JP2004123390A - Device for conveying pile of sheetlike printing object and aligning it at center - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To convey a pile of sheetlike printing objects and align it at the center. <P>SOLUTION: This device for conveying the pile of the sheetlike printing object 1 along a conveyance path is provided with a first clamp jaw 20 and a second clamp jaw 20', which are supported on a carriage. Guide parts 44, 44' for matching and aligning the pile of the sheetlike printing objects with half of pile thickness D of the pile 1 when conveying it are provided along the conveyance path. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus for conveying and stacking a pile of sheet-shaped materials to be printed at the center according to the premise of the first aspect.

Apparatus of the type described above is typically used to move piles of sheets to be bound or bound from a processing unit in a print finishing processor to the next processing unit. In this case, it is important that the piled sheet-shaped printing materials do not lose their aligned state. Otherwise, for example, a problem occurs when the outer edge of the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium is processed. Other inconveniences that may occur are, for example, wire comb stitches (Drahtkammbindung), plastic comb stitches (Plastikkammbindung), and the misalignment of the through-holes for the spiral stitching, which subsequently leads to the proper binding members. It becomes a problem when inserting.

In many applications for binding sheet piles, sheet piles are transported through a corresponding device in a specific and aligned state, and then printed at various stations. It is necessary to ensure proper treatment of the body pile. This is particularly the case when individual pages of a print job are printed individually and sequentially on a digital printing machine, and then collected in a pile of sheet-like substrates to be bound later in a booklet or book. This is also true. In this case, the individual sheet-shaped printing materials forming the pile are automatically collected by hitting the stoppers. In many cases, this stop is a stacking surface for a more or less horizontally oriented stacking surface on which the individual pages are collected, but for a vertically oriented sheet-like substrate. Are also known. Instead of this, an apparatus is known in which a pile of a sheet-shaped printing medium is swung from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture, and then the pile is supplied to a subsequent processing unit.

Different print jobs usually include different numbers of printed pages. For this reason, the piles of the sheet-shaped printing medium usually have different thicknesses. If the piles of such a sheet-shaped printing medium are to be aligned symmetrically with respect to the pile thickness for the subsequent processing steps, each pile must be aligned according to its thickness, that is, In addition, it is necessary to shift the position of half the pile thickness of the pile depending on the number of pages of the print job.

A device for transporting a pile of sheet-shaped print media aligned in the vertical direction is partially known from the prior art. For example, Patent Literature 1 shows an apparatus that carries out a book from a single cutter type bookbinding machine. This device is intended to transport books from a single-cutter bookbinding machine onto a transport belt, and the movement of books is not freely delegated to any part of the transport path. Never go on. For this purpose, in particular, two grippers are provided for gripping the book on both sides of the cover. In other words, this is the transport of a book that has already been bound.

Another transfer device for a bookbinding machine is disclosed in US Pat. The device shown in this patent is intended for a plate-type or tunnel-type chain (Platten-oder Stollenketten) or a comparable transport means, and can be adapted to various thicknesses of printing sheets. In order to make the adjustment, the adjustment of the mutual spacing of the chain side plates of the tunnel-type chain is performed automatically. In this case, the chain side plates are interconnected by a double threaded spindle (Doppelgewindespindel) driven by a motor. Thereby, the chain side plates move symmetrically with respect to the center of the book, closer to or away from each other. The thickness of the book is detected by the measuring device during the set-up operation and sent to the actuator as a reference value. The center of the printed book is not aligned relative to the transport path.

Another device for transferring a printed book to a transport means of a bookbinding machine is described in Patent Document 3. Also in this case, the printed book is held on both sides by the clamp member. In addition, the device shown in this patent document moves at least one corner of the spine of the book held by frictional bonding into position by the relative displacement of both sides of the book in the plane of the book. It is possible to align with.

The pile of the sheet-shaped print medium collected along the stationary stopper is reliably moved to the next processing unit, and at the same time, the pile of the sheet-shaped print medium is moved to the center of the pile thickness of the pile. It is desirable to provide a device that conveys a pile of unbound sheet-like substrates, such that the alignment of the sheets is performed automatically.
DE-A 22 26 455 DE-A-199 26 407 DE-A 100 45 401

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for transporting and centralizing a pile of sheet-shaped substrates.

This object is achieved by a device according to the invention, which has the features of claim 1 and conveys and stacks a pile of sheet-shaped substrates in the center. Other features are set out in the dependent claims.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the pile of the sheet-shaped substrates is aligned in the transport direction with half the pile thickness of the pile, irrespective of the pile thickness. This makes it particularly flexible to align the pile of sheet-like substrates, especially for switching between different print jobs, resulting in a pile of sheet-like substrates of different thickness. Is possible. The maximum thickness of the pile of sheet-like substrates depends on the clamping force that the device according to the invention can exert to clamp the pile of sheet-like substrates. Furthermore, the maximum thickness of the pile depends on the kinematics of the clamping jaws, in particular on the distance they can take from one another. On the other hand, the thickness of the pile is also limited by the subsequent processing steps. For example, when a sheet-shaped printing medium is bound after being transported by a comb-shaped wire binding, a temporary binding, a wireless binding, a spiral binding, or another binding method, the available binding members also limit the thickness of the pile.

In another advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the printing material in the form of a sheet is vertically clamped between the clamping jaws. This creates, on the one hand, special requirements as to the holding force that the clamping jaws can exert, since the sheet-shaped prints must be compressed in the pile so that they do not shift from one another by their own weight. The vertical orientation of the sheet-like substrate in the pile, which is usually made of a flexible material, such as, prevents the pile from deforming, i.e., from deviating substantially from the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped .

In another advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the clamping jaws are interconnected with the carriage via a parallelogram mechanism. This has the advantage that the carriage always remains centered between the clamping jaws. In this way, the overlap of the center line of the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium with the center line of the carriage can be realized in a simple manner.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device is open on both sides of a pile of sheet-shaped substrates. In other words, the clamping jaws grip the pile only on the sides and allow it to approach from the side around the pile of the sheet-like substrate, for example to pull the pile from the device supplying the pile. On the other hand, the clamping jaws are moved laterally away from the pile so that they can be returned to their initial position after the pile has been transported and delivered to the subsequent device. In this way, it is possible to avoid the situation where the clamp jaw has to perform a vertical movement.

In another advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, at least one of the clamping jaws is supported in such a way that the clamping jaws are adjusted to the pile of a sheet-like substrate of unequal thickness. This is particularly important when the pile is made of printed sheet-shaped substrate. Due to uneven toner application to the sheet-shaped substrate, significant thickness variations may occur partially over the entire surface of the pile. By suspending at least one of the clamping jaws like a rocker arm, it is possible to compensate for such thickness variations and to obtain a uniform holding force over the entire surface of the clamping jaws.

In another advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device has a measuring mechanism for determining the pile thickness of the sheet-shaped substrate. There is an advantage that the pile thickness can be measured without transporting the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium. In one embodiment, the measuring mechanism is a detection disc (Gebisscheibe) that is linked to the movement of the clamping jaws. The measurement of the pile thickness is preferably carried out at the moment with a maximum pressure of 40 N.

In another advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device has a protective device which can stop the clamping movement. In particular, the protection device includes an optical passage sensor for monitoring the space above the pile of sheet-shaped substrates sandwiched between the clamping jaws.

In another advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device removes a pile of sheet-shaped prints from a collecting device for sheet-shaped prints.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the basic structure of the device 100 of the present invention. Other drives and / or guiding means, cam disks, electronic control members, etc., which are generally known and necessary for the operation of the device, are only schematically shown or described in general form only. .

Device for preparing a pile of sheet-shaped prints, only partially showing the pile of sheet-shaped prints 1 comprising a pile thickness D of the pile of sheet-shaped prints and a center line MB. Is held in a vertical position. This device for preparing a pile of sheet-like prints 1 may be, for example, a sheet-like print collection device. In such a collecting device, the sheet-shaped materials to be printed are usually collected on a stacking surface and then, if appropriate, tilted to a vertical position by a suitable tong device. The pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1 is shown in contact with the tongue member 10 here. Below the tongue member 10 is a link guide for a clamping jaw 12. Alternatively, it may be another guide known to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 shows the device 100 of the present invention in an initial position. The clamping jaws 20, 20 'are now in the region of the stacking surface 50, which is part of the shaking table. The shaking table has a drive device denoted by reference numeral 52. The clamp jaws 20, 20 'are attached to the tongue bodies 24, 24', respectively. The clamp jaws 20, 20 'and the tongue bodies 24, 24' are connected to a carriage 30 (see FIG. 3). The carriage 30 can be moved in the transport direction along the slide rails 47, 47 'by the driving device 46 by the tongue supports 42, 42'. Further, the carriage 30 is guided so as to be movable in a lateral direction with respect to the transport direction. The position of the tong supports 42, 42 'is monitored in particular by an optical switch 48 (see FIG. 2). The first clamp jaw 20 has an upper guide shaft 22, and a caster 23 is attached to a tip of the guide shaft 22 (see FIG. 3).

FIG. 2 shows the apparatus of the present invention in a state in which the guide shaft 22 has been extended by half just before being guided into the link guide of the clamp jaw 12 together with the casters 23. The carriage 30 has on its lower surface a lower second mandrel 33 which contacts the link guides 44, 44 '. As soon as the guide mandrel 22 comes into contact with the link guide of the clamp jaw 12, the lower guide mandrel 33 comes into contact with the unshown parts of the link guides 44, 44 'of the carriage 30, which part connects the carriage 30 to the first. Push it laterally in the direction of the second clamp jaw 20 '. Thereby, the distance between the clamping jaws 20, 20 'is increased to the maximum possible distance. The sequence of the further functions of the device 100 according to the invention is illustrated in steps in FIGS.

FIG. 3 shows a rear view of the device 100 according to the invention in a position in which the clamping jaws 20, 20 'engage as far as possible with the device for feeding the pile of sheet-shaped substrates 1, in particular. , The clamping jaws 20, 20 ′ are shown in such a position that they are engaged to such an extent that they can capture the pile of the sheet-like substrate 1 over its entire length. In this position, the first clamping jaw 20 is in the same plane as the tongue member 10, that is, in contact with the outer surface of the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the center line M of the apparatus 100 is slightly shifted to the left from the center MB of the pile of the sheet-shaped print medium 1. As explained above, in order to maximize the distance between the clamping jaws 20, 20 ', in this position the clamping jaws are aligned to the left by extensions of the link guides 44, 44' of the carriage 30. Therefore, the center line MS of the carriage 30 is located to the left of the center line M of the apparatus 100 and the center line MB of the pile of the sheet-shaped print medium 1.

The first and second tongue bodies 24, 24 'are connected to the carriage 30 via first levers 26, 26' and second levers 28, 28 ', respectively. A driving device (not shown) is mounted on the carriage 30 between the levers 26, 26 ', 28, 28'. The drive comprises a first connector 31 connected to the first lever 26 of the first clamp jaw 20 at a first connection site 29, and a second clamp jaw 20 at a second connection site 29 '. The 'first lever 26' and the connected second connector 31 'are simultaneously moved. In particular, the couplings 31, 31 'are a common double threaded rod.

駆 動 When a driving device (not shown) moves the couplings 31, 31 ', the coupling portions 29, 29' move closer to or away from each other according to the rotation direction of the couplings 31, 31 '. Both connecting parts 29, 29 'approach or move away from the center line MS of the carriage 30 by the same value in each case. Thereby, the position of the first clamp jaw 20 and the position of the second clamp jaw 20 'are always kept symmetrical with respect to the center line MS of the carriage 30. When a driving device (not shown) is used to close the clamp jaws 20 and 20 ′ at this position of the carriage 30, the first clamp jaw 20 abuts on the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1. Therefore, the carriage 30 is necessarily forced to move to the right. Since the clamp jaws 20, 20 'always move symmetrically with respect to the center line MS of the carriage 30 as described above, the moment the second clamp jaw 20' comes into contact with the pile 1, the center line MS of the carriage 30 is inevitable. This is consistent with the center line MB of the pile 1 (see FIG. 4). Furthermore, the clamping jaws 20, 20 'have introduction aids 21, 21' in the front region facing the device for feeding the pile of sheet-shaped prints 1.

When the clamp jaws 20 and 20 ′ securely hold the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1, the apparatus for supplying the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1 immediately responds to the signal of the apparatus 100. Release the pile of print 1. Following this, the carriage 30 returns to the initial position of the device 100 with the clamping mechanism and the pile 1. In this return path, the guide mandrel 33 seen in FIG. 2 engages the link guides 44, 44 'of the carriage 30 so that the carriage 30 moves with the load in the transport direction in the center of the device 100. The line M is displaced in the horizontal direction until the center line MB of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1 already overlaps with the center line MS of the carriage 30 (see FIG. 5). In this position, the pile of the sheet-shaped material to be printed 1 is exactly at the center on the shaking table loading place 50. At this position, the pile of the sheet-shaped print medium 1 can be taken off by another device (not shown) for transporting the sheet-shaped print medium, as the case may be.

One of the couplers 31 and 31 'has a rotation detector (not shown) that transfers the rotational movement of the couplers 31 and 31' to a higher-level control unit (not shown). This control unit calculates the distance between the clamp jaws 20 and 20 'based on the signal of the rotation detector. When the tongue is in the closed state, this spacing corresponds exactly to the pile thickness D of the sheet-shaped substrate 1. As described immediately above, in the first mode of operation in which the pile of sheet-like substrates 1 is carried out of the pile feeding device, slippage of the individual sheet-like substrates of the pile 1 occurs. It is intended that at least 160 N holding force of the clamping jaws 20, 20 'be generated in order to ensure that there is no clamping force. The pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1 is not taken off from the apparatus for supplying the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1, but the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1 is manually inserted into the book-shaped printing medium. In a second mode of operation of the device according to the invention, in which the pile is fed to subsequent devices on the transport path of the device 100 according to the invention, the device 100 according to the invention is provided with a pile thickness of the pile 1 inserted manually. Used only to determine In this mode of operation, the clamp jaws 20, 20 'are in a slightly open position, staying beside the loading area 50, for the user who manually inserts the pile of sheets 1 into the apparatus 100. Serves to prevent the pile from fanning out for the time being. In this way, the sheet-shaped print medium 1 manually inserted into the apparatus 100 is linearly butted on the storage place 50 of the shaking table. Then, the clamp jaws 20, 20 'are compressed with a maximum holding force of 40N to obtain the thickness D of the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1 inserted by hand, and the information on the thickness D according to the present invention is obtained. It supplies to the apparatus following the apparatus 100. Alternatively, obtaining the thickness D is performed in the second operation mode in the same manner as in the first operation mode, but the holding force is reduced. This is because, on the one hand, it is not necessary to convey the pile of the sheet-shaped material 1 to be printed, so that a high holding force is not required. On the other hand, in order to prevent the operator from being injured when measuring the pile thickness D. It is. As a further safety measure, an optical passage sensor is provided for monitoring the upper area above the pile of sheet-shaped substrates.

The 'second clamp jaw 20' has a rocker arm (not shown) supported by a spring action to compensate for a variation in pile thickness D. The rocker arm comes into contact with the pile of the sheet-shaped substrate 1 and is pressed outwardly when the clamping jaws 20, 20 'are further closed, whereby the spring of the support of the rocker arm is initially pressed. Load is applied. Further, an optical switch (not shown) for monitoring the position of the rocker arm is provided. The optical switch is preferably arranged such that the movement of the clamping jaws 20, 20 'performed with the rocker arm stops when a predetermined holding force is reached, and is preferably adjusted to the spring action of the rocker arm. This holding force can be either 160N, which is just required for conveying the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1, or 40N, for measuring the thickness without conveying the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium 1. Is equivalent to

Similarly, the signal of this optical switch, which corresponds to the closed state of the tongue, indicates that the apparatus 100 of the present invention is securely holding the pile of the sheet-like substrate 1 and that the collecting device is a sheet-like substrate. The fact that one pile may be released can also be used to signal the collection device. Alternatively, when the rotation detector, which monitors the movement of the clamping jaws 20, 20 'approaching one another, no longer supplies a pulse, the device supplying the pile of sheets 1 may release it. In order to do so, a signal "close tongs" can be generated. This inevitably closes the clamp jaws 20, 20 '.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the apparatus of the present invention in an initial position and a part of the apparatus for picking up a pile of a sheet-shaped printing medium by the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the apparatus of the present invention in a state where the apparatus is unwound by half, and a part of the apparatus in which the apparatus of the present invention pulls a pile of a sheet-shaped printing medium. FIG. 2 is a schematic rear view of the apparatus of the present invention in an extended position in which the sheet-like printing medium comes into contact with the pile on one side in an extended position. FIG. 2 is a schematic rear view of the apparatus of the present invention in an extended position, which is in contact with the pile of a sheet-shaped printing material on both sides, in an extended position. FIG. 4 is a schematic rear view of the apparatus of the present invention in an initial position, where the piles of the sheet-shaped printing medium are aligned at the center.

Explanation of reference numerals

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sheet-shaped to-be-printed material 10 Tongue member 12 Clamp jaw 20 and 20 'Clamp jaw 21 and 21' Introducing auxiliary part 22 Guide mandrel 23 Caster 24 and 24 'Tong main body 26 and 26' First lever 28 and 28 'First 2 lever 29 1st connection part 29 '2nd connection part 30 Carriage 31 1st connection 31' 2nd connection 33 Guide shaft 42, 42 'Tong support 44, 44' Link guide 47, 47 'slide rail 48 optical switch 50 loading surface 52 drive device 100 device of the present invention D pile thickness MB center line of sheet-shaped printing medium MS center line of carriage M center line of tongs

Claims (10)

A transport comprising a first clamp jaw (20) and a second clamp jaw (20 '), the first and second clamp jaws (20, 20') being supported on a carriage (30). In an apparatus for conveying a pile of a sheet-shaped printing medium (1) along a path,
Guide portions (44, 44 ') for aligning the pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium (1) in the transport direction to half the pile thickness (D) of the pile (1) during transport are provided along the transport path. An apparatus for conveying a pile of a sheet-shaped printing medium, wherein 2. The aligning of the pile (1) of the sheet-shaped print medium in the transport direction so as to correspond to half the pile thickness (D) of the pile (1) is performed irrespective of the pile thickness (D). 3. An apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet-shaped printing medium is vertically sandwiched between the clamp jaws (20, 20 '). 4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the clamping jaws are interconnected with the carriage via a parallelogram mechanism. 6. An apparatus according to claim 1. 5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the carriage (30) is always kept centrally between the clamping jaws (20, 20 '). 6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device (100) is open on both sides of a pile of sheet-shaped substrates (1). 7. At least one of the clamping jaws (20, 20 ') is supported such that the clamping jaws (20, 20') are adapted to the uneven thickness of the pile of the sheet-shaped substrate (1). Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein The device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the device (100) has a measuring mechanism for measuring the pile thickness (D). A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the device comprises a protective device capable of stopping the clamping movement. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the apparatus (100) removes a pile of the sheet-shaped printing medium (1) from a sheet-shaped printing medium collection device.

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