IL174716A - Method for cutting and folding continuously fed printing medium - Google Patents

Description

174716 p'Ji I 453529 rnx *)>n no owr yri»N -pn>nt> METHOD FOR CUTTING AND FOLDING CONTINUOUSLY FED PRINTING MEDIUM 1630BEE-IL 1 174716/2 1630bee.doc 2-Apr-06 METHOD FOR CUTTING AND FOLDING CONTINUOUSLY FED PRINTING MEDIUM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to methods for cutting and folding printed data, such as methods for printing pages containing printed data of different lengths, cutting the pages to smaller sizes and folding the different size pages, all in one continuous batch job.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are many kinds of high speed printing jobs that print data on sheets of paper, which are folded and placed in envelopes. For example, a bank may feed data to a high speed printing system containing monthly bank statements of its customers. The printing system prints the statements on uniform sized sheets of paper, typically on a continuous roll of paper stock which is cut into the uniform sized sheets. In a single such print batch job, it is common for many sheets to have data that does not fill the entire space allotted to printing the data. In the above example, not every customer has a large amount of bank transactions, which means that a lot of customers receive a sheet with only a few lines on it while others receive sheets filled with data. Some customers have so many transactions that require more than one sheet to print them. In such a case, it is possible for one customer to receive one sheet filled to capacity with data and a "spillover" sheet with a few lines of data wherein the rest of the spill-over sheet is left blank.

Patent documents that describe systems for cutting pages containing printed data include JP61174064, GB190413962, JP60232372 and DE4012966.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention seeks to provide improved methods for cutting pages containing printed data of different lengths, which may provide dramatic savings in printing and paper. The method is useful for cutting continuously fed printing medium into different size sheets. The method recognizes which of the different size sheets require folding and folds only those sheets that require folding. The invention may be integrated with continuous printing machines and envelope stuffing machines of any speeds.

There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention a method including cutting a continuously fed printing medium into different size sheets, recognizing which of the different size sheets require folding, and folding those sheets that require folding and not folding those sheets that do not require folding.

Prior to the cutting, the method may further include defining a set of individual sheets on the continuously fed printing medium, and printing data on the sheets, some sheets having data that take up less than an entire printing area of an individual sheet.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the folding includes folding some sheets with a single fold and folding other sheets with multiple folds. The method may include providing the sheets with a machine readable mark that indicates what kind of fold to fold the sheets. The sheets may be provided with a machine readable mark that indicates where to cut the sheets.

Afterwards, the sheets may be placed in envelopes. The method may include applying adhesive to folds of those sheets that require folding and adhesively bonding the folds to form a mailable item.

There is also provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention a folding machine including a first folding station for performing a first fold on a sheet, a second folding station for performing a second fold on a sheet, and a conveyor adapted to direct sheets towards the first and second folding stations, the conveyor directing a sheet that requires no fold past the first and second folding stations without getting folded thereat, directing a sheet that requires a single fold to the first folding station to be folded thereat and past the second folding station so as not to be folded thereat, and directing a sheet that requires more than one fold to the first folding station to be folded thereat and to the second folding station to be folded thereat. The conveyor may convey sheets on-the-fly to the folding stations. The first and second folding stations may include knives (plows) or pockets.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the first and second folding stations may be positioned with respect to one another such that a sheet long enough to contact both the first and second folding stations is folded by both the first and second folding stations, whereas a sheet sized to contact only one of the first and second folding stations is folded by only one of the first and second folding stations, and whereas a sheet sized so as not to contact any of the folding stations is not folded.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention the conveyor may include a first gate and a second gate and a controller in operative control of the gates, the controller being operative to read a machine readable mark on sheets indicative of a fold to be performed, and wherein the first and second folding stations are positioned with respect to the gates and with respect to one another such that if the controller decides to perform more than one fold, the first gate is opened to allow the sheet to enter the first folding station and be folded thereat and to exit the first folding station and enter the second folding station, through the second gate which is open, to be folded thereat, whereas if the controller decides to perform one fold, the first gate is opened to allow the sheet to enter the first folding station and be folded thereat and to exit the first folding station, the second gate being closed so that the sheet cannot enter the second folding station to be folded thereat, and if the controller decides not to perform any folds, the first and second gates are closed so that the sheet cannot enter the folding stations to be folded thereat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a simplified flowchart of a method for cutting and folding continuously fed printing medium, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a simplified illustration of a folding machine, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, capable of folding or not folding the different size sheets; and Fig. 3 is a simplified illustration of a folding machine, constructed and operative in accordance with another embodiment of the invention, capable of folding or not folding the different size sheets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Reference is now made to Fig. 1, which illustrates a method for cutting and folding continuously fed printing medium, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Reference is also made to Fig. 2, which illustrates a machine 10, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, for folding and non-folding "on-the-fly" continuously fed sheets.

A continuously fed printing medium (10 in Fig. 2, not shown in Fig. 1), such as but not limited to, a roll of paper, is provided for printing a batch job thereon. Another example of a continuously fed printing medium is a printer with multiple sets of paper sizes. One set may include a stock of long sheets of paper, another set may include medium size sheets of paper and another set may include smaller sheets of paper, etc. The size of sheet of paper to print the data on would be selected in accordance with the size of data that needs to be printed. A set of individual sheets are defined for printing (by a printer 12 in Fig. 2) on the continuously fed printing medium (step 100), e.g., defining sheets for printing bank statements, municipality bills, utility bills, etc. Data may be printed on the sheets (101), and some sheets may have data that take up less than an entire printing area of an individual sheet. This may be seen in Fig. 2, wherein sheet 14A has the entire printing area filled with lines of data, whereas sheet 14B has less than the entire printing area filled and sheet 14C has very little of the entire printing area with printed data.

The sheets may be provided with a machine readable mark (16 in Fig. 2) that indicates where to cut the sheets (102). The sheets may also be provided with a machine readable mark (18 in Fig. 2) that indicates what kind of fold (if necessary) to eventually fold the sheets (103). The machine readable mark may include, without limitation, a bar code or other character recognizable by OCR sensing. It may be seen in Fig. 2 that sheet 14A has two folding marks 18, sheet 14B has one folding mark and sheet 14C has no folding marks. It is noted that the machine readable mark may be read by the cutter and folding machine of the system as the sheets pass by, or alternatively, may be read upstream of the cutter and folding machine, wherein a processor controls the cutter and folding machine in accordance with the machine readable mark that has been read.

The continuously fed printing medium may be fed (e.g., on a conveyor) to a cutting machine (cutter 20 in Fig. 2) where the medium is cut into different size sheets (104). The cutting machine may include a knife or other cutting instrument and may be programmed to recognize the machine readable mark to know where to cut. To this end, the cutting machine may include a scanner, OCR device or other recognition device for sensing the machine readable mark, and a processor (with memory) for interpreting the machine readable mark and commanding the cutting instrument to cut at the correct position. The cut sheets may pass on to a conveyor (26 in Fig. 2).

Cutting the sheets creates some sheets that are small enough for eventual placement into an envelope that they do not require folding (105), and other sheets that must be folded, so as to be a suitable size for placement into envelopes (106). For example, for some widely used envelopes, if the cut sheet is 4" (inches) in height, then no fold is done. If the sheet is 6" then a C fold is done (a single fold). If the sheet is 12" then a Z fold is done (double fold), etc.

Fig. 2 illustrates a folding machine 24, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, capable of folding or not folding the different size sheets. Folding machine 24 may include a conveyor 26 with first and second knives or plows 28 and 30 for performing first and second folds, respectively. As is known in the art, a knife or plow is a narrow or sharp blade that juts above the flat surface of the conveyor 26. As the sheet moves forward on the conveyor 26, the edge of the sheet contacts and passes over the knife or plow, thereby creating a fold over the knife or plow. (Knife and plow will be used interchangeably throughout.) In the non-limiting illustrated folding machine 24, first knife 28 is positioned at two-thirds the height of the sheet and second knife 30 is positioned at one-third the height of the sheet. The second knife 30 is positioned downstream of first knife 28. For the sake of simplicity, Fig. 2 omits certain components that are well known to those skilled in the art of folding machines, such as but not limited to, vacuum devices for holding the sheets against the conveyor 26, bars for flattening the folds, etc.

Sheet 14A, being long enough, contacts first knife 28 ("first folding station") and a first fold 32 is made. Sheet 14A continues downstream and contacts second knife 30 ("second folding station") and a second fold 34 is made, thereby completing a Z-fold. (Multiple folds other than double folds can also be made with more knives.) Sheet 14B, being shorter than sheet 14A, does not contact first knife 28 and passes by first knife 28 without being folded thereat. Sheet 14B continues downstream and contacts second knife 30 and the sheet gets folded in half (a C fold).

Sheet 14C, being shorter than both sheets 14A and 14B, does not contact first knife 28 and also does not contact second knife 30. Thus, sheet 14C passes through the folding stations without being folded.

Thus, folding machine 24 can accept continuously fed sheets and can "on-the-fly" fold some of the sheets with a single fold (e.g., C fold) and fold other sheets with a multiple fold (e.g., double or Z fold), and can pass sheets that do not require folding past the folding stations (e.g., knives) with no fold being done. In the machine illustrated in Fig. 2, the sheets do not need any machine readable mark to indicate folding or not folding - the sheet is. automatically not folded or folded once or many times simply because of its size. Alternatively, other machines may be contemplated (see below with reference to Fig. 3) wherein a machine readable mark indicates that no fold is required, or if single or multiple folds are required.

It is further noted that the invention is not limited to plow or pocket folding and may be carried out with any type of folding devices, such as but not limited to, knife folders that have a knife placed between adjacent, oppositely rotating rollers, wherein paper rolling between the rollers is folded over the knife.

After folding (or not folding), the sheets may be conveyed to a station (e.g., envelope inserter machine 36 in Fig. 2) for placing the sheets in envelopes (107). The envelopes may be stacked and ready for further processing, such as mailing. Alternatively, the sheets themselves may be the envelopes. For example, adhesive may be applied to folds of those sheets that require folding so as to adhesively bond the folds to form a mailable item (108). Applying adhesive to folds of sheets to form a mailable item is disclosed in Israel Patent 75792 (corresponding to French Patent FR2584691), assigned to Be'eri Printers, wherein the mailable item is a self-mailer, in which sides may be torn off and a flap may be opened to see information printed on the inside.

The folding machine 24 of Fig. 2 is just one embodiment of the present invention for folding and non-folding "on-the-fly" continuously fed sheets. Reference is now made to Fig. 3, which illustrates a machine 40, constructed and operative in accordance with another embodiment of the invention, for folding and non-folding "on-the-fly" continuously fed sheets.

Folding machine 40, instead of knives or plows, uses pockets to fold the sheets. Pocket folding machines are well known in the art and have a pocket into which the sheet enters. The sheet is fed into the pocket until it hits against a stop, whereupon the sheet folds against the stop and exits the pocket.

Folding machine 40 is illustrated in Fig. 3 with the sheets of paper (14A, 14B and 14C as above) entering rollers 42 of the machine from a conveyor 44. The sheet exits the rollers 42 and is directed towards a first gate 46. If first gate 46 is open, the sheet continues to a first pocket fold station 48 and a first fold is made in the sheet. First pocket fold station 48 may include a movable stop 49 for adjusting the position of the first fold. The sheet then exits the first pocket fold station 48 and is presented to a second gate 50. If second gate 50 is open, the sheet continues to a second pocket fold station 52 and a second fold is made in the sheet (this being the folding scenario for sheet 14A, which requires two folds). Second pocket fold station 52 may include a movable stop 53 for adjusting the position of the second fold. The sheet then exits the second pocket fold station 52 and may be conveyed to envelope inserter machine 36 as in Fig. 2.

If first gate 46 is closed, the sheet does not enter first pocket fold station 48, and instead deflects off gate 46 and is directed to second gate 50. If second gate 50 is open, the sheet continues to second pocket fold station 52 and is folded (this being the folding scenario for sheet 14B, which requires a single fold). Alternatively, the single fold may be done at first pocket fold station 48 (first gate 46 open) with the second gate 50 being closed.

If first gate 46 and second gate 50 are both closed, the sheet does not get folded at all and continues to the envelope inserter machine (this being the case for sheet 14C, which requires no fold).

The opening and closing of the gates may be controlled by a controller 54 of folding machine 40 that reads the machine readable marks 18 (Fig. 2) and interprets the indication of what kind of fold (if necessary) to fold the sheets. To this end, folding machine 40 may include a scanner, OCR device or other recognition device for sensing the machine readable mark, wherein controller 54 can interpret the machine readable mark. Those sheets that do not require folding may not have any machine readable mark 18 that indicates the type of fold, in which case controller 54 of folding machine 40 interprets this as an indication not to do any folding (i.e., close all gates). Alternatively, those sheets that do not require folding may have a machine readable mark 18 that indicates that no fold is required, in which case controller 54 of folding machine 40 reads that mark and interprets it as an indication not to do any folding (i.e., sends a signal to close all gates). For those sheets that require folding, controller 54 of folding machine 40 reads the mark and performs the indicated folding (i.e., sends a signal to open some or all gates in accordance with the needed timing).

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the features described hereinabove as well as modifications and variations thereof which would occur to a person of skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not in the prior art.

Claims (18)

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising: cutting a continuously fed printing medium into different size sheets in accordance with how much data is printed on the sheets; recognizing which of the different size sheets require folding; and folding those sheets that require folding and not folding those sheets that do not require folding.

2. The method according to claim 1 , and prior to the cutting, further comprising: defining a set of individual sheets on said continuously fed printing medium; and printing data on said sheets, some sheets having data that take up less than an entire printing area of an individual sheet.

3. The method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the folding comprises folding some sheets with a single fold and folding other sheets with multiple folds.

4. The method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising providing the sheets with a machine readable mark that indicates what kind of fold to fold the sheets.

5. The method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising providing the sheets with a machine readable mark that indicates where to cut the sheets.

6. The method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising placing the sheets in envelopes.

7. The method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising applying adhesive to folds of those sheets that require folding and adhesively bonding the folds to form a mailable item.

8. A method comprising: defining a set of individual sheets on a continuously fed printing medium; printing data on said sheets, some sheets having data that take up less than an entire printing area of an individual sheet; recognizing which of the different size sheets require folding; and folding those sheets that require folding and not folding those sheets that do not require folding, comprising folding some sheets with a single fold and folding other sheets with multiple folds.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising placing the sheets in envelopes.

10. A folding machine comprising: a first folding station for performing a first fold on a sheet; a second folding station for performing a second fold on a sheet; and a conveyor adapted to direct sheets towards said first and second folding stations, said conveyor directing a sheet that requires no fold past said first and second folding stations without getting folded thereat, directing a sheet that requires a single fold to said first folding station to be folded thereat and past said second folding station so as not to be folded thereat, and directing a sheet that requires more than one fold to said first folding station to be folded thereat and to said second folding station to be folded thereat.

11. 1 1. The folding machine according to claim 10, wherein said conveyor conveys sheets on-the-fly to said folding stations.

12. The folding machine according to claim 10 or claim 1 1 , wherein said first and second folding stations comprise knives.

13. The folding machine according to any of claims 10-12, wherein said first and second folding stations comprise pockets.

14. The folding machine according to any of claims 10-13, wherein said first and second folding stations are positioned with respect to one another such that a sheet long enough to contact both said first and second folding stations is folded by both said first and second folding stations, whereas a sheet sized to contact only one of said first and second folding stations is folded by only one of said first and second folding stations, and whereas a sheet sized so as not to contact any of said folding stations is not folded.

15. The folding machine according to any of claims 10-14, wherein said conveyor comprises a first gate and a second gate and a controller in operative control of said gates, said controller being operative to read a machine readable mark on sheets indicative of a fold to be performed, and wherein said first and second folding stations are positioned with respect to said gates and with respect to one another such that if said controller decides to perform more than one fold, said first gate is opened to allow said sheet to enter said first folding station and be folded thereat and to exit said first folding station and enter said second folding station, through said second gate which is open, to be folded thereat, whereas if said controller decides to perform one fold, one of said gates is opened to allow said sheet to enter one of said folding stations and be folded thereat and to exit that folding station, the other of said gates being closed so that the sheet cannot enter the other folding station to be folded thereat, and if said controller decides not to perform any folds, said first and second gates are closed so that the sheet cannot enter said folding stations to be folded thereat.

16. The folding machine according to any of claims 10-15, further comprising an envelope inserter for placing sheets in envelopes.

17. The method according to any of the preceding claims 1-9, and substantially as shown and described hereinabove.

18. The folding machine according to any of the preceding claims 10-16, and substantially as shown and described hereinabove. For the Applicant, av e n, Patent Attorney Dekel Patent Ltd.