CHOPPER DEVICE FOR USE IN A FOLDER

Abstract: There is disclosed improved a chopper device for use in a folder adapted to apply chopper folding to a signature which has been subjected to parallel folding at a parallel folding de­ vice of the folder and then is conveyed by means of a convey­ ing belt, in a direction perpendicular to the parallel folding di­ rection. This novel chopper device is provided with an elon­ gated opening with a mouthpiece below the conveying path therefor, a chopper blade which lowers when the signature is stopped at a predetermined position to force the signature into the opening, means for moving the chopper blade upwardly and downwardly, a pair of rollers provided below the opening in order to grip the signature forced into the opening by the chopper blade to deliver it to a delivery conveyer, and brushes provided on the both sides of the opening thereabove so that they slidably hold both side portions of the signature when the signature is lowered by the rollers through the opening. Such an arrangement permits the both slide edges of the signature which has been released from the condition where it is held by the conveying belt to enter into the opening while sliding on the brushes. Thus, this eliminates the possibility that the signa­ ture becomes stained or broken due to the contact with the chopper blade fitting portion, with the result that the occur­ rence of waste sheets can be greatly reduced.

Description: The present invention relates to a chopper device according to the preamble of claim 1. In association with web-fed rotary printing presses there is provided a folder which cuts a web, i.e. a roller of printing sheet which has undergone printing process into individual sheet segments having a predetermined size and then folds these sheet segments. For this purpose the folder is provided with a former device for half-folding a web which has not been subjected cutting process in the sheet width direction. By means of a parallel folding device the web which has undergone former folding or which has been cut in the sheet width direction using a slitter is then cut, in the length direction, whereupon the sheet segments thus obtained are cut in the length direction. The signatures which have been subjected to parallel folding are finally folded by a chopper device in a direction perpendicurlar to the parallel folding direction, whereupon the folded signatures are conveyed to an other location. The chopper device which is the subject matter of the present invention operates as follows: The front edge of the signature conveyed by a conveying belt after subjected to parallel folding is first brought into contact with a front lay, which stopps the signature. Next a thin plate like chopper blade is lowered toward the center line of the stopped signature to cause the signature to be seized between a pair of rotary rollers which half-fold the signature. The signatures subjected to half-folding are then delivered to the paddles of a rotating fan wheel, which turns them around and delivers them to a delivery conveyor. This conveyer conveyes them so that they can be stacked. With conventional chopper devices as known by JP-A-59-4568 and DE-A-19 58 764 a following problem occurs: At the beginning of the folding, the signature which is struck at its center line by the chopper blade and seized between the rotary rollers to undergo folding may be retained by the conveyer belt. Since such a folder sheet is released from the condition where it is held by the conveying belt at the end of the folding, the edge portions of the particular signature will rapidly lower while the both sides of the portion at which the chopper blade is fitted are kept sliding. This invites the possibility that the printed surface of the edge portions may be stained or broken, resulting in the generation of waste printed sheets. It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a chopper device for use in a folder which has eliminated the drawbacks encountered with the above-mentioned prior art. According to the present invention this object can be obtained by providing the features as stated within the characterizing clause of claim 1. Further improvements of the invention are obtained by providing the features as stated within the subclaims 2-7. In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view illustrating a chopper device to which the present invention is applied wherein the indication of the support portions of brushes for holding the signature is omitted, Fig. 2 is a front view taken along an arrow A of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a side view showing a signature holding brushes and the vicinity of its support portion, taken along an arrow B of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the same portions as those in Fig. 3. Detailed description of the preferred embodiment A preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 1 to 4. As seen from these figures, between a parallel folding device (not shown) and an end portion of a sheet delivery device (not shown) provided in a folder, four conveying belts 1, each of which is consisted of one pair of conveying belts, i.e., upper and lower belts and runs in a direction indicated by an arrow C in Figs. 1 and 3 are stretched. Portions indicated by reference numerals 1A and 1B in Fig. 2 show cross sections in the return paths of the conveying belts 1, respectively. Signatures which have been subjected to the parallel folding are conveyed with they being held by the upper and lower belts of the conveying belts 1. The conveying belts 1 release the signatures from the condition where they are held at a chopper device or at a sheet delivery device which will be described later and then return to the parallel folding device via the return paths. In the middle of the path along which the signatures are conveyed by the conveying belts 1, there is provided the chopper device of which entirety is represented by reference numeral 2. The chopper device 2 is provided with a subframe 5 having a frame structure formed with a vertically elongated rectangular side plate 3 and square stays 4 for joinning four corners positioned at upper, lower, left and right portions. The subframe 5 is supported by a chopper frame (not shown) so that it is movable and adjustable in correspondence with the size of the signature. A plate 6 is installed with it being supported by the subframe 5 to allow the conveying belts 1 to slide thereon. A rectangular hole is formed in the central portion of the plate 6. A pair of mouthpiece 7 are screw-fastened into the hole. Between the left and right mouthpieces 7, there is formed a groove or an opening for passing a chopper blade 24 movable upwardly and downwardly which will be described later therethrough. In addition, below the mouthpieces 7, a pair of jaw rollers 8 and 9 rotating in directions indicated by respective arrows in Fig. 2 are disposed with a gap for passing the chopper blade 24 therethrough being provided similarly to the above-mentioned groove formed between the mouthpieces 7. An arm 10 is disposed at the front side in the center of the subframe 5 in the width direction thereof. The arm 10 is supported by a horizontal support shaft 13 of which both end portions are supported by a support member 11 and a manipulation member 12 with the central portion of the supporting end thereof being fixed to the support shaft 13. The manipulation of the member 12 causes the support shaft 13 to rotate, thus to fluctuate the arm 10. A front lay support shaft 14 is fixed to the movable end of the arm 10 with the shaft 14 being penetrated through the movable end thereof in parallel to the support shaft 13. A projection 15 projects horizontally from the movable end portion of the arm 10. A support bar 16 which is parallel to the front lay support shaft 14 and has an inverse L-shaped cross section is pivotally attached at its central portion so that it is movable in a horizontal direction. Into a pin hole formed in one end of the support bar 16, the front end portion of an adjustment screw shaft 18 screw-engaged with a female screw member 17 at one end of the front lay support shaft 14 is inserted. Between the other end of the front lay support shaft 14 and the support bar 16, there is provided a compression coil spring 19 for exerting an anticlockwise rotational force on the supporting bar 16. To the vertical surface of the support bar 16, a plurality of rectangular plate like front lays 20 are screw-fastened so that they are dephased with the conveying belts 1. To the respective front lays 20, guides 21 each having a tapered surface at the lower end are screw-fastened. When the signatures which have been conveyed by the conveying belts 1 reach the chopper device, their front ends enter from the tapered portions of the guides 21, and then become in contact with the front lays 20 and are stopped thereat. By applying rotational manipulation to the adjustment screw shaft 18, to what degree the front edge of the signature and the front lay 20 are parallel is finely adjusted on the basis of the cooperative action of the screw shaft 18 and the compression coil spring 19. In addition, by manipulating the manipulation member 12, the front lays 20 rise through the arm 10 etc., permitting the signatures to pass therethrough without causing them to be in contact with the front lays 20. Further, to a chamfered portion of an arm shaft 22 rotatably supported by the subframe 5 in parallel to the square stays 4, an arm 23 is fixed in a manner that the movable end portion faces above the mouthpieces 7. To the movable end of the arm 23, a laterally elongated rectangular chopper blade 24 formed with a thin plate is fixed by a force plate 26 and bolts through a bar 25. The arm shaft 22 is drivingly connected to a prime mover side through a clank mechanism (not shown). By driving the arm shaft 22 from the prime mover side, the arm 23 fluctuates between positions indicated by a solid line and dotted lines in Fig. 2, whereby the chopper blade 24 moves upwardly and downwardly. Namely, when the front end edge of a certain signature which has been conveyed with it being supported by the upper and lower belts of the conveying belts 1 becomes in contact with the front lays 20 and is stopped thereat, the chopper blade 24 lowers toward the center line of the signature, causing the signature to be gripped between the both jaw rollers 8 and 9 through the gap formed in the mounthpieces 7 while half-folding the signature. In addition, below the jaw rollers 8 and 9, a pair of rollers and a fan wheel (which are not shown) are disposed. Thus, the signatures gripped between the jaw rollers 8 and 9 is drawn out below by the pair of rollers provided therebelow and is delivered between paddles of the fan wheel, thereby conveying the signature by making use of the rotation of the fan wheel to deliver it onto the delivery conveyer. The chopper device 2 is further provided with a sheet hold device which holds the signature immediately before it is in contact with the front lay 20 to brake it, and another sheet hold device which holds the signature which is being half-folded in accordance with the downward movement of the chopper blade 24, so that it does not stands. On the support bar 16 which supports the front lays 20, a plurality of adjustment screw shafts 28 each provided with a knob 27 are vertically provided with they being rotatably supported. These adjustment screw shafts 28 are screw-engaged with a plurality of screw holes of a bar 29 formed as long strips, respectively. By rotating each adjustment screw shaft 28 with the knob 27 being held by hand, the heights of the bar 29 is locally adjusted. A tubular nut 30 with a knob is screw-engaged with each adjustment screw shaft 28. The tubular nut 30 fixes each adjustment screw shaft 28 after the height adjustment of the bar 29 is completed. A plurality of L-shaped brush supports 31 are screw-fastened to the bar 29 in correspondence with the respective front lays 20. Brushes 32 are formed on the respective brush supports 31, by vertically providing a plurality of plastic fine wires so that front ends of the brushs 32 are caused to slide on the signature surface. By employing such an arrangement, the front end of the signature conveyed by the conveying belt 1 is held immediately before it is in contact with the front lay 20, whereby the running of the signature is braked, with the result that an impact based on the contact of the signature to the front lay 20 is relaxed. It is to be noted that the pressing force of the brush 32 applied to the signature is adjusted by causing the adjustment screw shaft 28 to rotate. Over the left and right upper square stays 4, a gate shaped frame 33 is bridged with the bottom portions thereof being fixed thereon. A pair of support arms 35 joined by a stay 34 are projected horizontally from the central portion of the horizontal member provided at the upper end of the frame 33, so that the support arms 35 are positioned above the both sides of the fold of the signature. A brush support frame 36 has a frame structure integrally formed with a pair of left and right channel-shaped frame bodies 36a which are opened at their lower ends, pins 36b and 36c fixed at the front and rear sides of the upper horizontal member of the frame bodies 36a, joint members 36d and 36e joinning front and rear lower ends of the pair of channel-shaped frame bodies 36a, respectively, and right and left brush supports 36f joinning the front and rear lower ends of the pair of channel-shaped frame bodies 36a, respectively. A pair of forked levers 39 and 40 are pivotally supported at two portions on the front and rear sides of the support arm 35 through pins 37 and 38 and the ends of the forked lever 39 and 40 are rotatably joined with the pins 36b and 36c of the brush support frame 36. The left and right frame bodies 36a of the brush support frame 36 are disposed so that brush supports 36f are parallely positioned above the both sides of the fold of the signature. Brushes 41 comprised of a large number of plastic fine wires are integrally formed on these brush supports 36f, respectively. By applying rotational manipulation to a handle 42 on the pin 37 between positions indicated by a sold line and dotted lines, the brush support frame 36 effects parallel movement through a pressure regulator 43 which will be described later as indicated by the solid line and the dotted lines to move upwardly and downwarly, whereby the lower edge of each brush 41 contacts with the surface of the signature or is away therefrom. The pressure regulator 43 will be now described. The forked lever 39 and the lever 44 are loosely fitted to the pin 37 so that they are adjacent to each other. The handle 42 is projectedly provided on the lever 44. The upper and lower projections provided at the projected ends toward the rear sides of the both levers 39 and 44 are joinned by an adjustment screw shaft 46 with a knob 45. With such an arrangement, by applying rotational manipulation to the handle 42, the forked lever 39 moves through the lever 44 and the adjustment screw shaft 46. In addition, by applying rotational manipulation to the adjustment screw shaft 46 with the knob 45 being held, the phase relationship between the both levers 39 and 44 is adjusted, whereby the contact pressure of the brush 41 to the surface of the signature is adjusted accordingly. A stopper 47 serves to limit the rotational movement of the lever 44 to a preselected angle, thereby causing the brush 41 to be stopped at a preselected lower limit. A handle 48 is slidably fitted into a handle hole of the support arm 35 in a manner that a distal end portion of the handle 48 can be inserted into a hole of the lever 44 or drawn out therefrom. Between the handle 48 and a stop plate 49 which is fixed to the support arm 35, a compression coil sping 50 is provided. The lever 44 is fixed by the spring force and, accordingly, the handle 42 can not be moved in an ordinary condition, but the rotational manipulation of the handle 42 is permitted by pulling or drawing out the handle 48 against the spring force. In addition, a limit switch 51 is mounted on the frame 33 through a plate 52. An actuator 53 for the limit switch 51 is in contact with a cam 45 provided at the bottom portion of the forked lever 40. When the brush 41 is away from the surface of the signature, the contact of the limit switch 51 is closed, thus causing the starting of the machine to be unable. The operation of the chopper device thus configured will be now described. When it is unnecessary to effect the chopper folding, the manipulation lever 12 is manipulated to rotate the arm 10, so that the front lays 20 and the brushes 32 are positioned away from the conveying belts 1 in such manner that the handle 48 is pulled out and the handle 42 is rotated until the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, thus causing the brushes 41 to be positioned so that they are away from the conveying belts 1. In such a condition, when the printing press is caused to run, after printing is completed, the signatures which have been subjected to printing and the parallel folding are conveyed with they being supported by the upper and lower belts of the conveying belts 1. Thus they pass through the front lays 20 and are successively conveyed. Then, they are delivered onto the delivery conveyer through the fan wheel. On the other hand, when it is required to perform the chopper folding, the manipulation lever 12 is manipulated to rotate the arm 10 anticlockwise in Fig. 3, thereby causing it to take the position shown. Thus, the lower surfaces of the front lays 20 are flush with the contact surfaces of the upper and lower belts of the conveying belts 1, and the lower ends of the brushes 32 are also flush therewith. Then, when the handle 48 is pulled out and the handle 42 is rotated from the position indicated by the dotted lines to the position indicated by the solid line, the brush support frame 36 lowers in a manner that it parallelly shifts from the position indicated by the dotted lines to the position indicated by the solid line. As a result, the lower ends of the brushes 41 are flush with the contact surfaces of the upper and lower belts of the conveying belts 1. Thus, when the printing press is caused to run, signatures which are subjected to the printing and the parallel folding are conveyed with they being supported by the upper and lower belts of the conveying belts 1. When the leading edge of the signature approaches the front ends of the front lays 20, the running of the signature is braked on the basis of the holding effect by the brushes 32. Thus, the signature hits gently the front lays 20 via the tapered portion of the guide 21 with they being decelerated and are stopped thereat. Simultaneously with this, the chopper blade 24 lowers toward the position of the fold portion of the signature, thereby to force the fold portion of the signature into the gap between the mouthpieces 7, thus causing the signature to be gripped between the jaw rollers 8 and 9. Then, the fold portion of the signature is lowered by the jaw rollers 8 and 9 and the both side portions of the signature shift in the sheet width direction toward the chopper blade 24 while it is held by the upper and lower belts of the conveying belts 1. At near the end of the chopper folding, the signature is released from the condition where it is supported by the conveying belts 1. However, since the brushes 41 are provided in the chopper device according to the present invention, the both side edges of the signature is held by the brushes 41, whereby the signature slides under the brushes 41 without leap or jump up until it has been drawn into the gap between the mouthpieces 7. Accordingly, there is no possibility that the signature is in contact with the bar 25 and the cap screw 26 etc. and strained or broken. The signature thus gripped by the jaw rollers 8 and 9 is drawn out downwardly by the pair of rollers provided further below and is delivered between paddles of the fan wheel, whereupon the signature is conveyed by the rotation of the fan wheel and then is delivered onto the delivery conveyer. When the thickness etc. of the signature is changed, the tubular nut 30 is loosened to apply rotational manipulation to the adjustment screw shaft 28. Thus, the brush 32 moves upwardly and downwardly, whereby the contact pressure of the brush 32 to the signature is adjusted, thus making it possible to cope with the signature specification. When rotational manipulation is applied to the adjustment screw shaft 46 with the knob 45 being held, the phase relationship between the forked lever 39 and the lever 44 varies and the forked levers 39 and 40 slightly rotate, so that the height of the brush 41 is finely adjusted. Accordingly, the contact pressure of the brush 41 to the signature is adjusted, thus making it possible to cope with the signature specification.

Claims: Chopper device for use in a folder adapted to apply chopper folding to a signature which is subjected to parallel folding at a parallel folding device of said folder and then is conveyed through a conveying path having a conveying belt (1) in a direction perpendicular to the parallel folding direction, comprising an opening with a mouthpiece (7) disposed below the conveying path, said opening being elongated in the conveying direction; a chopper blade (24) which lowers when said signature is stopped at a predetermined position to force said signature into said opening; means for moving said chopper blade upwardly and downwardly and a pair of rollers (8,9) disposed below said opening, being in contact with each other and rotating in directions opposite to each other, respectively, in order to grip said signature forced into said opening by said chopper blade and then to deliver said signature it to a delivery conveyer characterized by the fact - that there are provided signature edge holding means (41) arranged on the both longitudinal sides of said opening in parallel to said chopper blade (24), for slidably holding both side portions of said signature to be chopper folded when the signature is lowered by said pair of rollers (8, 9) through said opening, and that there are provided adjusting means (36, 40) for separately adjusting said signature edge holding means (41) upwardly and downwardly to change the pressing force to the surface of said signature. Chopper device as set forth in claim 1 characterized in that said signature edge holding means are formed essentially by brushes (41) provided with a number of wires the lower ends of which slidably contact the surface of said signature which is subjected to be chopper folded. Chopper device as set forth in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the adjusting means (36-40) comprise right and left frames (36) each having four columns assembled in the form of square, the brushes (41) being attached to the lower columns (36b) of these frames (36) while the end portions of the upper columns of these frames (36) are held by means of pins (36b, c) which are arranged on the outer ends of two levers (39, 40) being rotably supported by means of pins (38, 39) within a fixed member (35), rotation of these levers about last mentioned pins (37, 38) of said fixed member (35) causing said signature holding means (41) to move upwardly and downwardly, while the chopper blade moving means (22, 23) are provided with an arm (23) having the inner end (22) rotably supported at a position outside of said conveying path (1), the outer end of this arm (23) projecting toward a space between said right and left frames (36a) through the central portion of one of the right and left frames (36a), said chopper blade (24) being attached to the edge portion of the outer end of said arm (23). Chopper device as set forth in claim 3, characterized in that the adjusting means (36-40) are provided with a handle (42) to manually rotate one of said levers (39) about said corresponding pin (37). Chopper device as set forth in claim 4, characterized in that the adjusting means (36-40) are provided further with a pressure regulator (43) adjustably connected between said one of said levers (39) and said handle (42), far finely adjusting the pressure of the signature edge holding means (41) to the surface of the signature. Chopper device as set forth in claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the adjusting means (36-40) are provided further with a stopper (47) for stopping the rotation of said levers (39, 40) at a preset position. Chopper device as set forth in one of the claims 4-6, characterized in that the adjusting means (36-40) are provided further with means (48) for inhibitting the manipulation of said manual handle (42) when the chopper folding is unnecessary and permitting it when the chopper folding is to be performed.

Inventors: HIRAYAMA, SEIKI C/O TORIDE FACTORY OF, KURIHARA, SHIGEAKI C/O TORIDE FACTORY OF
Applicants: KOMORI CORPORATION
Application year: 1986
Main classification: B65H45
IPC codes: B41F13, B65H45