Apparatus for sorting, stacking and conveying plate workpieces

An arrangement for conveying and stacking final products created by subdivision of a succession of plate blanks into a plurality of such products comprises an input conveyor for supplying the products in a longitudinal transport direction at a predetermined upper level to a stacking station and an output conveyor offset laterally from the input conveyor for transporting stacks of the products away from the stacking station in the direction and having an upstream end laterally adjacent the stacking station at a lower level below the upper level of the input conveyor. A sorter at the station receives the products from the input conveyor at the upper level and moves them at the upper level to either of two stacking substations longitudinally aligned with the upstream end of the output conveyor. Respective stacking units at the substations each in turn have a stacking table displaceable vertically between the upper and lower levels and horizontally displaceable transversely of the transport direction between a basic position at the respective substation for receiving the final products therefrom and an extended position aligned longitudinally with the output conveyor for delivering the final products thereto and a conveyor section fixed to and displaceable jointly transversely with the stacking table such that in the basic position of the respective stacking table it forms a longitudinal continuation of the output conveyor.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to arrangements for treating and handling 
plate-shaped objects in general and, more particularly, to a plate 
subdividing and a product conveying and stacking machine. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
There are already known various installations capable of sawing or 
otherwise subdividing and distributing or sorting plate-shaped objects, 
among them such including a subdividing arrangement that includes a 
plurality of sawing devices that perform longitudinal and transverse cuts 
and are thus capable of sawing a plate blank, which consists of a single 
plate or of a plate packet, into equal-width or different-width 
longitudinal and transverse strips in order to obtain in this manner from 
the plate blank a multitude of final products that may have different 
sizes. In such installations, it is also already known to transfer the 
respective final products to a plurality of stacking stations at which 
such products are stacked, and the thus obtained stacks are eventually 
transported by means of at least one roller conveyor that leads away from 
the installation to their destination or destinations. 
One construction of the plate subdividing and resultant product conveying 
and stacking machine of this type is known, for instance, from the German 
published patent application DE-OS 27 02 725. In this machine, the final 
products which are obtained in a subdividing arrangement by subdividing or 
sawing plate-shaped blanks are sorted according to size to a plurality of 
roller conveyors that are arranged parallel next to each other. A stacking 
unit is associated with each of these roller conveyors and is operative 
for stacking the final products that are supplied thereto by the 
respective roller conveyor. Each of the final product stacks which is 
formed in the stacking unit of this type can be transported away from the 
stacking unit by means of a further roller conveyor, and is then supplied 
to a loading station. 
Inasmuch as each of the roller conveyors which leads to the respective 
associated stacking unit is able to receive only final products having the 
same size, and of transporting such same-size final products to the 
associated stacking station, it is necessary to provide a large number of 
such roller conveyors with the associated stacking units, in order to 
enable the sawing or subdivision of the plate-shaped blank or preform by 
the sawing arrangement into a corresponding number of different final 
products. 
Each of the final products may consist of a multitude of superimposed 
plate-shaped objects the number of which corresponds to the number of 
individual plates in the plate-shaped blank. The plate-shaped blank may be 
constituted by a single plate, or by a plate package. 
It is also known in stacking installations which are arranged downstream of 
a sawing arrangement and which are operative for stacking the final 
products or objects that are obtained from the plate-shaped blank by 
sawing, to arrange two stacking units for the final products immediately 
next to one another. Then, a discharge roller conveyor is associated with 
the last one of these stacking units and serves for the transportation of 
the stacks of final products which are formed in both of these stacking 
units away from such units. To this end, the lifting tables of these two 
stacking units are arranged immediately next to one another in such manner 
that the stack that is formed on the lifting table of the front stacking 
unit can be transported, when the lifting table of the front stacking unit 
is in its lowermost position and the lifting table of the rear stacking 
unit is also in its lowermost position and is empty, via the lifting table 
of such rear stacking unit to the discharging or transporting-away roller 
conveyor that is situated at the elevation that corresponds to that of the 
lifting tables of the two stacking units when such lifting tables are in 
their lowermost positions. 
However, this has the disadvantage that considerable time losses may be 
incurred in the transportation of the final product stack that has been 
formed on the front stacking unit away from such stacking unit, inasmuch 
as this type of transportation or discharge always makes it necessary to 
assure that the rear stacking unit is temporarily empty during such 
discharge, and that no stack is being formed thereon during this time. 
Consequently, the advantage of the arrangement of the two stacking units 
immediately next to one another for the transportation of the final 
products of different sizes to such adjacent stacking units, which results 
from the fact that such different-size final products are forwarded along 
the same path, is lost or largely lost in this manner. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to avoid the 
disadvantages of the prior art. 
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
subdividing and sorting machine which does not possess the drawbacks of 
the known machines of this type. 
Still another object of the present invention is to devise a machine of the 
type here under consideration which is particularly advantageous as far as 
the throughput of the machine is concerned. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is yet another object of the present invention to design the above 
machine in such a manner as to be able to obtain considerably shorter 
cycle times than heretofore possible. 
A concomitant object of the present invention is to provide the machine of 
the above type as to be relatively simple in construction, inexpensive to 
manufacture, easy to use, and yet reliable in operation. 
An arrangement according to this invention for conveying and stacking final 
products created by subdivision of a succession of plate blanks into a 
plurality of such products comprises an input conveyor for supplying the 
products in a longitudinal transport direction at a predetermined upper 
level to a stacking station and an output conveyor offset laterally from 
the input conveyor for transporting stacks of the products away from the 
stacking station in the direction and having an upstream end laterally 
adjacent the stacking station at a lower level below the upper level of 
the input conveyor. A sorter at the station receives the products from the 
input conveyor at the upper level and moves them at the upper level to 
either of two stacking substations longitudinally aligned with the 
upstream end of the output conveyor. Respective stacking units at the 
substations each in turn have a stacking table displaceable vertically 
between the upper and lower levels and horizontally displaceable 
transversely of the transport direction between a basic position at the 
respective substation for receiving the final products therefrom and an 
extended position aligned longitudinally with the output conveyor for 
delivering the final products thereto and a conveyor section fixed to and 
displaceable jointly transversely with the stacking table such that in the 
basic position of the respective stacking table it forms a longitudinal 
continuation of the output conveyor. 
In the arrangement or installation of this type, the single stacking unit 
row may include two stacking units or preferably even more than two such 
stacking units, which renders it possible to further expedite and 
facilitate the supply of the final products to the stacking units. It can 
be provided, without difficulty, that the final products of different 
sizes are supplied by a common supply roller conveyor to one or two of the 
stacking unit rows, which is very economical. 
The lifting tables of the stacking units of a stacking unit row may be 
arranged immediately next to one another, which is, in general, 
particularly advantageous. However, the present invention also makes it no 
longer mandatory to arrange these lifting tables immediately next to one 
another; rather, the lifting tables can also be arranged at a spacing from 
one another, when this is necessary or desirable for any reason. 
Each stack which is formed in each of the stacking units consists, in each 
instance, of final products of the same size. However, it is also possible 
to simultaneously stack final products of different sizes in the 
respective different stacking units. It is also possible to simultaneously 
stack two or more stacks of the final products of the same size or of 
different sizes in one or more of the stacking units, when the conditions 
and the dimensions of the respective lifting table permit or warrant such 
simultaneous stacking. 
Inasmuch as at least one of the stacking units of the respective row is 
transversely movable, and its lifting table can be moved toward the 
respective downstream roller conveyor, in order to make it possible for 
the stacks that are formed on this lifting table to be directly 
transported away by this downstream roller conveyor, the installation 
constructed in accordance with the present invention renders it possible 
to achieve a rapid throughput of the final product and a rapid 
transportation away of the stacks, and a very economical operation of this 
installation, inasmuch as the transportation of the stacks away from all 
of the stacking units is not impeded by the other stacking unit or units 
of the same row. This transportation takes place in particular downstream 
of the respective other stacking unit or units, which at this time is or 
are in its or their basic position, and past which the transportation path 
of the respective stacks on the downstream roller conveyor is conducted. 
It is particularly advantageous when the downstream conveyor includes a 
region that is arranged laterally adjacent of the last one of the stacking 
units in the stacking unit row, and when at least that of the stacking 
units of the stacking unit row that is arranged immediately before the 
last stacking unit is movable transversely to the longitudinal direction 
of the downstream roller conveyor between its basic and extended positions 
to bring the lifting table thereof toward the downstream roller conveyor 
for further conveyance of the respective stack supported thereon. In this 
context, it is advantageous when the downstream roller conveyor includes 
at least one separate roller conveyor portion which is movable into and 
out of a position at a predetermined region of the downstream roller 
conveyor situated laterally adjacent of at least one of the stacking units 
that is movable between the basic and extended positions thereof, and when 
the lifting table of the one movable stacking unit is situated when in the 
extended position at the predetermined region of the downstream roller 
conveyor instead of the separate roller conveyor portion after the latter 
has been moved out of the predetermined region. Under some circumstances, 
it is advantageous when even the last one of the stacking units of at 
least one stacking unit row is movable transversely to the longitudinal 
direction of the downstream roller conveyor between its basic and extended 
positions, when the downstream roller conveyor includes a separate roller 
conveyor portion which is movable into and out of a position at a 
predetermined region of the downstream roller conveyor situated laterally 
adjacent the last stacking unit, and when the lifting table of the last 
stacking unit is situated when in the extended position at the 
predetermined region of the downstream roller conveyor instead of the 
separate roller conveyor portion after the latter has been moved out of 
the predetermined region. 
The region or a separate longitudinal portion of the downstream roller 
conveyor which is situated downstream of the respective stacking unit can 
be arranged at a spacing from the respective stacking unit and its 
downstream side, or it may be situated at the respective stacking unit 
with or without spacing from the downstream side of the respective 
stacking unit, or it may be arranged in any other desired manner. 
The present invention also renders possible simultaneous advance of the 
final products that are being supplied to the stacking units and of the 
stacks which are being conveyed away from such units, which is desired and 
extremely advantageous in installations of this type. 
The present invention further renders it possible to arrange a practically 
unlimited arbitrary number of the stacking units in the particular row. As 
a result, the number of the final products of different sizes that can be 
simultaneously stacked can be made practically arbitrarily large, so that 
this installation also renders it possible to utilize plate subdivision 
patterns which could have been handled, if at all, by the conventionally 
constructed installations of the type here under consideration, only at a 
considerably higher expenditure. 
Also, the amount of space occupied by the installation is relatively small, 
so that there is also possible a better utilization of the available 
space. In addition, the stacking and conveying arrangement or installation 
constructed in accordance with the present invention renders it possible 
for the subdividing device to operate and to saw or subdivide the plate 
blanks into the final products with relatively short cycle times, inasmuch 
as these final products can be rapidly transported by and through the 
arrangement of the present invention and stacked. 
The transfer of the final products, which are obtained in the sawing device 
or machine from the respective plate blanks, to the respective stacks or 
stacking units can be achieved in many ways. 
The present invention renders possible, in a manner that is economical and 
space-saving under all circumstances, the arrangement of such large 
numbers of the stacking units that the final products can be sorted and 
stacked in accordance with their sizes of configuration even if the cycle 
times of the subdividing device are rather short. 
The installation constructed in accordance with the present invention makes 
it possible to use different structural implementations and permits 
flexibility in the planning and embodiment to an extent that was 
impossible to achieve heretofore. 
At least one storage or pallet supply roller conveyor can be aligned with 
and arranged upstream of at least one rearward roller conveyor and can 
serve for temporary storage of the stacks and/or the supply of pallets to 
the transversely movable stacking units. This particular roller conveyor 
is then arranged upstream of the downstream roller conveyor in a direction 
opposite to that in which the downstream roller conveyor transports the 
stacks of final products that are transferred thereto to a loading station 
or to a further conveying station and is operative for transporting the 
pallets to the stacking units when they assume their extended positions. 
Thus the lifting tables of such stacking units can directly receive the 
pallets, on which the final products are then stacked after the respective 
stacking units have been returned to their basic positions. The supply 
roller conveyor for the pallets is advantageously arranged at a right 
angle to the storage roller conveyor. 
In many cases, it can be advantageously provided that all of the stacking 
units of a stacking unit row are transversely movable. In this case, the 
downstream roller conveyor is all that is needed for the transportation of 
the stacks formed on such stacking units away from such units. 
It is particularly advantageous to construct the roller conveyor of the 
lifting table and the downstream roller conveyor and/or as the case may 
be, also the discharging roller conveyor, the supply conveyor, or the 
pallet supply or storage roller conveyor, as driven conveyors. When this 
expedient is being used, the degree of automation of the installation can 
be increased. Also, this type of advance of the final products is very 
advantageous here. The subdividing device may be of any known 
construction. It includes sawing devices for the provision of the 
subdividing cuts which subdivide the plate-shaped blank into rectangular 
final products. The plate-shaped blanks may be relatively large, for 
instance, they may be several meters long. 
The stacking means of the conveying and stacking arrangement of the present 
invention advantageously includes at least one stacking unit row all of 
the stacking units of which are individually transversely movable between 
the basic and extended positions thereof. However, it is also advantageous 
when the stacking means includes at least one stacking unit row all of the 
stacking units of which except for the last one are individually 
transversely movable between the basic and extended positions thereof. 
According to another feature of the invention, no downstream roller 
conveyor portion is situated downstream of a front one of the stacking 
units of at least one stacking unit row. 
The conveying and stacking arrangement advantageously further includes at 
least one stationary roller conveyor arranged downstream of the last one 
of the stacking unit of at least one stacking unit row and serving for 
transporting the stacks formed in the last stacking unit away from such 
unit in the basic position of the latter. It is also advantageous for the 
downstream roller conveyor to include at least one stationary roller 
conveyor portion. The stacking units of at least one stacking unit row 
include respective lifting tables which are advantageously arranged so 
close to one another that the stacks can be transferred directly from one 
of the lifting tables to another. The aforementioned transporting means 
advantageously includes at least one supply roller conveyor which 
transports the final products to at least one stacking unit row. This 
supply roller conveyor may then be operative for transporting the final 
products to two stacking unit rows which are arranged oppositely to one 
another. 
In accordance with a further advantageous concept of the present invention, 
there is provided at least one air-cushion table serving for the transfer 
of the final products from the supply roller conveyor to the respective 
stacking units. It is especially advantageous when at least one stacking 
unit row of the stacking means includes at least three of the stacking 
units.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION 
As seen in FIGS. 1A and 1B a sawing arrangement 11 of the type described in 
my copending patent application Ser. No. 07/306,839 filed 03 Feb. 1989, 
now U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,281, has a longitudinal sawing device 11 and a 
transverse sawing device 12. The devices 11 and 12 cut a plate blank 15, 
which may be constituted by a single plate or by a plate packet consisting 
of a plurality of individual plates of the same size which are 
superimposed in a stack and which is supplied to the longitudinal sawing 
device by a conveyor 14, by means of cuts extending in a direction 
indicated by an arrow G into longitudinal rows 16. Thereafter, the thus 
partially subdivided plate blank 15 is advanced to the transverse sawing 
device 13 where it is sawed or subdivided by means of cuts extending in a 
direction indicated by an arrow H into transverse rows 18 so that the 
longitudinal rows 16 are subdivided into final products 17 of different 
widths. Where the plate blank 15 from which the final products 17 were 
obtained in this manner was constituted by a single plate, each of the 
final products 17 is an individual final object. On the other hand, where 
the plate blank 15 included a plurality of superimposed plates, that is a 
plate packet, then each of the final products 17 consists of a 
corresponding plurality of individual final objects of corresponding sizes 
which are superimposed with one another, i.e. form a stack, and whose 
edges are aligned with each other. 
The illustrated subdivided plate blank 15 includes four longitudinal rows 
16 of strips having different widths and three transverse rows 18 of 
strips also having different widths, resulting in a total of twelve final 
products 17 of different sizes. Each of the final products 17 can thus 
consist of a single individual final object or of a plurality of 
superimposed individual objects, the associated edges of which are aligned 
with one another. Naturally, any other arbitrarily chosen subdivision 
patterns are possible. 
This subdivided plate blank 15 is then automatically shifted or stripped 
off away from the transverse sawing device 13 onto a horizontal 
stripping-off tray 19 which may be constituted by a table plate, by a 
plurality of carriers which form a horizontal or tiltable support plane 
and which may form between themselves a plurality of parallel slots that 
advantageously extend in the stripping-off direction, by a grid, or the 
like. 
This stripping-off tray 19 is mounted on a suspension carriage 20 or on 
another carriage that is supported on stationary straight rails 21 which 
are mounted at a high elevation above ground, that is at an upper level, 
for to and fro movement in the directions indicated by a double-headed 
arrow B (FIG. 1A). 
Associated with the stripping-off tray 19 is a stripping arrangement which 
is also arranged on the carriage 20 or on a different carriage. As 
described in my above-cited copending patent application Ser. No. 
07/306,839 filed 03 Feb. 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,281, the stripping 
arrangement includes a stripping blade 22 or the like whose position is 
adjustable with respect to the carriage 20 and to the stripping-off tray 
19 parallel to the direction of movement B of the carriage 20 and that 
serves for shifting the longitudinal rows 16 in the direction G transverse 
to their longitudinal extents from the stripping-off tray 19 which at the 
same time itself moves in the direction B onto mutually parallel 
stationarily mounted input roller conveyors 23, 75, and 75'. The two input 
conveyors 75 and 75' constitute supply roller conveyors to respective 
pairs of stacking substations 40 and 40'. The roller conveyor 23 is 
arranged on a stationary lifting table 25 below the basic position of the 
stripping-off tray 19. The roller conveyor 23 does not lead to any 
stacking unit. Instead, the roller conveyor 23 serves the purpose of 
forming thereon stacks of complete subdivided plate blanks 15 which can 
then be conveyed further by means of a driven roller conveyor 27' to an 
unillustrated withdrawing station. The lifting table 25 and the roller 
conveyor 27' are not essential components of the installation according to 
the present invention. 
For the stripping of the respective longitudinal row 16 from the 
stripping-off tray 19, which assumes a somewhat inclined position during 
this operation, onto one of the supply input conveyors 75 or 75', the 
stripping blade 22 is disposed above the respective supply input conveyor 
75 or 75' and the stripping-off tray 19 is moved in the direction B 
perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the respective input 
conveyor 75 or 75'. The stripping-off tray 19 is withdrawn from underneath 
the respective longitudinal row 16 which is prevented from moving with the 
stripping-off tray 19 by the stripping blade 22. During this operation, 
the respective longitudinal row 16 is in each instance shifted in its 
entirety by the stripping blade 22 perpendicular to its longitudinal 
direction from the stripping-off tray 19 down onto the respective straight 
input conveyor 75 or 75' by the movement of the stripping-off tray 19 in 
the direction of the arrow B. Thereafter, the thus transferred 
longitudinal row 16 lies on the respective input conveyor 75 or 75', as 
shown, parallel to its longitudinal direction which also corresponds to 
the direction in which the driven input conveyors 75 and 75' are able to 
transport the longitudinal rows 16 that are transferred thereto in their 
longitudinal direction in accordance with arrow D. 
The subdivision of the respective plate blank 15 in the subdividing 
arrangement 11, as well as the entire transfer or distribution of the 
final products 17 of the respective subdivided plate blank 15 to the input 
conveyors 75 and 75' can be accomplished in a fully or partially automated 
manner and under the control of an appropriate program. 
The input conveyors 75 and 75' can be relatively narrow, preferably 
narrower than the maximum width of the plate blanks 15 that can be 
processed or handled by the saw. 
The carriage 20 can be moved to the input conveyors 75 and 75' in an 
arbitrarily programmable manner and can selectively distribute the 
longitudinal rows 16 of each subdivided plate blank 15 to arbitrarily 
selectable ones of these input conveyors 75 and 75'. 
In the event that it should be desired, rather than transferring complete 
longitudinal rows 16 onto the input conveyors 75 and 75', to transfer onto 
such input conveyors 75 and 75' in each instance just one final product 17 
or a number of the final products 17 of the respective longitudinal row 16 
that is less than the total number of the final products 17 in such a row 
16, the stripping-off tray 19 can first transfer the longitudinal rows 16 
or respective ones of the longitudinal rows 16 to a distribution carriage 
which is then capable of distributing the final products 17 individually 
or in groups to the input conveyors 75 and 75'. 
Each of the two input conveyors 75 and 75' feeds directly to the respective 
pair of parallel stacking substations 40 and 40'. In the arrangement which 
is illustrated in the drawing, each such stacking substation 40 or 40' 
includes three stacking units 41, 41', and 41" which in turn include 
respective lifting tables 42 that are equipped with respective driven 
roller conveyors 44 (see FIGS. 2, 3, and 4) which transport away 
respective stacks 48, that have been formed on them. The lifting tables 42 
of the individual stacking units 41, 41' and 41" of the respective 
substations 40 and 41', which are adjustable by motor drive means 34, 35, 
36 (FIG. 3) on respective frames 42' of the stacking units 41, 41' and 41" 
as to their vertical positions, are arranged immediately next to one 
another in such a manner that they are capable of forming, when they are 
arranged at the same elevation, a continuous roller conveyor so that the 
final products 17 or the stacks 48 can be conveyed, if desired, on this 
combination roller conveyor. 
The upstream stacking unit 41 and the central stacking unit 41' of each of 
the substations 40 and each of the stacking units 41, 41' and 41" of each 
of the substations 40' are movable horizontally and perpendicular to the 
conveying direction of the roller conveyors 44 from a basic position 
indicated at 46 in which the final products 17 to be stacked are supplied 
to and stacked on the respective lifting table 42 to an extended position 
indicated at 47, for the purpose of transporting away the stacks 48 that 
have been formed on the respective lifting tables 42 by means of 
downstream roller conveyors 50. 
The respective individual straight downstream roller conveyors 50 transport 
the final product stacks 48 that have been formed on the transversely 
movable stacking units 41, 41' and 41" of the respective associated 
stacking substation 40 or 40' in each instance to a respective removal 
station or a further transportation station. Each of the downstream roller 
conveyors 50 includes a stationary roller output conveyor 53 and, 
laterally adjacent the transversely movable stacking units 41 and 41' of 
the respective associated substations 40, or of the transversely movable 
stacking units 41, 41' and 41" of the respective associated substations 
40', in each instance a separate, driven, straight roller conveyor 51 or 
51' for the substations 40, or 51, 51' or 51" for the substations 40'. The 
movable roller conveyors 51, 51' and/or 51" are capable of being 
individually driven and are rigidly mounted on the frames 42' of the 
associated stacking units 41, 41' and/or 41" at the lateral sides of such 
units 41, 41' and/or 41", so as to be movable with such associated 
stacking units 41, 41' and/or 41". This is indicated in FIG. 1B and shown 
in greater detail for a single one of the stacking units 41, 41' and 41" 
in FIG. 2 of the drawing. Each individually transversely movable stacking 
unit 41, 41' and/or 41" can be, for instance, supported for movement along 
straight rails 31 (FIG. 3) by means of respective wheels 30 that can be 
driven in rotation by respective motors 45. 
In the basic positions 46 of the stacking units 41, 41' and/or 41", the 
roller conveyor portions 51 and 51' or 51, 51' and 51" that are associated 
in each instance with one of the stacking substations 40 or 40' are in 
alignment with the respective associated separate driven output conveyors 
53. The roller conveyors 53 transport the stacks 48 supplied thereto to 
respective removal stations, further transportation stations or the like. 
These roller output conveyors 53 are not transversely movable. Thus, each 
of the roller conveyors 51, 51', and 51" and 53 constitutes an 
individually driven separate roller conveyor which can be switched on or 
off for the transport of the stacks 48 independently from the other roller 
conveyor portions of the respective roller conveyor 50. The roller 
conveyors 53 may be advantageously constructed also as friction-driven 
roller conveyors which are constantly switched on and which transport the 
stacks 48 immediately after such stacks 48 have been loaded thereon. 
Upstream of each of the downstream roller conveyors 50, there is further 
arranged in an aligned relationship therewith a separate stationary pallet 
and/or storage roller conveyor 60 which can preferably also be driven by a 
reversible drive in order to be able to transport products 17 or stacks 48 
thereof in the direction of the illustrated arrows F and F'. 
All of the roller conveyor portions of each of the individual downstream 
roller conveyors 50 can cooperate in the transportation of the stacks 48 
which are supplied to the respective downstream roller conveyors 50 from 
the roller conveyors 60 which are arranged upstream of such downstream 
roller conveyors 50 and on which these stacks have been previously stored. 
The downstream roller conveyor 50 transports the stacks 48 directly from 
the lifting tables of the associated transversely movable stacking units 
41, 41' and/or 41" to the end of the roller output conveyor 53. 
In the stacking substations 40 only the upstream stacking unit 41 and the 
central stacking unit 41' are transversely movable. On the other hand, the 
last stacking unit 41" of each of the substations 40 is not transversely 
movable. In contradistinction thereto, in the stacking substations 40', 
all of the stacking units 41, 41' and 41" are transversely movable. For 
this reason, each of the downstream roller conveyors 50 which is 
associated with these two substations 40' is provided laterally adjacent 
each respective stacking unit 41, 41' and 41" with a separate roller 
conveyor portion 51, 51' and 51". Each such roller conveyor portions 51, 
51' and 51" is moved with the associated stacking unit 41, 41' and 41", 
when the latter is moved out of its respective basic position 46 into its 
extended position 47, out of the path of the respective downstream roller 
conveyor 50 in question. Then, the roller conveyor 44 of the lifting table 
42 of the respective stacking unit 41, 41' or 41" is moved into the 
respective roller conveyor 50 as a replacement for the respective roller 
conveyor portion 51, 51' or 51" in such a manner that the aforementioned 
roller conveyor 44 is then in alignment with the remainder of the roller 
conveyor 50 and immediately adjoins the latter on one side or on both 
sides without any, or with only a small, spacing therefrom. This is 
preferably the case in the lowest position of the lifting table 42 for its 
roller conveyor 44, in order to be able to utilize the maximum, stacking 
height of the stacking unit. The downstream roller conveyors 50 are 
arranged at correspondingly low elevations. The lifting tables 42 of the 
stacking units 41 can also directly adjoin respective roller conveyors 60. 
The length and the width of the roller conveyors 44 of the lifting tables 
42 respectively correspond to the length and width of the roller conveyor 
portions 51, 51' and 52" which are arranged next to these stacking units, 
and the transversely movable stacking units 41, 41' and 41" of the 
substations 40' are individually movable out of their basic positions that 
serve for the stacking of the final products 17 into their extended 
positions that serve for the transportation away of the stacks 48 that are 
situated thereon, so that then the respective stack 48 can be transferred 
from each of these roller conveyors 44, when it is situated at the same 
elevation as the associated downstream roller conveyor 50 and thus also 
the roller conveyor 60, directly to the adjoining roller conveyor portion 
51' or 51" of the downstream roller conveyor 50 and, if so desired for the 
interim storage, also to the roller conveyor 60 either directly or via the 
roller conveyor 51 or the roller conveyors 51 and 51'. The stack 48 can 
thus be transported either to an end 54 of the roller conveyor 50 that is 
arranged at an arbitrarily remote location from the respective stacking 
substation, or to the roller conveyor 60. In the latter case, the roller 
conveyor 60 serves for a temporary storage of the particular stack 48 
until a later time at which it is transported 31 by the roller conveyor 60 
to an end 54. At the end 54 of the respective roller conveyor 50, the 
respective stack 48 can be removed, for instance, transferred to a 
transporting carriage, or supplied to a further treating station, or the 
like. 
In the stacking substations 40, the respective stacking units 41" are not 
transversely movable, so that the final product stacks 48 which are formed 
on their lifting tables 42 cannot be transported away by the respective 
downstream roller conveyors 50. Therefore, a discharging roller conveyor 
70 is directly associated with each of the lifting tables 42 of these 
stacking units 41", being parallel with the downstream roller conveyors 50 
and situated at the elevation of the lowest lifting position of the 
lifting table 42. The discharging roller conveyors 70 also terminate at 
the elevation of the free ends 54 of the downstream roller conveyors 50, 
and the stacks 48 which are formed on the stacking units 41" of the 
stacking substations 40 can be transferred to such discharging roller 
conveyors 70 and then transported away by such driven discharging roller 
conveyors 70 in the lowermost positions of the respective lifting tables 
42. 
As illustrated, the supply of the final products 17 on the supply input 
conveyors 75 and 75' to the respective stacking units occurs in the same 
sense as the transporting direction of the stacks 48 formed from such 
final products 17 away from the respective stacking units via the 
downstream roller conveyors 50 or possibly also via the roller conveyors 
70. This codirectional flow of the final products 17 and stacks 48 is 
extremely important for the installations of the type here under 
consideration for the further transportation of the stacks 48 away, or for 
their other further conveyance. This, as well, is made possible by the 
present invention for arbitrarily large numbers of stacking units per 
stacking substation. 
Even though it is not absolutely necessary in conjunction with the stacking 
substation 40', because of the transverse movability of the downstream 
stacking stations 41", to associate the discharging roller conveyors 70 
similar to those used with the stacking units 41" of the stacking 
substation 40 therewith, it is nevertheless possible, if desired, to 
associate such discharging roller conveyors 70 with the stacking units 41" 
of the stacking substations 40, inasmuch as this may be instrumental in 
increasing the throughput of the final products 17 and the discharge or 
transportation away of the stacks 48 formed therefrom even further and, as 
a result of this expedient, there is provided an even increased number of 
unloading stations or the like for the stacks 48. 
The longitudinal directions of the downstream roller conveyors 50 extend, 
as illustrated, parallel to the stacking substations 40 and 40' and, 
therefore, also parallel to the longitudinal directions of the supplying 
input conveyors 75 and 75'. 
The storing and/or pallet roller conveyors 60 can serve, as mentioned 
before, for the storage of the stacks 48. However, in the exemplary 
embodiment of the present invention disclosed here, they can also serve 
for supplying pallets 65 to the respective stacking units of the 
respective stacking substations 40 and 40'. To this end, a supply roller 
conveyor 64 for the pallets 65 extends transverse to the roller conveyors 
60 and is supported directly on the floor of the room so as to be at the 
elevation of the support plane of the aforementioned roller conveyors 60 
and so as not to be able to interfere with the movement of the 
stripping-off tray 19 which moves at a considerably higher elevation. The 
roller conveyor 64 may also be constructed as a driven conveyor, and the 
pallets 65 which are moved thereby to positions situated upstream of the 
respective roller conveyors 60 can be transferred by means of pushers or 
the like to the roller conveyors 60 and from there to the lifting tables 
42 of the transversely movable stacking units while the respective lifting 
tables 42 are moved to their positions in which they are situated in the 
downstream roller conveyors 50 and in alignment with the roller conveyors 
60. Thereafter, the respective stacking unit can be moved back into its 
basic position and may then be operated to stack the final products 17 
directly onto the respective pallet 65. 
In the two substations 40, where the downstream stacking units 41" are not 
transversely movable, the supply of the pallets 65 to the lifting tables 
42 of such stacking units 41" may be accomplished by means of the central 
stacking units 41', as will be readily realized without any need for 
further explanation. However, it is also possible to choose a 
transportation path for the supply of the pallets 65 via the front 
stacking units 41, or a different way of pallet supply. In 
contradistinction thereto, in the stacking substations 40', the pallets 65 
can be supplied directly even to the stacking unit or units 41". 
Along the stacking units 41, 41' and 41" of each of the stacking 
substations 40 and 40', there are arranged air-cushion sorting tables 76 
at the upper level of the uppermost lifting positions of the roller 
conveyors 40 of the lifting tables 42. The final products 17 which arrive 
on the supply input conveyors 75 and 75' can be moved by means of such an 
air-cushion table 76 to the individual stacking units 41, 41' and 41" of 
the stacking substation 40 or of the stacking substation 40'. This can be 
preferably accomplished manually by an operator who is present in an aisle 
77 between the two stacking substations 40 and 40 or 40' and 40'. In this 
manner, it is possible to achieve a very rapid, unproblematic and simple 
transfer of the arriving final products 17 of different sizes by the 
respective operator to the proper different stacking units. Thus, final 
products 17 of twelve different sizes can thus be simultaneously stacked 
on the respective lifting tables 42 of the stacking units 41, 41' and 41" 
of the four stacking substations 40 and 40'. However, it is also possible, 
if desired, to simultaneously stack on the lifting tables 42 or at least 
on one of the lifting tables 42, in each instance, a plurality of the 
final products 17 of different sizes in stacks 48 of the final products 17 
having the same size, if the subdividing program for the plate-shaped 
blanks 15 permits it. 
Instead of the illustrated three stacking units 41, 41' and 41" in each of 
the stacking substations 40 and 40', each of the stacking substations 40 
and 40' could be provided with only two of the stacking units, or with a 
number of the stacking units which is arbitrarily greater than three. 
This installation or machine is extremely versatile and renders possible a 
rapid throughput of the final products 17, even when all of such final 
products 17 have different sizes, as well as the stacking of such final 
products 17 in respective stacks 48, with a relatively small available 
space requirement for the installation. This installation can also be 
provided with a high degree of automation. Under certain circumstances, 
even the aforementioned involvement or work of the two operators present 
in the two aisles 77 can be dispensed with by automating their activity, 
in that the distribution of the final products 17 from the supply input 
conveyors 75 and 75' to the individual stacking units 41, 41' and 41" is 
automated as well. 
It is also possible in some cases that no storing or pallet roller conveyor 
60 is associated with at least one of the downstream roller conveyors 50. 
Under such circumstances, there is no need for the provision of the 
downstream roller conveyor portion 51 at the upstream stacking unit 41 of 
the respective stacking substation, inasmuch as such downstream conveyor 
portion 51 would then serve no purpose. When the respective stacking 
substation then consists of only two of the stacking units, the respective 
downstream roller conveyor 50 can then be constituted only by the 
stationary roller conveyor 53. 
An operating cycle of the installation disclosed here may advantageously be 
conducted, for instance, in the following manner: 
The operation of the subdividing arrangement can be performed in a 
program-controlled manner, and may occur as described in my above-cited 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,281 with respect to the distribution of the 
longitudinal rows 16 of the subdivided plate-shaped blanks 15 by means of 
the stripping-off tray 19 and its stripping-of device 22 to the supply 
input conveyors 75 and 75'. The workers or operators who are present in 
the aisles 77 provided between the respective stacking substations 40 and 
40' transfer the final products 17 which arrive on the supply input 
conveyors 75 and 75' to their working stations manually, by means of the 
air-cushion tables 76, to the lifting tables 42 of the respective stacking 
units, on which these final products are stacked in a manner sorted in 
accordance with their sized. Each of the lifting tables 42 is lowered in a 
light-barrier controlled manner after each deposition of the respective 
final product 17 thereon, or on the stack 48 being formed thereon, to such 
an extent that the upper plane of the respective stack 48 is again 
situated at the elevation of the respective air-cushion table 76, so that 
the respective operator is then again able, after the arrival of the next 
one of the final products 17 that are to be stacked to form the respective 
stack 48, to manually transfer this next final product 17 by means of the 
air-cushion table on top of the thus forming stack 48, whereupon the 
lifting table 42 is lowered again in the light-barrier controlled manner. 
When a plurality of the stacks 48 is being formed simultaneously on the 
respective lifting table 42, the lowering of the lifting table 42 may be 
accomplished only after the deposit of one of the final products 17 on 
each and every of such stacks 48. When the respective stack 48 has 
achieved its desired height, or when the lifting table 42 of one of the 
stacking units has arrived at its lowermost position, there may be 
performed, either automatically or in response to an initiating action by 
the operator, the transportation of the respective stack 48 or of all of 
the stacks 48 present on this lifting table 48 away from this lifting 
table. This is achieved, where the respective stacking unit is 
transversely movable, by moving the respective stacking unit by its motor 
drive 34, 35, 36 out of its basic position 46 into its extended or 
displaced position 47 and then, as a result of the operation of the 
respective roller conveyor 44 by means 37, 38, by transporting the 
respective stack or stacks 48 in the direction of the arrow F (see FIG. 2) 
for transfer to the end of the respective roller conveyor 53, or in the 
direction of the arrow F' for interim storage on the respective roller 
conveyor 60. 
In the stacking substations 40, the stacks 48 which are formed in the 
stacking units 41" are transported away via the roller conveyors 70. 
When the stacking in this installation is to take place on the pallets 65, 
the pallets 65 may be transferred to the lifting tables 42 of the 
transversely movable stacking units immediately after each completion of 
the transportation of the respective preceding stacks 48 from the 
respective lifting tables 42, and the respective transversely movable 
stacking units may be moved back to their respective basic positions 46 
only afterward. 
There are also other possibilities for the operating cycle of the 
installation, for instance, an even higher, or a lower, degree of its 
automation. 
When one of the stacking substations includes only two of the stacking 
units, and the last one of these stacking units is not transversely 
movable, then the entire downstream roller conveyor 50 may be arranged in 
a stationary manner, especially when no pallet and storage roller conveyor 
60 is associated with this station. In this case, the region of this 
downstream roller conveyor 50 which is arranged laterally of the 
respective stacking substation is provided only downstream of the last 
stacking unit of this substation, so that the lifting table 42 of the 
front stacking unit can be moved to the front end of the downstream roller 
conveyor 50. This region of the downstream roller conveyor 50 can, in some 
cases, form the downstream roller conveyor 50 exclusively, even though it 
is, in general, more advantageous to make this downstream roller conveyor 
50 longer, especially considerably longer, and thus to let it project 
parallel to the longitudinal direction of the respective stacking 
substation, preferably to a considerable extent. 
While the present invention has been described and illustrated herein as 
embodied in a specific construction of a stacking installation for a 
plate-subdividing machine, it is not limited to the details of this 
particular construction, since various modifications and structural 
changes are possible and contemplated by the present invention. Thus, the 
scope of the present invention will be determined exclusively by the 
appended claims.