Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US5474286?dq=5893120
Timestamp: 2014-08-28 03:33:18
Document Index: 690326769

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 36', 'art 32', 'arts 32', 'art 32', 'art 32', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 32', 'art 36', 'art 32', 'arts 32', 'art 32', 'art 36', 'art 32', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 32', 'art 32', 'art 36', 'art 32', 'art 36', 'art 32', 'art 36', 'art 32', 'art 36']

Patent US5474286 - Process and device for opening folded printed products - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign in<nobr>Advanced Patent Search</nobr>PatentsPrinted products are transported in the direction of conveyance suspended, held by their fold, from transporting clamps of a conveying device. The end area of the printed products rests on a supporting mechanism and the uppermost product part protrudes with its marginal section over the bottommost product...http://www.google.com/patents/US5474286?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5474286 - Process and device for opening folded printed productsAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS5474286 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 08/319,942Publication dateDec 12, 1995Filing dateOct 7, 1994Priority dateApr 6, 1992Fee statusPaidAlso published asCA2093400A1, CA2093400C, DE59306556D1, EP0564812A1, EP0564812B1, US5354043Publication number08319942, 319942, US 5474286 A, US 5474286A, US-A-5474286, US5474286 A, US5474286AInventorsWalter ReistOriginal AssigneeFerag AgExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (15), Referenced by (7), Classifications (15), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetProcess and device for opening folded printed productsUS 5474286 AAbstract Printed products are transported in the direction of conveyance suspended, held by their fold, from transporting clamps of a conveying device. The end area of the printed products rests on a supporting mechanism and the uppermost product part protrudes with its marginal section over the bottommost product part. To the two product parts there is in each case assigned a gripper of the opening device. The grippers are disposed on a revolutionally driven drawing member. The clamping tongue of the first gripper grips underneath the marginal section and, upon running up against an opening crank, lifts the product part from the bottommost product part. The second gripper grasps the lifted-off product part in the marginal section and, when the clamping tongue is lowered into the closed position, the latter clamps the product part between itself and the clamping jaw of the first gripper, by the end edge. The first gripper revolves at a greater velocity than the second gripper. Thus, the two product parts are lifted apart in the direction of conveyance.
I claim: 1. A device for opening folded, printed products such as newspapers and magazines and portions thereof, wherein each product is folded so as to have a fold between one product part and another product part, each of said product parts having an end edge opposite the fold and the end edges of both of those product parts forming an end area of the product facing away from the old, the device comprising:a conveying device having a plurality of transporting clamps for holding individual printed products by the fold and carrying them in a conveying direction; and an opening device disposed beneath the conveying device; said opening device including a supporting element extending approximately parallel to said conveying direction for supporting the product in its end area; said opening device further including at least one first gripper for grasping and holding one product part by its end edge and at least one second gripper for grasping and holding the other product part by its end edge; said opening device further including a gripper drive mechanism for driving the first and second grippers at different velocities so as to move the held end edges away from each other. Description
This application is a continuation application of application Ser. No. 08/044,782, filed Apr. 5, 1993 entitled "Process And Device For Opening Folded Print Products", now U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,043 issued Oct. 11, 1994.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process for opening printed products and a corresponding device wherein opening is independent from the position and nature of the printed products.
The opening device 24 includes first grippers 38 each assigned to the bottommost product part (in the illustrated embodiment, the shorter product part 36) and second grippers 40 each assigned to the topmost product part (in the illustrated embodiment, the longer product part 32). A plurality of first grippers 38 are disposed on a continuous first drawing member 42, preferably a chain, at a fixed distance B which is greater than the distance A between the transporting clamps 14 (FIG. 1). Likewise, a plurality of second grippers 40 are disposed on a second drawing member 44, likewise preferably a chain, at a fixed distance C which corresponds approximately to the distance A between the transporting clamps 14. The drawing members 42, 44 revolve in mutually parallel planes and the active strands run alongside each other and parallel to the direction of conveyance F. The drawing members 42,44 are each guided around three correspondingly coaxially mounted deflection pulleys 46, 46', 48, 48', 50, 50'. The deflection pulleys 46,48 and 46', 48' limit the active strands 42', 44' having, in the present case, the same diameter. On the other hand, the deflection pulley 50 around which the rear strand of the first drawing member 42 is guided has a larger diameter than the deflection pulley 50' around which the rear strand of the second drawing member 44 runs. The ratio of these diameters is equal to the ratio of the distance B to the distance C. Since the deflection pulleys 50, 50' are seated rotationally fixed on a common drive shaft 52 (FIGS. 4 and 5), the ratio of the revolutional velocity v1 of the first drawing member 42 and the first grippers 38 to the velocity v2 of the second drawing member 44 and the second grippers 40 is equal to the ratio between the distance B between the first grippers 38 and the distance C between the second grippers 40.
One of the deflection pulleys 50 or 50' or both deflection pulleys 50, 50' can be disposed adjustably on the drive shaft 52 in the direction of rotation. In this manner, the phase relationship between the first and second drawing members 42, 44 and the conveying device 10 can be set such that in each case at the desired location, in the starting area (viewed in the direction of conveyance F) of the active strands 42', 44' a first gripper 38 and a second gripper 40 are respectively located side by side, as clearly shown by FIG. 1.
The shape and position of the opening crank 78 interacting with the first gripper 38 and of the opening crank 104, acting upon the second gripper 40, and of the swivel crank 110 can be derived from FIGS. 1,2,4 and 5. The swivel crank 110 commences, viewed in the direction of conveyance F, after the deflection pulley 46' and extends into the area of the deflection pulley 48'. In the starting area of this swivel crank 110 and above it, there is provided the opening crank 104 for the second gripper 40. The opening crank 78 for the first gripper 38 is located adjacent to the opening crank 104.
At the end of the active strands 42',44', in the area of the deflection pulleys 48,48', further opening cranks 78',104' are provided in order to open the first or the second grippers 38,40, respectively, there and release those product parts 32,36 which are held by them.
The opening device 24 includes two bearing brackets 116, interconnected by crossbars 114. The opening cranks 78,78', 104',104' are attached to the bearing brackets 116 such that they are adjustable, where appropriate, using the shaft of the deflection pulleys 48,48' and the swivel crank 110. As can be observed from FIG. 3, supported against the crossbars 114 is a guide rail 118. The drawing members 42,44, configured as chains, are guided on the guide rail 118 in the area between the deflection pulleys 46,46' and 48,48'. From this guide rail 118 and to the left bearing bracket 116 (in FIG. 3), there is likewise attached the supporting mechanism 30, configured as a supporting plate 120. As shown by FIG. 3, the supporting mechanism 30 supports the printed products 20 from the left lateral edge 122 up to the first grippers 38, which act upon the printed products 20 adjacent to their right lateral edge 122'. The supporting plate 120 has a slot, running in the direction of conveyance, which is passed through by the second grippers 40 whenever they are located in the area of the active strand 44'.
The first drawing member 42 is guided in the area of the active strand 42' such that the clamping jaw 66 of the first grippers 38 is approximately aligned with the upper face of the supporting plate 120. The fixed gripper jaw 86 of the second gripper 40 has (viewed in the vertical direction) a greater distance to the supporting plate 120 than has the upper end of the first gripper 38. If, the clamping pin 90 of the second gripper 40 is in the open position, however, then this second gripper is disposed (viewed in the vertical direction) below the upper end of the first gripper 38. The path of motion of the gripper mouth 92, when the second gripper 40 is closed, runs therefore above the first grippers 38; this always when viewed in the area of the active strands 42',44'.
Connected downstream from the opening device 24 is a collecting device 134 having a plurality of collecting bars 136. The collecting bars 126 revolve in the direction of revolution D about a common revolutional axis (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2). A collecting bar 136 engages in each case from below into a print product 20 which is opened by the opening device 24 and held open by the holding-open device 124. Following the opening of the corresponding transporting clamp 14 by means of an opening mechanism 138, the respective printed product 20 falls astride onto the respective saddle-shaped collecting bars 136. The collecting bars 136 can include transport means in order to displace the deposited printed products 20 in their longitudinal direction.
The working method of the opening device 24 according to FIGS. 1-5 is now described with reference to FIGS. 14-18. FIGS. 14-18 show, in each case, the first gripper 38 and the second gripper 40 in the starting area of the swivel crank 110 and in the area of the opening cranks 78 and 104 at five consecutive instants. The position shown in FIG. 14 is adopted by the grippers 38,40 in the starting area of the active strands 42',44'. This can also be observed from FIG. 1 with reference to the rearmost grippers 38, 40 (viewed in the direction of conveyance F) in the area of the active strands 42'44'. The clamping tongue 64 of the first gripper 38 is in the closed position, whereas the clamping pin 90 of the second gripper 40 is already transferred into the open position. As a result of the action of the opening crank 104 upon the control roller 102 and its eccentric mounting in relation to the fastening bolt 106, the second gripper 40 adopts a backward-angled position. The first gripper 38, as a result of its velocity v1, which is greater than the transport velocity v of the conveying device 10, now gathers in the printed product 20 which is resting slidingly, with its end area 28, on the supporting plate 120. Thus, the end edge of the uppermost product part 32 comes to bear against the stop 79 of the gripper body 54, as is shown by FIG. 15. The clamping tongue 64 of the first gripper 38, as a result of the action of the opening crank 78, is now transferred into the open position. In this open position, the clamping tongue 64 grips underneath and jointly raises the marginal section 34 of the uppermost product part 32, as is shown by FIG. 16. At the same time, the second gripper 40 runs up against the swivel crank 110. The swivel crank 110 thereby pivots forwards in the clockwise direction into a position in which the axis 82' (compare FIGS. 10-13) runs approximately in the vertical direction and thus runs approximately at right-angles to the direction of conveyance F. As a result of this swivel movement, the gripper mouth 92 now gathers in the marginal section 34 in order to clamp this, upon the subsequent closing of the second gripper 40, between the gripper jaw 86 and the clamping pin 90. At approximately the same time or shortly thereafter, the clamping tongue 64 is transferred into the closed position. As a result, the underlying product part 36 is clamped in place by its end edge 32'. In this connection, it should be noted that, as a result of the relative velocity between the conveying device 10, and hence the end area 28 of the respective print product 20, and the first gripper 38, the end edge 36' of the product part 36 has come to bear against the stop 79, as is shown by FIG. 17. The first gripper 38 now increasingly moves away, in the direction of conveyance F, from the second gripper 40 (as can be observed from FIG. 18 and FIGS. 1 and 2 with reference to the grippers 38,40 in the central area of the opening device 24). As it does so, the bottommost product part 36 (viewed in the direction of conveyance F) is bulged out and lifted from the trailing, uppermost product part 32. Into the opening created thereby along the lateral edge 122' (see also FIG. 3), there is now inserted a holding-open pin 130. In the area of the deflection pulley 48, the first gripper 38 is then opened as a result of the action of the opening crank 78' and the product part 36 is released (FIG. 1). As soon as the second respective gripper 40 is also then deflected by the deflection pulley 48', its gripper mouth 92 is opened under the action of the opening crank 104' and the other product part 32 is released (FIG. 2).
FIGS. 25 and 26 show an embodiment of the opening device 24 which is very similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-24 with the exception of two differences. The first difference consists in the fact that the deflection pulley 46 for the first drawing member 42 (viewed in the direction of conveyance F) is connected upstream from the deflection pulley 46' of the second drawing member 44. Hence, the active strands 42', 44' only continue to overlap in the area between the deflection pulley 46' and the coaxially mounted deflection pulleys 48, 48'. The second difference consists in the fact that the second grippers 40 on the second drawing member 44 are no longer pivotably disposed but are fixed. A swivel crank for the second grippers 40 is therefore no longer required and the opening crank 78 for the first grippers 38 and the opening crank 104 for the second grippers 40 are located in the area of the deflection pulley 46'. The further opening cranks 78' and 104' are located at the end of the opening device 24 (viewed in the direction of conveyance F) in order to release the product parts 32, 36 of the opened print product 20. The conveying device 10 and the gripper 38, 40 are otherwise of identical configuration to that already described above.
The working method of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 25 and 26 is as follows. The folded printed products 20 are transported, suspended, by the transporting clamps 14, having a direction of conveyance F running in the horizontal direction. Since the end area 28 of the printed products 20 rests slidingly on the supporting element 26 configured as a supporting plate 120, the printed products 20 are bent towards the rear. The longer product part 32, having the marginal section 34 protruding over the shorter product part 36, is thus uppermost (viewed in the direction of conveyance F). Since the first grippers 38 revolve at a velocity v1 which is greater than the transport velocity v of the conveying device 10, a first gripper 38 gathers, in each case, a printed product 20 in the area between the deflection pulleys 46 and 46'. Thus, the end edge 32' comes to bear against the stop 79 (FIGS. 25 and 26, first grippers 38 far left). At the deflection pulley 46', the first gripper 38 is opened by means of the opening crank 78 by the clamping tongue 64 being raised. Since the clamping tongue grips underneath the marginal section 34, the uppermost product part 32 is raised. At the same time, as a result of the deflection, a second gripper 40 swivels about the deflection pulley 46' and into the area of the active strand 44'. Since the gripper mouth 92 protrudes over the second drawing member 44 (viewed in the radially direction), the second gripper 40 gathers in the printed product 20 and embraces, by its gripper jaw 86 and by the clamping pin 90 transferred by the opening crank 104 into the open position, the marginal section 34 (see FIG. 26, grippers 38,40 in the area of the deflection pulley 46'). As a result of the relative velocity between the first gripper 38 and the conveying device 10, the end edge 36' of the bottommost product part 36 now comes to bear against the stop 79 of the first gripper 38. When the first gripper 38 sets off from the opening crank 78, the end edge 36' is clamped in place between the clamping jaw 66 and the clamping tongue 64. At approximately the same time or shortly beforehand, the second gripper 40 has also set off from the respective opening crank 104. As a result, the marginal section 34 is now secured in the gripper mouth 92. Due to the greater velocity v1 of the first gripper 38 in relation to the velocity v2 of the second gripper 40, the respective printed product 20 is now opened by the end edges 32',36' being moved away from each other in the direction of conveyance F. The leading and bottommost product part 36 is thereby bulged in the direction of conveyance F and eventually released by the first gripper 38 (as is shown by FIG. 26, far right). As soon as the second gripper 40 makes its way into the area of the opening crank 104' at the deflection pulley 48', the trailing, uppermost product part 32 is also released. The further handling of the printed products 20 can be effected in an identical manner as set out with reference to FIGS. 1-3.
FIGS. 27 and 28 show an embodiment of the opening device 24 for opening printed products 20 having a leading end area 28 in the direction of conveyance F. In this case, the supporting element 26 is configured as a continuous supporting belt 146, which is connected upstream from the opening device 24 and is deflected, at its conveyance-effecting end, around a deflection roller 148 coaxial to the deflection pulley 46'. The supporting belt 146 is driven at a velocity v3 which is at least as great as, but is preferably greater than the transport velocity v of the conveying device 10. The printed products 20, which are transported by their fold 22 in an approximately horizontal direction of conveyance F by the transporting clamps 14, rest with their forward-bent end area 28 flatly on the supporting belt 146. The longer product part 32 having the marginal section 34, which protrudes over the shorter product part 36, is in this case uppermost. The first drawing member 42 with the first grippers 38 is deflected around the deflection pulley 46, which is connected (viewed in the direction of conveyance F) upstream from the deflection pulley 46' for the second drawing member 44 and the deflection roller 148. The distance B between the first grippers 38 is equal to or less than the distance A between the transporting clamps 14. The active strand 42' of the first drawing member 42 runs from the deflection pulley 46 to the deflection pulley 48. Thus, the active strand 42' overlaps the active strand 44' of the second drawing member 44, which active strand extends from the deflection pulley 46' up to the deflection pulley 48' coaxially to the deflection pulley 48. The distance C between the second grippers 40 is greater than the distance B between the first grippers 38. Correspondingly greater is the revolutional velocity v2 of the second drawing member 44 in relation to the revolutional velocity v1 of the first grippers 38. These different velocities v1,v2 are caused by the fact that the power-driven deflection pulley 50 for the first drawing member 42 is correspondingly smaller in diameter than the deflection pulley 50' of the second drawing member 44. For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that the ratio of the velocities v1 to v2 is the same as the ratio of the distances B to C.
In the area between the deflection pulleys 46 and 46', the leading edge 32' of a printed product 20 in each case comes to bear against the stop 79 of the first gripper 38. Since the first grippers 38 are closed in this area, the clamping tongue 64 grips underneath the protruding marginal section 34 and raises it whenever the clamping tongue 64, as a result of the opening crank 78 in the area of the deflection pulley 46', is transferred into the open position (FIG. 28, first gripper 38 next to the deflection pulley 46'). A second gripper 40, which just before the end edge 32' of the product part 32, intersects the path of movement of the radially outer end of the second gripper 40, makes its way into the area of the active strand 44'. Here it is pivoted, by means of the swivel crank 110 indicated in dash-dot representation, counterclockwise in the backward direction (viewed in the direction of conveyance F) in order to embrace, by its opened gripper mouth 92, the marginal section 34. Upon setting off from the opening crank 104, the clamping, pin 90 is raised and the marginal section 34 clamped in place between the clamping pin itself and the gripper jaw 86. As the first gripper 38 sets off from the corresponding opening crank 78, the clamping tongue 64 is transferred into the closed position. Thereupon, the clamping tongue 64 clamps in place, between itself and the clamping jaw 66, the product part 36, which has been pushed by the supporting belt 146 into the opened gripper mouth 68. As a result of the different velocities v1,v2 between the grippers 38,40, the uppermost product part 32 is now moved in the direction of conveyance F away from the bottommost product part 36. Thereupon the uppermost product part 32 is transferred into a more stretched position, as can be observed, in particular, from FIG. 28. As it does so, the product part 36 maintains its bending or is bent even more strongly if the velocity v1 of the first grippers 38 is less than the transport velocity v of the conveying device 10. By virtue of the opening crank 104' or 78', first the second gripper 40 and, later in time, the first gripper 38 are opened in the area of the deflection pulleys 48,48'. The further handling of the printed products 20 can be effected in an identical manner to that shown in FIGS. 1-3.
The construction of the grippers 38, 40 is almost identical to that already described above and represented in FIGS. 6 to 13, except that the second grippers 40, like the first grippers 38, are disposed in a fixed manner, i.e. non-pivotably, on the drawing members 42,44. For the sake of improved clarity, the opening cranks 78, 78', 104, 104' described above are not represented in FIG. 29. Their location can be derived from the following description of the working of the device according to FIG. 19.
The opening device 24 shown in FIG. 30 is extremely similar in its construction to the opening device according to FIG. 29. Hereafter, reference shall only be made to the differences where this is necessary for understanding. The deflection pulleys 46, 46', 48, 48', 50, 50' are disposed identically and the drawing members 42,44 are guided in an identical manner to that shown in FIG. 29, except that the gripper mouths 68, 92 are directed rearwards counter to the direction of conveyance F. The velocity v1 of the second grippers 40 is approximately as great as, but preferably less than the transport velocity v. The velocity v1 of the first grippers 38 is less than the velocity v2. Accordingly, the distance A between the transporting clamps 14 is as great as or greater than the distance C between the second grippers 40, and the distance B between the first grippers 38 less than the distance C.
The supporting belt 146 is driven in the direction of conveyance F at a speed which is at least as great as, but preferably greater than the transport velocity v. This permits the printed products 20 to be fed, resting with their end area 28 on the supporting belt and with the marginal section 34 ahead, to the second grippers 40. The supporting belt 146, runs in a gap in the supporting plate 120 and protrudes over the supporting plate 120 with its actively conveying upper strand. This supporting belt 146 is guided around a roller (not shown in FIG. 30) which is mounted coaxially to the deflection pulley 46, so that it is actively conveying and actively supporting, commencing upstream of the deflection pulley 46', up to the deflection pulley 46.
Patent CitationsCited PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS2817513 *Jun 29, 1954Dec 24, 1957Bell Smith MarySheet separating means for collating machineUS3527455 *Jun 1, 1967Sep 8, 1970Ferag AgApparatus for opening multiple sheet paper articles and for insertion of supplemental sheets into the opened articleUS3580562 *Jan 29, 1969May 25, 1971Ferag AgApparatus for opening folded articles, such as newspapersUS4398710 *Dec 8, 1980Aug 16, 1983Ferag AgMethod and apparatus for opening folded, bound or stitched multi-sheet products, especially printed productsUS4489930 *May 23, 1983Dec 25, 1984Ferag AgApparatus for collecting folded printed sheetsUS4684116 *Jun 23, 1986Aug 4, 1987Ferag AgMethod and apparatus for collating folded printed signatures using conveyors rotating about a central axisUS4684117 *Jun 23, 1986Aug 4, 1987Ferag AgMethod and apparatus for opening printed products which have been folded off-centerUS5005815 *Feb 20, 1990Apr 9, 1991R. R. Donnelley & Sons CompanyApparatus and method for individually printing signatures during delivery to a binding line conveyorUS5248135 *Jul 8, 1992Sep 28, 1993Ferag AgMethod of, and apparatus for, opening flexible products folded off-centerUS5277413 *Dec 10, 1992Jan 11, 1994Grapha-Holding AgRotary signature gathering apparatus with sheet stopUS5292111 *Jun 8, 1992Mar 8, 1994Ferag AgMethod and apparatus for opening folded printed products having distinct sheet opening and hold-open meansUS5301937 *Jun 8, 1992Apr 12, 1994Ferag AgMethod and apparatus for processing printed productsCH6678595A * Title not availableDE1024530B *Nov 18, 1954Feb 20, 1958Rudolf HeppVerfahren und Vorrichtung zum voneinander Abheben gefalzter Papierlagen mit vorstehendem Rand zwecks Ineinandersteckens der PapierlagenGB1095733A * Title not available* Cited by examinerReferenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS5758871 *Sep 25, 1996Jun 2, 1998Heidelberg Finishing Systems, Inc.Signature collating apparatusUS5769405 *Dec 19, 1995Jun 23, 1998Grapha-Holding AgDevice for feeding a gathering section of a gather-stitcherUS6877732 *Jan 23, 2001Apr 12, 2005Ferag AgFeed conveyor with opening apparatusUS7063313 *Oct 24, 2001Jun 20, 2006Ferag AgDevice for holding printed productsUS7318587 *Dec 9, 2004Jan 15, 2008Ferag AgMethod of, and apparatus for, stabilizing and positioning sheet-like articlesUS8376123May 27, 2011Feb 19, 2013Ferag AgDevice and method for opening printed productsUS20100200363 *Jul 23, 2008Aug 12, 2010Ferag AgSystem for combining groups of flat objects* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification270/52.25, 270/52.16International ClassificationB65H47/00, B65H29/04, B65H5/30, B65H5/32Cooperative ClassificationB65H5/308, B65H29/003, B65H5/32, B65H2301/44795, B65H2301/323, B65H2301/44712European ClassificationB65H29/00D, B65H5/32, B65H5/30HLegal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionJun 8, 2007FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 12May 20, 2003FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8May 20, 1999FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google