GB2622674A

GB2622674A - Safety system for a nipping station

Info

Publication number: GB2622674A
Application number: GB2310933.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mark Rhodes Daniel
Original assignee: Elanders Ltd
Current assignee: Elanders Ltd
Priority date: 2022-07-19
Filing date: 2023-07-17
Publication date: 2024-03-27
Also published as: GB202210552D0; GB202310933D0

Abstract

A safety system for a nipping station 300 comprises a mechanical carrier 350 having a clamping mechanism for holding a book-block 365. The nipping station having a cover fixing system for applying a book cover to a book-block on-the-fly. An actuating cam 325 is mounted on a stationary body 301 such that the clamping mechanism is activated before the mechanical system applies the book cover to the book-block. A stationary body 301 is connected to an actuating wheel 340 that is mounted to a fixed clamping plate 330. The actuating wheel movable in a vertical direction. A clamping mechanism comprises the fixed clamping plate and a second interchangeable clamping plate 335 for holding a book-block. The actuating cam has an actuating surface 405. The actuating cam is couplable to the actuating wheel. The actuating surface contacts the actuating wheel when a mechanical carrier passes the actuating cam. The actuating wheel moves down into a first fixed clamping plate at a rate that is determined by a shape of the actuating surface. A lifting mechanism lifts a base plate 310 towards the mechanical carrier when the clamping plates are positioned correctly with respect to the base plate.

Description

Title: SAFETY SYSTEM FOR A NIPPING STATION

Description

Field of the invention

The field of the invention relates to a nipping station of a book manufacturing process and a mechanical safety system therefor.

Background

Book manufacturing, like most high-volume manufacturing, is now highly automated. There are several sub-processes involved in producing a book, one of which is the process of attaching or applying a book cover to the pages. The process of attaching or applying the book cover to the pages is known as "nipping" and is carried out in a nipping station.

FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified drawing of a nipping station 100 with drive mechanism 120 and clamp mechanism, in a form of a flat plate 110. A "Nipping station" is a complex electromechanical device with multiple "carriers" attached to a drive chain, in general evenly spaced, each carrier being capable of holding the pages of a book, known as a book-block as at this point no book cover is attached. The book-blocks are clamped between the main body of the carrier and a thin flat metal plate 110 that can move towards and away from the body of the carrier, perpendicular to the direction of travel of the carrier, clamping the pages of the book-block and holding them in place. When the nipping station is operating correctly, the book-blocks move through the machine on the carriers whilst the book covers are attached on-the-fly i.e., whilst the carriers are moving.

A book-block is made up of printed sheets that are folded into a 'section'. These sections can vary in size and quantity, but are typically made up of 16 pages. The sections are collated and fed into the clamp on a carrier, the book-block then has adhesive applied to both the spine and also the outer of the top and bottom printed section and the book cover is applied by an electromechanical mechanism synchronised to the motion of the carrier.

To inspect the glue lines and verify that the gluing process is being carried out correctly it is necessary to manually remove the book-block from the clamp. In order to do this, to identify any problem in the spine attachment process and therefore prevent thousands of -2 -books being compiled/manufactured incorrectly, the clamp must be opened manually, i.e., the nipping process must be stopped and a clamp opened. This clamp opening process is performed by means of a special tool that is supplied by the manufacturer of the nipping station that allows the mechanical clamping system to be disengaged.

However, if the machine operator forgets to re-close the clamp after the inspection, or if the clamp is not correctly closed, then it has been identified that once the machine is restarted, there is often an undesirable mechanical contact between parts of the carrier and the previously described electromechanical mechanism of the nipping station.

The inventor has recognised this problem and realised that such an occurrence causes damage to the nipping station that results, at a minimum, in misalignment of the book covers after gluing. FIG. 2, illustrates a simplified drawing of the main elements in a construction of a known nipping station 200, which highlights the susceptible elements of the nipping station 200 when there is a misalignment of the book covers after gluing. In particular, it has been identified that if the operator should forget to manually close the clamp it will crash into the "nipping plates" 110 of FIG. 1, which may cause mechanical damage in particular the lifting levers 210, circled in FIG. 2, which can be bent out of shape.

Thus, the inventor of the present invention has identified and appreciated that it would be beneficial if the operator-error could be eliminated by means of a mechanical safety system, such that mechanical contact between the carrier and the mechanical safety system could not occur

Summary

The examples herein described provide a mechanical safety system for a nipping station, as described in the accompanying claims. In particular, examples describe efficient mappings between hardware components and algorithmic features. Specific example embodiments are set forth in the dependent claims. These and other aspects will be apparent from, and elucidated with reference to, the example embodiments described hereinafter.

In a first aspect, a safety system for a nipping station is described wherein the nipping station comprises: a stationary body connected to an actuating wheel that is mounted to a fixed clamping plate, the actuating wheel movable in a vertical direction; one or more -3 -mechanical carriers attached to the stationary body via a drive chain, each mechanical carrier having a clamping mechanism comprising a first fixed clamping plate and a second interchangeable clamping plate for holding a book-block therebetween; and a book cover fixing system for applying a book cover to the book-block. The safety system comprises an actuating cam having an actuating surface, wherein the actuating cam is mounted on the stationary body and coupleable to the actuating wheel wherein the actuating surface contacts the actuating wheel when a mechanical carrier passes the actuating cam thereby forcing the actuating wheel down into a first fixed clamping plate. A lifting mechanism is configured to lift a base plate towards the mechanical carrier when the first fixed clamping plate and second interchangeable clamping plate are positioned correctly with respect to the base plate; and wherein actuating the clamping mechanism causes the mechanical carrier to reach a position where the book cover fixing system applies the book cover to the book-block.

Brief description of the drawincis

Further details, aspects and embodiments will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers are used to identify like or functionally similar elements. Elements in the FIG's are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified drawing of a nipping station drive and clamp mechanism.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified drawing of a construction of a known nipping station.

FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified drawing of a nipping station according to some examples of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates one example of an actuating system of a nipping station according to some examples of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of an actuating CAM according to some examples of the invention.

Detailed description -4 -

Examples herein described provide a mechanical safety system for a nipping station of an automated, synchronous book manufacturing process. In examples herein described, the mechanical safety system provides an actuating mechanism that operates the clamping system of a carrier, where the actuating mechanism is configured to ensure that the mechanical parts of the carrier are correctly positioned when the carrier approaches the lifting mechanism. In this manner, the mechanical safety system aims to prevent or minimise mechanical damage to the machine, in case the synchronous process is stopped for inspection and due to subsequent operator error, or not correctly re-setting the mechanical safety system before restarting.

Examples of the present invention provide a mechanical safety system for a nipping-station comprising one or more mechanical carriers attached to a drive chain. Each carrier is configured to incorporate a clamping mechanism for holding a book-block, the nipping station having a book cover fixing system for applying a book cover to the book-block 'on-the-fly'. In examples herein described, an actuating cam is fixed to the stationary body of the nipping station, such that the clamping mechanism of each carrier is always activated before the carrier reaches the position where the book cover fixing system comprising a lifting mechanism that applies the book cover to the book-block. In this manner, the mechanical safety system prevents a mechanical crash between the arms of the lifting station and the body of the carrier.

In some examples of the invention the actuating profile of the cam is designed such that the acceleration of the mechanical components never exceed their specified mechanical limits. In this manner the carriers' clamping and actuating systems are operated below their maximum mechanical load limits preventing damage due to fatigue or excess stress/strain and increasing the operating life of the parts.

In further examples of the invention the actuating profile of the cam may have an S-curve profile, such that the acceleration of the mechanical components can be configured to change during the actuation process. Typically, an S-curve actuation produces a low acceleration at the start of actuation, increasing to a maximum and falling again. In this manner, the actuating time may be optimised and any vibration due to jerk may be minimised or eliminated. Thus, examples of the invention may reduce wear and tear on components and may reduce noise due to vibration.

In further examples the actuating profile of the cam is designed to provide a motion profile that causes the clamping system to be actuated in a pre-defined time for a given speed of -5 -the main drive chain. In this manner, it is possible to optimise the actuation process for specific timing targets, such as maximum time and minimum mechanical stress.

In further examples the cam may be manufactured in two pieces, a fixed inner part permanently fixed to the body of the machine and having a simple shape and an interchangeable outer part. In this manner, it is possible to easily and quickly change the profile of the cam by exchanging the outer part whilst retaining the accuracy of the mounting position.

In some examples of the invention the cam may be designed such that the mounting position of the cam is made variable in the vertical and/or horizontal axis. In this manner any change in the position of the carriers over time due to wear and tear or other mechanical issues may be compensated for by adjusting the position of the cam with respect to the carriers. Examples of the invention are described with reference to a Muller MartiniTm nipping station.

Referring first to FIG. 3, a simplified example of a nipping station 300 showing the main body 301 of the nipping station 300 is illustrated. For context, the main body 301 of the station 300 may be 1-4 meters in height, and thus is not drawn to scale. A carrier 350 is attached to a drive chain (not shown) and a mounting system 305. The drive chain is configured to move the carrier 350 in a direction that is out of the plane of the drawing towards the reader. In some examples, multiple carriers may be employed to concurrently attach multiple book covers to book blocks. The carrier 350 is connected to clamping plates 330 and 335. One clamping plate 330 is a fixed clamping plate connected to carrier 350. The second clamping plate 335 is mounted to a base part 345, which can itself move in the horizontal plane in a direction that is towards the fixed plate 330, as indicated by the arrows 360. In this manner, books of various widths can be clamped in order to have a range of pages of a book and a range of book depths to be accommodated.

An actuating wheel 340 is mounted to the fixed clamping plate 330, the actuating wheel 340 being free to move in the vertical direction and also preferably free to rotate. This variable rotation movement helps reduce wear and tear due to frictional forces that are generated when the actuating wheel 340 comes into contact with the actuating cam 325 that is fixed to the main body 301 of the nipping station 300.

In some examples, the mounting position of the actuating cam 325, with respect to the carrier 350, is configured such that the actuating cam 325 always contacts the actuating wheel 340 as the carrier 350 moves past the cam in a direction that is out of the plane of -6 -the paper. The station always runs in one fixed direction and the process is not reversable. In general, the main body 301 of the nipping station 300 is designed such that the actuating cam 325 is fixed directly to the main body 301 of the nipping station 300 and not as shown in the figure, which is illustrated in the manner shown solely to facilitate understanding of the concepts being described herein. However, a skilled artisan will recognise and appreciate that this is not relevant to the operation of the station or to the correct functioning of examples the invention. A skilled artisan will, however, recognise and appreciate that the actuating cam 325 and actuating wheel 340 must be aligned correctly with respect to each other.

In the nipping station 300, the actuating wheel 340 is seen to be in contact with the actuating cam 325, hence the carrier is just passing the actuating cam 325 and the actuating wheel 340 has been pushed down by the actuating cam 325 thereby causing the clamping system to actuate, hence the clamping plate 335 is now close to the fixed clamping plate 330 clamping the book-block 365 between the first and second clamping plates 330, 335. In general, the clamping mechanism would cause the two clamping plates 335 and 330 to come into contact if no book-block 365 was on the carrier 350.

Also illustrated in FIG. 3 is the lifting mechanism, which comprises a motor 320 and a fixing system 355 that holds the motor in place, together with lifting arms 315. The lifting system pushes the base plate 310 vertically towards the carrier 350 as the carrier 350 passes the lifting mechanism, thereby applying a book cover and glue that are located by the rails 370 to the book-block 365.

The actuating cam 325 ensures that the clamping mechanism is activated and the clamping plates 335 and 330 are positioned correctly with respect to the base plate 310 of the lifting mechanism as the base plate 310 is lifted towards the carrier 350, hence preventing any mechanical contact between the lifting mechanism and the carrier 350.

Referring now to FIG. 4, one example of an actuating system 400 of a nipping station is illustrated according to some examples of the invention. FIG. 4 illustrates an actuating cam 325 according to exemplary embodiments of the invention with an actuating surface 405 fixed, preferable by screws 410, to the main body 301 of the nipping station 300. Furthermore, there is a fixed plate 330 of the carrier 350 and an actuating wheel 340 that are free to move in the vertical direction. The fixed plate 330 is moving to the right in FIG. 4, such that the actuating wheel 340 is moving towards the actuating surface 405 of the actuating cam 325. -7 -

In operation, when the actuating wheel 340 comes into contact with the actuating surface 405 of the actuating cam 325, it is pushed downwards at a rate that is determined by the shape of the surface 405. In some embodiments of the invention the actuating surface is linear, hence generating a linear vertical motion of the actuating wheel 340 and configured to provide a constant acceleration of the components of the actuating mechanism.

Referring now to FIG. 5, one example of an actuating CAM 500 is illustrated according to some examples of the invention. By way of an exemplary embodiment, with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, one example application of the invention is described for providing an actuating cam 325 with an S-curve actuating surface 505, as illustrated in FIG. 5. This 5-curve actuating surface 505 produces a vertical motion of the actuating wheel 340 in FIG. 4, which varies with the position of the actuating wheel 340 relative to the actuating cam 325. Assuming a constant velocity of the carrier plate 330, then the vertical acceleration of the actuating wheel 340 will change as the carrier plate 330 moves past the cam, hence reducing mechanical stresses in the actuating mechanism.

According to a further exemplary embodiment and referring to FIG 4, one example application of the invention is described for providing an actuating cam 325 with mounting points 410 that allow the mounting position of the cam to be adjusted in the horizontal and vertical directions. In some examples, this may be achieved by simply providing oval fixing slots 410 that are larger than the fixing screws used to fix the actuating cam 325 in place on the main body 301 of the nipping station 300 that allow the actuating cam 325 to be moved to a suitable position and then fixed by tightening the screws.

By way of an exemplary embodiment, with reference to FIG. 3, it is possible to change the profile of a cam by simple replacing the interchangeable outer part 520 without having to fix the actuating cam 325, 515 to the main body 301 of the nipping station 300, hence removing the need of re-positioning the cam with respect to the carrier 350 and the actuating wheel 340.

In the foregoing specification, it will be evident to a skilled person that that various modifications and changes to the example embodiments of the present invention may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims, and that the claims are not limited to the specific examples described above. It is envisaged that the safety mechanism discussed herein may be utilised in any -8 -type of manufacturing machine with fixed and moving parts where a mechanism must be actuated at a set relative position of components of the mechanical safety system.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the design of the components and the mechanical process described, depicted herein are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other configurations, or process steps can be implemented that achieve the same functionality.

In the claims, the word 'comprising' does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed in a claim. Furthermore, the terms 'a' or 'an,' as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. Also, the use of introductory phrases such as 'at least one' and 'one or more' in the claims should not be construed to imply that the introduction of another claim element by the indefinite articles a' or an' limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim element to inventions containing only one such element, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases 'one or more' or 'at least one' and indefinite articles such as 'a' or 'an.' The same holds true for the use of definite articles. Unless stated otherwise, terms such as 'first' and 'second' are used to arbitrarily distinguish between the elements such terms describe. Thus, these terms are not necessarily intended to indicate temporal or other prioritization of such elements.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the architectures depicted herein are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality.

In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word 'comprising' does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps then those listed in a claim. Furthermore, the terms 'a' or 'an,' as used herein, are defined as at least one or more than one. Also, the use of introductory phrases such as 'at least one' and 'at least one' in the claims should not be construed to imply that the introduction of another claim element by the indefinite articles 'a' or an' limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim element to inventions containing only one such element, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases 'at least one' or 'at least one' and indefinite articles such as 'a' or 'an.' The same holds true for the use of definite articles. Unless stated otherwise, terms such as 'first' and 'second' are used to arbitrarily distinguish between the elements such terms describe. Thus, these terms are not necessarily intended to indicate temporal or other prioritization of such -9 -elements. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Claims

-10 -Claims 1. A safety system for a nipping station (300) wherein the nipping station (300) comprises: a stationary body (301) connected to an actuating wheel (340) that is mounted to a fixed clamping plate (330), the actuating wheel (340) movable in a vertical direction; one or more mechanical carriers (350) attached to the stationary body (301) via a drive chain (305), each mechanical carrier having a clamping mechanism comprising a first fixed clamping plate (330) and a second interchangeable clamping plate (335) for holding a book-block (365) therebetween; and a book cover fixing system for applying a book cover to the book-block (365); wherein the safety system comprises an actuating cam (325) having an actuating surface (405), wherein the actuating cam (325) is mounted on the stationary body (301) and coupleable to the actuating wheel (340) wherein the actuating surface (405) contacts the actuating wheel (340) when a mechanical carrier (350) passes the actuating cam (325) thereby forcing the actuating wheel (340) down into a first fixed clamping plate (330) at a rate that is determined by a shape of the actuating surface (405); a lifting mechanism configured to lift a base plate (310) towards the mechanical carrier (350) when the first fixed clamping plate (330) and second interchangeable clamping plate (335) are positioned correctly with respect to the base plate (310); and wherein actuating the clamping mechanism causes the mechanical carrier to reach a position where the book cover fixing system applies the book cover to the book-block.
2. The safety system of claim 1 wherein an actuating profile (405) of the actuating cam (325) is configured such that an acceleration of mechanical cam components is arranged to not exceed specified mechanical limits of the actuating cam (325).
3. The safety system of claim 2 wherein the actuating profile (405) of the actuating cam (325) is configured to provide an acceleration that causes the clamping mechanism to be actuated within a pre-defined time.
4. The safety system of claim 2 wherein the actuating profile (405) of the actuating cam (325, 520) is designed to provide an S-curve acceleration profile such that an acceleration of the mechanical can components is changeable during an actuation process.
5. The safety system of claim 4 wherein the S-curve acceleration actuating profile (405) of the actuating cam (325) is configured to provide a motion profile that causes the clamping -11-mechanism to be actuated within a pre-defined time for a given speed of the drive chain (305).
6. The safety system of any of the preceding claims wherein the actuating cam (325, 520) is designed in two pieces, an inner part (515) fixed to the stationary body (301) and an interchangeable outer part (520).
7. The safety system of any of the preceding claims wherein a mounting position of the cam (510) on the stationary body (301) is configurable by adjustment in at least one of: a vertical axis, an horizontal axis.
8. The safety system of any of the preceding claims wherein the actuating surface is linear and a linear verfical motion of the actuating wheel (340) provides a constant acceleration of components of the actuating cam (325).
9. The safety system of any of the preceding claims wherein the nipping station is a Muller Martini TM nipping station