Abstract:
A book trimmer is provided. The book trimmer includes an infeed device supplying a plurality of books to be trimmed, an edge trimming knife for trimming the books which is movable back and forth in a book travel direction and a conveyor downstream of the edge trimming knife, the conveyor including a reciprocating section movable back and forth in the book travel direction, the conveyor positively controlling the books as the books are received from the infeed device. A method for trimming a book is also provided.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/077,491 filed Mar. 18, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to a printed product trimmer and more specifically to a method and apparatus for trimming and transporting printed products in a printed product trimmer. 
         [0003]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,947, which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a machine for performing trimming operations upon the front and side edges of a book advancing through the machine. The machine includes a front edge trimming table which is reciprocated in a horizontal direction and receives a book from an infeed conveyor as the table moves in the direction of the conveyor. As the table continues to move in the direction of the infeed conveyor, the book is clamped to the table and the front edge of the book is trimmed. 
         [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,350 discloses a sheet material trimming method and apparatus. During operation of the trimmer mechanism, a continuous stream of untrimmed sheet material assemblages is transported from a collator or other source to the trimmer mechanism by a known chain type conveyor. Two sets of conveyor belts clampingly grip the sheet material assemblage to retain the orientation as it is trimmed at the first trim station, transported to the second trim station, and trimmed at the second trim station. An intermittent drive mechanism is provided for moving the conveyor belt through feed strokes. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    A book trimmer is provided. The book trimmer includes an edge trimming knife movable back and forth in a book travel direction and a conveyor downstream of the edge trimming knife. The conveyor includes a reciprocating section movable back and forth in the book travel direction receiving books trimmed by the edge trimming knife. 
         [0006]    A method for trimming a book is also provided. The method includes trimming an edge of a book at a trim location and reciprocating a downstream conveyor to approach the trim location to receive the book and move away from the trim location. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The present invention is described below by reference to the following drawings, in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a front knife area in a flying trimmer according to an embodiment of the present invention, with certain elements found in  FIG. 10  omitted for clarity in showing an upper front knife and a lower front knife; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  shows a cross sectional perspective view of the front knife area shown in  FIG. 1  and a chip gate; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  shows a perspective view of a lower knife area shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of a portion of an infeed device advancing books to the front knife area shown in  FIG. 1 , which is shown schematically by the lower front knife, the upper front knife, and a clamp; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  shows a schematic side view of the infeed device, lower knife, upper knife, and clamp shown in  FIG. 4 , and a downstream transport conveyor; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  shows a schematic side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  with a book passing from the infeed device to the transport conveyor; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  shows a schematic side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  with a book being released by the infeed device as the book is transported by the transport conveyor; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  shows a schematic side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  with the clamp applying pressure to a book as the transport conveyor transports the book; 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  shows a graph of horizontal velocities of a front knife carriage, a side knife carriage, forwarding belts and transport belts for a complete revolution of the front knife carriage, via an eccentric crank, according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIGS. 5 to 8 ; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 10  shows the pulleys shown in  FIG. 5  mounted on the front knife carriage shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a front knife area  200  in a flying trimmer according to an embodiment of the present invention, with certain elements found in  FIG. 10  omitted for clarity in showing an upper front edge trimming knife  104  and a lower front edge trimming knife  103 . Front knife area  200  includes a lower front knife area  201  and an upper knife assembly  45 . Lower front knife area  201  includes a front knife carriage  101  and supporting levers  42 ,  43 ,  44  (lever  41  being hidden from view and being shown in  FIG. 3 ) that allow front knife carriage  101  to be reciprocated horizontally back and forth by an eccentric crank  102 , via links  48 . Front knife carriage  101  supports lower front edge trimming knife  103 , linear slides  106 , and posts  107 . Posts  107  can slidably support bearing blocks  47 , which move up and down on posts  107 . A clamp  105  for printed products is mounted to bearing blocks  47 . Upper knife assembly  45  includes upper front edge trimming knife  104  and is mounted on linear slides  106 . Clamp  105  and upper knife assembly  45  are respectively arranged so that clamp  105  and upper knife assembly  45  travel with front knife carriage  101  when knife carriage  101  is reciprocated by eccentric crank  102 . Upper knife assembly  45  is also reciprocated up and down by eccentric crank  102  to trim books passing through front knife area  200 . Clamp  105  can be independently driven up and down by a cam and lever system  108  to engage books while books are trimmed by knives  103 ,  104 . 
         [0019]    When a book, or other printed product, is advanced to front knife area  200 , clamp  105  can be driven down by cam and lever system  108 , by sliding bearing blocks  47  downward, so clamp  105  fixedly engages the book. In a preferred embodiment the downward movement of clamp  105  may be timed with the horizontal movement of carriage  101  so the travel of the book is not disrupted and the book travels fluidly through the flying trimmer. After clamp  105  fixedly engages the book, upper knife assembly  45  can be reciprocated downward toward the book and upper front front edge trimming knife  104  can slice through the book and contact lower front edge trimming knife  103 , trimming an edge of the book parallel to a spine of the book. Upper knife  104  is then reciprocated upward and clamp  105  is disengaged from the book. While clamp  105  engages the book and knives  103 ,  104  trim the book, knife carriage  101  can be reciprocated horizontally by eccentric crank  102  so that knives  103 ,  104  and clamp  105  travel at the same horizontal velocity as the book. 
         [0020]    During front edge trimming, books are secured and transported by a transport conveyor  140  ( FIG. 5 ). For each revolution of eccentric crank  102 , front knife carriage  101  may complete a full revolution, reciprocating back and forth horizontally in relation to the path of the books to be trimmed, while upper knife  104  oscillates down, contacts lower knife  103 , and trims a book during each revolution. Transport of books before and after books are trimmed, for example, is discussed in detail below in relation to  FIGS. 4 to 9 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 2  shows a cross sectional perspective view of front knife area  200  shown in  FIG. 1  and a chip gate  14 . A book  109  is present in front knife area  200 . Book  109  is supported and transported by transport conveyor  140  ( FIG. 5 ). When book  109  is positioned so that a front edge trim location of book  109  is directly below upper knife  104 , and carriage  101  is traveling at a same horizontal velocity as book  109 , clamp  105  engages book  109  and upper knife  104  is reciprocated downward so that upper knife  104  quickly contacts lower knife  103 , thereby trimming a front edge of book  109 . Eccentric crank  102  may slide upper knife assembly  45  via linear slides  106  to reciprocate upper knife  104  downward. In a preferred embodiment, engaging book  109  with clamp  105  and trimming book  109  with knives  103 ,  104  is a precise process to ensure that book  109  is trimmed at a proper position with minimal chipout and to ensure efficient operation of the flying trimmer. Chip gate  14  may be provided to assure that book  109  is transported to front knife area  200  in a proper orientation, with respect to knives  103 ,  104  and clamp  105 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  shows a perspective view of lower knife area  201  shown in  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 3 , the view of posts  107  is unobstructed by bearing blocks  47  ( FIG. 1 ). Posts  107  protrude away from carriage  101  a sufficient amount to allow bearing blocks  47  ( FIG. 1 ) to securely slide up and down on posts  107 , thereby engaging and disengaging clamp  105  from books that pass through front knife area  200 . Linear slides  106  may adjustably mount upper knife assembly  45  ( FIG. 1 ) to carriage  101  and protrude from carriage  101  in a manner allowing upper knife assembly  45  ( FIG. 1 ) to reciprocate downwards and trim books by contacting knife  103  with knife  104  (FIG.  1 ), then reciprocate upward a sufficient distance to allow books to pass between knives  103 ,  104  ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of a portion of an infeed device  130  advancing books  109   a,    109   b,    109   c  to the embodiment of front knife area  200  shown in  FIG. 1 , which is shown schematically by lower knife  103 , upper knife  104 , and clamp  105 . Spines of books  109   b,    109   c  are driven against respective register lugs  110   b,    110   c  by continuous infeed belts  11 . Infeed belts  11  may have a higher velocity than register lugs  110   a,    110   b,    110   c,  thus register lugs  110   a,    110   b ,  110   c,  when contacting books  109   a,    109   b,    109   c,  maintain positioning of the spines of books  109   a,    109   b,    109   c,  respectively. Register lugs  110   a,    110   b,    110   c  may be fixedly attached to continuous register belts  55 , which may travel parallel to infeed belts  11  as lugs  110   a,    110   b ,  110   c  contact books  109   a,    109   b,    109   c.  Register lugs  110   b,    110   c  are spine registering books  109   b,    109   c  so books  109   b,    109   c  are in proper alignment to be trimmed by knives  103 ,  104  of front knife area  200 . Lug  110   a  spine registered book  109   a,  then descended out of contact with book  109   a  as book  109   a  was engaged by forwarding belts  12 ,  13 . 
         [0024]    Forwarding belts  12 ,  13  maintain a proper orientation of book  109   a  as book  109   a  enters front knife area  200  for trimming. Forwarding belts  12 ,  13  may be positioned close to knives  103 ,  104  to ensure proper orientation of books  109   a,    109   b,    109   c  being passed from infeed device  130  to a front edge trim position in front knife area  200 . Chip gate  14  may be supporting a portion of book  109   a  not engaged by forwarding belts  12 ,  13  to ensure proper orientation of book  109   a  so book  109   a  is effectively front trimmed and advanced through the flying trimmer. Chip gate  14 , when provided, may reciprocate back and forth in a manner corresponding to the travel of books  109   a,    109   b,    109   c.    
         [0025]      FIG. 5  shows a schematic side view of infeed device  130 , lower knife  103 , upper knife  104 , and clamp  105  shown in  FIG. 4 , and a downstream transport conveyor  140 . Transport conveyor  140  will receive books  109   a,    109   b  from infeed device  130  and maintain proper orientation of books  109   a,    109   b  during front edge trimming by knives  103 ,  104 . Book  109   a  is beginning to be passed by forwarding belts  12 ,  13  over knife  103  and under knife  104  into a nip  31  formed by an upper transport belt  27  and a lower transport belt  28  of transport conveyor  140 . Chip gate  14  may briefly move in a direction  22  that book  109   a  is traveling as book  109   a  is advanced from infeed device  130  to transport conveyor  140 , helping maintain orientation of book  109   a  as book  109   a  spans a space between infeed device  130  and transport conveyor  140 . 
         [0026]    Belt  27  interacts with pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  20 ,  24  and belt  28  interacts with pulleys  18 ,  19 ,  25 ,  26 . Pulleys  20 ,  24 ,  25 ,  26  may be fixed to ground. Pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , which are each marked with an “x” in  FIG. 5 , may be mounted on reciprocating front knife carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ). Pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19  may be reciprocated back and forth in relation to a travel direction  22  of book  109   a  with front knife carriage  101  as front knife carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ) is reciprocated back and forth in relation travel direction  22  of book  109   a.  Thus, a section of transport conveyor  140  is reciprocated horizontally along with knives  103 ,  104  and clamp  105 . Pulleys  20 ,  24 ,  25 ,  26  do not reciprocate horizontally with knife carriage  101 . 
         [0027]    As carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ) travels in direction  22 , away from infeed device  130 , a belt span  29  between pulleys  19 ,  26  may lengthen a certain amount while belt span  30  between pulleys  18 ,  25  may shorten the same amount. Also, as carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ) travels in direction  22 , away from infeed device  130 , a belt span  21  between pulleys  17 ,  20  may lengthen a certain amount while a belt span  23  between pulleys  16 ,  24  may shorten the same amount. Carriage  101 , along with pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , reciprocates in direction  22  while knives  103 ,  104  trim book  109   a.    
         [0028]    As carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ) travels in a direction opposite direction  22 , toward infeed device  130 , belt span  29  between pulleys  19 ,  26  may shorten a certain amount while belt span  30  between pulleys  18 ,  25  may lengthen the same amount. Also, as carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ) travels in a direction opposite direction  22 , toward infeed device  130 , belt span  21  between pulleys  17 ,  20  may shorten a certain amount while belt span  23  between pulleys  16 ,  24  may lengthen the same amount. Equal belt span adjustment of belt spans  21 ,  23  and of belt spans  29 ,  30  provides the advantage that belts  27 ,  28  need not be stretched as pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19  move back and forth horizontally. 
         [0029]    In an alternative embodiment a roll may replace each upper belt  12 ,  27 . The rolls may be positioned, in relation to respective lower belts  13 ,  28 , so that each roll acts with respect to respective lower belt  13 ,  27  to maintain the position of books passing between infeed device  103  and transport conveyor  140 . The rolls may also be raised and lowered to come into contact and come out of contact with passing books. Each belt  13 ,  28  may also be substituted with a brush or any other mechanism that will marry books to respective lower belts  12 ,  27  to maintain the orientation of the books as books are transported by belts  12 ,  27 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 6  shows a schematic side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  with a book passing from infeed device  130  to transport conveyor  140 . Book  109   a  is under the control of both forwarding belts  12 ,  13  and transport belts  27 ,  28 . In a preferred embodiment, book  109   a  is positively transferred from forwarding belts  12 ,  13  to transport belts  27 ,  28  with belts  12 ,  13 ,  27 ,  28  traveling at substantially a same velocity. Clamp  105  may be moving downward to clamp book  109   a  when book  109   a  is in proper position to be front edge trimmed by knives  103 ,  104 . Carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ), along with pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  18 , knives  103 ,  104  and clamp  105 , is being reciprocated horizontally in a direction opposite direction  22 , toward infeed device  130 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 7  shows a schematic side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  with book  109   a  being released by infeed device  130  as book  109   a  is transported by transport conveyor  140 . Book  109   a  is passing through a space under clamp  105  and knife  104  and above knife  103 . After book  109   a  is released by forwarding belts  12 ,  13  book  109   a  may be exclusively under control of transport belts  27 ,  28 . A point at which belts  12 ,  13  last control book  109   a  is determined by a position of a trailing end  121  of book  109   a  and a position of a nip  39  formed by forwarding belts  12 ,  13 . After forwarding belts  12 ,  13  release control of book  109   a,  transport belts  27 ,  28  and forwarding belts  12 ,  13  may run at different velocities. A velocity of transport conveyor  140  may be dynamically adjusted so that when clamp  105  engages book  109   a,  book  109   a  may be traveling at substantially the same velocity as carriage  101  and clamp  105 . Carriage  101 , along with pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  18 , knives  103 , and clamp  105 , is being reciprocated in a direction opposite direction  22 , toward infeed device  130 . 
         [0032]      FIG. 8  shows a schematic side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  with clamp  105  applying pressure to book  109   a  as transport conveyor  140  transports book  109   a.  Upper knife  104  is being oscillated downward to trim a front edge of book  109   a  at a predetermined proper location. Upper knife  104  will trim book  109   a  and contact lower  103  as clamp  105  ( FIG. 1 ) securely engages book  109   a.  Eccentric crank  102  ( FIG. 1 ) is reciprocating carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ), along with pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  18 , knives  103 ,  104  and clamp  105 , in direction  22 , away from infeed device  130 , as clamp  105  applies pressure to book  109   a.  Carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ) may be traveling at substantially the same horizontal velocity as belts  27 ,  28 , as well as book  109   a,  as clamp  105  is contacting book  109   a  and while knives  103 ,  104  trim book  109   a.  Clamp  105  applies pressure to book  109   a  without disrupting the position or velocity of book  109   a,  thus helping to eliminate chipout during trimming and increasing the efficiency of the flying trimmer. 
         [0033]    Backstops  40  may also be provided to improve the accuracy of the front edge trimming of book  109   a  by knives  103 ,  104 . When backstops  40  are not employed, belts  27 ,  28  provide sufficient pressure to prevent book  109   a  from slipping as book  109   a  is engaged by clamp  105  and trimmed by knives  103 ,  104 . When backstops  40  are employed, belts  27 ,  28  can provide less pressure on book  109   a  so that book  109   a  can slide in belts  27 ,  28  as book  109   a  hits and is aligned by backstop  40 . Backstop  40  may also be utilized to skew the trimming by knives  103 ,  104 , if necessary to compensate for errors in cover printing and folding. 
         [0034]    Belts  12 ,  13  may be advancing book  109   b  to belts  27 ,  28  so that book  109   b  can subsequently been front edge trimmed by knives  103 ,  104 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 9  shows a graph of horizontal velocities of front knife carriage  101 , a side knife carriage forwarding belts  12 ,  13  and transport belts  27 ,  28  for a complete revolution of front knife carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ), via eccentric crank  102  ( FIG. 1 ), according to the embodiment the present invention shown in  FIGS. 5 to 8 . Velocity of belts  12 ,  13  is shown by a line  32 , velocity of belts  27 ,  28  is shown by a curved line  33 , velocity of front knife carriage  101  is shown by a line  135  and velocity of the side knife carriage is shown by a line  145 . For a given machine velocity, belts  12 ,  13  run at a constant velocity and belts  27 ,  28  run at varying velocities during a revolution of front knife carriage  101 . Because front knife carriage  101  travels in two horizontal directions during a complete revolution, the velocity of front knife carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ) reaches both positive and negative values during a revolution of front knife carriage  101 . The side knife carriage reciprocates similar to front knife carriage  101 , reaching both positive and negative values during a revolution. In this embodiment, during each revolution of front knife carriage  101 , front knives  103 ,  104  trim a single book. A direction of travel  22  of book  109   a,  as shown in  FIGS. 5 to 8 , is defined as a direction of negative velocity for illustrative purposes related to  FIG. 9 . Therefore, belts  12 ,  13 ,  27 ,  28  travel only at negative velocities in  FIGS. 5 to 8 . 
         [0036]    A point  37  indicates where carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ) switches from traveling in direction  22  ( FIGS. 5 to 9 ), the direction of travel of book  109   a,  to traveling in a direction opposite of direction  22 , toward infeed device  130  ( FIG. 5 ). A point  38  indicates where carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ) switches from traveling in a direction opposite direction  22 , to traveling in direction  22 . 
         [0037]    Points  34 ,  35 ,  36 , shown in  FIG. 9 , indicate the speed of belts  27 ,  28  at positions of book  109   a  shown in  FIGS. 6 ,  7  and  8 , respectively. At point  34 , book  109   a  is engaged by both belts  12 ,  13  and belts  27 ,  28  and belts  12 ,  13 ,  27 ,  28  are traveling at substantially the same velocity. At this time, front knife carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ), along with pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19  ( FIG. 5 ), is traveling toward infeed device  130  ( FIG. 5 ), and therefore has a positive velocity, but is decelerating to switch directions at point  38  and reciprocate away from infeed device  130 . 
         [0038]    At point  35 , book  109   a  is no longer engaged by belts  12 ,  13 , but is still engaged by belts  27 ,  28 . After book  109   a  is no longer engaged by belts  12 ,  13  and belts  27 ,  28 , belts  12 ,  13 ,  27 ,  28  may be traveling at substantially the same velocity, as shown by point  35 , or belts  12 ,  13  and belts  27 ,  28  may be traveling at different velocities. 
         [0039]    At point  36 , book  109   a  becomes engaged by clamp  105  and knife  104  oscillates downward to contact knife  103  and trim book  109   a.  Clamp  105  engages book  109   a,  and until knives  103 ,  104  finish trimming book  109   a,  belts  27 ,  28  and front knife carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ), along with clamp  105 , knives  103 ,  104  and pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , ( FIG. 5 ) travel at substantially the same velocity. At this time, carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ) and a section of transport device  140  ( FIG. 5 ) are now traveling in direction  22  and thereby have a negative velocity. 
         [0040]    After clamp  105  releases book  109   a,  belts  27 ,  28  can travel at a velocity that varies from front knife carriage  101 . Book  109   a  can then be advanced by belts  27 ,  28  to be side trimmed by side knives of the side knife carriage, which may include components similar to components of front knife carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ) and may operate in a manner similar to front knife carriage  101 . Book  109   a  is engaged by belts  27 ,  28  during this side trimming. As a clamp of side knife carriage engages book  109   a,  which is indicated by a point  133 , and until side knives trim the book, side knife carriage and belts  27 ,  28  travel at substantially the same velocity. After the clamp of side knife carriage releases the book, belts  27 ,  28  can travel at a velocity that varies from a velocity of side knife carriage. 
         [0041]    In an alternative embodiment front knife carriage  101  is substantially synchronized with side knife carriage, so that as one book is being side trimmed by side knives a following book may be front trimmed by front knives  103 ,  104 , with the horizontal velocities of front knife carriage  101  and the side knife carriage substantially equaling the velocity of belts  27 ,  28 . 
         [0042]      FIG. 10  shows pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19  shown in  FIG. 5  mounted on front knife carriage  101  shown in  FIG. 1 . Pulleys  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19  are mounted on front knife carriage  101  ( FIG. 1 ), in front knife area  200 , near levers  43 ,  44 . 
         [0043]    In the preceding specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments and examples thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of invention as set forth in the claims that follow. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative manner rather than a restrictive sense.