separated by delimiting elements. The delimiters can store one storage location at two, limit three or four pages. In particular, the delimiting elements, which may be vertical walls, form compartments in which the storage locations are located. However, a storage location can not be delimited by a delimiting element, so that storage locations can be defined on a shelf, without these being separated from one another by delimiting elements.

In one embodiment, the shelves on at least one limiting element on the outsourcing side of the shelving system. This limiting element can be regarded as a stop, to which the first rack utilization device can move the individual book covers during storage. This stop can lead to the fact that all individual book covers located in the shelving system have the same position in the direction of removal, even if the individual book covers have different dimensions. The second shelf-use device can be adapted to lift the individual book covers when outsourcing the attack. The stop may be interrupted, that is, not run continuously on the respective shelf along the paging side to facilitate removal by means of the second storage and retrieval unit. But it is also possible that the shelves do not have such a stop on the outsourcing side of the shelving system. The first rack utilization device can then be adapted to store the individual book covers in the rack unit so that the individual book covers located in the racking system have the same position in the direction of removal, even if the individual book covers have different dimensions. The first shelf-use device can therefore be adapted to select the path that moves the respective individual book cover in the shelf unit, depending on the size of the individual book cover in the direction of removal, so that all embedded individual book covers in the same direction in the direction of removal. A single book cover, which has a greater length in the direction of removal, can therefore be moved less far into the shelf unit than another single book cover, which has a shorter length in the direction of removal.

Preferably, the respective shelf is not completely closed, but has openings. For example, a shelf may be formed by planks, fingers, boards, tines or in other ways with gaps. These openings in the shelf can facilitate storage and retrieval by the first and second shelf use device. Instead of or in addition to the openings, the respective shelf can also have recesses which can facilitate storage and retrieval by the first and second shelf-use device.

In one embodiment, storage areas at the different storage locations, for example the corresponding compartments, are the same size and the spatial distribution of the storage locations is constant. In another embodiment, the distribution of storage locations may be variable. The size of the respective storage areas can be changed. In addition, even if the storage areas have a constant size, storage areas that are assigned to different storage locations may have different sizes. A dynamic change of storage locations, that is, the spatial distribution of the storage locations, and / or sizes of storage areas that are assigned to the storage locations, depending on the amount einzulagernder individual book covers and / or the size of einzulagernden individual book covers.

The shelving system preferably further comprises a storage unit for storing allocation information indicating at which storage locations which individual book covers are stored. It is preferred that the second rack utilization device can access this storage unit so that the second shelf utilization device can easily find and retrieve the individual book cover to be outsourced.

The individual book covers can each have an identification element for the unique identification of the respective individual book cover. The identification element can be, for example, a barcode or an RFID element. The barcode can be for example a one-dimensional barcode, a two-dimensional barcode or a colored barcode. The shelf system may include at least one identification unit configured to identify the respective individual book cover using the respective identification element. For example, the identification unit may be adapted to identify the respective individual book cover when it is being picked up by the first shelf-use device and / or when being dispensed by the second shelf-use device and / or when it is stored in the shelf unit. In a preferred embodiment, the identification unit is adapted to identify the identification element of the respective stored individual book cover from the page of outsourcing. By identifying the respective individual book cover, it can be ensured that it is known which individual book cover is stored at which storage location, wherein this assignment information can be stored in the abovementioned storage unit.

If the identification unit is adapted to identify the identification element of the respective stored individual book cover from the page of outsourcing, it can be relatively easily checked immediately before the removal, if the At the respective storage location located individual book cover is really the expected single book cover, which is currently auszulagern. If this is not so, an error message can be generated and, for example, an identification of all individual book covers located in the shelving system can be carried out in order to determine which individual book covers are at which storage locations and to update the assignment information.

The identification unit may be attached to the first and / or the second rack utilization device. This allows a relatively easy identification of the respective individual book covers during the storage process and / or during the swapping process.

The first shelf-use device and / or the second shelf-use device preferably comprises an object receiving device for receiving and dispensing individual book covers, wherein the object receiving device comprises a treadmill unit and a holding device for holding the treadmill unit, wherein the object receiving device is adapted so that the treadmill unit for receiving and / or Dispensing a single book cover out of the holding device and hineinbewegbar in the holding device. For receiving a single book cover, therefore, the treadmill unit may first be telescoped out of the holding device, in particular so that the treadmill unit contacts the individual book cover to be picked, after which one or more conveyor belts of the treadmill unit can move the single book cover onto the treadmill unit. The treadmill unit itself together with the stored on the treadmill unit book cover can then be moved back into the holding device. For dispensing the individual book cover, the treadmill unit can be moved out of the holding device again, after which one or more conveyor belts of the treadmill unit can move the individual book cover down from the treadmill unit to a storage location. Of course, the object receiving device may also be adapted to allow a single book cover to be picked up and / or dispensed using only one or more conveyor belts without the treadmill unit being moved out of the holding device and / or into the holding device. The object receiving device with the telescopically movable treadmill unit can lead to an improved, ie in particular for the male and / or individual book cover gentler, rearrangement.

The object receiving device could also be referred to as a load handling device or as a telescope treadmill unit. Preferably, the object receiving device is adapted to receive individual book covers and / or deliver. In one embodiment, the object receiving device is adapted to receive individual book covers a) from a conveyor belt and / or from a shelf unit and / or b) to a conveyor belt and / or a rack unit.

Preferably, the treadmill unit comprises an alignment unit for aligning the individual book cover on the treadmill unit. In particular, the treadmill unit comprises a transport treadmill for transporting the individual book cover and an alignment conveyor belt with a protruding nose for aligning the individual book cover on the transport treadmill, wherein the transport treadmill and the alignment treadmill are independently movable. The alignment unit therefore preferably comprises an alignment treadmill with a protruding nose. Preferably, the treadmill unit comprises two or more conveyor belts and / or two or more registration conveyor belts. The alignment unit allows a desired orientation of the individual book cover on the conveyor belt and therefore also at a storage location at which the individual book cover is delivered. In one embodiment, the object receiving device is adapted, for delivering the individual book cover to push them by means of the protruding nose of the transport conveyor belt. As a result, the alignment of the individual book cover can be further improved during the removal.

The treadmill unit may be adapted to store a single book cover, for example in a rack unit so that all embedded individual book covers are flush on the side opposite the storage side. That is, the distance that the respective individual book cover is moved away from the treadmill unit when dispensing the individual book cover may depend on the size of the respective individual book cover in the direction of movement. This allows a flush arrangement of the individual book covers at storage locations, even if the individual book covers have different sizes. For determining the size of the respective individual book cover, at least in the direction in which the respective individual book cover is moved at a storage location when dispensing, the treadmill unit or another unit of the object receiving device may have a corresponding measuring unit which, for example, by means of a light barrier, a length of the respective individual book cover measures. For example, the single book cover can be moved at a known speed through the light barrier to determine the length of each book cover in the direction of movement. It is also possible that the identity of the individual Book cover is already known, for example, due to a reading of an identification code on the individual book cover, the size of the individual book cover can be stored in a database, so that the size of the individual book cover in the respective direction can be obtained from the database.

The storage system further preferably comprises a conveyor for conveying book covers along a conveyor path, the conveyor being adapted, the stacks of book covers from the stack store to the destacker, the individual book covers from the destacker to the first shelving device of the shelving system and the book covers from the second Shelving device of the shelving system to promote a feeding unit for feeding the book covers to a bookbinding unit.

The conveyor preferably has one or more lines for introducing book covers into the conveying path and / or for dispensing book covers from the conveying path. In addition, the storage system may have an error detection unit for detecting errors, wherein the conveyor may be adapted to promote a book cover from the conveying path to the respective route depending on the detection of an error. For example, the error detection unit may be adapted to compare an identified book cover with an expected book cover which it may, for example, retrieve from a stored list of expected book covers to determine if the identified book cover is correct at the present time. If this is not the case, the conveyor can remove the identified book cover by means of the route from the conveyor. The error detection unit can also be adapted to detect other errors, such as manufacturing errors, in which case the respective book cover can be removed by means of the route from the conveyor. The error detection unit can also be adapted to detect a faulty book cover of a stack of book covers, in which case the stack of book covers can be removed from the conveyor. For example, the error detection unit may be adapted to detect a faulty top book cover of a stack of book covers, after which then this stack can be removed from the conveyor.

The conveyor may have a distribution diverter to supply the track for the introduction of book covers in the conveying path and / or for dispensing book covers from the conveyor book cover or take of this. The distribution diverter can be designed to discharge incorrectly produced stacks of book covers, that is to remove them from the conveying path. The distribution divider can be arranged between a book cover manufacturing unit and the stacking warehouse. Whether a stack has been produced incorrectly can be detected, for example, by means of the error detection unit. The error detection unit may for example be integrated in the book cover manufacturing unit, so that the book cover manufacturing unit may generate an error signal when a defective stack of book covers has been produced. If the book cover manufacturing unit generates such an error signal, the distribution diverter may remove the corresponding defective stack of book covers from the conveyance path. The distribution diverter itself may include an identification unit for identifying a book cover and thus a stack of book covers so that the distribution diverter can verify, before removing a stack of book covers from the conveyance path, whether the stack of book covers to be removed is really the defective pile.

After the faulty stack of book covers has been removed from the conveyor, this can for example be checked manually, after which the checked stack of book covers, after the error has been corrected, for example, can be re-introduced by means of the distribution diverter in the conveyor. The preferred identification units of the storage system make it possible to remove defective book covers from a stack of book covers and then bring the thus corrected stack of book covers back into the conveyor since the identification units can identify the individual book covers that are in the storage system. The storage system can therefore be designed so that it is not absolutely necessary that the book covers of a stack have a prescribed order.

The conveyor is preferably adapted to convey produced stacks of book covers from the book cover manufacturing unit to the stack store so that the produced stacks of books can be stored in the stack store, especially in shelves of a shelf unit of the stack store. The conveyor may also be adapted to promote a manufactured stack of book covers without storage in the stacking warehouse directly to the destacker. In particular, the storage system may comprise a stack height providing unit for providing a stack height value indicative of the height of a fabricated stack of book covers, the conveyor being adapted to convey a stack of book covers directly to the destacker, without storage in the stack store; when the stack height value provided by the stack height providing unit falls below a predefined value. The stack height providing unit includes, for example, a sensor such as a light sensor or another sensor for measuring the respective one Stack height. However, the stack height providing unit may also be simply adapted to receive signals indicative of the particular stack height from the booklet making unit and then provide the corresponding stack height value. The conveyor can also be adapted to decide based on other criteria, whether a stack of book covers is conveyed directly to the destacker or initially stored in the stack warehouse, the criteria being for example the utilization of the stacking warehouse and / or the shelving system and / or Weight of the respective stack of book covers or other characteristics may include.

The book cover manufacturing unit may be adapted to produce, for example, stacks of up to 42 book covers, wherein the book covers of a stack are preferably format-pure. For example, book covers of a stack are considered to be plain if the book covers are dimensioned so that the books ultimately produced have the same height and width. The thickness of the final produced books can be different. The book cover manufacturing unit can also be adapted to produce non-format pure stack of book covers.

The stackable warehouse, which could also be referred to as a stacker manager, may include another racking system with a racking utility that both stores and retrieves the stacks of bookcases. In particular, the stackable storage may be a shelving system or a shelving system comprising a shelf unit for storing a plurality of stacks of book covers at storage locations and a conveyor for conveying a stack of book covers to be stored or a stack of book covers to be stored within the shelf unit, the conveyor being within the shelf unit Shelf unit is arranged so that it is located below and / or above storage locations. Since the conveyor is disposed within the shelf unit and preferably not laterally offset from the shelf unit, the shelf system requires relatively little area. The conveyor preferably comprises one or more conveyor belts, which are arranged within the rack unit below and / or above storage locations. The shelf unit is preferably adapted to store stacks of book covers at the storage locations of the shelf unit, and the conveyor belt is preferably adapted to convey stacks of book covers to be stored in the shelf unit and stacks of book covers to be stored out of the shelf unit.

The stackable storage preferably comprises an object receiving device for receiving and dispensing stacks of book covers, the object receiving device having a Treadmill unit and a holding device for holding the treadmill unit, wherein the object receiving device is adapted so that the treadmill unit for receiving and / or delivering a stack of book covers out of the holding device and is hineinbewegbar in the holding device. The object receiving device may be designed according to the above-described object receiving devices of the first and / or the second storage and retrieval device.

• eine Buchdecken-Herstellungseinheit zum Herstellen von Stapeln von Buchdecken,
• das Lagersystem zum Lagern von Buchdecken,
• eine Buchblöcke-Herstellungseinheit zum Herstellen von Buchblöcken,
• eine Buchbindeeinheit zum Herstellen von Büchern durch Binden von Buchdecken mit dazugehörigen Buchblöcken, und
• eine Zuführeinrichtung zum Zuführen von Buchdecken von dem Regalsystem des Lagersystems und von Buchblöcken von der Buchblöcke-Herstellungseinheit zu der Buchbindeeinheit.

The above object is also achieved by a book manufacturing system, the manufacturing system comprising:

• a book cover manufacturing unit for making stacks of book covers,
• the storage system for storing book covers,
• a book block manufacturing unit for making book blocks,
• a book binding unit for making books by binding book covers with associated book blocks, and
• a feeder for feeding book covers from the shelf system of the storage system and book blocks from the book block making unit to the book binding unit.

The manufacturing system further preferably comprises a signal unit configured to send a signal for producing book blocks belonging to a stack of book covers to the book block production unit and / or a signal for storing the stack of book covers in the stack store to the storage system send when the book cover manufacturing unit has made this stack of book covers. As a result, for example, the production of the book blocks can be synchronized with the production of the book covers. A further signal unit may also be adapted to send a signal for retrieving a stack of book covers from the stack store to the stack warehouse when the associated book blocks have been made by the book block manufacturing unit. This synchronizes the retrieval of the stacks of book covers with the making of the associated book blocks.

The feeder is preferably adapted to supply the bookbinding unit book blocks and associated book covers in the appropriate order and in particular at the same time. For this purpose, the feed device preferably has a further signal unit, which upon delivery of a book block a delivery signal to the shelving system transmitted, after which the shelving system outsourced the book cover and the conveyor promotes the outsourced book cover to the feeder.

• Einlagern von Objekten in eine Regaleinheit des Regalsystems über eine Einlagerungsseite der Regaleinheit des Regalsystems durch ein erstes Regalnutzungsgerät des Regalsystems, und
• Auslagern von Objekten aus der Regaleinheit über eine Auslagerungsseite des Regalsystems durch ein zweites Regalnutzungsgerät des Regalsystems.

In addition, a method is provided for storing objects, in particular individual book covers, in a shelving system and for offloading the objects from the shelving system, the method comprising:

• Storage of objects in a shelf unit of the shelving system via a storage side of the shelf unit of the shelving system by a first shelf-use device of the shelving system, and
• Outsourcing of objects from the shelf unit via a page of the shelving system outsourcing by a second shelf-use device of the shelving system.

• Fördern eines einzulagernden Objekts innerhalb einer Regaleinheit des Regalsystems mittels einer Fördereinrichtung des Regalsystems zu einem Aufnahmeort, wobei die Fördereinrichtung innerhalb der Regaleinheit angeordnet ist, so dass sich die Fördereinrichtung unterhalb und/oder oberhalb von Lagerorten der Regaleinheit befindet,
• Aufnehmen des Objekts an dem Aufnahmeort durch eine Objektaufnahmeeinrichtung, Bewegen der Objektaufnahmeeinrichtung zu einem Lagerort der Regaleinheit und Abgeben des Objekts an dem Lagerort,
• Entnehmen des Objekts von dem Lagerort durch die Objektaufnahmeeinrichtung, Bewegen der Objektaufnahmeeinrichtung zu einem Abgabeort und Abgeben des Objekts an dem Abgabeort, und
• Fördern des Objekts mittels der Fördereinrichtung weg von dem Abgabeort, um das Objekt aus der Regaleinheit zu bewegen.

Also provided is a method of storing objects, particularly stacks of book covers, in a shelving system and for offloading the objects into the shelving system, the method comprising:

• Conveying an object to be stored within a rack unit of the shelving system by means of a conveyor of the shelving system to a receiving location, wherein the conveyor is arranged within the shelf unit, so that the conveyor is located below and / or above storage locations of the shelf unit,
• Picking up the object at the pickup location by an object pick-up device, moving the object pick-up device to a storage location of the racking unit and delivering the object to the storage location,
• Removing the object from the storage location by the object receiving device, moving the object receiving device to a delivery location and delivering the object at the delivery location, and
• Conveying the object by means of the conveyor away from the delivery location to move the object from the shelf unit.

The location and place of delivery may be identical.

In addition, an object recording method for receiving and dispensing objects, in particular book covers and / or stacks of book covers, provided by means of an object receiving device, wherein the treadmill unit of the object receiving device for receiving and / or delivering an object from the holding device of the object receiving device out and into the Holding device is moved into it.

The above object is also achieved by a method for unstacking a stack of book covers and dispensing individual book covers by means of a destacker according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the picking unit of the destacker takes off and holds a top book cover from a stack of book covers and the Moving unit of the unstacker then the Abnehmeeinheit moved with the book cover removed and held from the stack of book covers to a delivery location, the Abnehmeeinheit holding a book cover by means of holding elements temporarily, the Abnehmeeinheit by means of a hold-down element holds down the Schrenz the book cover, the Unstackler when removing the top book cover lowers the thickness of the top book cover by means of the hold-down element to lift the pages of the top book cover and to release from the stack, and, after the pages of the top book cover have been solved, the pickup unit by means of the moving unit moved to the discharge location, wherein the hold-down element is elastically formed by a spring, wherein the destacker has a sensor for monitoring the hold-down element, wherein the sensor measures when placed on the book cover the biased by the spring path, the destacker from a predetermined distance the Touching the book cover stops.

• Fördern von Stapeln von Buchdecken von einer Buchdecken-Herstellungseinheit zu einem Stapellager,
• Einlagern der Stapel von Buchdecken in das Stapellager,
• Auslagern der Stapel von Buchdecken aus dem Stapellager,
• Fördern der Stapel von Buchdecken von dem Stapellager zu einem Entstapler,
• Aufnehmen der Stapel von Buchdecken und Abgeben einzelner Buchdecken durch den Entstapler gemäß Anspruch 8,
• Fördern der einzelnen Buchdecken von dem Entstapler zu einem Regalsystem,
• Einlagern der einzelnen Buchdecken in das Regalsystem,
• Auslagern der einzelnen Buchdecken aus dem Regalsystem, und
• Fördern der einzelnen Buchdecken von dem Regalsystem zu einer Zuführeinrichtung zum Zuführen der einzelnen Buchdecken zu einer Buchbindeeinheit.

Furthermore, the above object is achieved by a conveying method for conveying book covers, the conveying method comprising:

• Conveying stacks of book covers from a book cover making unit to a stacking warehouse,
• Storing the stacks of book covers in the stacking warehouse,
• Outsourcing the stacks of book covers from the stacking warehouse,
• Conveying the stacks of book covers from the stack warehouse to a destacker,
• Picking up the stacks of book covers and dispensing individual book covers by the denester according to claim 8,
• Conveying the individual book covers from the destacker to a shelving system,
• Storing the individual book covers in the shelving system,
• Outsourcing of individual book covers from the shelving system, and
• Conveying the individual book covers from the shelving system to a feeder for feeding the individual book covers to a bookbinding unit.

• Fördern einzelner Buchdecken zu einer Zuführeinheit zum Zuführen der einzelnen Buchdecken zu einer Buchbindeeinheit gemäß Anspruch 9,
• Herstellen von zu den einzelnen Buchdecken gehörenden Buchblöcken durch eine Buchblöcke-Herstellungseinheit,
• Zuführen der einzelnen Buchdecken und der hergestellten dazugehörigen Buchblöcke zu einer Buchbindeeinheit, und
• Herstellen von Büchern durch Binden der Buchdecken mit den dazugehörigen Buchblöcken durch die Buchbindeeinheit.

In addition, the above object is achieved by a manufacturing method for making books, the manufacturing method comprising:

• Conveying individual book covers to a feed unit for feeding the individual book covers to a book binding unit according to claim 9,
• Producing book blocks belonging to the individual book covers by a book block production unit,
• Feeding the individual book covers and the associated associated book blocks into a bookbinding unit, and
• Making books by binding the book covers with the associated book blocks through the book binding unit.

In addition, the above object is achieved by a computer program for controlling a destacker according to one of claims 1 to 5 for destacking a stack of book covers and for dispensing individual book covers, wherein the computer program Program code means adapted to control the destacker so as to perform the method of claim 8 when the computer program is run on a computer controlling the destacker.

Furthermore, the object is solved by a computer program for controlling a storage system according to claim 6, wherein the computer program comprises program code means adapted to control the storage system such that the delivery method according to claim 9 is performed when the computer program is executed on a computer controlling the storage system.

In addition, the object is achieved by a computer program for controlling a production system according to claim 7 for the production of books, the computer program having program code means adapted to control the manufacturing system such that the manufacturing method according to claim 10 is performed when the computer program on a Computer that controls the manufacturing system.

It should be understood that the methods and computer programs may include embodiments consistent with the embodiments of the associated systems, apparatus, or devices, particularly recited in the dependent claims and the description. For example, the unstacking method and the computer program for controlling a destacker may include embodiments that conform to the embodiments of the unstacker.

Fig. 1

schematisch und beispielhaft ein Herstellungssystem zum Herstellen von Fotobüchern zeigt,

Fig. 2

schematisch und beispielhaft einige Komponenten des Herstellungssystems zum Herstellen von Fotobüchern zeigt,

Fig. 3

schematisch und beispielhaft ein Regalsystem und angrenzende Komponenten des Herstellungssystems zum Herstellen von Fotobüchern zeigt,

Fig. 4

schematisch und beispielhaft ein Lastaufnahmemittel und eine Bewegungseinheit eines Regalbediengeräts des Regalsystems zeigt,

Fig. 5

schematisch und beispielhaft ein Stapellager zum Lagern von Stapeln von Buchdecken und angrenzende Komponenten des Herstellungssystem zum Herstellen von Fotobüchern zeigt,

Fig. 6

schematisch und beispielhaft einen Entstapler zum Entstapeln eines Stapels von Buchdecken und zum Ausgeben einzelner Buchdecken und angrenzende Komponenten des Herstellungssystems zum Herstellen von Fotobüchern zeigt,

Fig. 7

schematisch und beispielhaft eine Abnehmeeinheit und eine Bewegungseinheit des Entstaplers zeigt,

Fig. 8

beispielhaft ein Anwinkeln einer obersten Buchdecke eines Stapels von Buchdecken durch den Entstapler zum Lösen der obersten Buchdecke von dem Stapel von Buchdecken illustriert,

Fig. 9

beispielhaft ein Abheben der angewinkelten obersten Buchdecke von dem Stapeln von Buchdecken illustriert,

Fig. 10

beispielhaft ein Flussdiagramm zeigt, das eine Ausführungsform eines Herstellungsverfahrens zum Herstellen von Fotobüchern illustriert,

Fig. 11

beispielhaft ein Flussdiagramm zeigt, das eine Ausführungsform eines Verfahrens zum Einlagern von einzelnen Buchdecken in das Regalsystem und zum Auslagern der einzelnen Buchdecken aus dem Regalsystem illustriert,

Fig. 12

beispielhaft ein Flussdiagramm zeigt, das eine Ausführungsform eines Verfahrens zum Einlagern von Stapeln von Buchdecken in das Stapellager und zum Auslagern der Stapel von Buchdecken aus dem Stapellager illustriert,

Fig. 13

beispielhaft ein Flussdiagramm zeigt, das eine Ausführungsform eines Verfahrens zum Entstapeln eines Stapels von Buchdecken und zum Abgeben einzelner Buchdecken mittels des Entstaplers illustriert,

Fig. 14

beispielhaft ein Flussdiagramm zeigt, das eine Ausführungsform eines Objektaufnahmeverfahrens zum Aufnehmen und Abgeben von Objekten, insbesondere von Buchdecken oder von Stapeln von Buchdecken, illustriert.

Fig. 15

schematisch und beispielhaft ein Lastaufnahmemittel eines Regalbediengerätes des Regalsystems in einer Position zeigt, in der eine Laufbandeinheit des Lastaufnahmemittels eingefahren ist,

Fig. 16

schematisch und beispielhaft das Lastaufnahmemittel des Regalsystems in einer ausgefahrenen Position zeigt, in der die Laufbandeinheit herausgefahren worden ist,

Fig. 17

schematisch und beispielhaft Komponenten der Laufbandeinheit des Lastaufnahmemittels des Regalsystems zeigt,

Fig. 18

schematisch und beispielhaft das Lastaufnahmemittel des Regalsystems unmittelbar vor der Einlagerung einer einzelnen Buchdecke illustriert,

Fig. 19

schematisch und beispielhaft das Lastaufnahmemittel des Regalsystems während des Einlagerns der einzelnen Buchdecke illustriert,

Fig. 20

beispielhaft Halteelemente und eine Platte eines Umsetzers zum Umsetzen einer einzelnen Buchdecke von einem ersten Förderband auf ein zweites Förderband unmittelbar vor einer Aufnahme einer Buchdecke illustriert,

Fig. 21

beispielhaft ein Ausrichten einer umzusetzenden Buchdecke mit Hilfe eines Anschlags illustriert,

Fig. 22

schematisch und beispielhaft ein Lastaufnahmemittel des Stapellagers in einer Position zeigt, in der eine Laufbandeinheit in eine Halteeinrichtung des Lastaufnahmemittels eingefahren ist, und

Fig. 23

schematisch und beispielhaft das Lastaufnahmemittel des Stapellagers in einer Position zeigt, in der die Laufbandeinheit aus der Halteeinrichtung herausgefahren ist.

Embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to the following figures, wherein

Fig. 1

shows schematically and by way of example a production system for producing photo books,

Fig. 2

shows schematically and by way of example some components of the production system for the production of photobooks,

Fig. 3

shows schematically and by way of example a shelving system and adjacent components of the production system for producing photo books,

Fig. 4

shows schematically and by way of example a load-receiving means and a moving unit of a storage and retrieval unit of the rack system,

Fig. 5

schematically and exemplarily shows a stacking warehouse for storing stacks of book covers and adjacent components of the production system for producing photo books,

Fig. 6

schematically and exemplarily shows a destacker for destacking a stack of book covers and for dispensing individual book covers and adjacent components of the production system for producing photo books,

Fig. 7

schematically and exemplarily shows a pick-up unit and a moving unit of the destacker,

Fig. 8

by way of example illustrating an angling of an uppermost book cover of a stack of book covers by the destacker for releasing the uppermost book cover from the stack of book covers;

Fig. 9

by way of example illustrating a lifting of the angled topmost book cover from the stacking of book covers;

Fig. 10

FIG. 2 shows by way of example a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a production method for producing photo books; FIG.

Fig. 11

by way of example, a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method for storing individual book covers in the shelving system and for retrieving the individual book covers from the shelving system,

Fig. 12

by way of example, a flow chart illustrating one embodiment of a method for storing stacks of book covers into the stack warehouse and for retrieving the stacks of book covers from the stack warehouse;

Fig. 13

by way of example, a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method for unstacking a stack of book covers and for dispensing individual book covers by means of the destacker,

Fig. 14

By way of example, a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of an object picking method for picking up and dropping objects, in particular book covers or stacks of book covers, is illustrated.

Fig. 15

shows schematically and by way of example a load receiving means of a storage and retrieval unit of the shelving system in a position in which a treadmill unit of the load receiving means is retracted,

Fig. 16

schematically and exemplarily shows the load receiving means of the shelving system in an extended position in which the treadmill unit has been moved out,

Fig. 17

schematically and exemplarily shows components of the treadmill unit of the lifting device of the rack system,

Fig. 18

illustrated schematically and by way of example the load-carrying means of the shelving system immediately before the storage of a single book cover,

Fig. 19

illustrated schematically and by way of example the load-carrying means of the shelving system during storage of the individual book cover,

Fig. 20

exemplified holding elements and a plate of a converter for converting a single book cover from a first conveyor belt to a second conveyor belt immediately before a recording of a book cover illustrated

Fig. 21

exemplifies an alignment of a book cover to be converted by means of a stop,

Fig. 22

schematically and exemplarily shows a load-receiving means of the stacking bearing in a position in which a treadmill unit is retracted into a holding device of the load-receiving means, and

Fig. 23

schematically and exemplarily shows the load-receiving means of the stacking bearing in a position in which the treadmill unit has moved out of the holding device.

An embodiment of a manufacturing system for producing photo books is shown in Fig. 1 shown schematically and exemplified. The production system 1 comprises a book block making unit 2 for producing book blocks of the photo books to be produced, a book cover making unit 4 for making book cover batches of the photo books to be produced, a storage system 5 for storing book covers, the storage system 5 being adapted To convey book covers from the book cover making unit 4 to a feeder 35, and wherein the feeder 35 is adapted to feed the book covers and book blocks to a book binding unit 60. The book binding unit 60 is adapted to make the photo books by binding book covers with associated book blocks.

The book cover manufacturing unit 4 may for example be a book cover machine of the type DA 270 of the manufacturer KOLBUS GmbH from Rahden or another book cover manufacturing unit.

The storage system 5 comprises a stackable storage 49, which is adapted to store the produced stack of book covers and outsource again. The storage system 5 further includes a destacker 50 for receiving the stacks of book covers and dispensing individual book covers. In addition, the storage system 5 comprises a shelving system 10 for storing and retrieving the individual book covers and a conveyor 30, which has, for example, a plurality of conveyor belts 54, 52, 51, 48, 47 and 27 to the respective produced stack of book covers from the book cover manufacturing unit 4th to the stacker 49 and from the stacker 49 to the destacker 50, to convey the individual book covers from the destacker 50 to the shelving system 10, and finally the individual book covers from the shelving system 10 to the feeder unit 35.

An embodiment of the storage system 5 and other components of the manufacturing system 1 are somewhat more detailed in FIG Fig. 2 exemplified. Fig. 2 shows in particular an embodiment of the book cover manufacturing unit 4, the stacked bearing 49, the destacker 50, the shelving system 10 with a storage side 13 and a page outsourcing 15 and a converter 400th

In Fig. 3 Further details of an embodiment of the shelving system 10 are shown by way of example. In this embodiment, the shelving system comprises a support frame 38, on which walls are mounted, which enclose a shelf unit 12, a first storage and retrieval unit 14 and a second storage and retrieval unit. The walls are only in the Fig. 2 and not in the Fig. 3 shown in the Fig. 3 the inner components of the shelving system 10 can be shown. The shelf unit 12 is adapted to store individual book covers, the shelf unit 12 having a storage side 13 and a storage side 13 opposite storage side 15. The shelf unit 12 includes a plurality of shelves, each having a virtual stop on the page removal, wherein the first storage and retrieval unit 14 is adapted to move the individual book covers during storage up to the virtual stop. All book covers located in the shelving system 10 thus have the same position in the direction of removal, even if the individual book covers have different dimensions. It is therefore preferred that the book covers are stored in the storage system 10 taking into account the dimension of the respective book cover in the direction of removal, that all book shelves located in the shelving system 10 have the same position in the direction of removal.

The shelves 56 are not completely closed, but have openings. In this embodiment, the openings are formed by spaced-apart floor elements, which could be referred to as prongs. These openings in the shelves can facilitate storage and retrieval by means of the first and second storage and retrieval device.

The first storage and retrieval unit 14 is adapted to store individual book covers in the shelf unit 12 via the storage side 13. The second storage and retrieval unit is adapted to outsource individual book covers from the shelf unit 12 on the page outsourcing 15. The first storage and retrieval unit 14 comprises a load receiving means 41 for receiving the respective book cover through an input opening in the wall of the shelving system 10, which is arranged on the storage side 13. This input opening also corresponds to the so-called starting position of the first storage and retrieval device 14. As in Fig. 4 illustrated by way of example and schematically, the first storage and retrieval unit 14 further comprises a horizontal rail 37, along which a movement unit 43 of the first storage and retrieval device 14 is horizontally movable, wherein the load receiving means 41 depends on the movement unit 43. By moving the moving unit 43 along the rail 37, the horizontal position of the load receiving means 41 can be changed. The moving unit 43 is further adapted to change the vertical distance between the load receiving means 41 and the moving unit 43 to vary the vertical position of the load receiving means 41. In this way, the load handling device can be moved from the input port to any storage location within the rack unit 12.

The second storage and retrieval unit comprises a load receiving means, a moving unit and a rail, wherein these components are adapted so that the load receiving means of the second storage and retrieval device can be moved to any position. In particular, the load-bearing means can be moved from a storage location within the rack unit 12, on which a book cover is received, to a dispensing opening in the wall of the shelving system 10, which is arranged on the outfeed side 15. The position of the second storage and retrieval unit, in which the load receiving means is located at the discharge opening, can be regarded as the starting position of the second storage and retrieval unit. The shelving system 10 further comprises a control and communication unit 64, which unit 64 is adapted to control the individual components of the shelving system 10, in particular the first and second storage and retrieval units.

The load receiving means of the first storage and retrieval unit is preferably designed so that it can actively remove a book cover from the feeding conveyor belt and then actively deposit the respective book cover at the corresponding storage location. For this purpose, the load-receiving means preferably has integrated driven belts. The load-receiving means of the second storage and retrieval unit is preferably adapted to actively remove the respective book cover of the shelf unit and then actively deliver it to a conveyor belt which guides the respective book cover to the converter 400. The load-receiving means of the second storage and retrieval unit may therefore also have, for example, integrated driven belts. This active picking up and discharging of the book covers by the load handling means can lead to a shortened movement time during the recording and delivery of the respective book cover, whereby the book covers are spared by the use of the belts.

The starting position of the first storage and retrieval unit 14, that is to say the input opening, can be arranged centered with respect to the shelf unit 12. Also the starting position of the second storage and retrieval device 16, ie the discharge opening, can be arranged centered with respect to the shelf unit 12. This centering can result in reduced laydown distances and reduced times needed for warehousing and reduced laydown distances and reduced times needed for retrieval. In addition, the control and communication unit 64 of the racking system 10 is adapted to control the first storage and retrieval device 14 so that travel distances from the starting position, ie from the input port, to the storage locations and / or times required for the respective storage are minimized , For example, the first storage and retrieval unit 14 can be controlled so that the book covers are stored with the smallest possible distance to the input opening. This means, for example, that in each case that unoccupied storage location is selected from a plurality of storage locations that is closest to the starting position at which the respective book cover is received. However, the first storage and retrieval unit 14 can also be controlled so that in each case the storage location is selected, which is the fastest to reach starting from the input opening at which the respective book cover is received. Differences with respect to the criterion "shortest distance" and the criterion "fastest storage time" can result from the fact that the first storage and retrieval unit 14 is movable at different speeds in different directions. In addition, the first storage and retrieval unit 14 can be controlled such that the distance for the second storage and retrieval unit 16 is minimized when retrieving the book cover and / or that the removal time, which is required for the removal of the book cover is minimized. In particular, the first storage and retrieval unit 14 can be controlled such that storage takes place in such a way that the total distance required by the first storage and retrieval unit 14 for storage and the second storage and retrieval unit for retrieval, and / or the sum of storage times and removal times, for the storage process or ., the outsourcing process needed to be minimized.

In this embodiment, the storage areas at the different storage locations within the rack unit 12 are the same size, wherein the storage locations are not delimited from each other by delimiting elements. In other embodiments, however, limiting elements which form compartments may also be present on the shelves. These compartments can be the same size. In one embodiment, the spatial distribution of the storage locations may be variable. The size of the respective storage areas may also be variable, although in this case preferably no delimiting elements which could form compartments are present on the shelves. A dynamic change of storage locations, that is a dynamic change of the spatial distribution The storage locations, and / or a dynamic change in the size of the storage areas that are assigned to the storage locations, for example, depending on the amount of book covers to be stored and / or the dimensions of the respective book cover done.

For determining the size of the respective book cover, an identification unit 65 can be used, which is schematically illustrated in FIG Fig. 1 is indicated. The identification unit 65 may be adapted to detect identification elements on the book covers. The shelving system may further comprise a memory unit 66 in which, for example, dimensions for identified book covers are stored, so that the dimensions of a book cover to be stored can be determined by means of the identification unit 65 and the memory unit 66. Of course, in other embodiments, other methods may be used to determine the dimensions of a book cover. For example, dimensions of a book cover can be measured automatically, for example by using optical means such as light barriers.

The identification elements on the book covers are preferably barcodes or RFID elements. The barcodes can be one-dimensional barcodes or two-dimensional barcodes. The barcodes can also be colored barcodes. The identification unit 65 is adapted accordingly to recognize by means of optical elements a bar code or by means of magnetic elements an RFID element.

The identification unit 65 may be adapted to identify the respective book cover when it is being received by the first storage and retrieval unit 14 and / or when it is delivered by the second storage and retrieval unit and / or when it is stored in the storage unit 12. The identification unit 65 may, for example, be attached to the first storage and retrieval unit 14 and / or to the second storage and retrieval unit, that is to say in particular to the associated load-receiving means. In a preferred embodiment, the identification unit 65 is adapted to identify the identification element of the respective book cover from the page when the book cover has been pushed onto the respective shelf, that the end of the book cover on the outsourcing side has the same position in the direction of removal as others stored book covers.

The identified book covers are stored together with their storage locations in the storage unit 66, so that it is always known which book cover is located at which storage location within the shelf unit 12. Based on this mapping information the second storage and retrieval device of the shelf unit 12 can remove a desired book cover.

As stored in the storage unit 66, which book cover is located at which storage location within the shelf unit 12, the utilization rate of the shelving system 10 is known. Based on this utilization level, the storage locations and the size of the associated storage areas can be changed dynamically. If, for example, the utilization of the shelving system 12 is greater than a predefined threshold value, narrower storage locations within the shelving system 10 can be defined for newly added book covers.

The book cover manufacturing unit 4 generates stacks of book covers, which are moved by means of the conveyor belt 54 to a further conveyor belt 52. The conveyor belt 52 can either be moved in the direction of the conveyor belt 51 to convey the respective stack to the stack storage 49, or towards a path 53 for discharging a respective stack of book covers from the conveyor path. The conveyor belt 52, which may be used for loading and unloading stacks of book covers, may be considered a distribution diverter.

An embodiment of the stacking bearing 49 is in the Fig. 5 shown schematically and exemplified. In this embodiment, the stacking bearing 49 comprises a support frame 87, on which walls are mounted, which enclose a rack unit 72 and a storage and retrieval unit 74. The walls are in the Fig. 2 to see and in the Fig. 5 not fully illustrated to show the interior of the stack manager 49. The shelf unit 72 is adapted to store stacks of book covers, wherein the shelf unit 72 has an access side 73, can be stored through the stack of book covers in the shelf unit 72 and outsourced therefrom. Also, the stacking bearing 49 has a plurality of shelves, which are arranged at a sufficient vertical distance from each other to store stacks of book covers. The stacking bearing 49 preferably has the function of storing stacks of book covers, in particular if the capacity of the shelving system 10 is not sufficient to store all manufactured book covers immediately.

The storage and retrieval unit 74 is set up to store stacks of book covers in the shelf unit 72 via the access side 73 and also to outsource them via the access side 73. The storage and retrieval unit 74 comprises a load receiving means 71 for receiving the stacks of book covers from a conveyor, which is formed in this embodiment by a conveyor belt 301, for storing the stack of Book covers at storage locations within the shelf unit 72, for receiving the stacks of book covers at the storage locations and for delivering the stacks of book covers to the conveyor belt 301. The stacker crane 74 further comprises a rail 77 along which a moving unit 83 of the stacker crane 74 is movable; wherein the load receiving means 71 hangs on the moving unit 83. By moving the moving unit 83 along the rail 77, the horizontal position of the load receiving means 71 can be changed. The moving unit 83 is further adapted to change the vertical distance between the load receiving means 71 and the moving unit 83 to vary the vertical position of the load receiving means 71.

The conveyor belt 301 is disposed within the rack unit 72 so that the conveyor belt 301 is located below and above storage locations. The conveyor belt 301 thus passes through the rack unit 72 and receives stacks of book covers to be stored in the stack storage 49 from the conveyor belt 51 and dispenses stacks of book covers to be transferred to the conveyor belt 48.

The storage system 5 preferably further comprises an error detection unit 57 for detecting errors, wherein the conveyor belt 52 can be controlled so that, if no error has been detected, the respective stack is moved in the direction of the conveyor belt 51, and if an error is detected has been moved, the respective stack is moved to the distance 53. The error detection unit 57 may, for example, be adapted to recognize an identification element of a book cover, in particular a top cover of a stack, and to compare the identified book cover with an expected book cover, which can be taken, for example, from a stored list of expected book covers to determine whether the identified book cover is the actual book cover at the present time. If this is not the case, the conveyor 5 by means of the conveyor belt 52 and the distance 53 can remove the corresponding stack of book covers from the conveyor. The error detection unit 57 can also be adapted to detect other errors, such as manufacturing errors, in which case the respective stack of book covers can be removed by means of the conveyor belt 52 and the route 53 from the conveyor. Information regarding the expected top book cover of the respective stack, the error detection unit 57, for example, obtained from the book cover manufacturing unit 4 or from a job management system described in more detail below.

The route 53 can also be used to manually insert stacks of book covers into the conveyor path. For example, after an error in a stack of book covers has been corrected, it can be re-introduced into the conveyor path by means of the track 53 and the conveyor belt 52. The composition of this manually introduced stack of book covers can be manually entered, for example, in the order management system or in another database to which the components of the manufacturing system 1, in particular the stacked storage 49, have access, whereupon an identification unit of the stacked storage 49 stores the stack of book covers, for example can identify by means of a scanned bar code, so that even if stacks of book covers are manually inserted into the conveying path, it is always known which stack of book covers is arranged at which storage location within the stacking bearing 49.

The book cover manufacturing unit 4 is preferably adapted to produce format pure stacks of book covers, these stacks of book covers preferably comprise a maximum of 42 book covers.

The book cover manufacturing unit 4 has a control and communication unit 58 adapted to send a signal for producing book blocks belonging to a stack of book covers to the book block making unit 2 and a signal for storing the stack of book covers into the stack store 49 to the storage system 5, in particular to the stack storage 49 to send when the book cover manufacturing unit 4 has made this stack of book covers. As a result, for example, the production of the book blocks is synchronized with the production of the book covers. The corresponding signals are received by a control and communication unit 62 of the book block manufacturing unit 2 and a control and communication unit 61 of the storage system 5, which in this example is integrated in the stack storage 49. The control and communication unit 62 of the book block making unit 2 may also be adapted to send a signal for retrieving a corresponding stack of book covers from the stacker 49 to the stacker 49 when the associated book blocks have been made by the book block making unit 2. This synchronizes the retrieval of the stacks of book covers with the making of the associated book blocks.

The control and communication unit 61 integrated in the stacking bearing 49 can also be used to control the individual components of the stacking bearing 49, in particular the storage and retrieval unit 74, to control. Alternatively, of course, the stacking bearing 49 may also have another control unit that controls the stacked bearing 49.

In particular, the book block making unit 2 comprises a printing device 59 for printing the book blocks and a cutting device 32 for cutting the printed book blocks after they have been moved from the printing device 59 to the cutting device 32 by means of a conveyor belt 55. In another embodiment, the printed book blocks are fed to the cutter 32 manually rather than by means of a conveyor belt. The control and communication unit 62 may be associated with the printing device 59 so that after book blocks have been printed which belong to a stack of book covers, the printing device 59 may send a signal to the stack store 49, whereafter the stack store 49 stores the paper corresponding stack of book covers begins. The signal for retrieving the corresponding stack of book covers can thus be sent to the stacker 49 before the book blocks are cut by the cutter 32.

After the book blocks have been cut, they are fed together with the associated book covers by means of the conveyor belts 46, 39 of the feeder 35 of the book binding unit 60. The feeder 35 is adapted to feed the bookbinding unit 60 the book blocks and the associated book covers in the appropriate order and in particular at the same time. For this purpose, the feeder 35 has a control and communication unit 63, which transmits a corresponding delivery signal to the shelving system 10 upon arrival of a book block, that is upon receipt of a book block from the cutting device 32, after which the shelving system 10 outsource the associated book cover, which then is fed by means of the conveyor belt 27 and the conveyor belt 39 of the book binding unit 60.

The storage system 5 may be adapted to either store a manufactured stack of book covers in the stack storage 49 or to convey directly to the destacker 50 without storing the stack in the stack storage 49. This decision as to whether or not storage should take place in the stacked storage 49 can be made as a function of, for example, the respective stacking height. For this purpose, the system may comprise a stack height providing unit, which is formed in this embodiment by the control and communication unit 58 of the book cover manufacturing unit 4. For example, the control and communication unit 61 of the stacking bearing 49 may be adapted to basically not have a stack of book covers stored when this stack of book covers has a stack height that is smaller than a predetermined threshold. However, if the shelving system 10 is busy and can not accommodate more book covers, this stack may still be stored in the stacker 49, although the stack height provided is less than the threshold. In other embodiments, other criteria may be used to decide whether to store the respective stack in the stacker 49 or whether to direct it to the destacker 50. These other criteria may include, for example, the utilization of the shelving system as a single criterion or in combination with other criteria, the load of the stacking warehouse, the weight of the respective stack of book covers et cetera.

In another embodiment, the destacker 50 may also include an identification unit for identifying book covers. In particular, the respective uppermost book cover of the respective stack can be identified, wherein this identification of the uppermost book cover of the respective stack can also be understood as an identification of the respective stack. For example, a controller that may be associated with the destacker 50 may compare the identified batch to an expected batch and issue an error message and stop the conveying process if the identified batch is not the expected batch. Information regarding the expected stack may be obtained by the control unit from, for example, the stack warehouse or an order management system described in more detail below.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the destacker 50 will be described with reference to FIGS FIGS. 6 to 9 describe the components of the destacker 50 by way of example and schematically. The destacker 50 includes a pick unit 310 for picking up and holding a top book cover 315 from a stack 314 of book covers, and a moving unit 311 for moving the pick unit 310 with the removed and held book cover 315 from the book cover stack 314 to a delivery location. The pickup unit 310 includes holding members 312 for temporarily holding the book cover 315 and a hold down member 313 for holding the cover 315. When removing the top book cover 315, the top book cover 315 is held down by the hold down member 313 around the sides of the top book cover 315 lift and release from the stack 314, whereafter the pickup unit 310 is moved to the discharge location by means of the moving unit 311.

Also, the destacker 50 may include an identification unit, such as a scanner, which identifies the stack of book covers to be unstacked, and a computer connected to the identification unit may issue an error message if the identified stack of book covers is an expected stack of book covers that are from the stack warehouse 49 should be outsourced, not equivalent. A further identification unit, in particular a scanner, can identify the individual book covers provided by the destacker 50, wherein, for example, a computer associated with the destacker 50 may issue an error message if the identified book cover does not correspond to the book cover which is to be expected due to the stack composition. The identification by the destacker 50 can be done for example by means of barcodes which are applied to the book covers.

The composition of the stack of book covers can be stored in a database, wherein the stack of book covers consists of book covers, which have been stacked in a certain order, for example, from the book cover manufacturing unit 4. The book cover manufacturing unit 4 may have communicated the composition of the stack of book covers of the database. If the stack of book covers has been manually assembled, the individual book covers may also have been manually scanned to manually enter the order of book covers within the stack into the database. The identification units of the destacker 50 are preferably scanners, in particular barcode scanners, which are used to check on the stack of book covers by means of an uppermost bar code, to which stack with what content it is. The data record of the content comes from the database. After unstacking, the individual book covers are scanned once more to check the order in which they leave the destacker 50. If the order is unexpected, that is, if the order does not correspond to the sequence resulting from the database, an error message may be issued. As a result, unreadable book covers can be detected and "double" deposits can be avoided.

The belt transport system 48, that is to say the conveyor belt 48, is preferably designed so that the stack of book covers is moved centrally into the destacker 50. The conveyor belt 48 is preferably designed slip-free, so that the stack of book covers is rotated by a maximum of +/- 5 mm with respect to the central axis. This can ensure a precise position of the various book cover sizes when unstacking.

In this embodiment, the pickup unit 310 includes a plate 330 on which the holding members 312 and the hold-down member 313 are arranged. In particular, four holding elements 312 are arranged at corners of an imaginary rectangle, wherein the hold-down element 313 is arranged centrally between each two holding elements 312. The plate 330 is connected to the moving unit 311, and the moving unit 311 is configured to move the plate 330 and thus the picking unit 310 in a horizontal x-direction and a vertical y-direction. The holding members 312 are preferably vacuum nozzles that suck the book cover to hold it, with a sensor preferably monitoring the hold phase. At the same time presses the hold-down element 313, which is resiliently mounted on the Schrenz the centrally located book cover. Also, the hold-down element 313 is monitored by a sensor which limits the pressure on the Schrenz. In order to ensure in this process step that only a book cover is lifted from the stack of book covers, the upper book cover is angled. As a result, adherence of superimposed book covers, which can take place from the adhesion force, counteracted.

The vacuum nozzles may be Venturi nozzles, for example. The monitoring of the holding phase can be done by means of a pressure sensor, which monitors the negative pressure created by the attached vacuum nozzles. A controller of the destacker 50 may be configured so that the Abnehmeeinheit 310 is lifted after placing on the book cover only when the pressure sensor measures a sufficient negative pressure, i. a negative pressure sufficient to hold the book cover after lifting. For example, the measured negative pressure can be compared with a predetermined threshold value in order to decide whether the negative pressure for holding the book cover is sufficient. If the measured vacuum is not sufficient to hold the book cover, the controller may cause the output of an error signal. The sensor for monitoring the hold-down element 313 is preferably adapted, when placed on the book cover, to measure the distance biased by the spring, wherein the control of the destacker 50 stops the placement on the book cover from a predetermined distance. The sensor for measuring the distance biased by the spring may be, for example, a known optical or electromagnetic Wegstreckensensor.

For unstacking, therefore, a stack of book covers is moved from the conveyor belt 48 after scanning by the destacker 50 under the pickup unit 310 of the destacker 50. The moving unit 311, which can move the pickup unit in the x- and y-direction by motor, then moves the pickup unit 310 in the y-direction in such a way below, that hold-down element 313 compresses on the thread of top book cover 315. In addition, the vacuum nozzles 312 are controlled to be stuck on the uppermost book cover 315. As in Fig. 8 2, the topmost book cover 315 is then angled, whereby the topmost book cover 315, that is, the sides of the topmost book cover 315, are separated from the stack 314. During this side-severing operation, the position of hold-down element 313 is below the position of vacuum nozzles 312. This positioning of hold-down element 313 below the position of vacuum nozzles 312 is preferably passive due to the spring action of hold-down element 313, with plate 330 initially slightly inward is moved upward, so that the thickness of the top book cover 315 remains substantially on the stack and only the sides of the top book cover 315 are slightly raised, after which in a second step, the top book cover 315 including the Schrennes is fully raised. This is in the Fig. 9 which shows that the moving unit 311 moves the picking unit 310, which now holds the uppermost book cover 315, upward in the y-direction. Further, the moving unit 311 moves the pickup unit 310 horizontally in the x-direction to the conveyor belt 47, where the moving unit 311 moves the pick unit 310 down in the y direction to deposit the singulated book cover 315 on the conveyor belt 47, the pressure of the vacuum nozzles decreases to release the book cover 315.

In the following, an embodiment of a manufacturing method for producing books, in particular photobooks, will be described by way of example with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG Fig. 10 is shown.

In step 101, the book cover manufacturing unit 4 produces a stack of book covers. In step 102, the booklet making unit 4 sends a signal to the printing device 59, whereafter the printing device 59 in step 103 prints the book blocks belonging to the produced stack of book covers. In addition, in step 102, the booklet making unit 4 sends a signal to the stacker 49 to notify the stacker 49 that the stack of bookcases produced should be stored in the stacker 49. In step 105, the produced stack of book covers, after it has been conveyed by means of the conveyor belts 54, 52, 51 to the stack storage 49, stored in the stack storage 49. After the book blocks belonging to the stored stack of book covers have been printed by the printing device 59 in step 103, the printing device 59 signals to the stack store 49 in step 104 that the stack of book covers belonging to the printed book blocks can be swapped out. Alternatively, the stacked bearing 49 can also be notified manually be outsourced to the printed book blocks stack of book covers. For example, a person may enter into the stacker 49 that now the corresponding stack of book covers is to be outsourced. The paging is then performed in step 107. The paged stack of book covers is then conveyed to the destacker 50 by the conveyor belt 48, wherein in step 108 the stack of book covers is unstacked by the destacker 50. The individual book covers are then moved by means of the conveyor belt 47 to the shelving system 10. In step 109, the individual book covers are stored in the shelving system 10.

The book cover manufacturing unit 4 makes the book covers in batches. For this purpose, the book cover manufacturing unit 4 can be transmitted to be produced by a job management system book covers. For example, the job management system may include a database having a record for each job, in particular for each book to be produced, that is, each book cover to be produced and each book block to be produced. For example, the job management system may group multiple jobs together into batches of jobs based on criteria such as the book's later format, and provide the booklet making unit 4 with the necessary data to make a stack of book covers. After the book cover manufacturing unit 4 has made a stack of book covers, it can notify the book block manufacturing unit 2. In particular, the book block production unit 2 is informed which stack of book covers has been produced. With the aid of the database of the order management system it can then be determined which book blocks belong to the produced stack of book covers, after which the book block production unit 2 can produce them.

In parallel with the retrieval of the stack of book covers, the destacking and storage of the individual book covers in the shelving system 10, the book blocks, after they have been conveyed by means of the conveyor belt 55 to the cutting device 32, cut in step 106. After this cutting the shelf system 10 is informed in step 111, in which order individual book covers are to be outsourced from the shelving system 10, so that they match the corresponding cut book blocks. In step 110, the corresponding book covers in the predetermined order are then removed from the shelving system 10 and fed by means of the conveyor belts 27, 39 in the predetermined order of the book binding unit 60. In parallel, in step 112, the book blocks are fed in a corresponding order by means of the conveyor belt 46 of the bookbinding unit 60. In step 113, the Books are made by the book binding unit 60 binds the book covers with the associated book blocks.

The steps 105, 107, 108, 109 and 110 may be understood as steps of a conveying method for conveying book covers from a booklet making unit to a bookbinding unit.

An embodiment of a method for storing book covers in the shelving system and for removing book covers from the shelving system will be described below with reference to a flowchart shown in the Fig. 11 is shown.

In step 201, the book covers are stored in the shelf unit 12 of the shelving system 10 via the storage side 13 of the shelf unit 12 by the first storage and retrieval unit 14 of the shelving system 10. In step 202, the book covers are removed from the shelf unit 12 on the outsourcing side 15 of the shelving system 10 by the second storage and retrieval unit 16 of the shelving system 10. The storage and retrieval can be done one after another, as in Fig. 11 is indicated. The special feature of this method, however, is that the storage of book covers and the removal of book covers can also be done simultaneously, since the use of two storage and retrieval units, which are arranged on opposite sides of the shelf unit, the storage process and the removal process can be decoupled from each other.

An embodiment of a method for storing stacks of book covers in the stacked storage 49 and for relocating the stacks of book covers into the stack storage 49 will be described below with reference to a flowchart shown in the Fig. 12 is shown.

In step 401, a stack of book covers to be stored is fed into the racking unit 72 of the stacker 49 by means of the conveyor 301 of the stacker 49, the conveyor 301 being disposed within the rack unit 72 so that the conveyor 301 is below and above storage locations of the rack unit 72 located. In step 402, the stack of book covers to be stored is taken from the conveyor belt 301 using the load receiving means 71 and stored at a storage location of the shelf unit 72. In step 403, a stack of book covers to be unloaded is taken from a storage location of the rack unit 72 by means of the load receiving means 71 and attached to the Conveyor belt 301 delivered in step 404 moves the outsourced stack of book covers in the direction of the destacker 50 to the conveyor belt 48. These steps can be performed by stacking book covers several times in succession before piling a stack of book covers. In addition, these steps can be performed so that several stacks of book covers are outsourced before another stack of book covers is stored.

An embodiment of an object picking method for picking up and dropping objects, in particular book covers and / or stacks of book covers, will be described below with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG Fig. 13 is shown.

In step 501, a treadmill unit having a plurality of conveyor belts is telescopically moved out of a holding device so that the conveyor belts contact an object to be picked up. In step 502, the conveyor belts are moved so that the object is moved onto the treadmill unit. In step 503, the treadmill unit is then moved back into the holding device, after which the object is located on the treadmill unit within the holding device. The holding device may then be moved in step 504 to another location, where in step 505 the object may be dispensed again. To deliver the object, either the treadmill unit can be telescoped out of the holding device, after which the object can be moved down the treadmill unit by moving the conveyor belts or, without moving the treadmill unit out of the holding device, the object can move by means of a movement of the conveyor belts be moved down from the treadmill unit. The telescoping out and in of the treadmill unit from and into the holding device can only take place when picking up the object, only when the object is being dispensed, or both when picking up and when dispensing the object.

An embodiment of a method for unstacking a stack of book covers and for dispensing individual book covers by means of the destacker 50 will be described below with reference to a flow chart shown in FIG Fig. 14 is shown.

In step 601, an uppermost book cover 315 is removed from a stack 314 of book covers by means of the picking unit 310 of the destacker 50. The moving unit 311 then moves in step 602 the pickup unit 310 with the removed and held book cover 315 from the stack 314 to a delivery location, where the Abnehmeeinheit 310, the book cover 315 in step 603.

The identification elements on the book covers, that is, for example, bar codes on the book covers, are preferably arranged in an edge region of the respective book cover. In addition, the shelf system 10 is preferably designed such that this edge region faces the identification element of the outsourcing side 15 of the shelf unit 12. In this way, it can be achieved that the respective identification element is located relative to the shelf unit 12 in a predefined area, which can be viewed from the outsourcing side of the shelving system 10. This makes it easier to identify the respective book cover when the respective book cover is being retrieved by the second storage and retrieval unit, that is to say by an identification unit which is arranged on the second storage and retrieval unit.

The book cover manufacturing unit 4 is preferably adapted so that each book cover in the respective stack of book covers is oriented such that the individual book covers within the shelf unit 12 are finally arranged so that the identification element on the respective book cover a desired orientation relative to the shelf unit 12 has. Preferably, the book cover manufacturing unit 4 orients the respective book cover within the respective stack of book covers so that the identification element is directed upwards and is associated with the page of the shelving system 10 when the respective book cover is stored in the shelf unit 12.

The shelving system 10 is preferably designed so that book covers of different widths and different lengths can be picked up, stored and outsourced. For example, the shelving system 10 may be adapted to store and retrieve book covers having a minimum book cover width of 420 mm and a maximum book cover width of 660 mm. For example, the shelf system may be configured to store a maximum number of book covers at a time ranging from 300 to 600. In one embodiment, for example, 400 book covers can be stored simultaneously in the shelving system. The outsourcing of the book covers is, as described above, customized, that is, the book covers are outsourced in the order in which they are requested. The order in which the book covers are stored in the shelving system is therefore not relevant to the shelving system 10. The shelf system 10 may be designed so that, for example, 500 storages and 500 outsourcing per hour can be done. Higher performance can of course be achieved. For example, the shelving system be designed so that 600 book covers per hour can be stored and outsourced.

The shelving system 10 can be adapted so that the storage takes place dynamically or chaotically. In addition, the shelving system 10 may be adapted so that the respective book cover is always stored in relation to the starting position of the first storage and retrieval device to the nearest free storage location. The starting position of the first storage and retrieval device, that is the input opening of the shelving system 10, a) horizontally centered, b) vertically centered or c) horizontally and vertically centered with respect to the storage locations in the shelf unit of the shelving system. The starting position of the second storage and retrieval device, that is, the output opening of the rack system 10, a) horizontal centered, b) vertically centered or c) horizontally and vertically centered with respect to the storage locations of the shelf unit of the shelving system can be arranged. In one embodiment, the storage and retrieval can be performed such that per storage process or removal process, the movement of the respective lifting device in the horizontal direction is on average less than 1.3 m and in the vertical direction average smaller than 0.9 m. In addition, the shelf system 10 may be designed so that the storage or retrieval of a book cover can take place on average in 7 seconds.

If the identification unit of the shelving system can not identify an identification element such as a barcode of a book cover to be stored or outsourced, then in a preferred embodiment the corresponding book cover is removed from the conveying path by means of the route 36. That is, for example, if an embedded book cover can not be identified, it is removed from the shelf system 10 by means of the second storage and retrieval unit and moved onto the conveyor line 36. For this removal of a book cover from the conveyor, the conveyor belt 27 has a region 70, the example in Fig. 1 is shown, wherein this area can be moved in the direction of the book binding unit 60 as well as in the direction of the distance 36 for removing the respective book cover from the conveying path. The control unit 64 or another control unit may be configured to control the conveyor belts and the components of the shelving system such that if a book cover is not identified, it is removed from the conveyor as described.

The book covers preferably have side parts and a Schrenz, wherein the side parts and the Schrenz preferably made of cardboard, especially made of gray cardboard are. As Schrenz the section in the middle of the book cover is referred to, which is intended to be glued to the back of the book block. The Schrenz therefore has a width that depends on the thickness of the associated book block.

For example, the side parts and the thickness have a thickness within a range of 1.5 to 3 mm. In addition, the book covers each have an envelope, which is connected to the side panels and the Schrenz. The book cover manufacturing unit 4 preferably produces format pure stacks of book covers, for example, have a height of up to 125 mm, which may correspond to a number of book covers in a range of 1 to 42. Of course, the stacks of book covers can also include more book covers and have a larger height.

The shelving system 10 may be adapted to issue a success message to the cutter 32 in response to a page removal request obtained, for example, after the book blocks have been trimmed. After the cutting device 32 has received this success message, that is, the information that the associated book covers are stored in the shelving system and are outsourced, the cutting device 32 can deliver the appropriate book blocks to the feeder 35. However, if a book cover to be outsourced can not be found in the shelving system 10, a corresponding error message can be transmitted to the cutting device 32. In response to this error message, the associated book block can then be delivered by the cutter 32 to an expander to prevent a book block from entering the bookbinding unit 60 to which there is no associated book cover. The system may also be adapted to allow a user to feed a book block over the run. For this purpose, the system can have an identification unit for identifying the book block and a storage unit which stores which book block belongs to which book cover. On the basis of this information, a paging signal can then be sent to the shelving system, after which the associated book cover can be outsourced and fed to the bookbinding unit 60.

The FIGS. 15 and 16 show schematically and by way of example an embodiment of the load receiving means 41 of the shelving system 10 for temporarily storing individual book covers. The load-receiving means 41 can be used both by the first storage and retrieval unit 14 for storing a single book cover on the storage side 13 as well as the second storage and retrieval unit for retrieving a single book cover on the outsourcing side 15. That is, the first storage and retrieval unit 14 and the second storage and retrieval unit can each have a load-receiving means 41 to store or outsource individual book covers.

The load receiving means 41 comprises a holding device 302 for holding a treadmill unit 303, wherein the treadmill unit 303 for receiving and / or delivering a single book cover 315 out of the holding device 302 and into the holding device 302 is movable. The load receiving means 41 has a corresponding carriage and a motor for moving the treadmill unit 303 in and out. As in Fig. 17 1, the treadmill unit 303 includes transport treadmills 350 and alignment treads 351 with protruding tabs 352 for aligning the individual book cover 315 on the transport treadmills 350, the transport treadmills 350 and the alignment treadmills 351 being independently movable. The protruding tabs 352 may be used not only to align the respective single book cover on the treadmill unit 303, but also to slide the single book cover down from the transport treadmills 350.

The load-receiving means 41 is adapted to drive the treadmill unit 303, which can also be understood as a telescope treadmill unit, to the respectively required length in the rack unit 12 and to move it to the respective conveyor belt. The load-receiving means 41 itself is then movable in the horizontal and vertical directions by means of the movement unit of the respective storage and retrieval unit in order to move the load-receiving means to a storage location within the rack unit 12 or to the respective conveyor belt.

The individual book covers 315 coming from the destacker 50 are stored at storage locations in the shelf unit 12. Basically, the manner of incorporation into the shelving system 10 is similar in structure and operation to storage in the stacker 49. A fundamental difference, however, is the arrangement of the shelf units. In the shelving system 10, the shelf unit 12 is arranged centrally between two storage and retrieval units, so that the shelf unit 12 can be equipped from a storage side and can be removed from an outsourcing page of book covers. The storage and retrieval can therefore take place separately from each other. In contrast, in the stacked storage 49, the rack unit 72 is stocked from the same side, and stacks of book covers are taken out from this same side. Another significant difference is that in the racking unit 72 of the stacking bearing 49, a conveyor belt passes through the rack unit 72, whereas in the racking system 10 leading and away conveyor belts are arranged laterally of the shelf unit 12 on the storage side and on the outsourcing side.

The shelving system 10 is preferably adapted to determine the identity of the individual book cover at different locations by scanning. A corresponding identification unit, that is to say a corresponding sensor, can be arranged, for example, to determine the identity of the individual book cover on the storage side before being picked up by the load receiving means 41. The load-receiving means 41 itself may also have a sensor 355 in order to determine the identity of the book cover on the load-receiving means 41 during storage and / or during retrieval. Even when moving the outsourced individual book cover to a converter 400, the identity of the individual book cover can be determined by means of a sensor. The converter 400, described in more detail below, places the single book cover from the conveyor belt 27 onto the conveyor belt 39.

In one embodiment, the respective individual book cover is scanned on the conveyor belt 47 before being moved into the shelving system 10. By this scanning can be determined which book cover is to be stored in the shelving system 10. At the end of the conveyor belt 47, a change of the conveying direction can take place such that the scanned book cover is moved in the direction of the load receiving means 41 which moves the book cover onto the treadmill unit 303 by means of the conveyor belts 350. The movement unit 43 then moves the load-receiving means 41 to a free storage location in the rack unit 12. Positioning of the load-receiving means 41 in front of a free storage location on a shelf 160 of the shelf unit 12 is schematic and exemplary in FIG Fig. 18 represented, in this figure and in Fig. 19 below the shelf with the tine structure a reinforcing element, which may be arranged below the shelf, is indicated by dashed lines. In addition, not all shelves are shown in these figures, since otherwise the other shelves would cover a meshing of the rails of the treadmill unit 303 and the tines of the shelf 160.

The treadmill unit 303 then moves out so that rails of the treadmill unit 303 with the transport treads 350 and the alignment treads 351 engage between tines of the shelf 160. The trailing lugs 352 align the book cover in a predefined position, after which the book cover is pushed onto the shelf 160. The interlocking of the rails of the load receiving means 41 and the tines of the shelf 160 is schematic and exemplary in the Fig. 19 shown. After placing the book cover on the tines of the shelf 160, the treadmill unit 303 is moved back into the holding device 302. By this operation, particularly by the positioning using the tabs 352, the book cover can be positioned on the shelf 160 with an accuracy of 1 mm, with the tabs 352 ensuring a right-angled orientation.

In one embodiment, for storing a book cover, after the treadmill unit 303 has been moved out so as to grip the rails of the treadmill unit 303 with the transport treads 350 and the alignment treads 351 between tines of the shelf 160, it may be arranged so that the book cover to be stored is above the tuck top Tines of the shelf 160 is located so that the book cover does not touch the tines. By means of the transport treadmills 350 and the alignment treads 351, the book cover can then be moved to a desired position, after which the entire load handling means 41 can be moved down with the treadmill unit 303 moved out to place the positioned book cover on the tines of the shelf 160. Also in this embodiment, the book covers are preferably stored so that they are arranged flush to each other on the side opposite the storage side of the shelf unit.

For retrieving a book cover from the shelf unit 12, the second storage and retrieval unit preferably performs substantially the same steps, but in the reverse order, which are performed by the first storage and retrieval unit during storage of a book cover. In particular, the load-receiving means of the second storage and retrieval unit is moved to a storage location at which a book cover to be outsourced is located. Before transferring the book cover to the load handling device, the book cover is scanned with a sensor. In this embodiment, the sensor can be arranged on a rod which runs transversely to the treadmills of the treadmill unit of the load-receiving means and above it. The rod can in this embodiment attached to opposite legs of the holding device of the lifting device (as well as in Fig. 15 is indicated). By means of this scanning operation, with which in particular a barcode or another identification element of the book cover is scanned, it can be determined which book cover is arranged at the storage location in front of which the load handling device is currently located. The treadmill unit of the lifting device is then extended to the level of the tines of the shelf so far that the rails of the treadmill unit with the conveyor treads are below the end of the book cover, which faces the outsourcing side. The entire load receiving means is then by means of the moving unit of the second storage and retrieval device raised so that the treadmill treadmills touch the book cover and the book cover is raised slightly. The conveyor treadmills of the treadmill unit then move the book cover from the storage location to the extended treadmill unit of the load handler, whereafter the treadmill unit is moved back into the holding means of the load handler. The load-receiving means is then moved by means of the moving unit of the second storage and retrieval unit to the conveyor belt 70, where the treadmill unit of the load-carrying means pushes the book cover on the conveyor belt 70. The book cover is then finally moved by means of the conveyor belt 27 to the converter 400.

In one embodiment, the converter 400 comprises a plate 730 with holding elements 731, which is shown schematically and by way of example somewhat closer in FIG Fig. 20 are shown and correspond to the holding elements and the plate of the destacker. In particular, even in the converter 400, four vacuum nozzles 731 are attached to the plate 730 to hold a book cover to be transferred. In contrast to the destacker 50 but preferably no hold-down element is used because the converter 400 no separation of a top book cover must be made from a stack of book covers. The book covers supplied to the converter 400 are already singulated.

Similar to the destacker 50, the converter 400 also has a moving unit that can move the plate 730 in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction, that is, in two directions. The converter 400 further preferably includes brushes that gently push the book cover coming from the shelving system 10 toward an edge 732 such that the book cover within the translator 400 has a predefined orientation. This positioning on edge 732 is schematic and exemplary in FIG Fig. 21 indicated. The moving unit of the converter 400 then moves the plate 730 vertically downwards with the holding members 731, so that the book cover can be picked up by means of the holding members 731. The book cover is then raised by moving the moving unit of the converter 400 vertically upward, after which the moving unit is moved horizontally so that the book cover is above the conveyor belt 39. There, the plate 730 is moved with the holding elements 731 in the vertical direction by means of the moving unit down and the holding elements 731 release the book cover, so that the book cover is placed on the conveyor belt 39. This laying down of the book cover preferably takes place on the conveyor belt 39 in timed relationship with the book binding unit 60, so that the book cover is only supplied to the book binding unit 60 when the book binding unit 60 really needs it. The timing with the bookbinding unit 60 takes into account, in particular, whether there is sufficient distance to a previous book cover. After placing the book cover, the plate 730 with the holding elements 731 is again in the Fig. 21 moved initial position shown to receive a next book cover from the conveyor belt 27.

At the output of the converter 400 may be above the conveyor belt 39 and, for example, outside of a housing of the converter 400, a sensor to determine at the output of the converter 400 again, which book cover the book binding unit 60 is finally supplied. The sensor may, for example, be mounted centrally and above the conveyor belt 39 on a bridge-like structure, the bridge-like structure bridging the conveyor belt 39. Of course, the sensor may also be mounted in a different position, for example on the housing of the converter 400 in the output area of the converter 400. If the identified book cover does not correspond to a corresponding book block to be fed to the bookbinding unit 60, an error message may be output, after which the error for example, can be fixed manually.

The conveyor 301 within the rack unit 72 of the stacking bearing 49 may have a region in which the conveying direction can be changed, so that in this area the stack of book covers to be stored perpendicular to the actual conveying direction, in which the stack in the stacked storage 49 in and out again are moved, can be moved to the load-receiving means 71. The treadmill of the treadmill unit of the load receiving means 71 are also moved to pull the stack of book covers on the load receiving means 71. The moving unit of the stacking bearing 49 then moves the load receiving means 71 to the intended storage location, where first the treadmill unit having rails with transport treads, is telescoped, so that the rails with the transport treads in gaps between tines of the shelf of the shelf unit 72 of the stacking bearing 49 engage , The entire load receiving means 71 is then moved slightly down to settle the stack of book covers on the tines of the shelf. Thereafter, the treadmill unit is moved back into the holding device of the load receiving means, whereby the storage of the stack of book covers is completed.

For unloading a stack of book covers, the load receiving means 71 is moved to a storage location of the auszubagernden stack of book covers, after which the rails with the transport treads of the treadmill unit of the load receiving means 71 telescope between the tines of the shelf. Then, the load receiving means 71 moved upward, so that the stack of book covers is lifted from the tines of the shelf. Thereafter, by means of the transport conveyor belts of the rails of the treadmill unit of the stack of book covers further pulled onto the treadmill unit, after which the treadmill unit is again moved telescopically back into the holding device of the load receiving means 71. The load receiving means is then moved to the conveyor 301 to the area of the conveyor 301, in which the conveying direction can be changed. The treadmill unit is then advanced telescopically up to the conveyor 301 from the holding device of the load receiving means 71, after which the transport conveyor belts of the treadmill unit move the stack of book covers onto the conveyor 301. The conveyor 301 then moves the stack of book covers toward the destacker 50.

The Figures 22 and 23 show schematically and by way of example an embodiment of the load receiving means 71 with a recorded stack 802 of book covers on the treadmill unit 803. In the Fig. 22 the treadmill unit 803 is disposed inside the holding device 801, whereas in the Fig. 23 the treadmill unit 803 has been telescopically moved out of the holding device 801. In the stacked bearing 49, the position in which the treadmill unit 803 is telescoped out and in Fig. 23 is preferably used to deposit the stack 802 of book covers at a storage location within the shelf unit 72 and to receive a stack of book covers at a storage location within the shelf unit 72. For retracting and retracting the treadmill units, the load-carrying means may have corresponding motor-driven slide constructions or other known devices.

Although in the embodiments described above the shelving system 10 and the stacker 49 have been described as being part of a larger system used to make photobooks, in other embodiments the shelving system 10 and stacker 49 may also be used to store and retrieve other objects , The other objects may be, for example, other flat and lightweight objects such as CDs, DVDs or other printed matter. The shelving system 10 and the stacked storage 49 can also be used alone, that is without further components, or together with other components. Accordingly, the destacker 50 and the load handling means may be used alone or in conjunction with other components which do not necessarily constitute a system for producing photo books.

It should be understood that the above-mentioned conveyor belts, conveyors et cetera can be realized by tapes in the true sense and / or by other conveying elements such as rollers. For example, an above-mentioned conveyor belt may have bands in the proper sense and rollers. In one embodiment, an area of a conveyor belt in which the conveying direction can be changed is formed by a combination of bands proper and rollers, wherein the rollers are arranged in parallel so that they can move the objects in a first direction and wherein Ribbons pass between the rollers and are moved so that they can move the objects in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction. The rollers and the belts may be automatically height-adjustable relative to each other so that either the rollers are higher and can guide the object or the belts are higher and can guide the object. By changing the relative height setting, the conveying direction can thus be changed by 90 °.

Although storage and retrieval machines are used in the above-described embodiments, other rack utilization devices can be used, which allow storage and / or outsourcing of objects. These other shelf-use devices may also have the described object receiving devices and be adapted to move them, for example, in the horizontal and vertical directions.

In the claims, the words "have and" do not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" does not exclude the plural.

A single unit or device may perform the functions of several elements listed in the claims. The fact that individual functions and / or elements are set forth in different dependent claims does not mean that a combination of these functions or elements could not be used to advantage.

The control of the manufacturing system for producing books according to the manufacturing method and / or the control of the storage system for storing and conveying book covers according to the conveying method and / or the control of the shelving systems for storing objects according to the method for storing the objects in the shelving systems and Outsourcing of the objects from the shelving systems and / or the control of the destacker for destacking a stack of book covers and the Dispensing individual book covers according to the method for unstacking a stack of book covers and for dispensing individual book covers and / or the control of the lifting device, which can also be understood as an object receiving device, for receiving and dispensing objects according to the object recording method for recording and dispensing objects as Program code of a computer program and / or implemented as corresponding hardware and are in particular programmable logic controllers.

A computer program may be stored on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid state storage medium. The stored computer program may be distributed with or as part of other hardware. The computer program can also be operated in other forms, for example via the Internet or other telecommunications systems.

The reference signs in the claims are not to be understood as limiting the subject matter and the scope of the claims to these references.

Claims (11)

1. A de-stacker (50) for de-stacking a stack (314) of book covers having a backlining and for transferring individual book covers (315), wherein the de-stacker (50) has a removal unit (310) for removing and holding a top book cover (315) of a stack (314) of book covers and a movement unit (311) for moving the removal unit (310) with the removed and held book cover (315) from the stack (314) of book covers to a transfer point, wherein the removal unit (310) has holding elements (312) for temporarily holding a book cover (315), characterised in that the removal unit moreover has a holding-down element (313) for holding down the backlining of the book cover (315), wherein the de-stacker (50) is adapted to hold down the backlining of the top book cover (315) by means of the holding-down element (313) during the removal of the top book cover (315) in order to lift the sides of the top book cover (315) and free them from the stack (314) and, after the sides of the top book cover (315) have been freed, to move the removal unit (310) to the transfer point by means of the movement unit (311), wherein the holding-down element (313) is resiliently formed by means of a spring, wherein the de-stacker (50) has a sensor for monitoring the holding-down element (313), wherein the sensor is adapted to measure the preload travel by the spring during the placement on the book cover, wherein the de-stacker is adapted to stop the placement on the book cover after a predetermined travel.
2. The de-stacker (50) according to Claim 1, characterised in that the removal unit (310) has a plate (330) on which the holding elements (312) and the holding-down element (313) are arranged, wherein the holding elements (312) are arranged at corners of an imaginary rectangle and the holding-down element (313) is arranged centrally between the holding elements (312).
3. The de-stacker (50) according to Claim 2, characterised in that, to remove a top book cover (315), the de-stacker (50) is adapted to move the plate (330) initially only upwards in a first step in such a way that the backlining of the top book cover, which is held down by the holding-down element (313), remains on the stack (314) whilst the sides of the top book cover (315) are lifted, after which the plate (330) is moved upwards in a second step in such a way that the top book cover (315) including the backlining is lifted completely.
4. The de-stacker (50) according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the holding elements (312) are vacuum nozzles.
5. The de-stacker (50) according to Claim 4, characterised in that the de-stacker (50) has a pressure sensor for monitoring a negative pressure produced when the vacuum nozzles are in place, wherein the de-stacker (50) is adapted to lift the removal unit (310) after the placement on the top book cover only when the pressure sensor measures sufficient negative pressure and to decide whether the negative pressure is sufficient by comparing the measured negative pressure with a threshold value.
6. A storage system (5) for storing book covers, wherein the storage system (5) has:

   - a stack storage facility (49) for storing stacks of book covers;

   - a de-stacker (50) for de-stacking the stack of book covers and for transferring individual book covers (11) according to one of Claims 1 to 5;

   - a rack system (10) for storing the individual book covers.
7. A manufacturing system (1) for manufacturing books, wherein the manufacturing system (1) has:

   - a book-cover manufacturing unit (4) for manufacturing stacks of book covers;

   - a storage system (5) according to Claim 6 for storing book covers;

   - a book-block manufacturing unit (2) for manufacturing book blocks;

   - a book binding unit (60) for manufacturing books by binding book covers (11) with associated book blocks; and

   - a supply device (35) for supplying book covers (11) from the rack system (10) of the storage system (5) and book blocks from the book-block manufacturing unit (2) to the book binding unit (60).
8. A method for de-stacking a stack of book covers and for transferring individual book covers (315) by means of a de-stacker (50) according to one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the removal unit (310) of the de-stacker (50) removes and holds a top book cover (315) of a stack (314) of book covers and the movement device (311) of the de-stacker (50) then moves the removal unit (310) with the removed and held book cover (315) from the stack (314) of book covers to a transfer point, wherein the removal unit (310) holds a book cover (315) temporarily by means of holding elements (312), characterised in that the removal unit holds down the backlining of the book cover (315) by means of a holding-down element (313), wherein the de-stacker (50) holds down the backlining of the top book cover (315) by means of the holding-down element (313) during the removal of the top book cover (315) in order to lift the sides of the top book cover (315) and free them from the stack (314) and, after the sides of the top book cover (315) have been freed, moves the removal unit (310) to the transfer point by means of the movement unit (311), wherein the holding-down element (313) is resiliently formed by means of a spring, wherein the de-stacker (50) has a sensor for monitoring the holding-down element (313), wherein the sensor measures the preload travel by the spring during the placement on the book cover, wherein the de-stacker stops the placement on the book cover after a predetermined travel.
9. A conveying method for conveying book covers, wherein the conveying method comprises:

   - conveying stacks of book covers from a book-cover manufacturing unit (4) to a stack storage facility (49);

   - transferring the stack of book covers into the stack storage facility (49);

   - transferring the stack of book covers from the stack storage facility (49);

   - conveying the stack of book covers from the stack storage facility (49) to a de-stacker (50);

   - receiving the stack of book covers and transferring individual book covers (11) by means of the de-stacker (50) according to Claim 8;

   - conveying the individual book covers (11) from the de-stacker (50) to a rack system (10);

   - transferring the individual book covers (11) into the rack system (10);

   - transferring the individual book covers (11) from the rack system (10); and

   - conveying the individual book covers (11) from the rack system (10) to a supply device (35) for supplying the individual book covers (11) to a book binding unit (60).
10. A manufacturing method for manufacturing books, wherein the manufacturing method comprises:

    - conveying individual book covers (11) to a supply unit (35) for supplying the individual book covers (11) to a book binding unit (60) according to Claim 9;

    - manufacturing book blocks belonging to the individual book covers (11) by means of a book-block manufacturing unit (2);

    - supplying the individual book covers (11) and the associated manufactured book blocks to a book binding unit (60); and

    - manufacturing books by binding the book covers (11) to the associated book blocks by means of the book binding unit (60).
11. A computer program for controlling a de-stacker (50) according to one of Claims 1 to 5 for de-stacking a stack of book covers and for transferring individual book covers, wherein the computer program has program code means which are adapted to control the de-stacker (50) in such a way that the method according to Claim 8 is carried out when the computer program is executed on a computer which controls the de-stacker (50).

Images