GB2220925A

GB2220925A - Card folding

Info

Publication number: GB2220925A
Application number: GB8915871A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Albert Long
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-07-11
Filing date: 1989-07-11
Publication date: 1990-01-24
Also published as: GB8915871D0

Abstract

A device for simultaneously feeding and folding die cut cards comprises a feed roller 10 having a medial major diameter and tapers toward both of its ends, and overlying a supporting roller 11 which has a complimentary shape the rollers sandwiching two resilient conveyor belts 21, 22 so that the conveyor belts form a V-shape between the rollers. Cards from stock 50 presented to the conveyor belts are drawn between the rollers are bent into a V-shape 51, assisted by V-shaped plate 35. Folding is completed by pinch rollers 31, 32. <IMAGE>

Description

CARD FEEDER AND FOLDER This invention relates to a device for high speed feeding and folding of die cut cards, such as greeting cards.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An example machine for feeding and folding cards such as greeting cards at high speed is described in my U.S. Patent No. 3,748,937 issued July 31, 1973 and assigned to Longford Equipment International Limited. This machine has a separate feeding unit, aligning unit, scoring unit, and folding unit.

Indeed, in all known machines, a separate scoring unit is required which increases the complexity of and the maintenance requirement for these machines.

SUMARY OF INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved card feeding and folding device which avoids the need for a separate scoring unit.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a card feeding and folding device which simultaneously feeds and bends die cut cards.

According to the present invention, there is provided a device for simultaneously feeding and bending die cut cards, comprising: a conveyor belt supporting roller means having a major diameter at both of its ends and tapering to a medial minor diameter; a feed roller means having a major medial diameter and tapering toward a minor diameter at both of its ends, said feed roller means having a friction enhancing surface, said feed roller means overlying said conveyor supporting roller means so that the edges of said feed roller means and the edges of said conveyor supporting roller means on either side of the gap therebetween are parallel; endless conveyor belt means sandwiched between said feed roller means and said conveyor belt supporting roller means so as to form a V-shaped nip between said feed roller means and said endless conveyor belt means; and drive means for driving said conveyor belt means in a forward feed direction; whereby in operation said nip acts to feed and bend die cut cards.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method for simultaneously feeding and bending die cut cards comprising the steps of: providing a V-shaped nip between a feed roller means of the type having a major medial diameter and tapering toward a minor diameter at both of its ends and a V-shaped conveying means; driving said conveying means in a forward feed direction; and presenting die cut cards at said nip whereby said die cut cards are taken up by said nip so as to be simultaneously fed and bent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An example embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a card feeding and folding device, Figure 2 is cross-section along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

As seen in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, the example embodiment comprises a feed roller 10 having a medial major diameter at 17 and tapering toward both of its ends 15 and 16.

Thus, the feed roller comprises two frustro-conical sections joined base-to-base. The tapered surfaces of the feed roller 10 are knurled. The feed roller 10 overlies a conveyor belt supporting roller 11 having a major diameter at both of its ends 18 and 19 and tapering to a medial minor diameter at 20. Thus, the conveyor belt supporting roller comprises two frustro-conical sections joined top-to-top. As best seen in Figure 2, the tapers of the feed roller and conveyor belt supporting roller are complimentary and the feed roller is positioned over the conveyor belt supporting roller 11 so that the edges of the two rollers on either side of the gap 60 therebetween are parallel.

The feed roller 10 is supported for rotation by support plates 12 and 13 which are attached to the frame (not shown) of the device. The conveyor belt supporting roller 11 is supported for rotation on shaft 14 which is attached to the frame of the device.

Endless resilient conveyor belts 21 and 22 are sandwiched between the two rollers 10 and 11 so as to fill the gap 60 between the rollers 10 and 11 with belts 21 extending from the medial major diameter at 17 of the feed roller 10 to proximate end 15 of the feed roller 10 and with belt 22 extending from the medial major diameter at 17 of the feed roller 10 to proximate end 16 of the feed roller so that the conveyor belts form a V-shape between the rollers. This results in a nip being formed between feed roller 10 and belts 21 and 22. As seen in Figure 1, the endless conveyor belts 21 and 22 are supported at one end rearwardly of the rollers 10 and 11 by drive wheel 25 which is affixed to drive shaft 26. Drive shaft 26 is rotatably received by the frame of the device and is operatively connected to motor 27 by drive chain 28 and cogs 29 and 30.The other end of the conveyor belts 21 and 22 are supported by parallel axis pinch rollers 31 and 32 so that the conveyor belts are pinched together in face-to-face relation at this other end. The pinch rollers 31 and 32 are supported by bars 33 and 34 which are attached to the frame of the device.

A V-shaped plate 35 is positioned forwardly of the feed roller 10 and rearwardly of the pair of proximate parallel axis pinch rollers 31 and 32 adjacent the top surface of the conveyor belts 21 and 22. The V-shaped plate 35 has a front section 36 tapering in the forward feed direction. V-shaped plate 35 is supported by threaded shaft 37 which is threaded to arm 38 which, in turn, is affixed to support plate 13.

A pair of tensioning rollers 39 and'40 are located rearwardly of pinch rollers 31 and 32 and tension the conveyor belts 21 and 22, respectively.

The rear section of the device includes card holding and presenting means 55 which comprise a guide plate 43 attached to support plates 12 and 13. As seen in Figure 2, the feed roller 1G projects below the guide plate 43 and the guide plate 43 has a notch 44 in its base exposing the rear of feed roller 10. The card holding and presenting means also include a retainer bar 45 positioned rearwardly of the guide plate 43 and supported by block 46 which is slidably attached to shaft 47 by connector 48. Shaft 47 is attached to the frame of the device.

The retainer bar has a forwarding curving lower portion.

In operation, when motor 27 is actuated, the conveyor belts circulate causing feed roller 10 and conveyor belt supporting roller 11 to rotate. A stack of die cut cards shown in phantom at 50 is placed by an operator between retaining bar 45 and guide plate 43.

If the cards are pre-creased, perferably the operator bends sheafs of about 100 cards to give each card in the sheaf a slight V-shape before feeding stack 50 with these sheafs. This assists in ensuring the cards of stack 50 are laterally aligned.

In addition, lateral guide plates (not shown) may be utilized to assist in ensuring lateral alignment of the cards of stack 50.

In a manner similar to that described in my U.S. patent 3,908,983 issued September 30, 1975, retainer bar 45 holds the stack 50 sloping downwardly in a forward direction with the bottom cards fanned forwardly and the forward edge of the bottom card in the stack in contact with the conveyor belts 21 and 22 at the exposed arc of the rotating feed roller 10. In this position, since the conveyor belts are made of resilient material and the surface of the feed roller is roughened by a knurl, the bottom card is frictionally engaged and drawn into the nip between feed roller 10 and conveyors 21 and 22. In passing through the nip, the card is bent into a V-shape shown in phantom at 51. As the leading edge of the bottom card passes beyond rollers 10 and 11, it enteres between the V-shaped plate 35 and the conveyor belts.The V-shaped plate maintains the card in frictional engagement with the conveyor belts while allowing the conveyor belts to bend the card. At the rearward end of the V-shaped plate, the top of conveyor belts 21 and 22 form a shallow V-shape, not as narrow as the V-shaped plate itself.

However, along the length of the V-shaped plate, the conveyor belts form a progressively narrower V-shape eventually abuting the sides of the V-shaped plate. The tapered forward section of the V-shaped plate allows the conveyor belts to draw progressively closer together in the forward feed direction while ensuring the card is in frictional engagement with the conveyor belts. Beyond the front edge of the V-shaped plate, the pinch rollers 31 and 32 themselves ensure the card is frictionally engaged by the conveyor belts. Thus, as the bottom card passes between the V-shaped plate and the conveyor belts it is progressively bent into an ever narrower V-shape. As the front edge of the bottom card reaches parallel pinch rollers 31 and 32, the fold is completed, as illustrated by the card shown in phantom at 52.As the folded card leaves the pinch rollers 31 and 32, it may be directed to an output stack, such as in the manner described in my aforementioned U.S. patent 3,748,937.

As the bottom card of the stack leaves the stack, the stack moves downwardly under its own weight so that the next card is presented to conveyor belts 21 and 22 at the feed roller 10.

With some card stock, stacks have a tendancy to curl upwardly; if this tendancy were not counteracted, it could result in jamming. To prevent such jamming, the front of the lower portion of stack 50 is urged downwardly by the arc of feed roller 10 which is exposed to the front of the stack 50 by notch 44.

The described card holding and presenting means 55 could be replaced with the single card feed unit described in my aforementioned U.S. patent 3,748,937, in which case these feed unit would feed single cards to rollers 10 and 11.

Awhile feed roller 10 has been described as having a knurled surface, other friction enhancing surfaces may be used.

Claims

I CLAIM:

1. A device for simultaneously feeding and bending die cut cards, comprising: (1) a conveyor belt supporting roller means having a major diameter at both of its ends and tapering to a medial minor diameter; (b) a feed roller means having a major medial diameter and tapering toward a minor diameter at both of its ends, said feed roller means having a friction enhancing surface, said feed roller means overlying said conveyor supporting roller means so that the edges of said feed roller means and the edges of said conveyor supporting roller means on either side of the gap therebetween are parallel; (c) endless conveyor belt means sandwiched between said feed roller means and said conveyor belt supporting roller means so as to form a V-shaped nip between said feed roller means and said endless conveyor belt means; and (d) drive means for driving said conveyor belt means in a forward feed direction, whereby, in operation, said nip acts to feed and bend die cut cards.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said endless conveyor belt means comprise two conveyor belts, one extending, in its lateral dimension, from adjacent said major medial diameter of said feed roller means to adjacent one end of said feed roller means and the other extending, in its lateral dimension, from adjacent said major medial diameter of said feed roller means to adjacent the other end of said feed roller means.

3. The device of claim 2 further including: (e) wheel means supporting one end of said conveyor belts rearwardly of said feed roller means and said conveyor belt supporting roller means; (f) a pair of parallel axis pinch rollers, each supporting the other end of one of said conveyor belts forwardly of said feed roller means so that said two convyeor belts are pinched together in face-to-face relation at said other end of said conveyor belts; and (g) a V-shaped plate positioned forwardly of said feed roller means and rearwardly of said pair of parallel axis pinch rollers adjacent the top surface of said conveyor belts whereby, in operation, cards are drawn into said nip between said feed roller means and said conveyor belts and are thereby bent into a shallow V-shape, subsequently said cards move between said V-shaped plate and said two conveyor belts and are thereby bent into a progressively narrower V-shape, and finally said cards pass between said pair of parallel axis pinch rollers and are thereby folded.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein said conveyor belts are resilient.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said V-shaped plate has a front section tapering in the forward feed direction.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said die cut cards are pre-creased.

7. The device of claim 1 including: (e) card holding and presenting means to hold a stack of cards and present the leading edge of the bottom card to said conveyor belt means and said feed roller means.

8. The device of claim 7 wherein said card holding and presenting means comprise a rearward retainer bar and a forward guide plate positioned rearwearly of said feed roller means, said rearward retainer bar having a forwardly curving lower portion to fan the bottom cards of a stack of cards forwardly as the cards move downwardly between the bar and guide plate under the weight of the stack, said feed roller projecting below said guide plate whereby, as the cards move downwardly and forwardly in the stack, the leading edge of the lowest card contacts the conveyor belt means and said feed roller means.

9. The device of claim 5 including: (h) card holding and presenting means to hold a stack of cards and present the leading edge of the bottom card to said conveyor belt means and said feed roller means.

10. The device of claim 1 wherein said die cut cards are pre-creased.

11. The device of claim 1 wherein said feed roller means has a rough surface for frictionally engaging die cut cards.

12. The device of claim 3 wherein said feed roller means has a rough surface for frictionally engaging die cut cards.

13. A method for simultaneously feeding and bending die cut cards comprising the steps of: (a) providing a V-shaped nip between a feed roller means of the type having a major medial diameter and tapering toward a minor diameter at both of its ends and a V-shaped conveying means; (b) driving said conveying means in a forward feed direction; and (c) presenting die cut cards at said nip whereby said die cut cards are taken up by said nip so as to be simultaneously fed and bent.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said conveying means comprises conveyor belt means extending, in its lateral dimension, from adjacent said major medial diameter of said feed roller means to adjacent one end of said feed roller means and extending, in its lateral dimension, from adjacent said major medial diameter of said feed roller means to adjacent the other end of said feed roller means.

15. A method of simultaneously feeding and bending die cut cards comprising the steps of: (a) sandwiching an endless conveyor belt means between a feed roller means having a major medial diameter and tapering toward a minor medial diameter at both of its ends and a conveyor supporting roller means having a major diameter at both of its ends and tapering to a medial minor diameter so as to form a V-shaped nip between said feed roller means and said endless conveyor belt means; (b) driving said conveyor belt means in a forward feed direction; (c) presenting die cut cards at said nip so that said cards are serially taken up by said nip and are thereby simultaneously fed and bent.

16. -The method of claim 15 wherein said endless conveyor belt means comprise two conveyor belts one extending, in its lateral dimension, from adjacent said major medial diameter of said feed roller means to adjacent one end of said feed roller means and the other extending, in its lateral dimension, from adjacent said major medial diameter of said feed roller means to adjacent the other end of said feed roller means.

17. The method of claim 15 including the step of further bending die cut cards fed through said nip by progressively narrowing the V-shape of said endless conveyor belt means in the forward feed direction downstream of said nip and overlying said endless conveyor belt means downstream of said nip with a V-shaped plate which presents a progressively narrower V-shape in the forward feed direction.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein said endless conveyor belt means are resilient.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein said V-shaped plate has a front section tapering in the forward feed direction.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said die cut cards are pre-creased.