EP0116015A1 - Device and method for removing and diverting a sample from a stream of overlapping printed articles - Google Patents

Abstract

On a conveyor belt V, the scale stream 1 runs in the direction of arrow S under the device. A driven conveyor chain (23) transports the material removed from the shingled stream (1) by gripping devices (25, 25 ') to a destination via deflection rollers. A gripping device (25) in the standby position above the scale stream (1) can be triggered from the target location; the removal process is controlled by an assignment detector (28), a tachometer (29), position detectors (27H, 27L) and pulse counters. The device is suitable for taking specimens from high-speed streams without disturbing their configuration.

Description

The invention lies in the field of product manufacture, in which the products are moved in an orderly manner in shingled streams and relates to a device for removing and transporting a sample from such a shingled stream.

The manufacture of products normally requires production monitoring, in which samples must be taken from the product flow. Sample copies can usually be taken from the unordered product flow without special restrictions; In the orderly product flow, the degrees of freedom for the sampling process are greatly reduced, and conditions that are sometimes difficult to meet must be observed in order not to disturb the order in the product flow during the sampling. This is particularly the case for high-speed production processes, in which intermediate buffering is ruled out due to the high throughput and strict synchronicity must therefore be maintained. The transport of the semi-finished and finished products from station to station is strictly subordinate to the work cycle, and if one of these sections - an orderly product flow is required here - a disturbance of the order occurs, this will be characterized by the work cycle of the process Speed is conveyed to the point at which this disturbance causes a first material jam. According to experience this only takes a few seconds, and it is necessary to temporarily shut down the process in order to remedy the cumulative subsequent malfunction.

An order is established in the streams of shingles in the production of printed products which enables the products to be gripped individually. Disruptions in the formation or the order of the shingled stream endanger the coincidence and can lead to vehement build-up of the material. Intervening in high-speed shingled streams is therefore a critical process.

For example, in rotary printing, where a throughput of 50 - 100,000 copies per hour is common, the following problem arises: Sampling should be possible as soon as possible after the print of the copy, but in the stream flow between storage and individual picking, as a critical process section, should nevertheless if possible not to intervene. This means that the sample is taken from a less critical process section.

At such production speeds, any manufacturing defects that occur - if you do not want to receive thousands of defective copies - must be discovered and corrected at an early stage. It is therefore desirable to minimize the time between the manufacture of an individual product and its inspection.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a device which can be used to intervene in a loose scale flow even at a high current speed without causing disturbances, in order to take a sample from it. Another object of the invention is the device in such a way that the sample taken can be transported to any location for assessment.

The design of the device is intended to enable it to be used on the shingled stream and to enable rapid sample transport over given topological conditions in such a way that the time between the manufacture and assessment of the product is significantly reduced compared to the sampling known today.

Finally, it is an object of the invention to provide a method for operating the device with which the safety of the removal process is maintained even in the event of scatter within the scale formation.

The object of the invention is achieved by the invention specified in the characterizing part of the device and the method claim.

• Figur 1 ein Beispiel aus der Druckereitechnik, wie ein Schuppenstrom von flächigen Erzeugnissen entsteht;
• Figur 2 vereinfacht schematisch dargestellt die Vorrichtung gemäss Erfindung an einem Schuppenstrom eingesetzt;
• Figur 3a und b eine detaillierte Ausführungsform der Greifeinrichtung;
• Figur 4 in detaillierter Darstellung die Arbeitsweise der Vorrichtung bei der Entnahme eines Probeexemplars aus dem Schuppenstrom;
• Figur 5 eine Zyklusdarstellung der Vorbereitung zur Entnahme und des Entnahmevorgangs gemäss Figur 4;
• Figur 6 einen Ausschnitt der Transportkette, wie sie in der Vorrichtung gemäss Erfindung verwendet wird.

The invention is described in detail with the aid of the following figures. Show it:

• Figure 1 shows an example from printing technology, how a scale flow of flat products is created;
• FIG. 2 shows a simplified schematic representation of the device according to the invention used on a scale stream;
• 3a and b show a detailed embodiment of the gripping device;
• FIG. 4 shows in a detailed representation the mode of operation of the device when taking a sample from the stream of scale;
• FIG. 5 shows a cycle representation of the preparation for removal and the removal process according to FIG. 4;
• Figure 6 shows a section of the transport chain, as used in the device according to the invention.

In FIG. 1, part of the entire manufacturing process for flat products, with which the device according to the invention is brought into cooperation, is shown briefly and schematically. In this example, it is a printed matter, for example a newspaper, and the sub-area folding, cutting, storing and conveying the freshly printed newspapers away. As is known, the printed paper web P is folded for the first time via a funnel 8, divided by means of a cutting cylinder 7 and folded again between folding cylinders 5, 6 and finally transferred by a deposit star 3 into a scale stream 1 formed by depositing and removing speed. In this example, a fold delivery with two folds is shown.

The scale stream 1 moves away from the laying star at a relatively high speed to stations for further processing steps, and at this point, by converting a continuous material stream with the aid of the cutting device into a discontinuous one, it is possible for the first time to examine the manufacturing process by sampling. It is also the earliest point in time in the process, for example, to be able to intervene in a regulatory manner - an important aspect of course in fast-moving manufacturing processes.

If a sample is to be taken from the shingled stream in the vicinity of the deposit star at a high conveying speed in such a way that the formation is not changed significantly, this requires a correspondingly precise coordination in the removal process. Force coupling may only take place between the shingled stream and the gripping device at a certain moment, namely when the sample is taken, at other times there is no operative connection between the removal device and the material flow.

• Nach Betätigung einer Starttaste am Zielort, welcher Zielort in beträchtlichem Abstand vom Entnahmeort sein kann, wird die Greifeinrichtung 25 mit Hilfe des Fangfederspanners 26 in Bereitsschaftsstellung gebracht. Gleichzeitig "erfasst" der Zuordnungsdetektor 28 ein Exemplar aus dem Schuppenstrom; mit anderen Worten, der Zuordnungsdetektor meldet den Durchgang eines Exemplars (von vielen) dem in Bereitschaft stehenden Greifer. Ein Tachogeber 29 verfolgt den weiteren Verlauf des erfassten Exemplars zur Greifeinrichtung 25 hin. Zu einem vorbestimmten Zeitpunkt gibt der Fangfederspanner 26 den Greifvorgang der Greifeinrichtung 25 frei, und das nun mechanisch durch Greifer erfasste Probeexemplar wird mit hoher Geschwindigkeit sorgfältig aus der Schuppenformation herausgelöst und mit unvermindertem Tempo an den Zielort transportiert. Die sich am Zielort befindende Greifeinrichtung 25' nimmt den Platz des vorher aktiven Greifers 25 ein, und mittels der Starttaste kann dann wieder ein weiterer Entnahmevorgang ausgelöst werden. Feinheiten im Verfahren und in der Ausbildung der Vorrichtungsteile werden nun im Zusammenhang mit den folgenden Figuren erläutert.

A schematic representation of the removal and removal device is shown in FIG. On a conveyor belt V, the scale stream 1 runs in the direction of arrow S under the device. In a rest position to be defined, a gripping device 25 is above the scale flow, a second gripping device 25 'is located at the delivery point of a destination. Furthermore, a catch spring ^p anner 26 is specified, which initiates the mechanical removal process. Position detectors 27 _H and 27 _L supply information from the conveyor chain 23, a tachometer 29 from the conveyor belt driving the scale stream, and finally an assignment detector 28 provides information regarding a specimen intended for removal from the scale stream. In terms of procedure, this is done as follows:

• After pressing a start button at the destination, which destination can be a considerable distance from the removal location, the gripping device 25 is brought into the ready position with the aid of the catch spring tensioner 26. At the same time, the assignment detector 28 "detects" a copy from the scale stream; in other words, the mapping detector reports passage of one (among many) to the gripper that is on standby. A tachometer 29 follows the further course of the detected specimen towards the gripping device 25. At a predetermined point in time, the catch spring tensioner 26 releases the gripping process of the gripping device 25, and the specimen, which is now mechanically gripped by the gripper, is carefully detached from the scale formation at high speed and transported to the destination at an undiminished speed. The gripping device 25 'located at the destination takes the place of the previously active gripper 25, and a further removal process can then be triggered again by means of the start button. Subtleties in the method and in the design of the device parts are now explained in connection with the following figures.

An embodiment of the gripping device 25 is shown in FIGS. 3a and b. The functioning of the The gripper is explained in detail in connection with FIG. 4. The gripper 25 must work quickly and precisely and must be able to safely pack a sample from the shingled stream. It is essentially assembled from a catch spring 30, a gripping spring 32 with a spiral part 32 ′ that improves the elasticity, a counter spring 31 with a holder 31 ′, a tensioning lever 34 that moves (grips) the gripping spring 32, this tensioning lever 34 is moved via a tensioning lever roller 35 actuated by a backdrop, not shown, and for example two spacer shafts 36, which hold two gripper cheeks 33 spaced apart. The gripping device 25 is fastened to a conveyor chain 23 with a plurality of spatial degrees of freedom. The embodiment shown shows two such conveyor chains 23, as can be seen in FIG. 3b.

This figure shows the gripping device 25 seen from above. Clamped on both sides of a conveyor chain 23 that can be moved in three dimensions, the gripper is able to overcome even difficult topographies. You can see again the shovel-like catch spring 30, to which the gripping springs 31, 32 are connected by a spacer shaft 36. The tensioning lever 34 for the gripping spring 32 carries the tensioning lever roller 35 at a slight angle and arranged in the center. The corresponding dimensions are given by the product to be manipulated. For small and light products with a correspondingly small gripping device, a conveyor chain arranged symmetrically to the center of the gripper is sufficient. One advantage that arises from this is the fact that it can be rotated around the longitudinal axis of the conveyor chain while overcoming topologically difficult transport routes.

Figure 4 now shows the operation of the device during the removal of a sample from the stream of flakes. The circle indicated is the path of a point located in the spacer shaft 36 of the spring spiral 32 ', which is moved in the direction Z _z around a deflection roller 22. The gripper 25 is drawn in two different working positions, the catch spring 30 in three different working positions 30 ₁ , 30 ₂ , 30 ₃ . As long as no message arrives from the destination to take a sample, the gripper 25 is in a rest position R. When a start device located at the destination, for example a start button, is pressed, the gripper 25 is brought into a standby position B. The catch spring 30 ₁ comes into a pre-tension in which it comes to rest on a stand 26 'of the catch spring tensioner 26 in the bending position, at the same time the tensioning lever 34 tensions the gripping spring 32 ₁ , 32 _{2. The} catch spring brought into standby and under spring tension 30 ₂ serves as soon as it comes back (nearly) to its relaxed position, as transducer of a sample instance. While the gripping device 25 goes into the ready position B, for example, in creep speed, the assignment detector 28 has electronically "captured" a sample E _o by the same triggering process at the destination at the time T ₀ . The sample specimen is further conveyed in the imbricated formation, until the time T of the catch spring clamp 26 the lower plate 26 'of the catcher 30 ₂ ^wegzieh t, and it comes just before the tapering with the rebate side to the gripping means 25 Sample Set E _o to the impact. This occurs quite suddenly due to the pretensioning of the catch spring 30, and part of the scale formation runs towards the open gripper via the catch spring 30 ₃ functioning as a pickup. Has the sample E now designated E ₁ at time T _{F reaches} a position within the gripper formed by gripping and counter spring 32 ₂ , 31, the open gripper closes and pulls the sample out of the scale formation while accelerating the gripping device in direction Z. The acceleration must be so great relative and in the same direction to the shingled stream running in direction S that the inertial forces of the specimens in static and sliding friction contact with the specimen E are greater than the friction forces mentioned. Acceleration values at which a conveying speed of 4 ms ^{-1 is} reached between 300 and 800 ms are sufficient for newsprint. The stream of shed conveys 60,000 to 80,000 copies / h with a shed spacing of approx. 80 mm.

The process features for operating the device are now explained with the aid of FIG. 5. In this figure, the cycle times of the assignment detector 28, two electronic counter C ₁ and C ₂ and _G are frost on horizontal time axis and located catcher 30,32 of the gripping device 25 and the sub-tray 26 'of the catching tensioner 26th The speed-dependent impulses of the tachometer 29 between two specimen impulses of the assignment detector 28 are shown on the lowest time axis. This is only intended to show how a single “captured” individual copy is followed up on its way to the gripper. The gripping and conveying process can be started by a start impulse triggered at the destination, as is the case in the present example. The assignment detector 28 "detects" each individual specimen from the scale flow; as long as there is no command to follow up a particular item with a start impulse is given, the running copies are forgotten after the short pulse time. The start pulse now causes at the time T _o to "capture" and follow up the sample to be extracted by means of a counter C ₁ , which, switched on at this point, counts the tachometer pulses until the catch spring strikes at point T (see also FIG. 4) which point the counter C ₁ causes the subtraction 26 'to be withdrawn and, in this example, the switching on of a further counter C ₂ . The latter counts as many tachometer pulses as are necessary until the specimen running onto the catch clip is located at point T in the area of the gripper springs 31 and 32. At time T ₀ , the gripping spring 32 can be opened beforehand by means of the tensioning lever 34. The clamping can also take place when the gripping device 25 is brought into standby.

If the sample with the folded edge scanned at the time T _o now reaches the counted time T _F , the counter closes the grippers 31, 32 and triggers the previously mentioned acceleration process in order to pull the sample, which is now also mechanically recorded, out of the scale formation.

As already mentioned, after the extraction is accelerated, the sample is transported to the destination at the speed achieved by this process; a second gripping device 25 ', which was previously at the destination, is simultaneously returned to the shingled stream. Of course, 23 further gripping devices 25 ″ etc. can be arranged along the entire length of the conveyor chain be, it is also possible to provide more than one destination for a gripping device. For example, a start impulse coming from the editorial office of a newspaper could direct the sample to it, whereas the printer would normally have the sample stopped at his destination as a place to monitor the pressure.

The throughput capacities of around 10 ⁵ Expl.h ¹ are already a good standard and should be expected to increase steadily. The acceleration of extraction for the specimens must therefore be adaptable to this development. The special embodiment of the invention described below takes this development into account.

When the inertial mass is accelerated, large kinetic forces occur depending on the degree of the change in momentum. In the specified invention, these forces must be brought from the power drive via the transport chain 23 to the gripping device. The highest possible rigidity in this part of the system is therefore necessary and desirable; it should accelerate. counteracting factors such as (rope) stretching and (rope) slipping can be minimal, without, on the other hand, restricting the above-mentioned conveying properties of the transport chain in order to overcome difficult topographies. These conditions are met when using an articulated rope according to CH patent 538 065 as a transport chain 23.

FIG. 6 shows a section of this transport chain, as can also be seen in connection with the gripping device shown in FIG. 3b. The chain links 60 consist, for example, of screwable plugs / sockets with a plug seat 61, which is pivotally fitted in the socket 65 of an adjacent chain link. A locking collar 62 prevents the plug connection from being disconnected under tensile load. Two chain links connected to each other can be freely rotated around their connection and can be pivoted up to an angle limited by the construction. With full swiveling and simultaneous turning there is freedom of movement with the envelope of a cone. The stopper seat 61 is a sliding seat, which means that the fully assembled chain has no looseness with great mobility and the extensibility is given only by the type of material used. With polypropylene with good sliding properties and great toughness, even longer transport chains do not have any disruptive elongation.

Each chain link has a convex seat 66, here part-spherical with the radius R. The spherical shape is highlighted by two dashed circles; the larger circle only serves to better emphasize this characteristic. Also shown is an arrow, which is intended to indicate a normal or contact force with N and a tensile force with Z. The convex seat comes to rest on the deflecting and drive rollers 22 in a concave seat incorporated therein (this is not shown) and the temporary, form-fitting connection thus formed of the convex seat 66 pressed with the force N into the concave seat of the drive roller in the pulling direction Z is completely slip-free and is therefore ideal, together with the negligible elongation, for high accelerations. There is nevertheless an articulated mobility for rapidly successive deflections, possibly also several times around the chain axis. The spherical design of the convex seat is equally suitable due to its symmetry in both directions of pull. If only one direction of pull is provided, can be provided with flanks favoring the forces in the tensile direction. The asymmetry caused by this must, however, be rotationally symmetrical in the axial direction due to the rotatability of the chain links relative to one another.

The gripping device can be fixed to one or more of the chain links 60 as shown in FIG. 3b with, for example, a fastening 68 according to FIG. 6.

The use of the so-called 3-D chain, as described above, allows transport over the most difficult paths. As soon as a gripping device in the rest position R above the scale flow is detected, the take-off process can be triggered again by the start pulse at one of the target locations.

The device according to the invention can be used wherever flat products are brought into movement in a discrete form, ie in series. The scale formation is not a mandatory requirement, although this is preferably processed with the device. With the method according to the invention, namely: detecting, assigning, catching the catch spring, gripping and pulling away, loose and circulating specimens can also be picked up or recorded and transported to a destination.

In the field of printing, application of the invention can be expected to reduce the removal / assessment time by a factor of between 10 and 20. With a throughput of 90,000 copies / h, 25 defective or even faulty copies can occur per second. With such services, a sampling is close the production process and a high-speed transport away an essential cost-preventing factor.

Reference sign / designation

• P printed paper web
• 1 shingled stream
• 3 drop stars
• 5)
• ₆₎ ^F alzzylinder
• 7 cutting cylinders
• 8 funnels
• 20 conveyor
• 22 pulleys
• 23 conveyor chain
• 25.25 'gripping device
• 26 spring tensioner
• 26 'Unterstell
• 27H, 27 _L position detectors
• 28 mapping detector
• 29 speedometer encoder
• 30 catch spring
• 31 counter spring 31 'bracket
• 32 gripping spring 32 'spiral part
• 33 gripper cheek
• 34 tension levers
• 35 tension lever roller
• A Rest of the tongue
• 30 _index) different working positions
• 32 _{index) of} the gripper _springs
• E sample "recorded"

Claims (12)

1. Device for taking and conveying away a sample from an ordered material flow of printed products with power drive, transport chain and deflection rollers, characterized by a deflection roller (22) arranged in (immediate) vicinity of the material flow, at least one gripping device (25) arranged on the transport chain (23) ) with a catch spring, a catch spring tensioner (26) which can be brought into operative connection with the catch spring (30) and means (28, 29) which also control the gripping device (25) and catch spring tensioner (26) for the detection of individual products and their speed. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that between the gripping device (25) and catch spring tensioner (26) co-controlling means, an assignment detector (28) and a tachometer (29) pulse counting devices (C and C ₂ ) are provided. 3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the catch spring (30) on the catch spring tensioner (26) by a controllable base (26 ') can be brought into bias. 4. The device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized shows that a second gripping device 25 'is provided at a distance from the gripping device 25 arranged in the vicinity of the material flow from the destination. 5. Method for operating the device according to claim 1, characterized by the following method steps: - Detection of a discrete material flow of flat products - Assigning a sample of the flat products from the detected material flow to a deflection device - Deflect the flat sample in an open gripping device - Actuation of the gripping device to fix the sample and then accelerate it to form a continuously increasing path angle between the material flow longitudinal axis and a point describing the path on the front edge of the flat sample. 6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the accelerated sample is transported to the destination at approximately the speed reached at the end of the acceleration phase. 7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that after detection and assignment by counting material flow speed-dependent pulses, a first running distance for the sample is determined, when the catch spring is reached the deflection device is made to impact, and then, by counting further material flow speed-dependent impulses, a second running distance for the same sample. is determined when the gripping device is actuated. 8. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the assignment of a sample from the material flow can be triggered by a device arranged at the destination. 9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the assignment of a sample from the material flow can be triggered from one of several destinations. 10. Use of interlinked chain links (60), with stopper seat (61) in sockets (65) and locking cuffs (62) secured against tensile load, part of a chain link (60) being designed as a convex seat (66), as a conveyor chain ( 23) in the device according to claim 1. 11. Use of a conveyor chain according to claim 10, characterized in that the conveyor chain links (60) have a spherical convex seat (66). 12. Use of a conveyor chain according to claim 10, characterized in that the conveyor chain links have an aspherical convex seat (66).

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