Patent ID: 7011302
Filing Date: 2006-03-14
Classification: B65H

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for forming a generally vertically oriented stack of on-edge signatures from a horizontally oriented stack of signatures which comprises: an accumulating hopper for collecting a horizontally oriented stack of signatures; a vacuum conveyor comprising a horizontally oriented vacuum source positioned at a lowermost level of the accumulating hopper and a conveyor belt having a plurality of holes therethrough, the conveyor belt having a horizontal portion which is in juxtaposition with the horizontally oriented vacuum source such that the vacuum source draws air through the conveyor belt holes for pulling a stream of lowermost signatures from a horizontally oriented stack of signatures from the accumulating hopper and forming a shingled stream of signatures against the conveyor belt; the horizontal portion of the conveyor belt leading to a downwardly extending portion of the conveyor belt which downwardly extending portion leads away from the vacuum source and the accumulating hopper toward a top surface of a receiving surface; a guide adjacent and parallel to the downwardly extending portion of the conveyor belt, said guide comprising a guide belt which passes around a plurality of pressure rollers mounted in a frame, said pressure rollers being mounted in the frame parallel to the downwardly extending portion of the conveyor belt, which guide and series of rollers exert a pressure normal to a top surface of the conveyor belt; a pair of bowing bars which bend the signatures as they are transported from the guide onto the receiving surface; the conveyor belt and the guide being positioned to retain a shingled stream of signatures therebetween and being adapted for depositing an edge of each signature of the stream of signatures onto a top surface of a receiving surface.