GB2099404A - Apparatus for the automatic collation of sheets - Google Patents

Abstract

A machine which is particularly suitable for coating smooth or slippery sheets of paper into booklets is provided. The machine 1 comprises a magazine having compartments 2 for stacks 4 of sheets. A removal device comprises reciprocating rods 7 having shoes 16, 17 at their upper ends provided with points 45, 46 for entraining the upper sheet from each stack during a forward stroke of the rods. During a return stroke, smooth corners 41, 42 of the shoes slide over the stacks. Means 71, 72, 91, 92 are provided for preventing the next sheet in each stack from moving with the upper sheet. The removed sheets are carried in the desired order from the compartments by a collecting device 10, 11 and are then restacked to form the booklet. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to apparatuses for the automatic collation of sheets such as sheets of paper The present invention relates to apparatuses for the automatic collation of sheets, such as sheets of paper. Such an apparatus may be used for collating sheets, whether of paper of not, of a particularly smooth or slippery type, for instance sheets of coated, semi-coated, or glazed paper.

In normal printing techniques it is often necessary to make up booklets, i.e. assemblies of sheets which may be different and which are disposed in a specific order, generally in their numbered order. Printed sheets required to make up such a booklet may be obtained, for example, from the output of a printing machine in the form of a sequence of identical sheets forming a stack, for example a stack of sheets numbered 1, then a stack of sheets numbered 2 and so on.

The booklet assembling operation consists in taking each time and preferably almost simultaneously a sheet from each of the stacks in question, and in combining these sheets in the desired order, for example in the order in which they are numbered. This operation has been carried out manually for a long time and is therefore slow and costly. A large and costly labour force was therefore required and was likely to make mistakes in the collation of the sheets. In addition, the space required for the ordered arrangement of the stacks of sheets before collation was so large when there was a large number of sheets per booklet that this type of manual collation was no longer possible in practice.

Several methods and devices have already been proposed with the aim of mechanising this operation of collating sheets into booklets. These include a device of the type described in the US patent Specification No. 3 173 680 which enables the collation of sheets into booklets in an efficient and rapid manner which is practically without risk of disturbance.

A machine of this type is constituted by the combination of four main devices mounted on the same frame and including: a magazine comprising adjacent sloping compartments equal in number to that of the sheets to be collated into the same booklet, different sheets being disposed in each compartment, with one type of sheet per compartment and in the order in which the sheets follow each other in the booklets; a lifting device designed to remove the sheets one by one from each compartment in order to insert them in an assembling device, which lifting device comprises "fingers" or rods performing an alternating upward and downward movement and which, by means of shoes with which they are provided at their upper end, simultaneously entrain the upper sheet of each of the stacks located in the compartments of the magazine in their upward movement; a collection or collation device which at least partly superposes all the sheets in the required order and supplies them to a receiver in which the successive booklets constituted in this way are stacked.

In one form of this known device, the moving rods of the lifter device are articulated at their lower ends about a bar which is moved up and down in an alternating manner by a rotary cam of suitable profile and actuated mechanically in a manner known perse, the said rods being inclined with respect to the vertical such that under the effect of gravity, possibly assisted by the action of springs, the shoes of the rods are applied with a suitable force to the respective stacks of sheets. These shoes are in addition provided with a pivot articulation which in the majority of cases has its axis in the direction of and along the axis of the lifting rod itself which supports the pivot and is itself, as mentioned above, articulated about the bar at its lower end.The shoes are furthermore provided with a secondary pivot enabling them to rock or rotate about a horizontal axis in such a way that during their upward movement the shoes are in a sheet entrainment position, and that, during their downward movement, the shoes are in a so-called tilted position which enables them to slide on the sheets remaining in the stacks without the risk of the said sheets being entrained downwardly. The movement of the shoes from one position to the other is carried out by rotation about the said horizontal axis.

It should be noted that attempts to enable the collation of sheets having particularly smooth surfaces, such as coated or semi-coated paper, have already been made. These attempts were based on pneumatic methods by means of suction of the upper sheet of each stack. It does not appear that these methods have in effect enabled an effective solution to the problem.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a machine for collating sheets, comprising a magazine having a plurality of compartments for receiving stacks of sheets to be collated, a removal device for removing the upper sheet from the stack in each compartment, means for collecting the sheets removed from the compartments and for arranging the sheets in a collated arrangement, and means for preventing the next sheet of the stack in each compartment from being entrained by the upper sheet thereof when each upper sheet is being removed, the removal device comprising a plurality of rods arranged to perform reciprocating movement and povided with shoes at first ends thereof, each shoe being pivotable about an axis perpendiculay to direction of reciprocation of the respective rod between a first position for entraining the respective upper sheet during a forward stroke of the rod, and a second position, in which a smooth surface of the shoe siides over the stack during a return stroke of the rod, each shoe being provided with at least one point for performing the entraining.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a machine for collating sheets, comprising: a magazine defining a plurality of compartments at least equal in number to that of the sheets to be collated to form a booklet, in which compartments there are disposed stacks of sheets by type (in accordance with a predetermined criterium) in the order in which they are to be disposed in the booklet to be made up; each compartment in order to engage them in a collation (or collector) device, the removal device comprising rods provided with a reciprocating movement and which, by means of shoes with which they are provided attheirfront ends, entrain either simultaneously in the extraction movement the upper sheet of each stack disposed in a compartment (with one stack per compartment), or with a temporal sequence which is sufficiently rapid from compartment to compartment to enable, at the output of the compartments, optionally by means of the collector device, at least the partial superposition of each sheet for making up the booklet, in which each shoe with which the rods are provided is optionally provided with a pivot articulation about an axis which is substantially parallel to that of the rod, but having an articulation provided movement of rotation about an horizontal axis perpendicular or orthogonal to that of the the rods in such a way that when the rods are displaced to remove the upper sheet from the stacks, the shoes are provided with a rough face contacting the sheets in order to entrain them, and that during the return stroke of the rods, the shoes are provided with a smooth face (which does not therefore entrain the sheets) in contact with the upper or second sheets of the stacks, each compartment being constituted by a base, two lateral edges whose spacing is optionally adjustable as a function of the sheets to be collated, and a rear stop optionally fasted to the base and whose position is optionally adjustable on the base as a function of the length of the sheets to be collated, the "entraining" function of each shoe being carried out by means of points, there being further provided means for preventing the second sheet from being entrained by the upper sheet when the latter is being moved.

Such a machine may be used for collating sheets, in particular of paper, whose surface is particularly smooth (coated or glazed paper). In the case of coated or semi-coated papers, entrainment of the conventional type by a shoe provided with a rough element does not enable completely reliable operation of a conventional collating machine.

The invention is applicalbeto numerous types of collating machines, for instance similar to the type described in the preamble, and to collators whose adjacent compartment are horizontal, quasihorizontal or slightly inclined (for example superposed on one another). It is however recommended that compartments whose inclination to horizontal is too close to 900 are not used, or that if they are special precautions should be taken to prevent any buckling of the stacks of paper under their own weight.

The compartments of many types of machine for collating sheets into booklets comprise, for positioning of the sheets to be collated, two laterial edges whose spacing may be adjusted to the width of the sheets, a base (generally of thin metal sheet) on which the stacked sheets may rest, and a rear stop means constituted by a wall, usually perpendicular to the plane of the base, whose position may be adjusted as a function of the length of the sheets to be assembled and in general enables the passage of an element (rod) for the movement of the sheets to be collated.

The present invention is applicalbe to all those types of collating machines, and is particularly advantageous in the case of sheets having glazed surfaces which, as is known, have very considerable forces of electrostatic attraction between one another which makes the separation of each sheet very difficult to control. The invention may be used for sheets of this type, and particularly thin sheets of this type, whose specific weight may be decreased to 50 grammes per square metre, despite the low mechanical resistance of these sheets to electrostatic forces causing mutual cohesion.

A preferred embodiment of the invention in particular comprises a special entrainment device designed to act upon the upper sheet of each stack, and a device ensuring that the said upper sheet is detached from the sheet immediately below and that this latter sheet is maintained in place. The action of the two devices cannot be separated from one another, and involves a genuine combination of means, the result obtained depending necessarily on the use of these two means which cooperated with one another.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure I illustrates diagrammatically a collating machine constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a side view of a first assembly forming part of the machine of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the first assembly of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a plan view of a second assembly forming part of the machine of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a side view of the second assembly of Figure 4; Figure 6 shows side and front views of another part of the machine of Figure 1; Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of the part shown in Figure 6; Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a detail of the part shown in Figure 6; Figure 9 is a side view of the part shown in Figure 6 taken in the direction of arrow 76 of Figure 8; ; Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view of a device forming part of the machine of Figure 1; and Figure 7 7 is a rear view of the device of Figure 10.

Figure 1 shows diagrammaticaly and not to scale a collating machine resembling a known type but constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention. The other Figures show various parts of an entrainment device for sheets disposed in various compartments of the machine of Figure 1.

Figure 1 shows the frame of the collating machine 1 and a bank of sloping compartments 2. Each of the compartments of the bank 2 has a rear stop means 3 and supports a stack of sheets 4 to be collated.

Reference numerai 2 also designates the base of each compartment.

A rod 5 common to all compartments is subjected to a reciprocating movement in the direction of the arrow 6 by any suitable means. The rod 5 acts as a support for lifting rods 7 articulated at 8 about the rod 5. Each of the rods 7 rests at its upper or front end 9 on a stack of sheets. The upper or front ends of the rods are terminated by a head or shoe 16.

During the lifting movement of the upper sheets by the heads 16, the sheets are gripped at their front ends between one of a plurality of collector belts 10 and a set of rollers 11. Entrainment of the sheets takes place in the direction of arrow 12, the assembly of the sheets thus constituting a sequence or complete booklet during entrainment, which booklet is received at 13 at the end of the machine in a suitable receiving element which superposes all the sheets of the booklet in queston in a complete manner.

The or each collector belt is of the endless type and has an upper return portion 14 resting on rollers 15 located above the rollers 11 and which, by means of their weight, maintain the lower portions 10 in contact with the rollers 11, thus ensuring suitable entrainment of the sheets by their front edges, once they have been entrained upwardly by the shoes, along a suitable path and guiding them to be gripped between the the rollers 11 and the portions 10.

The method of control of the belts, and that of the rod 5 may be of any suitable type known per se. The collating machine may be constituted by two or several groups of compartments, controlled synchronously or non-sychronously.

Figure 2 and Figure 3 show part of a device for lifting the sheets from the compartments. The lifting device in effect comprises the head 16 or front end of the rods 7 and is composed of two assemblies of components.

The ends of the rods, i.e. the heads 16, are subjected to a reciprocating movement by means of the horizontal rod 5. Each of the heads 16 comprises two assemblies, the first of which is shown in Figures 2 and 3, and the second, designated by 17, is shown in Figures 4 and 5. The first assembly of the head 16 is fitted on the rod 7 (in effect the actual end 27 of this rod). Figure 2 shows a lateral view of this first assembly, and Figure 3 a plan view thereof, the rod being assumed in this case to be horizontal to simplify the drawing. The first assembly comprises a metal cross bar 18 provided at each of its ends 19 and 20 with a pin 21-22 having its axis perpendicular to the plane of Figure 2. These two pins are designed to act as pivots for the second assembly of the head 16.The cross bar 18 is provided on its front face 23 (Figure 3) with two stops 24 and 25 disposed at the ends of the face, made of a material which is soft, rough and does not conduct electricity such as foam rubber, and whose function is to act as a stop for the moving portion of the head 16 (cf. Figures 4 and 5) described below. The assembly shown in Figures 2 and 3 is provided at its centre on the side opposite to the stops 24, 25 with a metal pin 26, generally of circular cross-section, designed to be inserted with slight friction into the front end 27 of the rod 7, shown in dotted lines, which pin may however rotate in the rod about the axis 28 of the said rod.In the case in which the head 16 is not to be operated, it may be rotated through 180 about the axis 28 in its compartment and, then, rests on the base of the compartment by means of an insert 29 which covers its upper central portion and is constituted by a material which does not conduct electricity. The upper face 30 of this insert is smooth so that it does not absorb frictional energy during the movement of the asembly of rods in operation.

The two pivots 21 and 22 act as horizontal axes of rotation for the moving portion of the head 16, which moving portion in effect constitutes the second asembly. The moving portion comprises a U-shaped stirrup 31 whose two ends 32 and 33 are each provided with a hole 34, 35 designed for the passage of the pivot pins 21,22. The clearance between the inner faces of the ends 32, 33 and the external faces 36,37 of the cross bar 18 is insufficient for the U-shaped component to be separated therefrom without express dismantling after mounting of the U-shaped component on the two pivots (which may only be simple screw bolts). The front face 38 of the stirrup is provided at both ends with two thicknesses or pads of material 39 and 40 which are soft, rough and do not conduct electricity. These two thicknesses have a double role.On one hand, during the ascent or forward stroke of the rod, their front faces are parallel or quasi-parallel to the upper sheet of the stack which they then entrain forwardly as a result of their rough nature. On the other hand, during the descent or rearward stroke of the rod, they cause the upward rotation of the strirrup 31 about its pivots 21, 22 in a way such that their contact with the sheet during entrainment by the entrainment device (following the lifting device of which the rod is part) is reduced to a minimum, i.e. to their lower corners 41, 42, and such that an electrical control contact made during the upward stroke (or forward displacement) of the rod between an electrical terminal connected to the general control circuit of the machine (not shown) and a metal plate 43 rigid with the stirrup is and remains broken.

This arrangement enables monitoring of whether all the rods have in fact forwardly (in the present example upwardly) entrained a sheet by means of their shoe. If this condition is not satisfied and one of the shoes has not been rotated by the sheet gripped by the entrainment device, the contact between the plate 43 and the corresponding terminal is not broken and the machine stops automatically.

The front face 38 of the stirrup is also provided with two pointed elements 43, 44 of hard material, whose ends 45,46 project beyond the front faces 47, 48 of the pads 39,40. These two pointed elements, known hereinafter as "needles", are fastened by screws 49 in respective supports 50, 51 which are attached to the two arms of the U-shaped stirrup by screws 52, 53.

The points of the needles 43,44 on one hand project forwardly beyond the faces 47,48 by a sufficient distance (to be adjusted experimentally in each case) and, on the other hand, are of a suitable fineness to exert on the upper face of the sheet to be entrained a frictional effort, which may be adjusted in particular by the weight of the cross bar, which causes the sheet to begin to move without piercing the sheet and without leaving a trace which is perceptible in practice thereon. This displacement may be controlled and regulated by the screws 49 which determine the position of the needles in their supports 50, 51.

This adjustment is particularly important as it should be borne in mind that this relates to sheets of semi-coated, coated or glazed paper whose forces of mutual electrostatic attraction are considerable and wherein the slightest impairment of the shiny nature of the surface is not allowable.

Several types of material may be used for the needles, i.e. hard materials which do not wear in practice, for example quartz or various hard metals.

However, it is preferred to use steel needles, possibly special steel needles, or tungsten carbide needles.

During the upward stroke of the rod the stirrups are, as a result of rotation about their pivots, in a posiion such that the points of the needles are in contact with the sheet to be entrained, whilst in the downward stroke of the rod, the stirrup has pivoted about the pivots in the opposite direction to the previous rotation until the rear faces 54,55 of the supports 50,51 are in contact with the front faces 56, 57 of the resilient stops 24,25. At this moment, the points of the needles are released from the entrained sheet and the corners 41, 42 are practically the only elements contacting the upper sheet, the plate 43 being electrically disconnected from its corresponding contact terminal.As a safety measure, the plate 43 may be made very smooth with respect to its lower edge so that in the case where during the downward stroke the plate comes into contact with the ascending sheet or the sheet below, no damage would be cuased to the sheets.

The function of the head 16 is therefore, as mentioned above, to ensure that that the upper sheet of the stack begins to move without damage from the stacks of sheets disposed in the compartment. It is also necessary to ensure thatthe sheet disposed immediately below is not entrained with the first sheet as a result, in particular, of electrostatic attraction.

Each stack of sheets, whatever the type of collating machine used, is disposed in a compartment comprising a base on which the stack rests, a rear stop against which the rear edges of the sheets abut, and two lateral edges whose mutual spacing is adapted to the width of the sheets.

The lateral edges have a length which is at least the same as that of the sheets to be entrained. The difference between the distance (along the longitudinal axis of the compartment) between the front and rear stops of the lateral edges and the distance between the length of the sheets is made relatively low, for example a few millimeters. The front ends or parts of the lateral edges are provided with constricting shoulders (see Figure 6) of small height, for example 2 to 3 mm, and sufficiently smooth so as not to damage the edges of the sheets which abut against them during their upward movement.

As a result of the entrainment to which the first sheet is subjected by the points of the head, its front edge reaches the zone constricted by the two shoulders of the constriction and is forced to assume a shape which is slightly upwardly arched (as a result of a phenomenon similar to the buckling of a beam). As a result of this, the sheet is cleanly spearated from the sheet below which causes the almost complete disappearance of the forces of electrostatic attraction between the two sheets. The upper sheet is upwardly entrained by the points until its front edge is inserted between the belt 10 and the roller 11. As the drive speed of this "belt-roller" pair is greater than the drive speed of the rod and therefore of the entrainment head 16, the latter rocks under the action of the sheet thus removing the points from contact with the sheet.The sheet continues to pass between the belts and rollers, whilst the rod performs its return stroke in order to grip the next sheet.

The size of the constriction should be determined experimentally as a function of the characteristics of the paper and in particular of its natural stiffness, as after it has passed through the zone of constriction with a non-rectilinear transverse profile which is necessarily upwardly deformed, the sheet should be able to regain naturally its rectilinear transverse profile as a result of its natural stiffness, and in particular without showing the slightest trace of bending.

Various shoulder shapes may be advantageously used, and the shoulder described above is only given by way of non-limiting example. Any system of constriction fulfilling the same function and based on the same principles may be used.

With respect to the sheet below, which tends to be entrained with the first sheet as a result of mutual electrostatic attraction, it has been noted from experiments that these risks were slight, if there was any risk at all. This second sheet is subject to the attraction of the third sheet on which it rests and, even if it tended to move, it would be difficult for it to pass through the zone of constriction since the only space which it could occupy at this point is already occupied by the first sheet.

In addition to or in place of the above described constriction, a device may be provided which instantaneously ensures that the sheet immediately below that to be entrained is held in place.

This holding device becomes operational as soon as the rod begins its upward stroke and is moreover preferably controlled by the rod itself. It comprises a pressure element acting on the extreme rear edge of the sheet below in order to prevent its displacement with the first sheet. This pressure element is advantageously constituted by one or a plurality of points, for example of the same type as those entraining the upper sheet, but in which these points are rigid with a cross bar or element, any movement of which in the direction of displacement of the sheets is made mechanically impossible. The weight of this cross bar or element and the characteristics of the points are calculated so as to effectively hold the second sheet, without however marking it in any visible manner.An element of this type is increasingly effective, the closer the ininial position of the stacks of sheets is to the horizontal.

Figures 6 and 7 show a device for the local constriction of the sheets. Figure 6 shows a top view and a side view of this device, the top view being perpendicular to the plane of the base of the corresponding compartment. Figure 7 shows a cross-section thereof. The two lateral edges of the compartment are at 58, 59 and the base is shown by two coplanar faces 60, 61, the spacing between 58 and 59 being adjustable in a manner known perse in order to enable adaptation to the width of the sheets.

The front portion 62, 63 of each of the two edges 58, 59 extends slightly beyond the front edge 64 of the base 60, 61 and is provided with a transverse external rim 65, 66 provided with a hole 67, 68 serving to fasten a plate 69, 70 (cf. Figure 8 showing a horizontal section through the front portions of the two lateral rims to an enlarged scale) provided towards the interior of the compartment with a smooth shoulder 71,72. The spacing between 71 and 72 may be adjusted as a function of the characteristics of the sheet to be passed in the direction of arrow 73.This spacing is naturally smaller than the spacing between 62 and 63 and is readily adjustable as a result of the fact that the shoulders are provided with holes 74, 75 whose dimensions in the direction perpendicular to that of the arrow 73 and in the plane of the drawing of Figure 8 are smaller than that of the holes 67,68 in the same direction, which holes may also act as guideways for the fastening of the plates 69,70.

Figure 9 is a lateral view of the front end in the direction of arrow 76 perpendicular to the arrow 73.

The plate 70 is provided with two rims 77, 78 which frame the upper and lower edges of the rim 65 in order to prevent any rotation of the plate 70 about its axis 79. The plate 70 may be made rigid with the rim 65 by means of the holes 75,68 and by any means known per se, although it is preferred to use a resilient means for example comprising a spring enabling, on one hand, the plate 70 to be maintained in a suitable position with respect to the rim 65 and, on the other hand, manual displacement of the plate 70 in the direction of the arrow 76 without any dismantling being necessary. Modification of the position of the shoulder is greatly facilitated thereby.

The rounded shape of the shoulders 71,72 is only given by way of example and other shapes fulfilling the same function may also be suitable.

The two plates 69, 70 may have a shape such that the shoulders 71,72 are slightly convergent at the bottom which further facilitates the detachment of a sheet from the sheet below.

The maximum amount by which the shoulders may be approached in this way should not be of a value which would be likely to cause in the last sheets of the stack a fold which would remain after they had passed through the constriction zone.

A particular advantage of this assembly lies in the face that it may be fitted without difficulty to an existing machine, as it is sufficient (see Figure 6, right-hand view) to fold, for example, the front end of the bases 60, 61 as shown at 80 leaving only a slight gap 81 between 61 and 80 in order to dispose the whole device on the bases of the compartments of an existing machine by introducing the front edge of the base of each compartment of the said machine into a pair (left-hand and right-hand) of the compo nentsshown in Figure 6 through the gap 81 with which these components are provided. Thus, although it is possible to design a machine incorporating this arrangement, it is also possible to adapt this arrangement to any suitable machine by approximately adapting method of fastening to the machine.

An auxiliary device for holding the underneath sheet in place whilst the upper sheet is caused to move may be designed as follows.

The front stop of the compartment against which the sheets are disposed is in most cases discontinuous in its central portion to enable free passage to the rod 7. This stop is generally, but not necessarily, perpendicular to the plane of the base of the compartment.

The device shown in Figures 10 and 11 relates to a compartment in which the slope of the base is approximately 45 . This example is in no way limiting and the drawing is not to scale.

In Figure 10 horizontal is assumed to be at 82, the base of a compartment is at 83 and the rear stop at 84 (its position with respect to 83 being adjustable in a manner known perse). The stack of sheets is at 97.

The lower end of the rod 7 is articulated at 8 on the rod 5 (cf. Figure 1). This end 85 which passes between the two lateral portions of the stop 84, has at 86 an inclined zone thereby reducing its vertical dimension in the direction of the articulation 8. The reduction affects the thickness of the rod 7 essentially on the side of its upper face (also numbered 86).

To the rear of the stop 84 and supported on one hand on the upper face of the rod by means of a wheel 87 and, on the other hand, on an inclined plane 88 substantially parallel to 84 by means of rollers 89 and 90 (there are therefore two inclined planes 88, i.e. one behind each half of the stop 84) a heavy mass 91 which bridges the rod rests on the two planes 88 and on the rod. Each plane therefore supports the mass 91 by means of a pair of rollers 89 and 90. This mass 91 is provided with at least one point 92 which may be positionally adjusted by a screw 93. Generally, two points are provided and are located on either side of the rod 7, in front of and between the two stops 84. The points follow the movement of the heavy mass 91 and come into contact with the sheets when the inclined zone of least thickness 86 enables the descent of the mass.

The spacing between the point 94 and the stop 84 is therefore as small as possible.

When the rod is in its return stroke, the mass 91 has a minimum spacing from the stack of sheets 97 and the point 94 remains in contact with the upper sheet. At the end of the downward stroke, the wheel 87 is displaced in the direction of the arrow 95 as a result of its contact with the inclined zone 86 and the point 94 ceases to contact the upper sheet.

When the upward stroke of the rod 7 begins, the wheel 87 is again on the zone 86 which enables the point 94 to come immediately into self-locking contact with the sheet immediately below its extreme lower edge and to maintain this contact, as the upper longitudinal profile of the rod does not enable any displacement of the wheel 87 between the zone 86 and the lower edge 8 of the rod.

A particular advantage of this device is that it may be readily adapted to any inclination of the compartment bases and that it may be immediately removed from the compartment if it is no longer needed. The position of the zone 86 and its longitudinal profile should be determined and adapted to each specific case, in particular to take into account variations in the inclination of the rod 7 as the sheets in the stack decrease in number.

This auxiliary device is also shown in Figure 11 along the arrow 96 (Figure 10), as seen from the aritculation 8. This clearly shows the mass 91 forming a bridge above the rod 7, the base 100 connecting the wall 88 to 84 and the two guide plates 98, 99 enabling with sufficient clearance the displacement of the mass 91 in a direction perpendiculay to the plane of the base 83 of the compartment in question.

The speed at which the rod should be actuated should be carefully adapted to the characteristics of the sheets, in particular when these are very thin.

The rear stop 84 is not necessarily perpendicular to the plane of the base 83, and the inclined plane 88 could have a slight curvature to take into account the variations in inclination of the rods during the reduction of the stacks. The shoulder gates 69, 70 (cf.

Figure 9) are not necessarily in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the compartment base, and a slight inclination providing their plane, in the longitudinal direction, with an angle slightly greater than 90" (for example up to 100") with that of the said base, would facilitate the removal of the sheets.

Claims (13)

1. A machine for collating sheets, comprising a magazine having a pluralityfo compartments for receiving stacks of sheets to be collated, a removal device for removing the upper sheet from the stack in each compartment, means for collecting the sheets removed from the compartments and for arranging the sheets in a collated arrangement, and means for preventing the next sheet of the stack in each compartment from being entrained by the upper sheet thereof when each upper sheet is being removed, the removal device comprising a plurality of rods arranged to perform reciprocating movement and provided with shoes at first ends thereof, each shoe being pivotable about an axis perpendiculay to direction of reciprocation of the respective rod between a first position of entraining the respective upper sheet during a forward stroke of the rod, and a second position, in which a smooth surface of the shoe slides overthe stack during a return stroke of the rod, each shoe being provided with at least one point for performing the entraining.

2. A machine for collating sheets, comprising: a magazine comprising a plurality of compartments at least equal in number to that of the sheets to be collated to form a booklet or a portion of a booklet, in which compartments there are disposed stacks of sheets by type (in accordance with a predetermined criterium) in the order in which they are to be disposed in the booklet to be made up;; a removal device arranged to remove the sheets one by one from each compartment in order to engage them in a collation (or collector) device, the removal device comprising rods provided with a reciprocating movement and which, by means of shoes with which they are provided at their front ends, entrain either simultaneously in the extraction movementthe upper sheet of each stack disposed in a compartment (with one stack per compartment), or with a temporal sequence which is sufficiently rapid from compartment to compartment to enable, at the output of the compartments, optionally by means of the collector device, at least the partial superposition of each sheet for making up the booklet, in which each shoe with which the rods are provided is optionally provided with a pivot articulation about an axis which is substantially parallel to that of the rod, but having an articulation providing movement of rotation about an horizontal axis perpendicular or othogonal to that of the rods in such a way that when the rods are displaced to remove the upper sheet from the stacks, the shoes are provided with a rough face contacting the sheets in order to entrain them, and that during the return stroke of the rods, the shoes are provided with a smooth face (which does not therefore entrain the sheets) in contact with the upper or second sheets of the stacks, each compartment being constituted by a base, two lateral edges whose spacing is optionally adjustable as a function of the sheets to be collated, and a rear stop optionally fastened to the base and whose position is optionally adjustable on the base as a function of the length of the sheets to be collated, the "entraining" function of each shoe being carried out by means of points, there being further provided means for preventing the second sheet from being entrained by the upper sheet when the latter is being moved.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the means for preventing entrainment comprise the compartments whose front portions or front ends of the lateral edges comprise a constriction zone for the sheets to be removed from the compartments, whereby the spacing between the front portions or front ends is smaller than the width of the sheets which have to pass therethrough during removal from the compartments.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 3, in which the size of the constriction is adjustable.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 3 or 4, in which the constriction zone is smooth.

6. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the shoe of each rod comprises first and second assemblies, each first assembly comprising a cross bar provided at its centre with a pin arranged to be inserted in the first end of the rod, the cross bar being provided at its ends with two pivots for enabling the second assembly of the shoe to rotate about a horizontal axis perpendicular to that of the rod, the front face of the cross bar being provided with resilient stops for acting as a support for the second assembly of the shoe when the latter rotates about the pivots and assumes a raised position corresponding to the return stroke of the rod, the second assembly having the shoe of a "U" whose two ends, each provided with a suitable hole, are arranged to be engaged with a small play in the two pivots so that the second assembly is rotatable about the pivots, the central web of the "U" having on its front face adjacent each of its ends a layer of foam rubber-like material and two points or needles of a hard material projecting beyond the front faces of the layers an amount which is adjustable according to the characteristics of the sheets, where in the lowered position, the shoe rests on the first sheet substantially solely by means of the points and, when in the raised position, the shoe, after rotation of the second assembly about the pivots of the first assembly, rests on the sheets solely by means of a lower edge of the two layers with the rear face of the web resting on the resilient stops.

7. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the points or needles are ofquartz.

8. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the needles or points are of metal.

9. A machine as claimed in claim 6, in which the needles or points are of steel and/or tungsten carbide.

10. A machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the means for preventing entrainment comprise a plurality of a pressure elements for bearing on the extreme rear edges of the subsequent sheets, each element being arranged to be controlled synchronously with the start of the forward stroke of the respective rod.

11. A machine as claimed in claim 10, in which each pressure element includes points optionally of the same type as those with which the shoe of the rod is provided, the points being rigid with a mass of suitable weight.

12. A machine as claimed in claim 11, in which the compression of the subsequent sheet by the points is regulated by the weight of the mass whose displacement in the direction of compression or in the opposite direction is controlled by the rod by means of a longitudinal profile of the upper face of the rod on which the mass is supported by means of a wheel.

13. A collating machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.