Machine for making paper booklets

In a multi-bobbin machine for making paper booklets e.g. of interleaved cigarette paper, a multiplicity of strips from respective supply bobbins are interfolded and converged to form a booklet strand which is cut to length by a cutting station which reciprocates along the strand so that booklet lengths enter it and are cut. A rotating non-circular shaft passes through the cutting station and a sleeve in the cutting station slides axially along the shaft as the station reciprocates and rotates with the shaft. The sleeve is independently linked to a strand clamp and to a cutting knife which are separately timed and move along different paths, the strand clamp moving longitudinally towards and away from the strand while the knife makes a slicing movement across and through the strand. A fixed ejector driven by a second sleeve on the shaft ejects booklets from the cutting station into a discharge chute, the ejector being preferably driven by a pair of cams so that in its return stroke it passes above the strand advancing into the cutting station. With this arrangement the ejector can be as wide as the discharge chute and is not difficult to time.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a machine for making paper booklets which is 
particularly, though not exclusively, intended for making booklets of 
interleaved cigarette paper. 
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION 
Apparatus is provided in which booklets of interleaved cigarette papers can 
be made from continuously moving strands of strip paper in which a cutting 
knife used to sever the paper strips precisely follows movement of the 
strip. Movement of a driven input shaft is brought onto the moving 
platform and used to operate the cutting knife. Paper from bobbins is 
converged by formers and a spreader into a strand advanced by nip rolls 
through a cutting station. The knife in the station cuts a booklet from 
the strand while the station moves with the strand. A driven rotary shaft 
of non-circular section transmits its rotation to a sleeve that slides 
therealong as the station reciprocates relative to a shaft. The sleeve is 
operably connected e.g. by gearing or by a cam and follower to the knife 
so that rotation thereof brings about the cutting movement. 
It is known from Patent Specification No. GB-A No. 688144 (Korber) to make 
booklets of folded and zig-zag interleaved cigarette papers by withdrawing 
paper strip from a plurality of supply rolls or bobbins, folding and 
interleaving the strips by passage through a succession of combs to form a 
folded and interleaved strand, and cutting the strand to form booklets. 
But the machine employed by Korber had a stationary cutting knife which 
was impractical for high speed operation and did not make a clean 
transverse cut through the strand which is required to move continuously. 
U.K. Pat. No. 2165080 (Kastner) describes a similar machine in which the 
paper is cut by a movable or "flying" cutting station. The knife is 
mounted on a movable knife plate carried by a platform that is 
reciprocally movable in a direction parallel to the direction of travel of 
the strand of interleaved paper strips. A cylinder or other means carried 
by the platform reciprocally moves the knife plate towards or away from 
the strand so that the knife follows the movement of the strand as it 
severs the strip. A pusher plate carried by and movable with the knife 
plate displaces a severed booklet or packet sideways with respect to the 
line of travel of the strand. But the Kastner machine still presents a 
number of disadvantages. Reciprocation of the platform is by an eccentric 
on a drive wheel that is coupled to the platform by a pivoted link, so 
that the platform does not match the speed of the strand throughout its 
rearward stroke, but instead its velocity varies in simple harmonic 
motion. Since the knife is moved towards and away from the strand without 
any component of motion across it, cutting is not as efficient as it could 
be. Cut booklets are discharged sideways into a magazine which is joined 
to the reciprocating platform by means of a flexible portion, which is 
essential because movement of the pusher is not separated from that of the 
knife. A flying cutting station is also suggested in German Patent 
Specification No. 427701 (Maschinefabrik Munchen). Such a device is known 
in the context of severing tobacco rod from, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,989 
(Drehr). 
Our U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,862 of Mar. 10, 1987 describes and claims apparatus 
as aforesaid in which a rotatory movement of the cutting station drive is 
brought onto the moving "platform" of the cutting station and used to 
operate the cutting knife. Thus rotation of a driven member in the cutting 
station could be transmitted to the knife by means of a cam and follower, 
by means of gearing or by means of a chain or belt. The knife was driven 
positively from the same drive that reciprocated the cutting station, and 
a desirable guillotine-like or slicing cutting action was achieved. An 
ejector was also mounted on the cutting station as also was a clamping 
device, and bringing of rotatory movement to the cutting station enabled 
these additional functions to be independently coupled to the rotating 
shaft to perform differently timed operations along independent paths. Cut 
booklets were fed to a discharge chute having an inlet spring providing a 
ratchet-like function so that cut booklets once in the chute did not 
return. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the invention to provide apparatus for forming booklets 
from continuously moving strands of paper strips in which the cutting 
knife precisely follows the movement of the strip, provision can be made 
for clamping the strand before it is cut and for ejecting the cut 
booklets, and the clamping, cutting and ejection operations may be timed 
independently in accordance with the position of the knife to bring about 
the desired results. 
The solution adopted by the applicants is to bring the rotatory movement 
onto the moving "platform" or cutting station and to use that movement to 
operate the cutting knife. Thus rotation of a driven member in the cutting 
station may be transmitted to the knife by means of a cam and follower, by 
means of gearing or by means of a chain or belt. The knife can be driven 
positively from the same drive that reciprocates the cutting station, and 
the desirable guillotine-like cutting action may be achieved. 
Broadly stated the invention provides a machine for performing an operation 
on a paper strand including means for forming leaves of paper into a 
strand, a station in the path of the strand, means in the station for 
performing an operation on the strand, drive means for continuously 
advancing the strand through the station and for reciprocating the station 
along the strand so that a booklet length of the strand enters the station 
while the station moves counter to the strand, and drive transfer means 
operatively connecting said drive means to the means in the station so 
that the operation is performed while the station moves with the strand. 
More specifically the invention provides a machine for forming booklets of 
paper comprising: 
a paper supply in the form of a plurality of rolls of strip paper from 
which strip may be continuously withdrawn; 
means for converging paper strips withdrawn from the several supply rolls 
to form a single strand; 
means for advancing the strand; 
a cutting station through which the strand is advanced and supported for 
reciprocal movement along the strand so that a booklet length of the 
strand enters the station while the station moves counter to the strand; 
a knife in the cutting station arranged to cut a booklet from the strand in 
the station while the station moves with the strand; and 
a rotating shaft of non-circular cross-section that passes through the 
station and through a sleeve therein that slides along the shaft as the 
station reciprocates and is rotated by the shaft, the sleeve being 
operably connected to the knife so that rotation thereof brings about the 
cutting movement. 
A feature of apparatus in U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,862 that is also present in 
modified apparatus described hereinafter is that the cutting station has 
strand claimping means and knife means that are independently linked to 
the rotating shaft so that they can be independently timed and can move 
along different paths. 
In one aspect, therefore, the invention provides a machine for forming 
booklets of paper, comprising: a plurality of roller means for 
continuously providing strips of paper; former means for converging paper 
strips withdrawn from said roller means into a single strand; means for 
advancing the strand in a first direction; a cutting station for 
reciprocably moving along the strand whereby a booklet length of the 
strand enters said cutting station while said cutting station moves 
counter to the strand in a second direction opposite to the first 
direction; a rotating shaft of non-circular cross-section extending 
through the cutting station, and directed parallel to said first 
direction; a clamping means disposed in said cutting station for clamping 
the strand at the upstream end of the cutting station while the cutting 
station moves alongside the strand in the first direction; knife means 
disposed in the cutting station for cutting a booklet from the strand 
while said cutting station moves alongside the strand in the first 
direction; a tubular sleeve slideably mounted on said shaft and operably 
connected to the cutting station, reciprocal movement of said cutting 
station causing said sleeve to slide in an axial direction along said 
shaft and rotation of said shaft causing said sleeve to rotate; a clamp 
coupling means for coupling said clamping means to said sleeve and 
comprising a linking means for translating rotational movement of said 
sleeve into longitudinal movement of said clamping means; and a knife 
coupling means for coupling said knife means to said rotating sleeve, said 
knife coupling means comprising gear train means for translating 
rotational movement of said sleeve into a rotational slicing movement of 
said knife means across the strand in a plane substantially perpendicular 
to said first direction. 
The invention of U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,862 operates as described, but it has 
a number of features that render extended continuous periods of operation 
difficult to achieve. Cut booklets could incompletely engage into the 
discharge chute so that operation had to be stopped until the misplaced 
booklet or booklets were cleared. The eject operation had to be carried 
out in a small part of the machine cycle, requiring a rapid movement of 
the ejector that was difficult to achieve and demanded great accuracy in 
setting up. 
The present invention also achieves extended continuous operation. This is 
achieved by separating the ejector from the cutting station and relocating 
it to a fixed position opposite to the discharge chute and by coupling the 
ejector to the cutting station so that both operate in correct timed 
relationship in each machine cycle. 
The invention therefore further provides a machine for forming booklets of 
paper, comprising a plurality of sources of paper strip, forming means for 
converging paper strips from the several sources into a single strand, 
means for advancing the strand in a first direction, a cutting station for 
reciprocably moving along the strand whereby a booklet length of the 
strand enters the cutting station while the cutting station moves counter 
to the strand in a second direction opposite to the first direction, an 
ejector means for ejecting booklets from said cutting station into a fixed 
outlet passage said ejector means also being fixed and receiving booklets 
from the cutting station when the cutting station is towards the end of 
its travel in the first direction, and means defining a coupling between 
the cutting station and the ejector means so that the ejector means 
operates in a predetermined timed manner in each reciprocation of the 
cutting station. 
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED FEATURES 
The rolls of paper may be supported in a crescent shaped single unit bobbin 
stand or frame including posts to either side of each roll by means of 
stub axles on the bobbin carriers that are received in slots in the posts. 
Desirably the posts between adjacent rolls are common and the slots for 
the axles of different rolls are at different levels whereby the axles do 
not interfere with one another and one roll may be changed without 
disturbing the adjacent roll or rolls. The rolls may be arranged in upper 
and lower banks and the paper strips may be fed to converging means over 
guide rollers that deflect them to a generally horizontal line of travel. 
The converging means preferably comprises a primary folding comb adjacent 
the rolls that folds the strips, a spreader comb that facilitates the 
first stage of interleaving, a secondary folding comb that substantially 
defines the interfolded shape of the strips, and a final forming comb that 
determines the height of the interleaved strand. 
The outlet passage will normally have ratchet spring means at its entrance 
acting on the booklets entering the passage to prevent them returning to 
the ejector, and the ejector has thrust plate means extending 
substantially the full width of the outlet passage. 
Very advantageously the ejector means is operated by a first coupling means 
on a rotating shaft providing a forward and reverse movement and by a 
second coupling means on the rotating shaft providing a rise and fall 
movement so that the ejector means advances in the direction of the outlet 
passage, rises above the path of the strand and then returns. With this 
arrangement the thrust plate can occupy substantially the full width of 
the discharge chute, not leaving the upstream end unsupported and prone to 
deflect as it passes the ratchet spring means which is a major cause of 
booklet misengagement. The reason why the thrust plate can be made full 
width is that on the return stroke it rises above the incoming booklet 
strand. 
The machine preferably includes a wall leading to the outlet passage, first 
and second links pivoted to the wall for rotation in a plane generally 
parallel to the outlet passage, a third link connecting the first and 
second links to form a parallelogram linkage, the first link being 
relatively short and nearer the outlet passage a first cam on the rotating 
shaft being coupled to the first link by means including a follower at the 
end of the first link to effect the forward and reverse movement, the 
second link being relatively long and having pivoted thereto a fourth link 
carrying a thrust plate at its tip, a second cam on the rotating shaft 
being coupled to the second link by means including a follower partway 
along the second link to effect the rise and fall movement. Advantageously 
the thrust plate is bifurcated to define a pair of vertically spaced tines 
facing the cutting station, and the cutting station has a paper guide that 
passes between the tines as the cutting station completes its travel in 
the first direction, said paper guide defining a linear path for paper 
strand past the cutting station. 
A rotating shaft of non-circular cross-section advantageously extends 
through said cutting station parallel to the first direction and is 
operably connected to the cutting station, a knife means responsive to 
rotation of the rotating shaft is disposed in the cutting station for 
cutting a booklet from the strand which the cutting station moves 
alongside the strand in a first direction, and knife couplng means 
translates rotational movement of the rotating shaft into rotational 
slicing movement of said knife means across the strand in a plane 
substantially perpendicular to the first direction, the path of the knife 
means and the path of the ejector being mutually independent. A strand 
clamping member may be disposed on the cutting station and disengaging cam 
means disposed on the tubular sleeve disengages the clamping member when 
the cutting station is moving in the second direction. The cutting station 
is preferably coupled to its reciprocating drive via a constant velocity 
cam arrangement. 
The converging means preferably comprises a primary folding comb adjacent 
the rolls that folds the strips, a spreader comb that facilitates the 
first stage of interleaving, a secondary folding comb that substantially 
defines the interfolded shape of the strips, and a final forming comb that 
determines the height of the interleaved strand.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In the drawings, there is shown a machine for folding and interleaving 
fifty sheets of cigarette paper into a so-called booklet, each booklet 
being separated from adjacent booklets by a strip of cardboard or the like 
separating material. There are therefore fifty paper strips and a single 
cardboard strip that have to be fed into the machine from the same number 
of bobbins. These bobbins 10, 11 are arranged in two arcuate rows one 
above the other and in such a manner that the bobbins 10 in the upper row 
are in staggered relation to the bobbins 11 in the lower row. The arcs of 
the bobbins 10, 11 are struck from a centre coinciding with the point of 
covergence of the eventual interleaved paper strip as they enter a drive 
and cutting unit generally indicated by the reference numeral 12. The 
paper leaving bobbins 10, 11 is deflected into a generally horizontal path 
by upper and lower sets of guide rollers 13, 14 and passes to a first 
former 15 that is arcuate in plan with its centre coinciding with that of 
the bobbin arc which folds the several strips. The strips pass from the 
former 15 to a spreading comb 16 that is also arcuate in plan, the purpose 
of the spreading comb being to spread out and align the folded strips in 
order to facilitate the first step of interleaving. The paper passes from 
comb 16 to a second former 17 which substantially defines the interfolded 
shape of the sheets and thence to a final former 18 that serves to bring 
the interleaving to its final stage and to determine the height of the 
interleaved booklets. From the former 18 the interleaved strips converge 
at the inlet to a pair of parallel guides 19, 20 shown in FIG. 3, defining 
a channel along which the resulting interleaved strand is conveyed and at 
which the leaves are compressed to form a flat strand for cutting into 
booklets. 
Interleaved booklet strand from the guide channel passes between a pair of 
knurled drive or pull-through rollers 21, 22 both of which are driven 
through gearing (described below) at a proper surface speed. The roller 22 
is reciprocable transversely and is spring loaded into engagement with the 
advancing strand. The purpose of this arrangement is to maintain a proper 
pressure on the strand and to compensate for any variation in paper 
thickness. The spring loading enables even a single leaf of paper to be 
pinched and pulled through, thus simplifying thread up of the complete 
machine. In earlier machines where the drive or pull through rollers had 
fixed centres, these were not effective until all the leaves were present 
between the rollers. It is important that positive drive on the booklet 
strand should be maintained and that no slippage between the strand and 
the rollers 21, 22 should occur, otherwise there will be an irregularity 
in the length of the cut booklets. The booklet strand leaving the rollers 
21, 22 passes through a further pair of parallel guides 23, 24 which 
maintain the strand in its compressed state and stop the advancing strand 
from buckling. 
The strand then enters a cutting unit 25 through an aperture 26 in a 
leading plate 27 which is closed off by means of a high calibre steel 
fixed die 30. The unit has a trailing plate 28 that is mounted in closely 
spaced parallel relationship to the plate 27. A knife 29 located between 
the plates 27, 28 has its cutting surface against the inner face of the 
die 30 and is mounted for shearing movement across the aperture (fixed 
outlet passage) 26 and back to sever booklets from the advancing booklet 
strand. The cutting unit 25 is mounted on linear bearings and is 
reciprocated by means of a constant velocity cam and follower arrangement 
so as to move upstream and downstream of the paper strand at the same 
speed as the paper strand advances. The upstream face of the leading plate 
27 has a cam operated paper clamping mechanism. Thus the strand enters the 
aperture 26 while the unit 25 is moving upstream of the strand with the 
clamping mechanism in a disengaged position and with the knife 29 also 
retracted. The travel of the carriage 25 is, of course, half the length of 
a cut booklet. After the carriage return is complete, the clamping 
mechanism closes to hold the booklet strand against the die 30 and during 
the forward stroke the knife 29 is advanced in appropriately timed 
relationship to sever a booklet length from the strand. The downstream 
face of the place carries a pusher mechanism 31 operated by a cam to eject 
the cut booklet at the downstream extremity of the travel of the unit 25. 
Plates 27 and 28 of cutting unit 25 act to couple the knife 29 and 
pressure mechanism 31 so that they may operate in an appropriately timed 
manner during each reciprication of the cutting station 25 to cut and 
eject the booklet in the appropriate sequence. The cut booklets rest atop 
a table 32 shown in FIGS. 3 and 9. Referring to FIG. 3 the table 32 is 
positioned above shaft 72 and below pusher mechanism 31. In FIG. 9 the 
table 32 is shown in elevation. The cut booklets are ejected by the pusher 
mechanism 31 in a plane normal to the line of advance of the booklet strand 
onto an endless belt conveyor 33 bounded by upstanding guides 33, 34 to 
hold the cut booklets in position thereon. An indexing mechanism 35 
advances the conveyor 33 in booklet thickness increments so that newly cut 
booklets are accepted onto the conveyor 33 at the proper time. A retention 
bar 36 loaded by leaf springs 37 engages the edge of the last cut booklet 
as the cutting unit 25 returns so that the advance of the booklet strand 
into the cutting unit at the next stroke is not impeded by unwanted return 
of the last cut booklet or part thereof from the conveyor. 
A general arrangement of the drive unit is shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. Power 
from a drive belt of an electric motor is transmitted via pulley wheel 50 
to drive input shaft 51 that carries a worm 52 and a hand wheel 53, the 
shaft being supported for rotation in bearings 54. The worm 52 meshes with 
worm wheel 55 of a transverse shaft 56. the shaft 56 carries a helical gear 
57 and a sprocket wheel 58. A chain 59 connects the sprocket wheel 58 with 
a further sprocket wheel 60 of a second transverse shaft 61 that drives 
the constant velocity cam and the pull-through rollers 21, 22. Attached to 
the shaft 61 is a generally heart-shaped cam 62 that provides a uniform 
motion to a follower assembly including a pair of follower rollers 63 that 
engage opposite sides of cam 62 and are carried in a uniform cam link 64 
that is pivotally connected at 64' to the leading plate 27 of the cutting 
unit 25. The shaft 61 also carries a helical gear 65 that drives a 
vertical shaft 66 by means of a helical gear 67. At the upper end of shaft 
66 is a straight spur gear 68 (FIG. 6) which in turn drives the two 
pull-through rollers 21, 22 by a series of interlocking gears. 
As more clearly seen in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, the plates 27 and 28 carry four 
linear bearing carries 70 that carry pairs of bearing rollers 71 directed 
at 90.degree. that each run on a pair of adjacent faces of rectangular 
bearing bars 72. The location of the bearing carriers 70 can be adjusted 
to give an accurate alignment of the plates 27, 28. The helical gear 57 on 
the transverse shaft 56 drives a helical drive gear 75 of a shaft 76 of 
hexagonal section that is supported in a fixed side plate 78 and in end 
plate 79 with its free end 80 projecting through the plate 79 to provide a 
drive for the belt conveyor described below. The shaft 76 passes through 
the plates 27, 28 and carries a sleeve 81 of hexagonal core profile and 
cylindrical external profile which is supported in ball bearings in 
leading and trailing plates 27, 28. The sleeve 81 carries on the outer 
face of the plate 27 a cam 82 for operating the clamping mechanism that 
has a raised lobe 83 that occupies 180.degree. of rotation. Between the 
plates 27, 28 there is attached to the sleeve 81 a cam 84 that operates 
the cutting knife. Finally on the outer face of the plate 28 there is 
attached to the sleeve 81 a third cam 85 that operates the pusher 
mechanism. It will be noted that the lobe 130 of cam 85 occupies only a 
small angle. 
In FIG. 7, the clamping mechanism comprises a clamping bar 90 on the outer 
face of the leading plate 27 and guided for movement towards and away from 
the aperture 26 by means of straps 91, 91a. A tension spring 92 between a 
pin 93a on the strap 91a nearer the aperture 26 and a pin 93 on the bar 90 
urges the clamping bar 90 towards clamping engagement with the interfolded 
strand of paper entering the aperture 26, and the bar 90 is lifted from 
clamping engagement therewith by a link 94 pivoted to the plate 27 and to 
the bar 90 at pivots 95, 96 and having a follower roller 97 engaged with 
the cam 82 so that the bar 90 is retracted from engagement with the 
advancing interfolded strand while the follower roller 97 is on the raised 
sector 83. As will be apparent from the earlier description, this is timed 
to be when the cutting unit 25 is in the return half of its travel. 
In FIG. 8, the knife 29 is held against the inner face of plate 27 by means 
of upper and lower studs that locate in oval slots to permit the knife 29 
to travel towards and away from the slot 26. An upper line 104 is pivoted 
between the knife 29 and plate 27 at pivots 105, 106. A lower link 107 is 
pivoted at 108, 109 between the knife 29 and the plate 27, the pivots 108, 
109 enabling the link 107 to move in parallel with the link 104. The link 
107 is connected to tension spring 110 that returns the knife 29 away from 
the aperture 26 and also carries a follower roller 111 that engages raised 
sector 112 on the cam 84 to advance the knife 29 across the aperture 26, 
thereby serving the strand of interfolded papers that have passed 
therethrough. The motion of the blade of knife 29 has components both 
towards and across the strand. This type of motion is referred to as a 
"guillotine - like" movement. It will be noted that the follower 111 
engages lobe 112 when follower 97 is free from sector 83 so that the 
cutting is timed to take place when the cutting unit is advancing with the 
interfolded paper strip clamped in position relative thereto. 
The pusher mechanism which is on the outer face of the trailing plate 28 is 
shown in FIG. 9. The pusher 31 is carried by a bar 120 supported in straps 
121, 122 for movement transversely of the interfolded paper strand and is 
urged away therefrom by tension spring between pin 124 on the bar 120 and 
pin 125 on the plate 28. An actuating lever 126 is pivoted to the plate 28 
at 127 and to the bar 120 at 128 and carries a follower roller 129 that 
engages the cam 85. The roller 129 traverses lobe 130 on cam 85 to advance 
the pusher mechanism when the cutting unit 25 reaches the forward end of 
its travel, so that the cut strand is ejected onto the conveyor 32. 
In order to drive the output conveyor 33 the free end 80 of the shaft 76 
carries an eccentric pivoted to one end of link 140 whose oscillations are 
transmitted to one end of rachet lever 141 whose other end 142 carries a 
pawl 143 that engages a toothed drive wheel 144. The drive wheel 144 is 
connected to the shaft of a roller 145, which is one of a pair 145, 146 
that support the endless belt conveyor 33. Thereby as the lever 141 is 
oscillated, the belt 33 is advanced stepwise in appropriate distance 
increments to accept cut booklets of interleaved paper. 
FIGS. 14, 16 and 17 illustrate a preferred alternative embodiment of the 
cutting unit and take the place of FIG. 8 above. A knife support 150 
rotates in recess 151 in the inner face of leading plate 27 and is 
supported for rotation between the plates 27, 28 by stub shafts 152, 153 
that are supported in rolling contact bearings 154, 155. The support 150 
rotatably carries a knife 156 having a generally crescent-shaped cutting 
blade 157 that traverses the aperture 26 once per rotation of the support. 
This type of motion is referred to as a slicing movement. The blade 157 not 
only compresses the paper strip during cutting but also moves across it, 
thereby giving a highly effective cutting action with reduced cutting 
force required. The knife 156 is held to the support 150 by means of a 
clamping disc 158 which is held in place by a nut 159. The support 150 is 
rotated by means of drive gear 160 that is rotated by driven gear 161 
which is rotated by the hexagonal shaft 76 and sleeve 81. The timing of 
the knife traverse of the aperture 26 is as described with reference to 
FIG. 8. The arrangement described has the advantage that it gives a better 
cutting action, uses only rotating parts rather than reciprocating parts 
and is constructionally simpler than the arrangement of FIG. 8. 
Furthermore the blade 157 may be arranged to traverse a sharpening stone 
at each revolution so that it is maintained sharp in service and only has 
to be replaced at infrequent intervals. 
In this alternative preferred embodiment utilizing the rotary knife as 
described above, is described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 14, 
16 and 17. Like numerals are used to identify like components previously 
described. Repeated description of same is omitted where unnecessary. 
A knife 157 (FIGS. 14, 16 and 17) located between the plates 27, 28 has its 
cutting surface against the inner face of the die 30 and is mounted for 
slicing movement across the aperture 26 to sever booklets from the 
advancing booklet strand. The term "slicing movement" means that the knife 
157 has components of motion both across the strand and through the 
thickness of the strand. The cutting unit 25 is mounted on linear bearings 
and is reciprocated by means of a constant velocity cam and follower 
arrangement so as to move downstream of the paper strand at the same speed 
as the paper strand advances and to return upstream. 
The upstream face of the leading plate 27 has a cam operated paper clamping 
mechanism. Thus the strand enters the aperture 26 while the unit 25 is 
moving upstream of the strand with the clamping mechanism in a disengaged 
position and with the blade 157 clear of the aperture 26. The travel of 
the cutting unit 25 is, of course, half the length of a cut booklet. After 
the cutting unit return is complete, the clamping mechanism closes to hold 
the booklet strand against the die 30 and during the forward stroke the 
blade 157 is rotated so as to make a slicing movement across the aperture 
26 in appropriately timed relationship to sever a booklet length from the 
strand. 
Downstream of the plate 28 there is provided a separate fixed pusher 
mechanism 31 operated by cams to remove the cut booklet at the downstream 
extremity of the travel of the unit 25. Cut booklets are supported on 
table 32 (FIG. 14) that is mounted on and travels with the unit 25. The 
cut booklets are removed by the pusher mechanism 31 (FIG. 1) in a plane 
normal to the line of advance of the booklet strand onto a discharge chute 
32 bounded by upstanding guides 33, 34 to hold the cut booklets in position 
thereon. The inlet ends 38 of guides 34 are formed with springs 37 that 
engage the ends of the last cut booklet as the cutting unit 25 returns so 
that the advance of the booklet strand into the cutting unit at the next 
stroke is not impeded by unwanted return of the last cut booklet or part 
thereof from the conveyor and control of the last cut booklet is not lost. 
In the alternative embodiment of the invention, FIGS. 14 to 17, the plates 
27 and 28 carry sleeves 70' that each run on a bearing rod 72' defining 
linear bearings for reciprocation of the cutting unit 25. 
Referring again to FIG. 12, the helical gear 57 on the transverse shaft 56 
drives a helical drive gear 75 of a shaft 76 of hexagonal section that is 
supported in a fixed transverse plate 78 and in end plate 79. The shaft 76 
passes through apertures in the plates 27, 28 and carries a sleeve 81 of 
hexagonal core profile and cylindrical external profile which is supported 
in ball bearings in plates 27, 28. The sleeve 81 carries on the outer face 
of the plate 27 a cam 82 (FIG. 15) for operating the clamping mechanism 
that has a raised lobe 83 that occupies about 180.degree. of rotation. The 
clamping mechanism comprises a clamping bar 90 on the outer face of the 
leading plate 27 and guided for movement towards and away from the 
aperture 26 by means of straps 91, 91a. A tension spring 92 between a pin 
93a on the strap 91a nearer the aperture 26 and a pin 93 on the bar 90 
urges the clamping bar 90 towards clamping engagement with the interfolded 
strand of paper entering the aperture 26, and the bar 90 is lifted from 
clamping engagement therewith by a link 94 pivoted to the plate 27 and to 
the bar 90 at pivots 95, 96 and having a follower roller 97 engaged with 
the cam 82 so that the bar 90 is lifted from engagement with the advancing 
interfolded strand while the follower roller 97 is on the raised sector 83. 
As will be apparent from the earlier description, this is timed to be when 
the cutting unit 25 is in the return half of its travel. 
FIGS. 16 and 17 show the cutting function. A knife support 150 rotates in 
recess 151 in the inner face of leading plate 27 and is supported for 
rotation between the plates 27, 28 by stub shafts 152, 153 that are 
supported in rolling contact bearings 154, 155. The support 150 rotatably 
carries a knife 156 having a generally crescent-shaped cutting blade 157 
that traverses the aperture 26 once per rotation of the support. The blade 
157 not only compresses the paper strip during cutting but also moves 
across it, thereby giving a highly effective slicing action with low force 
required. The knife 156 is held to the support 150 by means of a clamping 
disc 158 which is held in place by a nut 159. The support 150 is rotated 
by means of drive gear 160 that is rotated by driven gear 161 which is 
rotated by the hexagonal shaft 76. The timing of the knife traverse of the 
aperture 26 is such that the unit 25 is advancing with the interfolded 
paper strip clamped in position relative thereto. Furthermore the blade 
157 may be arranged to traverse a sharpening stone at each revolution so 
that it is maintained sharp in service and only has to be replaced at 
infrequent intervals. The cut booklets of paper are supported by the table 
32 and are controlled by T-shaped guide bar 39 mounted on the station 25 
downstream of the aperture 26 a short distance above the table 32. The 
guide bar 39 prevents paper from entering the space between plates 27, 28 
and ensures that it takes a straight path towards the downstream end of 
the table 32. 
Referring to FIGS. 12, 18 and 19, the alternative embodiment of the 
invention includes an ejection station 200 fixed opposite to the discharge 
chute 33' rather than being carried by the station 25 as in the the first 
embodiment. A pair of links 201, 202 are pivoted at 203, 204 to the inner 
face of end plate 79 and are connected by tie bar 205 to form a parallel 
linkage. The shaft 76 has a second sleeve 206 carrying first and second 
cams 207 and 208. The link 201 which is close to discharge chute 33' is 
relatively short and has at its top end a follower roller 209 for the cam 
207. The link 202 is connected adjacent its upper end to a tension spring 
210 by which the links 201, 202 are biased away from the chute 33' so that 
follower roller 209 is maintained in contact with the surface of the cam 
207. Ejector bar 211 is pivoted at 212 to the upper end of link 202, 
passes through a slotted plastics guide 213 and has at its tip a thrust 
plate 214 which is divided at the end which faces aperture 26 into upper 
and lower furcations 214a, 214b. The bar 211 is biased downwardly by 
tension spring 215 to maintain a follower roller 216 in contact with the 
surface of the roller 208. Accordingly as shaft 76 rotates there are two 
independent components of motion, firstly in a generally back and forward 
direction via cam 207 and follower 209 and secondly in a rise and fall 
direction via cam 208 and follower 216. 
The ability to lift the thrust plate 214 permits the entire cut booklet to 
be supported by the ejector. In the first embodiment the ejector was 
carried on the outer face of the plate 28 and was movable only in 
translation. Even though the ejection station operated within only a small 
angle of rotation of the shaft 76, by the time that the ejector begins to 
return, an appreciable length of new booklet material has entered the 
cutting station 25. To avoid the ejector fouling this new material it was 
made only about 70% of the width of a cut booklet. The unsupported 
upstream end of the cut booklet could not always be correctly engaged 
behind an inlet spring at the entrance to chute 33' but might return and 
foul incoming paper, causing a jam and consequent machine downtime. Such 
downtime is avoided by the independent movements provided via cams 207, 
208. Forward movement of the thrust plate 214 occurs along a substantially 
straight path aligned with the chute 33', so that the guide bar 39 passes 
between furcations 214a, 214b of the plate 214 which thrusts the cut 
booklets from the table 32 (FIG. 12) into the chute 33' so that both its 
ends are retained behind springs 37 (FIG. 14). Before the return stroke 
has proceeded appreciably the head 214 is lifted by cam 208 and follower 
216 clear of the guide bar 39 and of the path of new booklet strand 
entering the cutting station 25, and the head 214 does not fall 
significantly until it has passed behind guide bar 39. Consequently head 
214 follows a looped path clear of incoming booklets. Such a complex 
motion would be difficult to provide if the ejection station 200 were on 
the cutting station 25 because the dwell of the station 25 at the 
downstream end of its travel in register with chute 33' is very brief. By 
contrast the operative sectors of cams 207, 208 are very broad, typically 
90.degree. in extent and have gently sloping flanks so that timing is 
easier having regard to the response time of the links 201, 202, 205, 211 
and springs 210, 215 and operating forces and wear are reduced. 
It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the 
embodiments described above without departing from the invention, the 
scope of which is defined in the appended claims.