Dual collating machine

Abstract: Two separate collating areas (25A,25B) and a deflector means (20) operative to effect processing of successive collations alternately in each of the collating areas are provided. The collations are alternately transported from the two collating areas through two discharge chutes (140,144 and 142,144) which feed to a common discharge point (130). As one of the successive collations is being transported out of one of the collating areas, the other collating area is simultaneously accumulating the next one of the successive collations.

Description: The present invention relates to a collating machine and more particularly to a collating machine having two collation sections for alternately collating sheets of paper in the same or reverse order in which they are fed. The invention may be applied to inserting apparatus. Collating machines are frequently used in line with other paper handling equipment as a means of assembling a plurality of sheets of paper into a particular, desired packet prior to further processing, which may include additional collating, folding and inserting. For further background, reference can be made to U.S. Patent Nos. 2,766,569 and 4,143,981. In a typical paper handling sequence involving an initial output consisting of a plurality of sheets of paper, to be later combined with subsequent output from other sheet feeding devices situated downstream, the initial output is fed from a stack, or a web supply, seriatim to the collator, which collates the output into the desired packets, either in the same or reverse order in which the sheets are fed to the collator. Each packet may then be folded, stitched or subsequently combined with other output from document feeding devices located downstream thereof and ultimately inserted into a mailing envelope. U.S. Patent Nos. 4,640,506 and 4,805,891 which represent the closest prior art respectively teach the incorporation in the collating machine of removable and movable reverse order stacking devices for stacking sheets of paper being fed seriatim thereto from a singulating feeder in the same or reverse order as said sheets appear in said singulating feeder. U.S. Patent (US-A) No. 3,542,362 and its corresponding French Patent No. (FR-B) 1,564,419 disclose apparatus for feeding paper tube sections from discharge rolls to a deflector and thence to one of two discharge belts, according to the position of the deflector. The tube sections are then shingled by shingling belts. The deflector is controlled by a counter to feed a certain number of the paper tube sections to a lower discharge belt and the same number to an upper discharge belt. Tube sections are stacked by encountering hinged stop plates. German Patent No. (DE-C) 1,586,350 shows a machine which operates in a manner similar to U.S. Patent 3,542,362. Flat articles are fed or directed onto one or other of two pairs of endless belts. From each of these they are transferred to corresponding conveyor belts, and then onto further respective conveyor belts upon which they encounter respective stop members. In this way stacks are formed. Passage of flat articles to the diverter is monitored by a sensor which may include a photoelectric device. British Patent No. (GB-A) 1,434,653 describes apparatus for the controlled delivery of flat articles comprising separating means for separating the articles from a stack, at least two conveying channels fed by the separating means and leading to a common output, a controllable stop in each channel for permitting or preventing the passage of articles, sensing means associated with each channel prior to the controllable stop for sensing the presence of an article, control means actuable in accordance with the output of the sensing means to prevent the feed of articles to a channel in which an article is already present, and call-up means effective through a circuit associated with the controllable stops for retracting a controlled step from one of the channels to permit an article present at the controllable stop to be passed to the output. This is not a machine for stacking a series of spaced and individually fed sheets from a feeder, and then transmitting collations thereof to a single exit path. European Published Application (EP-A) No. 244 650 shows a sheet diverting and delivery system. The separate sheets pass between and are accelerated by the nip rollers whereupon a dual set of diverting cams, in combination with a pair of conveyors, directs the sheet to one of two delivery systems. The next subsequent sheet is directed to the other delivery system so that each successive sheet is alternately diverted between the two delivery systems. Upon entering either delivery system, the sheet is subjected to a snubbing means which decelerates the sheet and further allows the next subsequent sheet to overlap the previous sheet before being similarly decelerated. The shingled sheets are then transmitted by conveyor to a subsequent handling operation. This is a shingling machine which does not form the sheets into stacks. Generally, the speed of a feeder, which is feeding sheets to a collating machine, is faster than the speed of the collating machine. With known machines, the feeder must stop feeding sheets when a predetermined number of sheets representing a collation have been fed to the collating machine. When the last sheet of the collation is transported to the collation stack in the collating machine, the collator transports the collation to the next station in the paper handling equipment, at which time the feeder begins again to feed sheets for the next collation. Thus known collators of this type generally reduce the throughput of the paper handling equipment. Because the speed of the feeder is generally faster than a collator, and because the feeder must suspend feeding sheets until the collation accumulated in the collator has been transported from the collator, the feeder is continuously starting and stopping as it feeds the collator and then waits for a collation to be transported from the collator. This results in additional wear and tear on the feeder mechanical components which is above and beyond the normal wear and tear of a sheet feeder running in a non-stop mode. Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide a collating machine which eliminates or reduces the need for stopping the sheet feeder during normal operation, and which can operate at a speed approaching or equal to the speed of the feeder. According to the invention there is provided a collating machine stacking a series of individually spaced sheets of paper fed seriatim from a feeder comprising: a housing; first means mounted to said housing for individually conveying and stacking at least one sheet to form a first collation at a first collation section; second means adjacent to said first means for individually conveying and stacking at least one sheet to form a second collation at a second collation section; diverting means, arranged in a sheet path between said feeder and said first and second means, for diverting said sheets fed seriatim by said feeder, said diverting means having first and second operative positions for respectively diverting said sheets to said first means and to said second means; and control means operatively coupled to said diverting means for actuating said diverting means to one of its operative positions; wherein (a) the first and second collation sections are located adjacent to the diverting means, and (b) a sensor means is operatively connected to said control means for sensing when a sheet is conveyed to said diverting means, said sensor means being operable to sense when a last sheet of a predetermined number of sheets of said first or second collation is conveyed to the diverting means and to transmit to said control means a signal indicating said last sheet is so conveyed, said control means actuating said diverting means upon receiving said signal. A particular embodiment of the present invention includes first transport means for transporting the first collation from the first stacking means when the last sheet of the first collation is stacked in the first collation section, second transport means for transporting the second collation from the second stacking means when the last sheet of the second collation is stacked in the second collation section and funnel means downstream of said first and second conveying means for funnelling the first and second collations transported from the first and second collation sections to a single paper path for further processing by paper handling equipment. A complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate similar elements in the various figures and, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a dual in-line collating machine in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a top plan view taken on the plane indicated by the line 2-2 in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the plane indicated by line 3-3 in Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of the collating machine seen in Figure 1 arranged to accumulate sheets in the lower collating section as the collation in upper collating section is transported out of the upper collating section. In describing the preferred embodiment of the present invention, reference is made to U.S. Patents Nos. 4,640,506 and 4,805,891, both assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and whose contents are hereby incorporated herein. These arrangements show a capability of stacking sheets of paper in the same or reverse order in which they are fed to the collating machine. Referring now to the drawings, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown wherein a dual collating machine 10 is comprised of two collation sections 25A and 25B, each of which is individually capable of accumulating a plurality of sheets in the same or reverse order in which the sheets are fed. In the description which follows, like components in each collation section are designated with the same reference numeral with an additional reference of letters A or B for the upper or lower section respectively of the dual collating machine. Referring now to Figures 1, 2 and 3, there is shown the dual collating machine 10 utilizing pairs of conveying rollers 11, 12, 13 and 14 which convey sheets of paper 6 fed seriatim from a singulating feeder (not shown) to one of the two collation sections 25A and 25B of the collating machine. There is a wedge-shaped deflector 20, which has a tapered end 23 facing rollers 11, 12, 13 and 14. The deflector 20 is fixedly secured to a shaft 21 which pivots between two positions, as shown in Figure 1. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the pivoting motion is driven by a rotary solenoid 19 having an internal return spring, which is suitably fastened to the frame (not shown) of the collating machine 10. The shaft 21 is suitably journaled at one end to the frame of the collating machine 10, and at the other is operatively connected to the rotary solenoid 19. It will be understood that alternate means, such as, a solenoid/spring arrangement or a dual solenoid arrangement, can be used for pivoting deflector 20. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the length of the tapered edge of the deflector 20 exceeds the length of the leading edge of any sheet being processed by the collating machine 10. As shown in Figure 1, deflector 20 is positioned to deflect sheets to the upper collation section 25A of the dual collating machine. When the solenoid 19 is energized, the shaft 21 rotates to the right, causing the deflector 20 to move to its second position, shown in phantom, for diverting sheets to the lower collation section 25B. When the solenoid 19 is deenergized, the shaft 21 rotates to the left returning the deflector 20 to its first position. It has been found that an embodiment of the present invention can be used to collate sheets fed from a two up burster. In such a configuration, the sheets from the upper web are diverted to collation section 25A and the sheets from the lower web are diverted to collation section 25B. The following is a description of the collation sections 25A and 25B. Because each section is similarly structured with like components having the same reference numerals except for the A or B designated, the two sections will be described once without the A and B designations. Four driven shafts 48, 88, 28 and 66 are rotatably mounted in the frame (not shown) of the dual collating machine 10 and operatively connected to a conventional drive system (not shown). Three idler pulleys 42, 44 and 46 are rotatably mounted on shaft 48 while two idle pulleys 82 and 84 are rotatably mounted on shaft 88. Three pulleys 22, 24 and 26 are operatively connected to the driven shaft 28 while two pulleys 62 and 64 are operatively connected to the driven shaft 66. A suitable, upper, endless, elastic conveyor belt 32 is suspended on the pulleys 22 and 42, a second suitable, upper, endless, elastic conveyor belt 34 is suspended on the pulleys 24 and 44, while a third, suitable, upper, endless, elastic conveyor belt 36 is suspended on the pulleys 26 and 46. Similarly, a suitable, lower, endless, elastic conveyor belt 72 is suspended on the pulleys 62 and 82 while a second suitable, lower, endless, elastic conveyor belt 74 is suspended on the pulleys 64 and 84. There are two pairs of dump rollers 38 and 78, and 39 and 79, which are used as registration stops and exit rollers in the collating section 25. As best seen in Figure 3, rollers 38 and 39 are operatively connected to driven shaft 48, and rollers 78 and 79 are operatively connected to driven shaft 88. As sheets 6 are conveyed into the collation section 25 shafts 48 and 88 are disengaged from the drive system (not shown) and held by a friction brake (not shown), causing the dump rollers 38, 39, 78 and 79 to be stationary and act as registration stops. When the last sheet of a collation 7 has been conveyed into the section 25, driven shafts 48 and 88 are engaged causing the dump rollers 38, 39, 78, 79 to rotate and convey the collation 7 from section 25. As best shown in Figure 2, three upper ramp guide blocks 52, 54, and 56 are fixedly secured to an upper mounting arm 57. Mounting arm 57 is transversely secured between a pair of brackets 96 (not shown) which are slidably mounted to the frame of the collating machine 10 in a known manner such as shown in U.S. Patent No. 4,805,591. A pair of lower ramp guide blocks 92 and 94 are mounted to a lower mounting arm 97. Mounting arm 97 is also transversely secured between the pair of brackets 96 (not shown). The blocks 52, 54, and 56 are slidable transversely owing to bolts 59 which are slidably mounted in a channel 58 which traverses the arm 57. Similarly, blocks 92 and 94 are slidable transversely owing to bolts 99 (not shown) which are slidably mounted in a channel 98 which traverses the arm 97. The lower guide blocks 92 and 94 include a lower inclined end 95 on the upstream side for intercepting a leading end of sheets 6 as they are individually conveyed through the collating machine 10 after having been separated by the upstream singulating feeder 5 (not shown). For further information regarding the slidable mounting and positioning of the blocks refer to U.S. patent No. 4,805,891. Suitable paper side guides (not shown) are secured to side panels on each side of the collating machine 10 for guiding the sheets 6. For additional guidance of sheets 6, each of the upper guide blocks 52, 54 and 56 includes a pair of suitably journaled idler rollers 110 and 112 and each of the lower guide blocks 92 and 94 includes four suitably journaled idler rollers 114, 116, 118 and 120, as best seen in Figures 1 and 4. The idler rollers 110 and 112 provide and define the appropriate path for the upper belts 32, 34 and 36 while the four idler rollers 114, 116, 118 and 120 provide and define the appropriate path for the lower belts 72 and 74. The construction of the belts 32, 34, 36, 72 and 74 are of an "O" ring nature, but it is possible to utilize a flat belt, as long as the belt material is elastic, or there is provided an adequate belt tensioning system, the likes of which are well known by those skilled in the art. Referring now to Figure 4, the lower guide blocks 92 and 94 are seen to include an L-shaped portion on the downstream side defined by horizontal support surfaces 122 and vertical abutment surfaces 124. It should be noted that rollers 116 and 118 are so arranged that conveyor belts 72 and 74 are maintained remote from the surfaces 122 and 124. A pair of conveying rollers 130 are suitably journaled, supported and driven by a drive system (not shown) for conveying collations which are fed from the collation sections 25A and 25B. The collations fed from sections 25A and 25B are funneled into one paper path by three plates 140, 142 and 144. Plates 140 and 144 form an upper funnel which receives collations 7A fed from collation section 25A. Plates 142 and 144 form a lower funnel which receives collations 7B (not shown) fed from collation section 25B. Plate 142 is rigidly mounted to the frame 160 of the collating machine in a suitable manner. Plates 140 and 144 are rigidly connected to vertical side plates 146 (see Figure 2) to form an upper funnel assembly 152 which is removably mounted to the frame 160. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the funnel assembly 152 includes pins 148 and 150 secured to each side plate 146 for removably mounting assembly 152 to slots suitably positioned in the frame 160. The assembly 152 is removable for clearing a paper jam which may occur in either funnel path. It is noted that a paper jam occurring in collation sections 25A or 25B can be accessed by lifting the upper collating section 25A which is pivotably mounted at the downstream end in a conventional manner. Having explained the details of the apparatus hereinabove, the mode of operation will now be explained. As seen in Figure 1, the deflector 20 is positioned to deflect sheets 6 to the upper collating section 25 A. As the singulating feeder (not shown) conveys a supply of sheets 6 seriatim to the collating machine 10, sheet 6 is conveyed to the upper collation section by the pairs of conveying rollers, 11, 12, 13 and 14. The sheets 6 are advanced one at a time in collation section 25A to form a collation 7A. The sheets forming collation 7A come to rest against dump rollers 38A, 39A, 78A and 79A which are stopped as collation 7A is being accumulated. When the last sheet for collation 7A is conveyed by the singulating feeder 5, the solenoid 19 is energized causing the deflector 20 to pivot to its alternate position. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a sensor (not shown) is positioned upstream from the collating machine for detecting the trailing edge of the last sheet of each collation 7 and for generating a signal which results in the solenoid 19 being energized or deenergized. The sensor is positioned so that the leading edge of the last sheet is conveyed past deflector 20 before the sensor detects the trailing edge. It will be understood that other known methods, such as, placing a sensor in the collating machine, can be used for detecting when the last sheet has been conveyed past the deflector 20. Another alternative method for controlling the pivoting of deflector 20 is to have the deflector 20 pivot after a predetermined number of sheets (forming one of said first and second collations) are fed to a collation section. The singulating feeder, without stopping, pausing or slowing down, continues to feed sheets 6 to the collating machine 10. As seen in Figure 4A, the first sheet 6 of the collation 7B (not shown) is deflected to the lower collation section 25B. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the speed of the singulating feeder 5 and the collating machine 10 can be adjustably controlled based on the number of sheets being accumulated in each collation so that the singulating feeder 5 and the collating machine 10 cooperatively operate to accumulate alternately in collation sections 25A and 25B collations from a continuously feeding feeder 5. Figure 4B shows collation 7A being conveyed out of collation section 25A as sheet 6 is being deflected and conveyed to collation section 25B in Figure 4A. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the status and location of collation 7A with regard to the location of the first sheet 6 of collation 7B depends on several factors including the number of sheets in collation 7A and the relative operating speed of the singulating feeder 5 and the collating machine 10. It is noted that the location of collation 7A and sheet 6 in Figures 4A and 4B are for description purposes only. As described in the above, it has been found that by alternately accumulating successive collations in two or more collating areas fed by a sheet feeder the sheet feeder can continuously feed sheets without having to stop for each collation to be removed from the collating machine. Such alternate accumulation in two collating areas significantly improves the rate at which the collating machine can accumulate successive collations and, therefore, improves the throughput of the inserting machine. The described collating machine is provided with dual collating capability including two separate collating areas and a deflector means operative to effect processing of successive collations alternatively in each of the collating areas. The collations are alternatively transported from the two collating areas through two discharge chutes which feed to a common discharge point. As one of the successive collations is being transported out of one of the collating areas, the other collating area is simultaneously accumulating the next one of the successive collations. While the invention has been disclosed and described with reference to a single embodiment thereof it will be apparent, as noted above, that variations and modifications may be made therein. Thus, variations and modifications are considered to be within the claimed invention, whose scope is to be interpreted consistent with Article 69 EPC and its Protocol.

Claims: A collating machine stacking a series of individually spaced sheets of paper fed seriatim from a feeder comprising: a housing; first means (22A-26A, 32A-36A, 42A-46A, 62A-64A, 72A-74A, 82A-84A) mounted to said housing for individually conveying and stacking at least one sheet (6) to form a first collation at a first collation section (25A); second means (22B-26B, 32B-36B, 42B-46B, 62B-64B, 72B-74B, 82B-84B) adjacent to said first means for individually conveying and stacking at least one sheet to form a second collation at a second collation section (25B); diverting means (20), arranged in a sheet path between said feeder and said first and second means, for diverting said sheets fed seriatim by said feeder, said diverting means having first and second operative positions for respectively diverting said sheets to said first means and to said second means; and control means (19) operatively coupled to said diverting means (20) for actuating said diverting means to one of its operative positions; wherein (a) the first and second collation sections (25A, 25B) are located adjacent to the diverting means (20), and (b) a sensor means is operatively connected to said control means for sensing when a sheet is conveyed to said diverting means (20), said sensor means being operable to sense when a last sheet of a predetermined number of sheets of said first or second collation (7A or 7B) is conveyed to the diverting means and to transmit to said control means a signal indicating said last sheet is so conveyed, said control means actuating said diverting means upon receiving said signal. A collating machine according to claim 1, further comprising first transport means (38A, 78A) for transporting said first collation from said first collation section when the last sheet has been stacked by said first means; second transport means (38B, 78B) for transporting said second collation from said second collation section when the last sheet has been stacked by said second means; and a funnel means (140, 142, 144) downstream of said first and second conveying means, for funnelling said first and second collations transported from said first and second collation sections to a single paper path for further processing by paper handling equipment. A collating machine according to claim 2 which operates in such a manner that said diverting means is in said second operative position when said first transport means is transporting the last accumulated one of said first collations from said first collation section, and is in said first operative position when said second transport means is transporting the last accumulated one of said second collations from said second collation section. A collating machine according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said sensor means senses each sheet being conveyed to said diverting means and transmits to said control means a signal indicating each of said sheets conveyed, and said control means actuates said diverting means (20) when a predetermined number of sheets representing one of said first and second collations are fed. A collating machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said diverting means (20) includes a deflector coupled to and pivotably controlled by at least one solenoid (19). A collating machine according to any preceding claim wherein said first collation section comprises a first lower ramp guide block (92A, 94A) defining an upstream end of said first collation section, and said second collation section comprises a second lower ramp guide block (92B, 94B) defining an upstream end of said second collation section. A collating machine according to any of claims 1-5 wherein said first and second means each further comprise: a plurality of upper, endless, drivable elastic belts (32, 34, 36) carried by said housing; a plurality of lower, endless, drivable elastic belts (72, 74) carried by said housing, each of said upper and lower belts having an upper and lower reach, wherein the lower reach of the upper belts is situated slightly above the upper reach of the lower belts to thereby frictionally engage and transport the sheets of paper; upper and lower frame members (57, 97) slidably mounted to said housing, said frame members being moveable between an upstream and a downstream position; an upper ramp guide block (e.g. 92A) secured to said upper frame member; a lower ramp guide block (e.g. 92B) secured to said lower frame member, whereby when said lower frame is located in an upstream position collation is effected in the same order as said sheets are fed by said feeder, and when said frame is located in said downstream position collation in the reverse order is effected. A collating machine according to claim 2 or 3 wherein said funnel means comprises a chute having first and second channels through which said first and second collations respectively pass when being transported from said first and second collation sections. A collating machine according to claims 1 to 8 wherein said first and second means and said diverting means operate in such a manner that the feeder continuously feeds seriatim the sheets which form said first and second collations. A collating machine according to claim 1 wherein each of said first and second conveying means includes at least one upper, endless, elastic belt (32, 34, 36) and one lower, endless, elastic belt (72, 74), each of said belts having an upper and lower reach, and wherein the lower reach of each upper belt is situated above the upper reach of a lower belt to thereby frictionally engage and transport said sheets of paper, and each of said conveying means further includes ramp means (52, 54, 56, 92, 94) operatively coupled to said upper and lower belts for directing each of said sheets of paper to the first or second collation section. A collating machine according to claim 6 wherein said upper and lower ramp guide blocks are each movable between an upstream and downstream position whereby when in the upstream position, collation is effected in the same order as said sheets are fed by said feeder, and when in the downstream position, collation in the reverse order is effected. A collating machine according to any preceding claim further comprising means for conveying sheets fed from the feeder to said diverting means. A collating machine according to any of claims 1 to 12 wherein said first collation section (25A) is situated above said second collation section (25B).

Inventors: YOUNG JOHN J JR, YOUNG, JOHN J., JR.
Applicants: PITNEY BOWES INC, PITNEY BOWES INC.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B65H31
IPC codes: B65H29, B65H39, B65H31