Abstract:
A media feeder system for use with a media cutting system having a cutting table includes an upper out-feed tray and a lower in-feed tray bins are disposed laterally adjacent one side of the cutting system table. A bi-directional media transport system transports media in an in-feed direction from the in-feed tray to the cutting table surface and removes media from the cutting table surface in an out-feed direction from the cutting table surface to the out-feed tray. The media transport system includes a sheet acquisition system having gripping apparatus that adjust for a height of the media held in the bins.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    This disclosure relates generally to cutting machines. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to low cost cutting machines such as X Y or X Theta cutting/creasing finishing machines. 
         [0002]    Digital printing for low volume personalized packaging is a growing market segment. In one conventional method of producing personalized packaging, printing and/or images are printed on sheet media, a two-dimensional package blank is then cut from the sheet media and the package blank is then formed into a three-dimensional package. 
         [0003]    There are a growing number of low cost X Y or X Theta (Θ) cutting/creasing finishing machines entering the market place. All the cutters priced under $20,000 offer only manual feeding and removal of media. Small print shops are investing in these cutters to enter the personalized packaging/transactional market only to find the labor costs associated with a dedicated operator to manually load and unload media from these cutters diverts resources from their normal work flow and decreases their profit margins for personalized packaging. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    There is provided a media feeder system for use with a media cutting system having a cutting table and cutting apparatus to cut or score media held on a surface of the cutting table. The media feeder system comprises multiple vertically displaced bins and a bi-directional media transport system. The bins are disposed laterally adjacent one side of the cutting system table and include at least a lower bin and an upper bin. The lower bin defines an in-feed tray to hold media to be fed to the cutting table surface and the upper bin defines an out-feed tray to hold media removed from the cutting table surface. The bi-directional media transport system transports media in an in-feed direction from the in-feed tray to the cutting table surface and removes media from the cutting table surface in an out-feed direction from the cutting table surface to the out-feed tray. The media transport system includes a sheet acquisition system having gripping apparatus that adjust for a height of the media held in the bins. 
         [0005]    The in-feed and out-feed trays have fixed vertical positions. The in-feed tray has a media support surface that is positioned 30 to 80 mm below the cutting table surface. The out-feed tray has a media support surface positioned greater than 50 mm above the in-feed tray media support surface. 
         [0006]    The out-feed tray may be laterally offset behind the lead edge of the in-feed tray. 
         [0007]    The media feeder system further comprises first and second slide rails that extend over the bins and the cutting system table. The sheet acquisition system is movably mounted to the rails. 
         [0008]    The sheet acquisition system also has a gantry extending longitudinally from the first slide rail to the second slide rail, with the gantry being movably mounted to the slide rails. 
         [0009]    The sheet acquisition system also has a gantry drive connected to the gantry. The gantry drive laterally moves the gantry along the slide rails in the in-feed direction and in the out-feed direction. 
         [0010]    The sheet acquisition system also has at least one gripping apparatus for gripping media mounted to the gantry. 
         [0011]    The sheet acquisition system also has a drive shaft connected to each gripper apparatus, and a drive connected to the drive shaft. 
         [0012]    Each gripping apparatus includes a gripper, and a linkage. A proximal end of the linkage is connected to the drive shaft and a distal end of the linkage is rotatably connected to the gripper. 
         [0013]    If the gripper is a vacuum gripper, the gripping apparatus includes a spring buffer, and the sheet acquisition system includes a vacuum sensor. The in-feed tray may have at least one opening disposed proximate to the gripper. 
         [0014]    The media feeder system may further comprise a cam or crank arm connected to the out-feed tray and articulating arm connected to the drive shaft. The articulating arm activates the cam or crank arm to raise a front edge of the out-feed tray when the gripping apparatus is lowered to acquire the media and the articulating arm resets the cam or crank arm to lower the front edge of the out-feed tray after the gripping apparatus places the media on the cutting table. 
         [0015]    There is provided a method of loading and unloading media from a surface of a cutting table of a cutting system using a media feeder system. The media feeder system includes multiple vertically displaced bins disposed laterally adjacent one side of the cutting table and a bi-directional media transport system. The bins including at least a lower bin and an upper bin, the lower bin defining an in-feed tray to hold media to be fed to the cutting table surface, the upper bin defining an out-feed tray to hold media removed from the cutting table surface. The media transport system includes a gantry and a gripper apparatus connected to the gantry. The gripper apparatus has at least one gripper adapted to grip media. 
         [0016]    The method comprises positioning the gantry over the media held in the in-feed tray. The gripper apparatus is lowered from a home position until the grippers acquire a media sheet. The gripper apparatus and the media sheet are then raised. The media sheet is transported with the gantry in a lateral in-feed direction from the in-feed tray to over the cutting table. The media sheet is then released onto the surface of the cutting table and the gantry is moved from over the cutting table. The gantry is repositioned over the media sheet after completion of cutting system operation. The gripper apparatus is lowered until the grippers acquire the media sheet from the surface of the cutting table. The gripper apparatus and the media sheet are then raised up from the cutting table. The sheet of media sheet is transported in a lateral out-feed direction from the cutting table to over the out-feed tray and released onto the out-feed tray. 
         [0017]    Positioning the gantry over the media held in the in-feed tray comprises determining the position of the gantry and actuating a gantry drive of the transport system to move the gantry to a feeder pick position if necessary. 
         [0018]    Transporting the sheet of media with the gantry in a lateral in-feed direction from the in-feed tray to over the cutting table comprises actuating a gantry drive to move the media sheet in the in-feed direction until a trailing edge of the media sheet passes a sensor and moving the gantry a predetermined distance in the in-feed direction whereby the trailing edge of the media sheet is positioned at a lead edge of a vacuum or electrostatic portion of the cutting table. The gantry travel can be randomly varied 1-2 mm in the in-feed direction with regard to the trailing edge sensor to vary the position of the media sheet on the cutting table and corresponding media cutting path. Random variation in the cutting path minimizes damage to the vacuum or electrostatic portion of the cutting table by the cutting blade from cutting multiple media sheets with the same cutting template. 
         [0019]    Moving the gantry from over the cutting table comprises returning the gripper apparatus to an upper home position and actuating the gantry drive to move the gantry in the out-feed direction whereby the gantry is positioned over the bins. 
         [0020]    Positioning the gantry over the media sheet after completion of cutting system operation comprises actuating the gantry drive to move the gantry in the in-feed direction until the gripper apparatus are positioned over a trailing edge of the media sheet on the cutting table. 
         [0021]    Transporting the sheet of media sheet in a lateral out-feed direction comprises actuating the gantry drive to move the gantry in the out-feed direction until a trailing edge of the media sheet is positioned at a rear of the out-feed tray. 
         [0022]    Lowering the gripper apparatus from a home position until the grippers acquire a media sheet comprises actuating the drive of the gripping apparatus to articulate the gripper down from an upper home position. 
         [0023]    If the gripper is a vacuum gripper, the gripper apparatus also includes a spring buffer and a vacuum sensor, and acquiring a media sheet comprises articulating the gripper down from the home position until the vacuum sensor senses a preset vacuum level and articulating the gripper down an additional preset distance whereby the spring buffers are compressed. 
         [0024]    Raising the gripper apparatus and the media sheet comprises actuating the drive to articulate up the gripper and a lead edge of the media sheet lead up a predetermined distance. 
         [0025]    Releasing the media sheet onto the surface of the cutting table comprises actuating the drive to articulate the gripper and the media sheet downward, actuating the gripper to release the media sheet and actuating the drive to articulate up the gripper to the home position. 
         [0026]    Lowering the gripper apparatus until the grippers acquire the media sheet from the surface of the cutting table comprises actuating the drive to articulate down the gripper toward the cutting table and actuating the gripper to acquire the media sheet. 
         [0027]    Releasing the sheet of media onto the out-feed tray comprises actuating the grippers to release the media sheet. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0028]    The present disclosure may be better understood and its numerous objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0029]      FIG. 1  is a front schematic partial view of a cutting system and a media feeder system in accordance with the present disclosure; 
           [0030]      FIG. 2  is a simplified top view of the cutting system and media feeder system of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0031]      FIG. 3  is a simplified perspective view of a portion of the cutting system and media feeder system of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0032]      FIG. 4  is an enlarged side view of the transport system of  FIG. 1 , showing the gripping device articulating from the down position to the up position over the feed tray; 
           [0033]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged side view of cutting table and the feeding assembly of  FIG. 1 , showing the gripping device in the up position to load or unload media from the cutting table; 
           [0034]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged side view of the in-feed tray, the out-feed tray and the transport system of  FIG. 1 , showing the gripping device articulating from the up position to the down position to pick media from the in-feed tray; 
           [0035]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged side view of the in-feed tray and the transport system of  FIG. 1  and an alternate version of the out-feed tray, showing the gripping device articulating from the up position to the down position to pick media from the in-feed tray and the out-feed tray pivoting to prevent interference with the acquired media sheet when it is lifted by the gripping device; 
           [0036]      FIG. 8  is a simplified schematic view of the cutting system and the media feeder system of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0037]      FIGS. 9   a  to  9   e  are a flow diagram of a method of feeding a cutting system in accordance with the disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0038]    With reference to  FIGS. 1-3 , the subject media feeder system  10  automates the process of supplying and removing media/stock from conventional low cost cutting systems  12 , such as X Y or X Theta (Θ) cutting/creasing finishing systems. The system  10  adds automatic feed-on and feed-off functions to a table based cutting system  12 , such as the FC2250 series cutting systems by Graphtec Corporation, capable of performing customized cutting or scoring operations on sheet media. Such conventional systems  12  typically require that the operator manually feed media onto and off of the cutting table  14 . 
         [0039]    The media feeder system  10  includes multiple bins  16 ,  18 , a media transport system  20  and a controller  22 . To minimize the footprint of the media feeder system  10  and avoid interference with the cutting system  12 , the bins  16 ,  18  are positioned on one side of the cutting table  14  and are stacked in a vertically displaced arrangement. The media transport system  20  includes a sheet acquisition system  24  that is movably mounted to a pair of slide rails  26 ,  26 ′ that extend over the bins  16 ,  18  and the cutting table  14 . 
         [0040]    With reference to  FIG. 8 , the media feeder system  10  may be a modular system that cooperates with a separate cutting system. In this case, the system controller  22  of the media feeder system  10  may communicate with the controller  28  for the cutting system  12  such that operation of the media feeder system  10  is coordinated with operation of the cutting system  12  as described below. Alternatively, the media feeder system  10  may be integrated with the cutting system  12  into a single coordinated system having a single controller. 
         [0041]    To facilitate understanding of the subject system  10  and method, the multiple bins  16 ,  18  described below include only a single upper bin  16 , which functions as an out-feed tray  30  or stacking tray, and a single lower bin  18 , which functions as an in-feed tray  32 , where “out-feed tray” is hereby defined to be a tray in which media is deposited after processing and “in-feed tray” is hereby defined to be a tray from which media is taken for processing. Generally the trays are low capacity trays capable of holding approximately 50 sheets of 350-400 gsm media or approximately 100 sheets of 200-250 gsm media. 
         [0042]    The in-feed and out-feed trays  32 ,  30  of the feeder system  10  are fixed in place, eliminating the need for expensive tray lift and positioning mechanisms. The lower in-feed tray  32  is positioned such that the media support surface  34  is located 30-80 mm below the cutting table surface  36 . The upper out-feed tray  30  is positioned such that the media support surface  38  is substantially greater than 50 mm above the in-feed tray media support surface  34 . The out-feed tray  30  is also laterally offset behind the lead edge  40  of the in-feed tray  32  to provide clearance for the sheet acquisition system  24  to access and acquire the lead edge  42  of the media  44  stored in the in-feed tray  32 . 
         [0043]    With additional reference to  FIGS. 4-7 , the sheet acquisition system  24  includes a gantry  46  that extends longitudinally from the first slide rail  26  to the second slide rail  26 ′ and is movably mounted to the slide rails  26 ,  26 ′. A gantry drive  48  connected to the gantry  46  laterally moves the gantry  46  along the slide rails  26 ,  26 ′ in an in-feed direction  50  and in an out-feed direction  52 . One or more gripping apparatus  54  are mounted to the gantry  46 . In the example shown in  FIG. 3 , three gripping apparatus  54  are spaced longitudinally along the gantry  46 . Each gripping apparatus  54  includes a linkage  56  (for example a four bar linkage) which is mounted on a drive shaft  58  mounted to the gantry  46 , and a gripper  60  (such as a vacuum gripper). Drive shaft  58  is driven by a drive  62 , such as a stepper motor. The proximal end  64  of the linkage  56  is connected to the drive shaft  58  and the distal end  66  of the linkage  56  is rotatably connected to the gripper  60 . The drive  62  is connected to the gantry  46  and the drive shaft  58  such that the drive  62  pivots the drive shaft  58  to articulate the linkage  56  and the gripper  60  over 100 mm to acquire media  44  from in-feed trays  32  and deposit media  44  onto out-feed trays that are vertically spaced over 50 mm apart. If the sheet acquisition system  24  includes multiple gripping apparatus  54 , the gripping apparatus  54  are all mounted on a common drive shaft  58 . 
         [0044]    With additional reference to  FIGS. 9   a - 9   e , the media  44  to be fed to the cutting table  14  is loaded  68  into the in-feed tray  32 . The controller  22  determines  70  the position of the gantry  46  and actuates  72  the gantry drive  48  to move  73  the gantry  46  from the gantry home position  74  to the feeder pick position  73  if necessary. The “feeder pick position”  73  is that position where the grippers  60  may acquire the lead edge  42  of the top media sheet  44  in the in-feed tray  32 . The feeder pick position  73  can vary relative to the media lead edge  42  based on the media sheet  44  size and basis weight. If a vacuum gripper is used as the gripper  60 , a vacuum sensor  76  and a spring buffer  78  may be used to control the gripper height. The spring buffer  78  maintains a constant normal force over 10 mm of height variation. The controller  22  initiates, which actuates  80  the drive  62  to articulate the gripper apparatus  54  down from a home position  82  until the vacuum sensor  76  senses a preset vacuum level, indicating the grippers  60  have acquired a media sheet  44 . The controller  22  continues to actuate the drive such that the gripper is articulated  86  an additional preset distance, such as 2-5 mm, to compress the spring buffers  78  and ensure all grippers  60  have contacted the media  44 . 
         [0045]    The controller  22  then reverses  88  the drive  62  to raise  90  the gripper apparatus  54  and the media sheet lead edge  42  a predetermined distance to clear the cutting table  14 . The controller  22  actuates  92  the gantry drive  48  to move the media  44  in the in-feed direction  50  until the media trail edge  94  passes  95  a sensor  96  (for example an optical reflective sensor). The controller  22  continues to actuate the gantry drive  48  to move  98  the gantry  46  a predetermined distance in the in-feed direction  50  to position the media trailing edge  94  at the lead edge  100  of the vacuum or electrostatic portion of the table  14 . The controller  22  actuates  102  the drive  62  to lower the gripper apparatus  54  and the media  44  and then actuates  104  the gripper  60  to release the media  44  while the vacuum or electrostatic forces are applied. The controller  22  actuates  106  the drive  62  to return the gripper apparatus  54  to the home position  82  and then actuates  108  the gantry drive  48  to move the gantry  46  in the out-feed direction  52  such that the sheet acquisition system  24  is positioned over the feed trays  30 ,  32  and to the side of the table  14  during the cutting operation. 
         [0046]    After  109  the media  44  is creased and/or cut, the controller  22  actuates  110  the gantry drive  48  to move the gantry  46  in the in-feed direction  50  until the gripper apparatus  54  are positioned over the trailing edge  94  of the media sheet  44 . The controller  22  then actuates  112  the drive  62  to articulate the gripper apparatus  54  toward the table  14  and actuates  114  the gripper  60  to acquire the media sheet  44 . When the controller  22  senses  115  that the media  44  has been acquired, as disclosed above, it actuates  116  the drive  62  to lift the media  44  clear of the cutter table  14  to the home position  82 . The controller  22  then actuates  118  the gantry drive  48  to move the gantry  46  in the out-feed direction  52  until the media trailing edge  94  is positioned  119  at the rear of the out-feed tray  30 . The controller  22  then actuates  120  the grippers  60  to release the media  44 , which drops onto the out-feed tray  30  and the controller  22  checks  122  the cutting job to determine if the cutting job has been completed. If the cutting job has not been completed  124 , the controller  22  determines  70  the position of the gantry  46  and actuates  72  the gantry drive  48  to return the gantry  46  to the feeder pick position  73  for the next media sheet  44 . If the cutting job has been completed  126 , the controller  22  actuates  128  the gantry drive  48  to return the gantry  46  to the gantry home position  74 . 
         [0047]    It should be appreciated that the gripping apparatus  54  automatically adjusts for differences in height of the media  44  disposed in the in-feed and out-feed trays  32 ,  30 . More specifically, the grippers  60  are raised to the home position  82  after a media sheet  44  has been acquired, are retained in the home position  82  while the gantry  46  and media  44  are driven over the out-feed tray  30  and the media  44  is dropped into the out-feed tray and are retained in the home position  82  while the gantry  46  is returned to the gantry home position or the feeder pick position  73 . Accordingly, the distance between the grippers  60  and the top media sheet  44  in the in-feed tray  32  is maximized when the gripping apparatus  54  is positioned to acquire the media sheet  44 . Steps  80 ,  84  and  86  of the method ensure that the grippers  60  positively engage the upper surface of the top media sheet  44  in the in-feed tray  32  no matter how many sheets of media  44  are disposed in the in-feed tray  32 . 
         [0048]    It should also be appreciated that sheet acquisition system  24  may also be used to detect in-feed tray  32  empty conditions by forming openings  130  in the in-feed tray  32  directly under the vacuum grippers and monitoring the voltage or current to the vacuum blower or the pressure in the vacuum lines after the vacuum grippers  60  are lowered to acquire media  44  from the in-feed tray  32 . If no media  44  is present in the in-feed tray  32 , the vacuum level would not change after the gripper apparatus  54  was lowered by drive  62  a preset distance. 
         [0049]    With reference to  FIG. 7 , in an alternate version of the out-feed tray  30 ′, the out-feed tray  30 ′ pivots to increase the clearance between the in-feed tray  32  and the out-feed tray  30 ′ while the gripper  60  is acquiring a sheet  44 . A cam or crank arm  132  mounted on the out-feed tray  30 ′ is actuated by a separate articulating arm  134  mounted on the drive shaft  58 . The articulating arm  134  is actuated by a mechanical drive such as a solenoid or vacuum cylinder. If the basis weight of the media sheet  44  input by the operator at the beginning of the cutting operation exceeds a certain value such as 150-200 gsm, the articulating arm  134  would be actuated to engage the cam or crank arm  132  which raises the front edge  136  of the out-feed tray  30 ′. This increases the clearance between the in-feed and out-feed trays  32 ,  30 ′ during the feeding operation enabling the grippers  60  to pick heavier weight and stiffer media  44  without contacting the out-fee tray  30 ′. This increases the media weight range and tray capacity without increasing the clearance between the trays  30 ′,  32 . 
         [0050]    After the grippers  60  place the media  44  on the cutter table  14  and the gantry  46  moves off the table  14  to the gantry home position  74  during the creasing/cutting operation, the articulating arm  134  resets the cam or crank arm  132  to lower the out-feed tray front edge  136  to facilitate depositing the media in the out-feed tray  30 ′ after the creasing/cutting operation is complete. 
         [0051]    It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.