GB1166475A - Apparatus for Grouping Separable Items Consisting of Newspapers or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

1,166,475. Delivering sheets. HAMADA PRINTING PRESS MFG. CO. Ltd. 12 Oct., 1966 [24 Aug., 1966], No. 45673/66. Heading B8R. [Also in Division G3] An apparatus for batching separable items comprises a conveyer for advancing the items in a stream and a detector and control for counting the items and controlling an interceptor downstream of the detector, the detector and interceptor co-operating on completion of a batch of items to establish an unfilled space between items on the conveyer. As shown, Fig. 1, a newspaper conveyer 1 is fed from a rotary printing press (not shown) and delivers to a stacker 2. The presence of a folded newspaper on the conveyer is sensed by a receiver 34 responsive to the change in brightness of the light from a projector 33, reflected from a portion C (see insert) between successive newspapers A, B. A preliminary interceptor 5 has a member 35 which momentarily engages a predetermined newspaper to form a gap in the succession. An interceptor 4 adjacent to a constant speed surface 7 or the conveyer, inserts a claw 6 into the gap and halts momentarily the transfer of newspapers to the stacker. A gate 10 of the stacker 2 is arranged below a V-shaped guide roll 9 of the surface 7 and is associated with a frame 17 comprising comb-like leaves 12 and 13. The movement of the leaves 12, 13 is effected by a piston and cylinder, not shown, and a link mechanism 16. The batched newspapers dropping through the gate 10 are collected in a turntable basket 20, which is rotatable through 180 degrees by an actuator 22, stacked by pusher plates 24, and subsequently ejected by a plate 26 assisted by discharge rolls 30. The ejected batched newspapers are conveyed to further handling equipment, not shown, by rolls 32. The newspapers are batched by the operation of the interceptors and the stack in the turntable basket 20 is rotated through 180 degrees before the addition of each new batch. A completed stack is then ejected by the plate 26. In the programme control system, Fig. 3, a detector 3, the overlap region of the newspapers, sends a pulse to a counter F which, after a set number of papers have been counted, issues a pulse to open a gate circuit G1 and initiate a timer T. The gate circuit passes pulses, representative of the travel of a conveyer 1, from a generator PG to a pulse generating circuit P which in co-operation with the timer T converts them into length measuring pulses that control a gate G 2 . The gate G 2 determines the charging of a capacitor C n from a source I such that the charge voltage is proportional to the distance travelled by the conveyer from the termination of the newspaper count. The charge voltage is compared with a reference voltage from a source 43 in a comparator H. A coincidence signal from the comparator H actuates a relay Ry causing an interceptor 5 to intercept the newspapers.