US3611887A

US3611887A - Apparatus for feeding and stacking folded printed articles in bundles

Info

Publication number: US3611887A
Application number: US852065A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hajime Shibanuma; Taneji Kishioka
Original assignee: Hamada Printing Press Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hamada Printing Press Co Ltd
Priority date: 1969-08-21
Filing date: 1969-08-21
Publication date: 1971-10-12
Anticipated expiration: 1988-10-12

Abstract

An apparatus for feeding and stacking printed articles such as folded newspapers in bundles. A printed article transfer conveyor has a detecting mechanism positioned above it comprised of a light projector and a light receiver. A bending device is provided in association with the conveyor for successively bending printed articles being conveyed. The detecting mechanism detects the shadow formed on an overlap portion between the folded bent portions of preceding and succeeding printed articles. A downwardly inclined opening and closing fork at the discharge end of the said transfer conveyor has comblike fork halves having adjacent ends opposed to each other with a small clearance therebetween and which are movable toward and away from each other a small distance along the plane of the downwardly inclined opening and closing fork. A rotatable basket is positioned beneath the fork halves for receiving a batch of articles therefrom, and a pusher is also provided for pushing out a bundle of printed articles from the basket wherein printed articles are stacked to form said bundle. A bottom sheet feeder and an identification card feeder are provided adjacent a roller conveyor onto which the bundles are pushed. An article-counting device is connected to the light receiver for counting articles detected and a control system is connected between the counting device and the rest of the apparatus for controlling the operation of the various parts when the desired number of articles has been counted.

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventors Hajime Shibanuma Ashiya, I-Iyogo; Taneji Kishioka, Toyonaka, Osaka, both of Japan [21] Appl. No. 852,065 [22] Filed Aug. 21,1969 [45] Patented Oct. 12, 1971 [73] Assignee Hamada Printing Press Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Osaka, Japan Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 585,649, Oct. 10, 1966, now abandoned.

[54] APPARATUS FOR FEEDING AND STACKING FOLDED PRINTED ARTICLES IN BUNDLES 14 Claims, 29 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl 93/93 C, 93/93 DP [51] Int. Cl B65h 33/03 [50] Field of Search 93/93,93 R, 93 C, 93 DP, 93 M; 198/40; 214/6 D, 6 DS [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,540,972 2/1951 Wagner et al 214/6 3,379,320 4/1968 Loach et al. 93/93 3,429,240 2/1969 Kawai et al., 93/93.3 3,538,818 11/1970 Birath 93/93 Primary Examiner-Theron E. Condon Assistant Examiner-E. F. Desmond Attorney-Wenderoth, Lind and Ponack ABSTRACT: An apparatus for feeding and stacking printed articles such as folded newspapers in bundles. A printed article transfer conveyor has a detecting mechanism positioned above it comprised of a light projector and a light receiver. A bending device is provided in association with the conveyor for successively bending printed articles being conveyed. The detecting mechanism detects the shadow formed on an over lap portion between the folded bent portions of preceding and succeeding printed articles. A downwardly inclined opening and closing fork at the discharge end of the said transfer conveyor has comblike fork halves having adjacent ends opposed to each other with a small clearance therebetween and which are movable toward and away from each other a small distance along the plane of the downwardly inclined opening and closing fork. A rotatable basket is positioned beneath the fork halves for receiving a batch of articles therefrom, and a pusher is also provided for pushing out a bundle of printed articles from the basket wherein printed articles are stacked to form said bundle. A bottom sheet feeder and an identification card feeder are provided adjacent a roller conveyor onto which the bundles are pushed. An article-counting device is connected to the light receiver for counting articles detected and a control system is connected between the counting device and the rest of the apparatus for controlling the operation of the various parts when the desired number of articles has been counted.

FROM

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SIGNAL FORMS SHEET D2 BF CARD FEEDER SHEET FEEDER TIME INVENTOR) HAJIME SHIEJANUMA TANEJI KISHIOKA ATTORNEYS PATENIEB GET 1 2 m;

sum us {If 15 FIG. 5

INVIiN'l'ORS HAJIME SH l BANUMA TANEJI KISHIOKA ZWUIIII) PATENTED am 1 2197:

SHEEI 07 6F INVENTOIB AJIME SHIBANUMA TANEJI KISHIOKA /z ATTORNEYS PAIENIEDunnzmn 3,611,887

INVENTORS HAJIME SHIBANUMA TANEJI KISHIOKA PATENTEII am I 2 WI FIG. [6

INVENTORS H AJIME SHIBANUMA TANEJI KlSl-HOKA PATENIEB an! 1 21971 FIG. l5

SHEE! ll BF lNVENTORS HAJIME SH] UANUMA TANEJI KISHlOKA V, //7 j I, BY 2 IT- ATTORNEYS PATENTEUEEHEEH 3,611,887

sum 130? 15 COUNT END 8! MISCOUN PREVENTING CIRCUIT COUNT ENDING a MISCOUNT SBEYE IJ N .QRQQ'I .1 i {POWER AMP :50 BI;- 82;.) s3- 95;

HAJIME SHIBANUMA TANEJI KISHIOKA ATTORNEYS PATENIEU UCTIZEHZ! 2161 1.887

SHEET 15 0F 15 Y RY ACTUATE FIG-27 5 TIMER 2|O {5 RELEASE MER 2 [ACTUATE lu t ETE 18 AND I, ACTUATE RELEASE FORK CLOSE T|MER 2 3 A ACTUATING PISTON ACTION COUNTER 2l5 TIMER 1:3 ACTUATE COMPLETE SETTER J )OPEN 2L9 TURNING COUNTER 2|? TURN ACTION OVER ACTUATOR\ 2l8 ACTUATE TO PUSH AND RETRACT SE3??? RETRACTION OVER 284 CYLINDER PUSHING ACTION OVER TIMER 2l6 ACTUATE E%ER SOLENOID ACTUATEJ SHEET W INVENTORS I78 FEEDER HAJIME SHIBANUMA CLUTCH TANEJ] KISHIOKA SOLENOID ATTORNEYS APPARATUS FOR FEEDING AND STACKING FOLDED PRINTED ARTICLES IN BUNDLES RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 585,649, filed Oct. 10, 1966, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for conveying folded printed articles, such as newspapers, while counting them, and then stacking them in bundles under the control of the means for counting.

There have heretofore been developed a number of devices for conveying and stacking articles of this type, but all of them have been quite cumbersome and complicated, therefore making them difiicult to operate and to accommodate in existing space in printing plants.

There is therefore a need for an apparatus of this type which is compact and relatively simple in its construction, yet which can be operated in an accurate and sufficiently flexible way that changes in the number of articles in the bundles and changes in the classification of the bundles, such as destination of the bundles, type of transportation to be used, etc. can be changed without having to make a large number of adjustments in the apparatus or its operation.

The main object of the present invention is to provide such an apparatus including means for accurately counting the number of transferred printed articles by means of the detect ing mechanism by sensitively and accurately detecting the enlarged shadow on the overlap portion between folded bent portions of the preceding and succeeding printed articles being conveyed, which means includes a circuit for ending counting and preventing miscounting, and an adjustable control system actuated by the counting means for rapidly and effectively stacking and dropping the printed articles stacked on the surface of comblike fork halves by an opening and closing movement of said fork halves, and also rapidly and effectively pushing outthe bundle of the printed articles from the basket by means of a pusher.

The other objects, features, functions and merits of the present invention will become clear from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a side elevation view of a stacker according to the invention;

FIG. 2A is a partial plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B is a side elevation view, on an enlarged scale, of the lower part ofthe apparatus of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2C is an elevation view of the right side of the apparatus of FIG. 23;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the counting and grouping mechanism according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the signal waveform used in the mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the principle portion of a mechanism for changing the direction of printed articles introduced into the apparatus according to the invention:

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the opening and closing fork of the stacker portion of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A;

FIG. 8 is a side view of a part ofthe apparatus of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the basket portion of the stacker portion of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A;

FIG. is a side viewof the basket portion shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a group of rolls for supporting printed articles in the stacker portion of the apparatus shown in FIGS. I and 2A;

FIG. 12 is a sectional-view of the basket driving mechanism for the stacker portion ofthe apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a group of delivery rolls of the stacker portion of the apparatusshown in FIGS. 1 andZA;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a feeder for feeding bottom sheets to the stacker portion of the apparatus shown in FIGS. land 2A;

FIGS. 15 and 16 are side views of the opposite sides of the feeder of FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is a front view of a card feeder attached to the stacker portion of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A;-

FIG. 18 is a side view of the card feeder of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a schematic side elevation view of the detecting mechanism of the counting and grouping mechanism as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 20 is a schematic elevation view of a device for preventing miscounting which forms part of the counting means of FIG. 3;

FIG. 21 is a diagram of the detecting signal obtained at the one point in FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a diagram of the detecting signal obtained at another point in FIG. 20;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of the circuitof the count ending portion of the device of FIG. 20;

FIG. 24 is a time diagram for the circuit of FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is a block diagram of the miscount preventing portion of the device of FIG. 20;

FIG. 26 is a time diagram for the circuit of FIG. 25; and

FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram of a control system for the apparatus according to the invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a stacker 2 is connected to a printed article transfer conveyor I having one end thereof facing a rotary newspaper printing press. The conveyor 1 extends from the printing press to the stacker 2, and has the conveyor belt means inclined in a gentle plane serving as a printed matter feeding surface, and defines a single-flat surface.

The conveyor 1 has a frame 10] extending to the stacker 2 from a housing 102 at the end adjacent the press, which housing is mounted on a support 103. Mounted on side plates44 on the conveyor 1 are a series of rollers l05 raround which run upper and

lower conveyor belts

106 and 107 to form a spring wire conveyor for conveying the articles from the press to the stacker 2. Motor 108 on the stacker 2 is connected to the various rollers for driving the conveyor belts 106 and 107-in a direction from the press to the stacker 2 at the maximum speed of the articles coming from the press. Rollers I09 and 110 at the end of the conveyor 1 adjacent the press are driven at the speed of the press by a chain drive or the like (not shown) from the press.

At one point along the length of the feeding conveyor 1 is a detecting mechanism 3 for detecting the number of transferred printed articles by the reflection formed on an overlapped portion between the folded portion of one printed article and a preceding printed article overlapping the one printed article and positioned in an inclined position on the surface of the conveyor 1. The said detector 3 is composedof a flood Eight projector 33 and a light receiver 34. The printed-articles are transferred on the conveyor in a conditionin which they are folded in two or another required number of times. A second interceptor 4 having a stopper 6 for intercepting the printed articles transferred by the conveyoris providedon the conveyor 1 downstream of the detector 3. A' first interceptor 5 is provided between the detector 3 and the second interceptor 4. The first interceptor 5 has a stopper 35 for holding down a predetermined printed article in a train offolded articles for a moment, thereby to provide a break in the train of folded articles, and an abutment 39 against which said stopper abuts. The second interceptor 4 will then insert the stopper 6 thereof into the gap formed in said train'of printed articles so as to substantially stop said train for a moment; A control system, to be described below, is connected to the firstinterceptor-Sto supply an instruction signal to the first interceptorS, the control system being operated by the aforesaid deteetori3.

Stacker 2, shown in FIGS. 1, 2A-2C, and 7-13 has vertically extending frame members 8 which are mountedupon an almost square baseplate 112. A pair of fork-.halves-l In support batches of printed articles at an upper position inside the frame members 8. A basket 20 for receiving batches of printed articles from the aforesaid fork halves is positioned about midway of the height of the frame members 8. The end of conveyor frame 101 is connected to the frame members 8, the lowest end of the conveyor 106 runs around rollers 9 on the frame members 8, the rollers 9 being inclined to each other in the shape of a V." Below the V-shaped end of the conveyor belt is a fork-carrying frame 17 which is inclined at the same angle as the conveyor belt 106. The: fork-carrying frame 17 has two rods 113 extending in the direction of paper feed. Four sleeves 114 are slidably mountedflpnsaid rods, two on each between which sleeves are connected

parallel frames

12 and 13. Rods 11 extend toward afid close to each other and from

parallel frames

12 and 13. The opposed groups of rods 11 form the pair of fork halves 11a.

Connecting rods

115 and 116 are linked to the ends of arm 16 mounted on rocker shaft and are rocked back and forth by cylinder 18 mounted on one side of the frame 17 on brackets 18a and connected to rocker shaft 10 by a linkage 18b. Actuation of cylinder 18 causes sleeves 114 to move back and forth on rods 113 to move fork halves 11a toward and away from each other in order to drop a batch a printed articles past the fork halves. A paper stop 19 is adjustably mounted on a small frame 117 which in turn is mounted on a frame member 8. The paper stop 19 can be moved toward or away from the conveyor to adjust for the size of the printed paper being handled.

The basket 20, as shown in detail in FIGS. 9, 10, 11, has a bottom plate 21 and two sideplates 24 extending upwardly therefrom. Shiftable side guides 121 are provided at the edge of each sideplate 24, being mounted on arms 120 on shafts 119 held on the sideplates 24 by brackets 122. The side guides 121 can be shifted back away from the edges of plates 24 by the action of bars 129 striking against rollers 124 on arms 123 fixed on shafts 119.

Bars 129 are mounted on fulcrum shafts 131 mounted in brackets 1-30 on frame 8 on opposite sides of basket 20. Bars 129 are driven from a piston-cylinder 23 on the frame 8 through rocker arms 128 on shafts 131, one of which is directly connected to the piston rod 23a through link mechanism 126 and the other of which is connected to the piston rod through

links

126', 126a and 126b and bellcrank cranks 127.

The piston-cylinder mechanism 23 is operated from a source of hydraulic fluid (not shown).

There are rectangular holes 29 in the bottom plate 21 of basket 21).

Basket is supported on a supporting shaft 132 which is fixed to the middle of the bottom of plate 21. As shown in FIG. 12, supporting shaft 132 is freely rotatable inside of frame 133 on base 112, Bearings 132a are provided between shaft 132 and frame 133. Supporting shaft 132 connected to a hydraulic rotary actuator 22 can be rotated only 180 in either direction. Rotation is limited by stops 135 mounted on opposite sides of frame 133 against which arm 134 fixed on shaft 132 abuts. The top part 133a of frame 133 is cylindrical in shape and has a ring 136 slidable along it. The ring 136 has frame members 300 mounted thereon. A plurality of shafts 30b extend between frames 30a and freely rotatable rollers 30 are mounted on shafts 30b.

Said ring 136 is raised and lowered through link mechanism 137 by a piston-cylinder mechanism 31. Rollers 30 extend up through holes 29 in plate 21 to lift printed articles in the basket slightly to make it easy to push bundles out of basket 20.

A pusher device is provided for pushing a bundle of printed articles out of the basket 20. As shown in FIGS. 28 and 2C, the pusher device has a pair of shafts 138 extending between frames 8 and having gears 139 thereon meshing with each other. A pair of arms 140 is provided, one on each shaft and each having a driving arm 141 connected to the free end thereof and slidably connected to the back of pusher plate 26 to form a pantograph type of linkage pivoted at 27.

Because arms and 141 are pantographically connected to pusher plate 26, when the piston rod 28a of cylinder 28 pivots arm 138a pivoted thereto and mounted on one shaft 138, shafts 138 rotate through gears 139, and said pushing plate 26 moves horizontally.

The movement of said pusher plate is caused to take place smoothly by providing a rocker arm 148 pivotally connected to the end of piston 28 opposite the piston rod 28a. The rocker arm 148 is mounted on rocker shaft 147 which is parallel to shafts 138 and which has a rocker arm 146 at the other end thereof. Rocker arm 146 is linked by link to bellcrank 144 pivoted on frame member 8. The other end of bellcrank 144 has a cam follower 143 thereon running in cam groove 142a of cam 142 mounted on one of the shafts 138.

Extending laterally of the basket 20 on the side toward which pusher 25 moves is a conveyor 32 having rollers 32a mounted on roller conveyor frame 149 for conveying bundles away from said stacker 2. A top view of the conveyor is shown in FIG. 13.

Positioned on the opposite side of the stacker 2 from roller conveyor 32 is a sheet feeder 66 for feeding protective bottom sheets onto the plate 21 before articles are dropped thereon from fork halves 11a. The sheet feeder is shown in detail in FIGS. 14, 15 & 16. The sheet feeder has a pair of parallel side frames 150 between which are mounted side-by-side feeding rollers 100 driven by motor 151 through belt 151a. Pinch rollers 1000 are positioned above the feeding rollers 100 and rest thereon under the effect of their own weight.

A suction foot 69 is provided to lift the end of a top sheet 67 in a stack 99 of sheets and feed it to rollers 100 and 1000 which feed it to the basket.

The motor 151 is connected to operating pulley 154 by a belt 152a. An electromagnetic clutch (not shown) is provided between motor 151 and pulley 152. A vacuum pump 153 is also driven by motor 151.

Pulley 154 drives a cam 156 on camshaft 157 through a reduction gearing and gears 155a and 157a on one side frame 150. As shown in FIG. 14, camshaft 157 has a crank 158 outside the opposite side frame 150. Shaft 159 extending between frames 150 parallel to camshaft 157 has a cam follower 70 mounted thereon which follows said cam 156. Brackets 160 are mounted on shaft 159 and on the other end of brackets 160 is a supporting shaft 161 on which suction feet 69 are mounted.

The top of each suction foot 69 is connected to the inlet of said vacuum pump 153 by a flexible tube 153a, only part of which is shown. A control valve 162 is mounted in the tube 1530 between the vacuum pump 153 and the suction feet 69.

The time during which suction takes place is controlled by another timing cam 156a on camshaft 157 through a cam follower 162a, crank arm 162b, stop bolt 162C and flap valve member 162d pivoted on valve casing 162a and opening and closing vent 162f.

Stack-carrying table 68 is suspended from chains extending over sprocket wheels 164 mounted on shaft 163 and balanced by counterweights 165a. The stack-carrying table is moved up and down by turning gear 166 on the end of shaft 163. The gear 166 is coupled to a stack lifting device composing a worm 167 meshing with gear 166 and driven by bevel gear 168.

The shaft 169 on which bevel gear 168 is mounted is mounted in bracket 170 on side frame 150 and has a ratchet wheel 171 to which a manually operated crank handle 171a is connected through said shaft 169. A ratchet 172 is engageable with ratchet wheel 171 and is mounted on the end of a swing plate 173 pivotally connected to connecting rod 174 which in turn is connected with crank 158. Releasing cam 175 for releasing ratchet 172 from the ratchet wheel 171 is placed on the other side of ratchet wheel 171 from swing plate 173 and is supported on shaft 169.

The end of release cam 175 is connected to spring 177 through pivoted lever 176a and link 176, and spring 177 exerts a force thereon tending to pivot release cam 175 in the nonreleasing direction.

A solenoid 178 is mounted on sidewall 150 and is connected to the end of rod 17641 with spring 177. When the solenoid is deenergized, release cam 175 is pivoted by the spring 177 and ratchet 172 is engaged with ratchet wheel 171.

Rotation of camshaft 157 rotates crank 158 and reciprocates rod 174. This oscillates swing plate 173 to oscillate ratchet I72 to drive ratchet wheel 171 stepwise. This rotates bevel gear 168, worm gear 167 and worn wheel 166 so that the sprocket wheels 164 mounted on shaft 163 rotate and move the chains 165 and lift the table 68.

A sheet height control device is provided for keeping the level of the top 67 of the stack 99 of sheets constant.

Anns

180 and 182 are fixed on a shaft 179 which is supported on the frame 150 and a detecting roll 180 is rotatably mounted at the free end of arm 180. The roll 180 rests on the top shaft 67 of the stack 99;

The free end of arm 182 is moved up and down by changes in the height of said roll 181 and operates limit switch 183. A working range control device 184 is provided around arm 182 and limits the movement thereof.

The limit switch 183 is connected to the solenoid 178 shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. When the level of the top sheet 67 of the stack 99 is too low, the limit switch 183 is open, and the solenoid is deenergized. The ratchet brake means described above is held out of the actuating position so that the ratchet 172 is engaged with the ratchet wheel 171. The means for raising the table 68 is thus operated. When the table reaches the height such that the level of the top sheet of the stack 99 is proper, the

arms

180 and 182 are pivoted so as to close switch 183. This energizes solenoid 178, moving lever 176a and link 176 so as to swing the release cam 175 into engagement with the ratchet 172 and pivot the ratchet out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 171. The table is thus no longer raised.

Shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 is a card feeder 36 for feeding identification cards 40 to the stacks of folded articles. This card feeder is positioned to the side of the roller conveyor 32, as shown in FIG. 2a, and feed cards onto the tops of the stacks of folded articles pushed onto the roller conveyor 32 by the stacker. Cards 40 are stacked inside an identification card supply basket 190.'The basket is composed of thin chromed sheet metal fingers 191 which diverge outwardly at the top of the basket. An annular frame member 192 supports the fingers 191 at the top and bottom of the basket. Spaced below the bottom of the basket a distance just sufficient to enable a card to pass are two pairs of supporting rollers 193 mounted on the inside of the casing 194 on which the basket 190 is mounted. A bracket 195 inside'casing 194 has a shaft 196 thereon on which an arm 38 is pivoted. As seen-in FIG. 18, the arm 38 is a generally Y-shaped arm, and at the top end of each of the branch arms thereof is adjustably mounted a kicker 197. The kicker passes between the pairs of rollers 193 and engages the bottom card in the stack to push it out from under the stack. A chute 37 is provided adjacent the bottom of the stack to receive the kicked out card and convey it to the top of the stack of folded articles. The arm 38 is actuated by a solenoid 200 which acts on an link 198 pivoted to the arm 38, and having a bracket 199 on the end thereof to which the rod of the solenoid is connected. The arm 38 is spring loaded away from the solenoid 200 by a spring 1980. The solenoid is connected to the control system for actuation when the pusher device 25, described above, has completed its operation and pushed a stack of folded articles out of the stacker.

Shown in FIGS. 6 and -5 is a flow direction change mechanism 244 provided between the press and the transfer conveyor for changing the direction of flow of a line of printed sheets transferred from the printing press if an accident should happen to the transfer conveyor 1. A roll 47 is rotatably supported on a support shaft 46 horizontally mounted between two frames 45 of the flow direction change mechanism 44. A manually operable handle 49 is mounted on the extension 48 of the support shaft 46 projecting through one of the frames 45. A locking pawl50 and a lever 51 are mounted on said extension 48 at the rear position of the manual handle 49.

A hook 53 is mounted on a shaft 52 journaled in the frame 45. The locking pawl 50 is releasably engaged with the said hook 53. Mounted on the other end of the shaft 52, that is, the end opposite to the hook 53 is a level 54 for driving the hook. A connecting lever 57 is connected between the lever 54'and an actuator rod 56 for a solenoid 55 which drives the lever 54. A spring 58 is provided between pins on said lever 54 and frame 45, respectively.

A damper 59 is connected to the lever 51mounted on the extension 48 and serves to absorb shock and slack on the following arms 60. In addition, the handle 49 and arms 60 rotate around the axis of the support shaft 46.

The aforesaid arms 60 are mounted onthe support shaft 46 on opposite ends of the roll 47. A change roll 61 is rotatably supported at the front ends of the arms 60 and its position is adapted to be changed by operation of the solenoid 55. A link 63 has one end connected to the lever Stand the other end is mounted on one end of a lever on shaft 62 horizontally mounted above the roll 47. A required number of guides 64 are mounted on the shaft 62 so as to have their front'portions positioned above the change roll 61. The guides 64 perform the same function as the change roll 61 and help cause the direction of flow of a line of printed sheets to be changed. A plurality of belts extend around the change roll 61 and the roll 47.

If an accident should happen to the stacker so that printed sheets must not be further transferred thereto, the solenoid 55 is actuated to release the locking pawl 50' from the hook 53 to allow the downward movementof the change roll 61'. In this way, the action of the change mechanism 244 allows the successively transferred printed sheets to move downwardly along conveyors 201, instead of moving them to the stacker. Therefore, the transferred printed sheets are prevented from being disordered in the event of accidents to the stacker, and these printed sheets, after being conveyed on conveyors 201 can be transferred to another stacker which-is being operated.

The apparatus includes a control system for-controlling the operations of the various parts. The detecting mechanism 3 is coupled with the interceptor 5 through a system, I to 'be described below, for producing actuation ofthe interceptor-5 after a certain number of folded articles have been counted. The control system also includes a connection (not shown) to the means for supplying a hydraulic fluid to the actuating cylinders 18 for the fork halves [la in orderto cause the them to be separated after the desired number of articles has been stacked thereon. Coupled to the means for supplying the hydraulic fluid to the actuating cylinder l8'is a means for ac tuating the

cylinders

23 and 31 for actuating the side guides 121 and for rotating the plate 21 of the stacker. Each time the fork halves are actuated, the side guides are actuated to align the articles and plate 21 is rotated by rotary actuator 22. Also connected to the detecting mechanism 3 and interceptor 5 is the means for actuating the cylinder 28 of'the pusher device 25, for actuating the cylinder 28 when the detector 3 has counted all of the articles which are to be included in a stack. Connected to the means for actuating cylinder 28 is the means for actuating the solenoid 200 of the card feeding means 36 and the drive for the motor 151 for the sheet feeder 66; The folded printed articles, such as newspaper are. received from a press or the like, and successively and continuously transferred in the form of a transfer train by means of the printed article transfer conveyor 1. This train of articles is divided into batches of the required number of copies, the batches together constituting the number of copiesto be placed in a bundle in accordance with a program determining in advance the number of copies to be'bundled. Whe'n'=a="number-of articles in a batch is counted, after-a proper interval the first interceptor 5 momentarily engages the train of articles to produce a break in the train. The first interceptor 5 holds down a predetermined printed article for a moment by gripping the article from-above and below -by a stop 35-and an abutment 37. The holding-down-of the printed article-by the interceptor 5 is by means of instructionsfrom the control mechanism so as to obtain the number of copies in a batch. That is, the number of copies detected by the detector 3 is compared with a set number, and when these numbers coincide, the holding-down of the printed article by the interceptor 5 takes place. For example, when the number of copies for forming a batch is set to be 30, a printed article corresponding to the 31st in the train of printed articles is held down by the interceptor 5.

The stopper 6 of the second interceptor 4 is inserted into the break when the break passes under the stopper 6 by the control system described below. When all the printed articles constituting this batch have fallen on top of each other in a stack on the fork halves 11a and 13, the fork halves lla are moved in opposite directions parallel to the inclined conveyor 1 by the hydraulic cylinder 18. The batch placed on the inclined fork halves drops through the central opening between the fork halves into the basket 20, and the fork halves close. The batch is aligned in a stack by operation of the side guides 121 adapted to be opened by cylinder 23 before the bundle is pushed out as described below. Then the batch in the basket is rotated by 180 by the hydraulic rotary actuator 22. Since the fork halves have already returned to their original position, the fork halves are in a closed condition to receive the next batch. The interceptor 4 continues to intercept the train of articles while the fork halves are in the open condition. After the fork halves are closed, said interceptor 4 stops intercepting and the train of articles which has so far been intercepted will then be carried onto the fork halves. After a first batch drops down into the basket 20, and is rotated I80 and after the completion of this rotation, a second batch is stacked upon the first batch, followed by the stacking of successive batches in the same manner. Since the basket itself is rotated intermittently in opposite directions between each batch, the batches are stacked with their respective folded edges arranged in staggered relation. When the batches stacked in the basket 20 have reached the number of copies corresponding to the number of copies in a bundle to be shipped as determined by the aforesaid program, the bundle is raised slightly above the bottom 21 by the rolls 30 ready to be pushed out. The thus raised bundle is then pushed out onto the delivery rolls 32 by the pusher device 25. In addition, the cylinders and rotary actuators for producing these actions are successively actuated by detecting the movement of the fork halves. Thus, cards 40, such as punch cards and printed cards on which the number, type, destination, etc. of the printed articles are recorded in accordance with the program, are transfered from a card feeder 36 through the card transferring chute 37 provided by the kicker 197. The card is dropped down onto the top of the bundle of printed articles contained in the basket 20, said card being used as an identification card.

It will be understood from the brief discussion of the action of the first interceptor 5, that it must be spaced downstream of the detecting mechanism 3 a distance such that the stopping of the flow of articles on the conveyor at the first interceptor 5 will not affect the counting. Therefore there must be a delay provided between the counting of the last article and the actuation of the first interceptor to give the article time to reach the position of the first interceptor. In addition, there must be means to stop the system when the end of the train of folded articles has been reached. Moreover, means should be provided to prevent miscounting of the articles due to edge thereof fluttering or to the presence of a fold in the edge which would in the absence of such means, count two folded articles where only one actually passed the counting device.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown the counting means and the control system therefor. The output from the light receiver 34 is fed to a count ending and miscount preventing circuit means which is connected to a detector 84 which consists ofa light beam projector 85 and receiver 86, detecting the presence or absence of the printed articles on the conveyor and to a pulse generator the output of which is controlled from the pulley at one end of the conveyor 72 to generate a pulse each time the conveyor moves a unit length. This circuit will be described below in connection with FIGS. 20-26. The output of this circuit in the form of pulses representing the articles which have been detected, as shown at (s) in FIG. 26, is fed to a printed article counting circuit F, which counts the pulses and compares the total with a preset number fed into it from a computer or by hand to indicate the number of folded articles to be included in the batch being counted. The counting circuit F, is connected on the output side with a gate circuit G, which is connected between the pulse generator 92 and a pulse converter PC and to a timer circuit T,. The timer circuit T, is such as to produce a signal for a certain length of a time after receiving a signal from the pulse counter F,. When the pulse converter is receiving the signal from the timer T,, it generates a pulse having a width twice the width of the pulses generated when it is not receiving the signal.

The pulse converter PC is connected to a second gate circuit G which in turn is connected between a source I of con stant current and a capacitor C,,. The output of the capacitor C,, is connected to a comparison circuit H, the output of which is connected to a relay RY for operating the first interceptor 5. Also connected to the comparison circuit is a voltage supply circuit 43 the voltage V, of which can be adjusted to represent the length I of the conveyor which will hold a given number of folded articles.

The timer circuit T, is set to produce a signal having a duration related to the duration of operation of the interceptor 4, for example about 0.1 to 0.3 sec. When the counter circuit F, has counted a number of articles equal to the preset value therein, a signal is sent to gate circuit G, and pulses in the form of signal P shown in FIG. 4 are gated from the pulse generator 92 to the pulse converter PC. A signal of time t, for example the 0. 1-0.3 sec length of time, is also sent from timer circuit to pulse converter PC as shown as B of FIG. 4. If the speed of the conveyor is slow, the time I will be smaller than the time between the pulses of signal P, and the pulse converter will convert the first pulse in signal P and all subsequent pulses to pulses of width w as shown in signal D on the left portion of FIG. 4. On the other hand if the speed of the conveyor is fast, the first pulses of the signal P will arrive at the pulses converter PC while the time circuit signal is being received, and the pulse converter PC will produce one or more pulses of double the usual width i.e. width 2w, after which it will again produce pulses of the normal width, as shown on the right portion of FIG. 4.

The signal D is fed to the gate circuit G and at each pulse the capacitor C is charged from the current supply I. Where all of the pulses are of equal width w, the charge on the capacitor C, builds up in equal steps until it reaches a voltage V, equal to the voltage being supplied to the comparison circuit H, from the circuit 43 as shown in F in FIG. 4. At this point, a pulse is supplied to the relay RY, as shown at Y in FIG. 4. Since the voltage F at which the pulse is supplied to the relay RY takes an amount of time to build up on the capacitor C, equal to the length of time that the last article counted moves through the distance L on the conveyor, the interceptor S will be actuated just after the last-counted article passes under the interceptor 5.

Where the first of the pulses feed to the gate circuit G are of width 2w, the initial buildup of voltage on the capacitance C will be faster, as shown on the right of FIG. 4. The voltage V, will therefore be reached sooner than in the case described above, and the pulse for the relay RY will be produced sooner. Since this is due to the speed of the conveyor being greater, the interceptor will nevertheless be actuated just after the last article counted reaches the interceptor after moving a distance L along the conveyor.

A reset circuit is connected between the timer 210 and the pulse counter F, to reset the counter and cut off the signal to the gate circuit G, after the relay RY actuates the interceptor 5.

In order to increase the reliability of the counting as shown in FIG. 19 there is provided in the conveyor at the detecting mechanism 3 a bending device H for successively bending printed articles moving along the conveyor. The said bending

Claims

1. An apparatus for feeding and stacking folded printed articles in bundles, comprising conveyor means adapted to receive folded printed articles and inclined downwardly from the receiving end; an article-counting means including a light projector aimed at the articles on the conveyor, a light-receiver positioned to receive light reflected from the printed articles, a counting device connected to the light receiver for counting the articles based on the reflected light, and a delay means connected to the counting device for providing a delayed response when the desired number of articles have been counted; a first interceptor positioned adjAcent the conveyor downstream of the articlecounting means and connected to said delay means and actuated by said response for momentarily intercepting the articles on the conveyor at the last article counted; a second interceptor positioned downstream of said first interceptor and adjacent the conveyor and for intercepting said articles at the break in the articles produced by the first interceptor; a downwardly inclined opening and closing fork means below the discharge end of the conveyor and having two fork halves inclined on the same inclination as said conveyor means and movable toward and away from each other and having means for moving said fork halves; a basket beneath said fork halves for receiving articles from said fork halves when the fork halves are moved away from each other, said basket being rotatable around a vertical axis through 180* and having means connected thereto for rotating said basket in one direction and then in the other; a pusher positioned adjacent said basket and having a plate movable laterally across said basket for pushing a bundle of printed articles out of the basket and plate moving means connected to said plate; a further conveyor means extending laterally from said basket for receiving bundles from the basket; a sheet-feeder positioned adjacent said basket for feeding a sheet of material into the basket prior to the dropping of articles into it from said fork halves, and including sheet-feeder driving means; a card feeder adjacent said further conveyor for feeding an identification card onto a bundle pushed from the basket and including card-feeder driving means; and a control system coupled between said article-counting means, said interceptors and said fork half moving means, basketrotating means, pusher plate moving means, sheet-feeder driving means, and said card-feeder driving means for operating said respective means in sequence for feeding a sheet into said basket, dropping a plurality of batches of articles accumulated on said fork halves into said basket while said second interceptor is holding back the articles on the conveyor means, and rotating said basket between the dropping of each batch, and when a bundle of the desired number of batches has been formed pushing the bundle onto the further conveyor and feeding an identification card onto the top thereof.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said conveyor means has two portions, a portion at the receiving end adapted to be driven from a folded printed article delivery means and a constant high-speed portion on the discharge end, the article-counting means and first interceptor being associated with the receiving end portion, and said counting device and said delay means comprises a pulse counter for receiving and counting pulses and which can be set to count a given number of pulses and then emit a signal, a pulse generator coupled to said receiving end conveyor portion and emitting pulses in accordance with the speed of said receiving end conveyor portion, means coupled to said pulse counter and pulse generator for storing pulses for a predetermined time in proportion to the speed of the receiving end portion of the conveyor means and emitting an actuating signal to the first interceptor when the stored pulses match the desired number of articles to be counted.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 15 in which said storing means comprise a first gate circuit coupled to said pulse generator and to said pulse counter for opening said first gate circuit when the pulse counter has counted the desired number of pulses, a pulse converter to which said first gate circuit is coupled, a timer coupled between said pulse counter and said pulse converter for feeding a signal to said pulse converter for a certain period of time after being actuated by the pulse counter when the desired number of pulses has been counted, a source of current, a capacitor, a second gate circuit coupled between said source of current and said capacitor and coupled to said pulsE converter and being opened by pulses from said pulse converter, a comparison circuit coupled to said capacitor, a variable voltage supply coupled to said comparison circuit to supply a comparison voltage thereto in proportion to the distance between the reflection point of said light projector and said first interceptor, and a relay coupled to said comparison circuit and actuated when said comparison circuit produces a signal when the capacitor voltage reaches the comparison voltage, the relay being coupled to said first interceptor.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said conveyor means includes a conveyor belt means and bending means engaged with said conveyor belt means for producing an upward bend in said conveyor belt means at the point at which the light from the light projector strikes the articles being conveyed, whereby the articles are bent to expose a greater area thereof as they pass over the bending means.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which said conveyor belt bending means comprises two spaced rolls beneath the conveyor belt means, a third roll between said spaced rolls and projecting above said spaced rolls, an upwardly inclined upper belt spaced above the upwardly inclined portion of the conveyor belt means, and a downwardly inclined upper belt spaced above the downwardly inclined portion of the conveyor belt means for feeding the articles, said inclined upper belts intersecting over the said third roll.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a count ending circuit coupled between said light receiver and said counting device and a detecting means positioned upstream of said light projector and light receiver for detecting the presence or absence of articles on the conveyor and coupled to said count ending circuit for preventing further counting when the end of the articles on the conveyor is detected.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which said count ending circuit comprises a gate circuit coupled between said light receiver and said counting device, and gate circuit actuating means responsive to the signal from said detecting means for closing said gate circuit for a predetermined time corresponding to a distance along the conveyor after the end of the articles has reached the detecting point, and then reopening the gate circuit.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a miscount preventing circuit coupled between the light receiver and the counting device for preventing the counting device from counting pulses for a certain time corresponding to a distance along the conveyor after an article has been counted.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which said miscount preventing circuit comprises a flip-flop circuit coupled between said light receiver and said counting device, and flip-flop circuit-actuating means coupled to said flip-flop circuit for causing the circuit to change state upon receiving a pulse from the light receiver and to be changed back only after a predetermined time corresponding to a distance along the conveyor.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said control system comprises an article-counting means actuated timer coupled to said first interceptor for resetting said first interceptor, a second interceptor timer means to which said article-counting means actuated timer is coupled and coupled to said second interceptor, a fork-actuating timer to which said article-counting means actuated timer is coupled, and coupled to said fork-half moving means, a fork-closing timer to which said fork-half moving means is coupled for closing the fork halves after opening thereof is completed, the fork-half moving means being coupled to said second interceptor to provide a signal upon completion of fork-half closing to cause said second interceptor to release the articles on the conveyor, ADD circuits for said basket-rotating means and said pusher-plate moving means, said fork-actuating timer also being coupled to said basket-rotating means and sAid pusher-plate moving means through a further timer and the respective ADD circuits, a turning counter coupled to said basket-rotating means through the ADD circuit therefor and being connected to the basket-rotating means for receiving a signal when rotation is completed, said turning counter being coupled to said pusher-plate moving means through the ADD circuit therefor and being connected to said pusher-plate moving means to receive a signal when the pushing action is complete, a card-feeder timer to which the pusher-plate moving means is coupled, the card-feeder timer being coupled to said card-feeder driving means, and the ADD circuit for said pusher-plate moving means also being coupled to said sheet-feeder driving means.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said fork means includes a paper stopper having arms projecting downwardly between the fork half remote from the conveyor means and movably mounted for adjustment toward and away from the conveyor means depending on the size of the folded articles being stacked.

12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said sheet feeder comprises a base for holding a stack of sheets, lifting means connected to said base for raising said base, a suction feed means above said base for feeding sheets one by one, and guide rolls adjacent said suction feed means for receiving sheets from the suction feed means and guiding them into said basket, said driving means actuating said suction feed means.

13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said basket has a baseplate having a plurality of holes therein, a plurality of rollers mounted below said baseplate aligned with said holes, and lifting means coupled to said rollers for lifting said rollers through said holes to raise a bundle of articles on said rollers prior to their being pushed out of said basket.

14. An apparatus for feeding and stacking printed articles from a source comprising a printed article transfer conveyor having a single-flat surface, a preliminary interceptor positioned along the length of said transfer conveyor and having a stopper adapted for holding back a predetermined number of printed articles on the conveyor for a moment, a final interceptor positioned along the length of the transfer conveyor downstream of said preliminary interceptor and having a stopper adapted for substantially intercepting a line of printed articles on said flat surface of said conveyor, a downwardly inclined opening and closing fork means at the discharge end of said conveyor having comblike fork halves having adjacent ends opposed to each other with a small clearance therebetween and being movable toward and away from each other a small distance along the inclined plane of the downwardly inclined opening and closing fork, a cylinder associated with one fork half, a machine frame on which the cylinder is mounted, a link mechanism connected between said cylinder and the other fork half, means beneath said opening and closing fork means for catching printed articles transferred directly from the discharge end of said printed article transfer conveyor, and a change mechanism positioned between the source and the receiving end of said conveyor for changing the direction of flow of a line of printed articles, said mechanism comprising a support shaft, a roll rotatably supported on said support shaft, a manually operable handle mounted on a portion of said support shaft, a locking pawl and a lever being mounted on said support shaft, a frame having a further shaft thereon, a hook mounted on one end of said further shaft and with which said locking pawl is releasably engaged, a further lever for driving said hook being mounted on the other end of said further shaft, a solenoid having an actuator rod for driving said further lever, a connecting lever connected between said further lever and said actuator rod, a spring connected between said connecting lever and said frame, a damper connected to said lever mounted on the extension to absorb shock, a paIr of arms mounted on the support shaft, a change roll being rotatably supported at the free ends of the arms and adapted to have its position changed by actuation of the solenoid, a guide-supporting shaft horizontally mounted above the roll, a plurality of guides mounted on the shaft, a link connected between said lever and said guide-supporting shaft for rotating said guide-supporting shaft, and a plurality of belts extending around the change roll and the roll.