GB883100A - Apparatus for folding and interleaving sheets of material - Google Patents

Abstract

883,100. Folding paper. GAMBLE, H. Dec. 16, 1959 [Dec. 16, 1958], No. 40463/58. Class 100(1) Apparatus for folding and interleaving sheets of material such as paper includes a pair of cooperating rollers through the nip of which the sheets to be folded and interleaved are passed in face to face overlapping relationship, each roller having radially extending gripper means adjacent to each end which grip the sheets against the cylindrical surface of the roller for a part of its revolution whereby each sheet is folded transversely with respect to its direction of travel and the sheet ends overlapping each sheet are tucked into the fold thereof. As shown, Fig. I, webs I and 2 of paper are each fed between pairs of creasing rollers 3, 4 which by means of co-operating blades 13 and recesses 12 form transverse creases in the web at intervals corresponding to the length of the final cut sheet and in positions coincident with the transverse centre line of the sheet. The pairs of creasing rollers are a half phase out of step with each other. After creasing the webs are fed round guide rollers 5, 6 and into the nips formed by cutting rollers 7 and press rollers 8, 9 where they are cut into sheets by blades 15 on the rollers 7 co-operating with grooves 16 in the rollers 8, 9. After severing the sheets are fed between the nip 11 of the rollers 8, 9 where they are interleaved and folded. Radially extending pins 17 retractably mounted on the rollers 8, 9 to the rear of the grooves 16 impale the leading edge of the web from which a sheet has just been cut and carry it round into the nip 11. Each roller 8, 9 has a circumference substantially equal to the length of the individual sheets being cut and has two pairs of gripper fingers 18, 19 which are mounted at opposite ends of the roller. The gripper fingers are substantially Z-shaped, Fig. 3, and are pivotally mounted on the end face of the roller, being biased towards closed position by springs 23. Cam followers 25, 27 are also pivoted to the roller and bear on the tails of the fingers 18, 19 respectively. The cam followers engage a cam 30 which controls the opening and closing of the gripper fingers. The grooves 16 and recesses 20 at each end thereof are diametrically opposed to the grippers 18, 19, and the recesses 20 accommodate the heads of the grippers of the other roller at the nip 11. The two pairs of rollers 7, 8 and 7, 9 are a half phase out of step with each other, so that the leading edge of a sheet cut from the web 2 is fed into the nip of the rollers 8, 9 adjacent to the transverse fold in a sheet cut from the web 1; the trailing edge of the preceding sheet cut from the web 2 is also adjacent to this fold. As the crease in a sheet reaches the nip 11 the gripper fingers 18, 19 on the appropriate roller close on either side of the crease and thus clamp the trailing and leading edges of the adjacent sheets from the other web thereto. After the grippers have rotated through 60 degrees from the nip 11, Fig. 2, they are opened and fingers such as 32 push the folded sheet away from the roller. Finally the folded and interleaved sheets are trapped behind a reciprocating gate 31.