Sheet delivery system in a sheet-processing machine

The invention relates to a sheet delivery system for a sheet-processing machine in which the sheets to be deposited are conveyed horizontally and are deposited on a sheet stack which is carried by a stacking table and lowered with increasing stacking height, said sheet delivery system comprising an auxiliary stacking table, the grate-like bars of which, can be inserted into the stacking area. Auxiliary guides are provided for facilitating the manual insertion and removal of the heavy auxiliary stacking table into and from the sheet stack.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention relates to a sheet delivery system at a sheet-processing 
machine in which the sheets to be deposited are conveyed horizontally and 
are deposited on a sheet stack which is carried by a stacking table and is 
lowered as the stacking height increases so that the respective uppermost 
sheet is at a certain level, such sheet delivery comprising an auxiliary 
stacking table, the grate-like bars of which can be inserted into the 
stacking area. 
2. Background Information 
In a known embodiment of this kind such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,847 entitled 
"Sheet Stacker", which corresponds to Federal Republic of Germany Patent 
Publication, DE-OS 35 35 113 02, the auxiliary stacking table is provided 
with an insertion means which requires an additional frame part into which 
the auxiliary stacking table retracts when being in its considerably 
non-working position. This frame part extends the overall length and 
increases the overall size of the sheet-processing machine, e.g. a 
printing machine. Another disadvantage is to be seen in that, especially 
with large sheet sizes and heavy intermediate stacks, great technical 
efforts are needed to realize this known embodiment. 
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
On the basis of this state of the art it is the object of the present 
invention to facilitate the manual sliding-in and removing of the heavy 
auxiliary stacking table of an auxiliary stacking device. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to the invention this object is achieved in that the auxiliary 
stacking table is aligned in a vertical non-working position by means of 
auxiliary guides and the auxiliary stacking table can be swiveled together 
with the guides into a horizontal slide-in position, and in that the 
auxiliary stacking table can be inserted in the stacking area by being 
moved along the auxiliary guides into guiding and bearing means. Such an 
auxiliary stacking table which is operated manually can be easily slid 
into the stacking area since the measures and embodiments according to the 
invention preferably prevent skewing reliably, in particular when 
inserting the auxiliary stacking table. Taking into account the close 
sequence of sheets, it has often been very difficult for the pressman to 
insert the auxiliary stacking table in a relatively short time, especially 
when using large sheet sizes. The vertical non-working position does 
without substantial additional space for the auxiliary stacking table, 
providing thus a rather inexpensive solution. 
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention the auxiliary stacking 
table, in its non-working position, is vertically placed, on both sides 
thereof, on hooks which together with the auxiliary stacking table are 
guided, on both sides thereof, in auxiliary guides which can be swiveled 
from the vertical position into the horizontal one. The auxiliary stacking 
table is then guided into and mounted, on both sides thereof, in or on 
slide rails and then slid along the auxiliary guides into the stacking 
area. This simple and reliable solution can be realized with minimum 
technical efforts and facilitates the operation of the intermediate 
stacking device. 
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the auxiliary guides are 
supported, on both sides thereof, by lifting means, preferably designed as 
gas-pressure springs, which enables the pressman to move and insert the 
auxiliary stacking table into the horizontal preferably without any great 
efforts and to lower the auxiliary stacking table, upon removal, 
preferably without manual aid so that it automatically moves into its 
vertical non-working position. If during non-stop operation the auxiliary 
stacking table is heavier due to a greater height of the auxiliary stack, 
for reasons of design and stability, the gas-pressure springs are embodied 
accordingly so that in this case, too, no substantial additional force is 
required. 
An advantageous development is to be seen in that the gas-pressure springs 
are mounted on the auxiliary guides via bolt, so that the auxiliary guides 
are limited in their swiveling range by means of stop pins, and that the 
bearing parts are mounted so as to be lowered together with the auxiliary 
stacking table with increasing height of the intermediate stack. 
One aspect of the invention resides broadly in an auxiliary stacking table 
for a sheet stacker for stacking sheets in a stacking area in which the 
stacker comprises: a principal stacking table for receiving the sheets; 
device for raising and lowering the principal stacking table; control 
device, connected to the raising and lowering device, for successively 
lowering the stacking table as a height of the sheets in a stack on the 
stacking table increases; the auxiliary stacking table comprising: bar 
device for being inserted into the stacking area to support sheets coming 
from the sheet delivery device; device for moving the bar device from a 
substantially vertical position to a substantially horizontal position in 
the stacking area; and device for attaching the auxiliary table to a frame 
member of the sheet stacker. 
Another aspect of the invention resides broadly in an auxiliary stacking 
table for a stacker for stacking in a stacking area in which the stacker 
comprises: a principal stacking table for receiving the sheets; device for 
raising and lowering the principal stacking table; control device, 
connected to the raising and lowering device, for successively lowering 
the stacking table as a height of the sheets in a stack on the staking 
table increasing; the auxiliary stacking table comprising: bar device for 
being manually inserted into the stacking area to support sheets coming 
from the sheet delivery device; device for manually moving the bar device 
from a substantially vertical position to a substantially horizontal 
position in the stacking area. 
Yet another aspect of the invention resides broadly in a printing press or 
the like comprising: printing device; device for feeding printed sheets 
from the printing device to a stacking area; an auxiliary stacking table 
for a sheet stacker for stacking sheets in a stacking area in which the 
stacker comprises: a principal stacking table for receiving the sheets; 
device for raising and lowering the principal stacking table; control 
device, connected to the raising and lowering device, for successively 
lowering the stacking table as a height of the sheets in a stack on the 
staking table increasing; the auxiliary stacking table comprising: bar 
device for being inserted into the stacking area to support sheets coming 
from the sheet delivery device; device for moving the bar device form a 
substantially vertical position to a substantially horizontally position 
in the stacking area; and device for attaching the auxiliary table to a 
frame member of the sheet stacker.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The plan view of FIG. 1 shows the auxiliary stacking table 1 with its 
grate-like bars 2 in its non-working preferably vertical position. The 
bars 2 are fastened to a support 3 both sides of which are fastened to 
guiding rails 4. Outside the guiding rails 4 there are provided bearing 
parts 5 to which bearing pins 6 are fastened. The bearing parts 5 are 
preferably attached to a frame member 34 of the principal stacking table 
22. Auxiliary guides 7 are pivot-mounted on the bearing pins 6, said 
auxiliary guide being limited in their swiveling range by means of stop 
pins 8 and slits 9 provided in the bearing pin 6, the stop pin 8 extending 
into said slits 9 (FIGS. 2 and 3). 
In its vertical non-working position the guiding rails 4 of the auxiliary 
stacking table 1 are suspended from the auxiliary guides 7 in the area of 
the bearing pins 6 by means of hooks 10, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. 
The hooks 10 are fastened to the guiding rails 4 by means of screws and 
are guided in sliding guides 12 provided at the auxiliary guides 17 so as 
to be displaceable longitudinally. 
By swiveling the auxiliary guides 7 into a horizontal position (FIG. 3) the 
auxiliary stacking table 1 can be slid from the auxiliary guides 7 into 
the sliding rails 13 provided on both sides of the bearing parts 5. At the 
beginning of the slide-in movement the auxiliary stacking table 1 is 
guided in the sliding guides 12 of the auxiliary guides 7 by means of the 
hooks 10 and during the further movement of the auxiliary stacking table 1 
the guiding rails 4 are slid into the sliding rails 13, thus preventing 
skewing, when inserting the auxiliary stacking table 1. In FIG. 3 the 
starting position 10 of the hook 10 is indicated by a dash-dot line. 
In order to make it easier for the pressman to swivel the heavy auxiliary 
stacking table 1 upwards the auxiliary guides 7 are provided, on both 
sides thereof, with lifting means in the form of gas-pressure springs 14 
which are mounted on the auxiliary guides 7 via bolts 15, the opposite 
ends of said gas-pressure springs being fastened to bearing parts 6 also 
via bolts 16. In its non-working position according to FIG. 2 the 
gas-pressure springs 14 hold the auxiliary stacking table 1 vertically to 
the working position in an above-dead-center position. FIG. 3 shows the 
gas-pressure spring 14 in its extended position in which the auxiliary 
stacking table 1 is illustrated in a horizontal slide-in position. The 
force of the gas-pressure springs 14 is calculated and the gas-pressure 
springs 14 designed such that they provide somewhat less force that in the 
lifting force needed for the auxiliary stacking table 1. 
When the sheet stack 17 which is carried by a stacking table reaches its 
maximum or desired height, the pressman swivels the auxiliary stacking 
table 1 into its horizontal position and slides it in the area of the 
stack 17. In so doing, he has to make sure that the following sheet 18 
conveyed by the grippers 19 to the chain delivery 20 is deposited on the 
bars 2 of the auxiliary stacking table 1. Thereafter the full sheet stack 
17 can be removed from the machine and a new stacking table can be 
inserted. The bearing parts 5 are mounted so as to be lowerable in 
accordance with the increasing stacking height of the auxiliary stack so 
that, when using e.g. thick sheet material, the auxiliary stacking table 
can receive a greater stacking height. 
Now, referring to FIG. 4, the auxiliary stacking table is preferably 
attached to the frame 34 of the principal stacking table 22 so that the 
auxiliary stacking table 1 will preferably move with the principal 
stacking table 22 and be lowered as the stack on the auxiliary stacking 
table 1 increases in height. The principal stacking table 22 supports the 
sheet stack 17 and is lowered and also raised by principal stacking table 
22 lowering and raising apparatus 24 which is controlled by a control for 
lowering and raising apparatus 26. A sheet thickness adjustment 28 and a 
sheet counter 30, which sheet counter 30 receives count signals from 
printing press 22, cooperate to lower the principal stacking table 22 to 
keep the upper level of the sheet stack 17 at a generally constant height 
as is well known in the prior art. 
Control regulating apparatus for sheet delivery systems are found in U.S. 
pat. No. 4,643,414 entitled, "Sheet-Delivery Control and Regulating 
Apparatus. 
List of Parts: 
______________________________________ 
1. auxiliary stacking table 
11. screw 
2. bar 12. sliding guide 
3. support 13. sliding rail 
4. guiding rail 14. gas-pressure spring 
5. bearing part 15. bolt 
6. bearing pin 16. bolt 
7. auxiliary guide 17. sheet stack 
8. stop pin 18. sheet 
9. slit 19. gripper 
10. hook 20. chain delivery 
______________________________________ 
In summary, one feature of the invention resides broadly in a sheet 
delivery at a sheet-processing machine in which the sheets to be deposited 
are conveyed horizontally and are deposited on a sheet stack which is 
carried by a stacking table and is lowered with increasing stacking height 
so that the respective uppermost sheet is at a certain level, said sheet 
delivery comprising an auxiliary stacking table the grate-like bars of 
which can be inserted in the stacking area, characterized in that an 
auxiliary stacking table 1 is aligned by means of auxiliary guides 7 in a 
substantially vertical non-working position and can be swiveled together 
with said auxiliary guides into a horizontal slide-in position, and that 
said auxiliary stacking table 1 can be inserted in the stacking area by 
being moved from said auxiliary guides 7 into guiding and bearing parts 
13. 
Another feature of the invention resides broadly in sheet delivery 
characterized in that its non-working position said auxiliary stacking 
table 1, on both sides thereof, is vertically placed on hooks 10, that, on 
both sides thereof, said hooks 10 together with said auxiliary stacking 
table 1 are guided in said auxiliary guides 7 which can be swiveled from a 
vertical position into a horizontal one, and that said auxiliary stacking 
table 1 is guided in and mounted, on both sides thereof, on sliding rails 
13, when being slid from said auxiliary guides 7 into the stacking area. 
Yet another feature of the invention resides broadly in a sheet delivery 
characterized in that said auxiliary guides 7 are supported on both sides 
thereof by lifting means, preferably designed as gas-pressure springs 14. 
A further feature of the invention resides broadly in a sheet delivery 
characterized in that said gas-pressure springs 14 are mounted on said 
auxiliary guides 7 via bolts 15, and that said auxiliary guides 7 are 
limited in their swiveling range by means of stop pins 8. 
A yet further feature of the invention resides broadly in a sheet delivery 
characterized in that said bearing parts 4-6 and said auxiliary stacking 
table 1 are mounted so as to be lowerable with increasing height of the 
intermediate stack. 
All, or substantially all, of the components and methods of the various 
embodiments may be used with at least one embodiment or all of the 
embodiments, if any, described herein. 
All of the patents, patent applications and publications recited herein, if 
any, are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in their 
entirety herein. 
The details in the patents, patent applications and publications may be 
considered to be incorporable, at applicant's option, into the claims 
during prosecution as further limitations in the claims to patentably 
distinguish any amended claims from any applied prior art. 
The invention as described hereinabove in the context of the preferred 
embodiments is not to be taken as limited to all of the provided details 
thereof, since modifications and variations thereof may be made without 
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.