Collator without a main line drive shaft

Abstract: A collator (10) comprises a collating conveyor (12) and a plurality of hopper sections (20,40,60) located along the conveyor. Each section includes at least one signature pile support (21-24,41-44,61-64) for holding signatures to be fed to the conveyor. Each section also includes a signature feeder (25-28,45-48,65-68) for feeding a signature from the pile support to the conveyor. Each section has its own respective motor (32,52,72) for driving the associated feeder. Each motor includes its own respective controller (30,50,70) for controlling the associated motor to control the feeding of signatures from the associated feeder to the conveyor. Each controller includes its own respective motor drive for controlling operation of the associated motor. A master controller (14) interconnecting the motor drives controls speed of operation and coordinates timing of operation of the motor drives. Alternatively, each pile support (21a-24a) could have its own respective feeder (25a-28a) for feeding a signature from the associated pile support to the conveyor (12a). In this case, each feeder would include its own respective motor (112,122,132,142) for driving the associated feeder. Also, each motor would include its own respective controller (110,120,130,140) for controlling the associated motor to control the feeding of signatures from the associated feeder to the conveyor.

Description: Technical Field The present invention relates to a collator having a plurality of signature feeders, and is particularly directed to such a collator without a main line drive shaft. Background of the Invention Collators for assembling a plurality of signatures into groups of collated signatures, such as books or magazines, are well known in the art. A typical collator includes a single main line drive shaft which drives a collating conveyor and feeders which feed signatures to the collating conveyor. The feeders are spaced along the collating conveyor. The main line drive shaft has a longitudinal central axis and is rotatable about its longitudinal central axis. A drive motor is connected to one end of the main line drive shaft to drive the shaft about its longitudinal central axis. The feeders are drivingly connected to the main line drive shaft. The feeders are driven with proper timing to form the books or magazines on the collating conveyor. Some disadvantages are present when a single main line drive shaft is used to drive a number of feeders spaced along a collating conveyor. One disadvantage is that the position of the feeders cannot be raised or lowered relative to the collating conveyor to better feed signatures onto the collating conveyor. This is because there are rigid mechanical connections between the main line drive shaft and the feeders. Another disadvantage is that a single main line drive shaft may be relatively long and, therefore, may twist enough about its longitudinal central axis to cause the feeders located a distance from the drive motor to be out of proper timing. The main line drive shaft may twist about its longitudinal central axis because the drive motor driving the shaft may be located at only one end of the shaft. Another drive motor may be connected to the other end of the main line drive shaft to also drive the shaft, but additional cost and drive complexity would be incurred. Still another disadvantage to a collator having a single main line drive shaft is that to inhibit operation of the feeders, typically mechanical parts are engaged to stop movement of a part. This results in wear of the mechanical parts. Still another disadvantage is that the task of adjusting a particular feeder to accommodate delivery of a different-sized signature onto the collating conveyor is rather cumbersome. Such an adjustment typically requires the feeder to be first declutched from the single main line drive shaft and then the collating conveyor to be jogged until the desired adjustment is achieved. The feeder is then reclutched to the single main line drive shaft. JP-A-61 229771 discloses a collator with a collating conveyor and sheet pile supports having associated sheet feeding means. Each sheet feeding means is driven by a motor. Summary of the Invention The above mentioned problems are solved by a collator as defined in claim 1. Further embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims 2-12. Brief Description of the Drawings The foregoing and other features of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art to which the present invention relates upon consideration of the following description of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein: Fig. 1 is a schematic block illustration of a collator embodying the present invention. Description of Preferred Embodiment The present invention is directed to a collator having a plurality of hopper sections. By way of example, the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 1 as embodied in a collator 10 including a collating conveyor 12 and having three hopper sections 20, 40, 60 for feeding signatures onto the conveyor 12. The hopper section 40 is adjacent to and downstream from the hopper section 20. The hopper section 60 is adjacent to and downstream from the hopper section 40. The actual number of hopper sections of the collator 10 can be any number of hopper sections. For purposes of explanation, only the three hopper sections 20, 40, 60 are illustrated in Fig. 1. The conveyor 12 moves signatures in a direction indicated by the arrow 15. Each of the hopper sections 20, 40, 60 includes four signature pile supports. Each of the signature pile supports has its own respective signature feeding mechanism. The hopper section 20 includes four signature pile supports 21, 22, 23, 24 and four feeding mechanisms 25, 26, 27, 28 associated with the four pile supports 21, 22, 23, 24, respectively. The hopper section 40 includes four signature pile supports 41, 42, 43, 44, and four feeding mechanisms, 45, 46, 47, 48 associated with the four pile supports 41, 42, 43, 44, respectively. The hopper section 60 includes four signature pile supports 61, 62, 63, 64 and four feeding mechanisms 65, 66, 67, 68 associated with the four pile supports 61, 62, 63, 64, respectively. The hopper section 20 has its own respective set of jackscrews 29 which enable each of the signature pile supports 21, 22, 23, 24 and the respective feeding mechanisms 25, 26, 27, 28 to be raised or lowered relative to the conveyor 12. The hopper section 40 has its own respective set of jackscrews 49 which enable each of the signature pile supports 41, 42, 43, 44 and the respective feeding mechanisms 45, 46, 47, 48 to be raised or lowered relative to the conveyor 12. The hopper section 60 has its own respective set of jackscrews 69 which enable each of the signature pile supports 61, 62, 63, 64 and the respective feeding mechanisms 65, 66, 67, 68 to be raised or lowered relative to the conveyor 12. The collator 10 further includes three motor drive controllers 30, 50, 70 and three motors 32, 52, 72 connected via electrical lines 31, 51, 71, respectively, to the three motor drive controllers 30, 50, 70. The three motors 32, 52, 72 are connected via couplings 33, 53, 73, respectively, to three section drive shafts 34, 54, 74. Each of the section drive shafts 34, 54, 74 is associated with a respective one of the hopper sections 20, 40, 60 and drives all of the feeding mechanisms in the particular hopper section to control the speed, acceleration, and timing coordination of the feeding mechanisms. Three motor position encoders 36, 56, 76 are operatively coupled to the three motors 32, 52, 72, respectively, as shown schematically with dashed lines 38, 58, 78 in Fig. 1. The three encoders 36, 56,76 are connected via electrical lines 37, 57, 77, respectively, to the three motor drive controllers 30, 50, 70. A master drive controller 14 is connected via electrical line 13 to the three motor drive controllers 30, 50, 70. Each of the motor drive controllers 30, 50, 70 has its own respective memory 35, 55, 75 which stores information about the associated hopper section. For example, the stored information may include information relating to the sizes of the signatures being fed to the conveyor 12 in the different hopper sections. The stored information could be processed by the associated motor drive controller to provide a signal which controls the associated motor so that the motor would be operated to either advance or retard the associated section drive shaft to proper position depending upon the size of the signatures being fed to the conveyor 12 in the particular hopper section. The size information stored in each memory may be downloaded from the master drive controller 14. A number of advantages result by connecting a section drive shaft to all of the feeders of only one hopper section and using a respective motor drive controller to control operation of the feeders in the particular hopper section. One advantage is that improper timing of feeder operation due to twisting of a shaft is significantly reduced since each hopper section has its own respective relatively short section drive shaft as compared to a relatively long single main line drive shaft. Another advantage is that installation is relatively easier because of reduced alignment difficulties.

Claims: Collator with a collating conveyor (12) characterized in that the collator has a plurality of hopper sections (20,40,60) located along the collating conveyor (12) where each hopper section has signature pile supports (21-24;41-44;61-64), each of the signature pile supports has its own signature feeding means (25-28,45-48,65-68) a motor drive (32,52,72, connected to a section drive shaft (34,54,74) and driving all of the signature feeding means of said hopper section. A collator according to claim 1 wherein each motor drive comprises its own respective motor drive controller (30,50,70). A collator according to claim 2 further comprising a master controller (14) interconnecting the motor drive controllers (30,50,70) and for controlling speed of operation and coordinating timing of operation of the motor drives (32,52,72). A collator according to claim 2 or 3 wherein each motor drive controller (30,50,70) includes memory means (35,55,75) for storing size information of the signatures in the signature pile supports (21-24,41-44,61-64) of the respective hopper section (20,40,60). A collator according to claim 4 wherein each motor drive controller (30,50,70) includes means for processing the stored information to provide a signal which is applied to the associated motor drive (32,52,72) to control operation of the motor drive (32,52,72). A collator according to claim 3 to 5 wherein said master controller (14) includes means for down loading information relating to the size of signatures from said master controller (14) to each of said motor drive controllers (30,50,70). A collator according to any of the claims 1 to 6 further comprising means (29,49,69) for enabling said signature feeding means (25-28,45-48,65-68) to be adjusted in a vertical direction toward and away from the collating conveyor (12). A collator according to any of the claims 2 to 7 wherein each motor drive controller (30, 50, 70) includes its own respective means for inhibiting operation of the associated motor drive to inhibit operation of the associated signature feeding means (25-28,45-48,65-68). A collator according to claim 1 to 8 further comprising means for enabling adjustment of said signature feeding means (25-28,45-48,65-68) of each hopper section relative to the collating conveyor (12) in an vertical direction toward and away from the collating conveyor (12). A collator according to claim 1 to 9 wherein each motor drive control Per (30,50,70) includes its own respective means for inhibiting operation of the associated motor drive (32, 52,72) to inhibit the associated signature feeding means and thereby to inhibit feeding of signatures from the associated hopper section (20,40,60) to the collating conveyor (12). A collator according to claim 10 wherein each motor drive control Per (30,50,70) controls the associated motor drive (32,52,72) to drive the associated section drive shaft (34,54, 74) independently of section drive shafts associated with other hopper sections (20,40,60) and thereby to control the feeding of signatures from the associated signature feeding means of the associated hopper section (20,40,60) to the collating conveyor (12) independently of the feeding of signatures from the signature feeding means (25-28,45-48,65-68) associated with other hopper sections (20,40,60). A collator according to claim 1 to 11 wherein each motor drive control Per (30,50, 70) includes its own respective means for changing timing of operation of the associated motor drive (32,52,72) relative to the collating conveyor (12) to change timing of operation of the associated signature feeding means (25-28,45-48,65-68) relative to the collating conveyor (12) and thereby to enable proper feeding of different-sized signatures to the collating conveyor (12).

Inventors: FARR ALAN SCOTT, FARR, ALAN SCOTT
Applicants: HEIDELBERGER DRUCKMASCH AG, HEIDELBERGER DRUCKMASCHINEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B65H39
IPC codes: B65H39