EP0312749B1 - Method and device for taking over prints from a turning paddle wheel of a printing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

An outfeed conveyor is arranged beneath a rotary bucket wheel driven to rotate in a predetermined rotational direction. A belt conveyor is arranged downstream of, and a product entrainment arrangement is arranged upstream of, the outfeed conveyor. An endless revolving belt is guided about belt rolls of the outfeed conveyor and upon which come to bear the printed products in inbricated formation. Entrainment elements of the product entrainment arrangement completely stuff the printed products into the pockets of the bucket wheel. Upon ejection of the printed products out of the bucket wheel they are fixedly clamped at their trailing edges between a support element and extensions or cantilever arms of the entrainment elements until the entrainment elements have passed the support element and thus an intersection location between the entrainment elements and the support element. The resiliently arranged extensions of the entrainment elements are pivoted by the support element in a predetermined direction, such as clockwise, so that the printed products are cyclically released. There is thus formed an inbricated formation of the printed products within which all prnited products are aligned and there can be maintained a substantially constant mutual spacing between the individual printed products.

Description

3. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for taking over printed products from a rotatingly driven impeller according to the preamble of claims 1 and 3 respectively.

A device of this type is known for example from EP-OS 0067399. In the case of this device, drivers arranged in pairs on two parallel and synchronously rotating carriers run onto the trailing edges of the printed products as soon as the leading edges of these printed products have been released from the pockets of the paddle wheel, and thus align the trailing edges of the printed products at right angles to the conveying direction of the conveyor out. When the printed products are shot into the pockets of the paddle wheel, they may tilt. The printed products fall out of their pockets in free fall and are carried along by the printed products already placed on the conveyor and the belts of the conveyor due to friction. It is therefore possible, especially in the case of jammed printed products, for a leading corner to be picked up by lifting belts before the drivers could act on the trailing edge of the jammed printed product. Furthermore, printed products on the free fall path between the paddle wheel and the conveyor or the carriers of the driver by the wind Paddle wheel or fluttering of the trailing edges can be influenced in an uncontrolled manner, which can also have the consequence that the distances between individual printed products in the removed scale formation can be uneven and that individual printed products are canted in the scale formation. In particular, changes in the rotational speed of the paddle wheel can also lead to phase shifts, which result in uneven spacing between the printed products.

The object of the present invention is to propose a method and a device for taking over printed products from a rotating driven paddle wheel of a printing machine, in which printed products which are also tilted or not completely shot into the paddle wheel are reliably aligned when forming the scale formation, and at which or which the air draft generated by the paddle wheel cannot exert an uncontrolled influence on the printed products.

This object is solved by the features of the characterizing part of claims 1 and 3, respectively.

The printed products are briefly held at the intersection of the movement path of the drivers and the transport level of the conveyor, until the drivers have passed the intersection. This means that the printed products can only be transported away from the conveyor by the drivers. This will give an exact distance of the printed products as well as a precise alignment of the trailing edge transversely to the conveying direction of the conveyor.

In a preferred embodiment, the printed products are clamped at the intersection between the drivers and a support member and the drivers are disengaged from the printed products by means of the support member. This allows gentle clamping and releasing of the printed products in a simple manner.

In a further preferred embodiment, the drivers engage in the pockets of the paddle wheel in front of the crossing point in order to push protruding printed products into the pockets. This ensures that the printed products are pushed all the way into the pockets and that the trailing edges are already aligned on the support member. In particular, the trailing edges are prevented from fluttering.

The carriers preferably have a pivotably sprung boom, this boom preferably being formed by a first end of a helical spring arranged transversely to the conveying element, the second end of which is adjusted with respect to the conveying element. Such a driver has a very simple structure, since the boom and the spring element form a unit.

In a further preferred embodiment, the fixation of the second end is adjustable. This can increase the amount of time that the printed matter is held be set at the crossing point.

Further preferred embodiments are specified in the further dependent claims.

Fig. 1

in Seitenansicht und teilweise geschnitten dargestellt eine Vorrichtung zum Uebernehmen von Druckereierzeugnissen von einem umlaufend angetriebenen Schaufelrad,

Fig. 2

die untere Hälfte derselben Vorrichtung in Ansicht in Pfeilrichtung A der Fig. 1, leicht vergrössert dargestellt,

Fig. 3 und 4

in Seitenansicht bzw. Vorderansicht eine Förderkette mit Mitnehmern, und

Fig. 5 und 6

in gegenüber Fig. 1 vergrösserter Darstellung die Kreuzungsstelle zwischen der Bewegungsbahn der Mitnehmer und der Transportebene des Wegförderers.

An embodiment of the subject matter of the invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. It shows purely schematically:

Fig. 1

in side view and partially in section, a device for taking over printed products from a rotating driven paddle wheel,

Fig. 2

the lower half of the same device in the direction of arrow A of FIG. 1, shown slightly enlarged,

3 and 4

in side view or front view of a conveyor chain with drivers, and

5 and 6

in an enlarged representation compared to FIG. 1, the crossing point between the movement path of the drivers and the transport plane of the conveyor.

In Fig. 1, the paddle wheel 10 of a printing machine is shown purely schematically, which has a plurality of pockets 12 open on its circumference. The bottom of the pockets 12 is designated 12a. The paddle wheel 10 is rotatable on a fixed shaft 14 stored and is driven in the direction of arrow B with the rotational speed v ₁ rotating. The paddle wheel 10 is preceded by a folder, not shown, from which the emerging, folded printed products 16, for example newspapers, magazines or parts thereof, fall into the pockets 12 of the paddle wheel 10. As is apparent from Fig. 1, the printed products 16 emerge from the folder with their folded edge 16a. This fold edge 16a is thus seen in the direction of rotation B of the paddle wheel 10 to the leading edge.

Arranged below the paddle wheel 10 is a conveyor 18, which is followed by a belt conveyor 20 for transporting away the scale formation S formed on the conveyor 18. A driver arrangement 22 is connected upstream of the conveyor 18, the movement path of drivers 24 on the conveyor-effective route overlapping the transport plane defined by the conveyor 18 at an intersection 26. The conveying direction of the conveyor 18 and the belt conveyor 20 is designated C, that of the driver assembly 22 with G. The conveying speed of the conveyor 18 and the belt conveyor 20 is v₂.

At the end regions of parallel side plates 28, 28 '(see FIGS. 1 and 2), bearing elements 30 are arranged in pairs. Two parallel shafts 32, 34 are rotatably mounted on them. On the shaft 32, which is driven in the direction of the arrow D, a pair of spaced-apart band rollers 36 are arranged in a rotationally fixed manner. The shaft 32 is provided with a chain drive 38 shown in broken lines with the shaft 34, adjustable in phase, operatively connected. A sprocket 40 is arranged in a rotationally fixed manner on the shaft 34, while a further pair of belt rollers 42 and deflection sprockets 44 are rotatably mounted on it. In the area of the shaft 34, two baffles 46, which coaxially encompass these and wedge-shaped against the shaft 32, and two corresponding bobbin rollers are arranged on the shaft 32. Analogue deflection sprockets 44 and belt rollers 36 are also provided on the shaft 32. Two parallel, endless belts 50 run around the belt rollers 36, 42. Two parallel, endless chains 52 are guided around the deflection sprockets 44 arranged on the shafts 32 and 34. The deflection sprockets 44 are driven such that the rotational speed of the chains 52 is the same as that of the belts 50. On the chains 52, grippers 54 shown in dash-dot lines are arranged at fixed intervals. The grippers 54 have gripper bodies 56 fastened to the sides of the chains 52, on which resilient fingers 58 are arranged. In the area of the shafts 32 and 34, the fingers 58 are moved into the open position shown in dashed lines by means of the scenes 46 or scenery rollers. When the fingers run off the scenes 46 or the scenery rollers, they pass into the clamping position and clamp the trailing edges of the printed products 16 on the conveyor-effective route or rest on the gripper body 56 on the route which is not conveyor-effective. Only one pair of grippers 54 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The shaft 32 is operatively connected by means of a further chain drive 60 with the output of a differential gear 62 which is also rotatably mounted on the side plates 28, 28 '. A chain-dotted chain 64 of another chain drive 66 wraps around with the aid of the deflection wheels 68, 68 ', the drive wheel of the differential gear 62, which results in a reversal of the direction of rotation relative to the driving sprocket 70 (see arrows E and F). The sprocket 70 is driven by a chain drive 72 shown in phantom by the shaft 14 of the paddle wheel 10. The differential gear 62 can be used to set a phase shift between the paddle wheel 10 and the removal conveyor 18 and the driver arrangement 22, for example by briefly increasing or reducing the relative speed between the drive and driven wheels of the differential gear 62.

On the side plates 28, 28 '34 holding plates 74, 74' are fixed in the region of the shaft (see. Fig. 1 and 2). A shaft 78, on which a sprocket 80 is rotatably mounted, is fastened to the holding plates 74 in elongated holes 75 by means of screw bolts 76. An endlessly rotating conveyor chain 82 is guided around the two chain wheels 40 and 80. The carriers 24 mentioned above are arranged at this at fixed intervals. They are described in more detail below. A guide plate 84 is arranged between the conveyor chain 82 and the conveyor chain 82, which protrudes beyond the upper end of the driver arrangement 22 and is bent there parallel to the edge of the blade wheel 10. The lower end of the guide plate 84 extends to the crossing point 26. In FIG. 2, the guide plate 84 is not shown in order not to obscure the view in the direction of arrow A into the impeller 10, only the lower half of this is visible. With 16 'in Fig. 1, the trailing edge of a printed product 16 is referred to, which grazes on the guide plate 84 in its upper end region, because the relevant printed product 16 is not present at the bottom of the pocket 12a.

The pockets 12 of the paddle wheel 10 are formed by a plurality of curved pocket plates 86 arranged parallel to one another (see in particular FIG. 2). Ejection elements 88 are arranged between the pocket plates 86 spaced apart from one another in the axial direction of the shaft 14, one of which is shown in FIG. 1. When the printed product 16 is ejected from the impeller 10, the leading edges 16a come to rest on the ejection elements 88.

At the intersection 26, a support member 90, for example made of plastic, is arranged parallel to the conveyor 50's conveyor belt. As will be described further below, the trailing edges of the printed products 16 come to rest on this support member 90, and cantilevers 92 of the catches 24 which are mounted so as to be pivotable and spring-loaded are pivoted out of the active area on the printed products 16. The cantilevers 92 protrude over the guide plate 84 on their conveying path and engage with their free ends in the pockets 12 of the paddle wheel 10.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, some links of the conveyor chain 82 are shown enlarged with a pair of drivers 24 attached to it. On the free ends of two elongated bolts 94 of the conveyor chain 82, two driver plates 96 are plugged on, which are spaced from the plates 100 of the conveyor chain 82 by means of spacer sleeves 98. At one end the bolts 94 are provided with a head 102 and the other end is held against axial displacement by means of a clamp 104. A helical spring 106 wound in opposite directions is arranged around the spacer sleeves 98 arranged on the leading bolt 94, as seen in the conveying direction G. The first free spring end 108 is loop-shaped in its end region and takes over the function of the boom 92 described above (cf. also FIG. 1). The second spring end 110 pierces a radial hole in a fixing bolt 112. The fixing bolt 112 is slidably fastened in an elongated hole 114 running parallel to the respective lugs 100 in each driver plate 96. In the position shown with solid lines, the first spring end 108 projects approximately at right angles from the conveyor chain 82 with respect to the direction of the arrow G. By moving the fixing bolt 112 in the elongated hole 114 in the direction of arrow G, the first spring end 108 can receive the rest position indicated by dash-dotted lines and designated by 108 '. However, by moving the fixing bolt 112 against the arrow G, it can also be brought into a rest position leading in relation to the driver plates 96. The trailing edge of the printed product 16 is placed on the support member 90 and clamped between the latter and the first spring end 108.

In Figures 5 and 6, the intersection 26 is shown enlarged, with the chains 52 in fixed Distances cam 116 are arranged, which come to rest on the trailing edges of the printed products 16 and push them away on a conveyor plate 118 in the conveying direction C. The cams 116 are pivotally mounted on the pin 120 of the chain 52, and an elongated hole 122 in the cam 116, which is concentric with this pin 120, is pivotably guided in an adjacent, further pin 124 of the chain 52. When the cam 116 runs onto a link element 126, it is pivoted counterclockwise, so that a hook 128 formed on the cam 116 protrudes beyond the conveyor plate 118. 6, the chain 52 is only indicated by dash-dotted lines. At the intersection 26, the movement path of the drivers 24 and the transport plane of the conveyor 18 defined by the conveyor plate 118 in FIGS. 5 and 6 overlap. The conveyor chain 82 runs parallel to the guide plate 84, and the first spring end 108 of the driver 24 projects above the guide plate 84 before.

The mode of operation of the driver 24 and of the cams 116 is described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3, 5 and 6.

The first spring end 108 of the driver 24 moved in the conveying direction G comes to rest together with the printed product 16 on the support member 90. The trailing edge of the printed product 16 is clamped between the support member 90 and the first spring end 108 (FIGS. 3 and 5). When the driver 24 moves further in the direction of the arrow G, the first spring end 108 is rotated clockwise as a result of the support member 90 until it is the trailing edge of the printed product 16 releases (see Fig. 6). Shortly before the printed product 16 is released, a hook 128 of a cam 116 comes to rest against the trailing edge and conveys the printed product 16 away in the direction of arrow C. As soon as the free end of the spring end 108 has passed the support member 90, it swings back into its original position in a counterclockwise direction. The conveyor speeds of the chain 52 and the conveyor chain 82 and the spacing of the drivers 24 or cams 116 are coordinated with one another such that a driver 24 comes into contact with each printed product 16 released by the paddle wheel 10, and shortly before the printed products 16 are released by the driver 24 be caught by their hooks 128 at their trailing edges.

1, the mode of operation of the device for taking over printed products 16 from a rotatingly driven paddle wheel 10 of a printing machine will now be explained. The printed products 16 are shot in a known manner from above into the pockets 12 of the paddle wheel 10. If a printed product 16 is tilted or is not pushed to the bottom of the pockets 12a, as indicated by 16 ', the spring ends 108 of the catch 24 rotating around the sprocket 80 come to rest on the trailing edge of the printed product 16' and push this into the corresponding pocket 12 until the leading edge 16a abuts the bottom of the pockets 12a. The conveying speed of the driver arrangement 22 is preselected such that it is equal to or greater than the speed of the trailing one Edges of the printed products 16 in front of the crossing point 26. The speed of the free ends of the spring ends 108 is increased due to the curvature in the region of the sprocket 80, so that the trailing edge 16 'sliding on the guide plate 84' detects and thus the printed product 16 entirely in the Pocket 12 is promoted. This guarantees that all leading edges 16a abut the bottom of the pockets 12a and are thus aligned. As the impeller 10 continues to rotate in the direction of the arrow B, the leading edges 16a come to rest on the ejection element 88, with the result that the printed products 16 slide out of the pockets 12. The trailing edge of each printed product 16 comes to rest on the support member 90 and, as described above, is clamped there by the driver 24 assigned to the trailing edge of the printed product 16 until the driver 24 has passed the crossing point 26 and the support member 90 has pivoted the spring end 108 back out of the area affected by the printed product 16. The friction between the last printed product 16 placed on the scale formation S and the printed product 16 released by the carrier 24 is now so great that no relative displacement between these two printed products 16 can occur.

The distance between the printed products 16 in the scale formation S is determined by the frequency of the printed products 16 laid out and the conveying speed v 2 of the conveyor 18 and the belt conveyor 20.

In the proposed device, the printed products 16 thus do not cover a distance in free fall, which makes it impossible to move due to the draft through the paddle wheel 10. As already mentioned above, all printed products 16 are aligned and their distance in the scale formation S is constant because they are briefly held in the intersection 26. By means of the grippers 54 shown in dash-dotted lines in FIG. 1, the printed products 16 can be held on the route of the conveyor 18 which is effective for conveying, so that displacement is no longer possible, even in the case of conveyors 18 with cams 116. However, the grippers 54 can also be dispensed with. In this case the chain 52 together with the deflection sprockets 44 is of course omitted, which considerably simplifies the device.

It is quite clear that the preselectable rest position of the first spring end 108, 108 '(see FIG. 3) of the driver 24 allows the time period during which the printed products 16 are held at the intersection 26 to be adjustable. So this is longer, with a rest position, which is designated with 108, than with a 108 'indicated.

Claims (12)

1. Method of taking over printing products (16) from a rotatably driven paddle wheel (10) of a printing machine, in which catches (24), of which the path of movement crosses the transporting plane defined by a removal conveyor (18), can be brought into engagement in front of the crossing point (26) with the trailing edges of the printing products (16), seen in the direction of rotation of the paddle wheel (10), characterised in that the printing products (16) are held firmly at the crossing point (26) by the catches (24) until these catches have passed the crossing point (26).

2. Method according to Claim 1, characterised in that the printing products (16) are clamped firmly at the crossing point (26) between the catches (24) and a supporting member (90), and the catches (24) are brought out of engagement with the printing products (16) by the supporting member (90).

3. Apparatus for taking over printing products (16) from a rotatably driven paddle wheel (10) of a printing machine, having catches (24), of which the path of movement crosses the transporting plane defined by a removal conveyor (18), and which can be brought into engagement in front of the crossing point (26) with the trailing edges of the printing products (16), seen in the direction of rotation of the paddle wheel (10), characterised in that the catches (24) hold the printing products (16) firmly at the crossing point (26) until the catches have passed this crossing point.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 3, characterised in that a supporting member (90) is arranged at the crossing point (26), on which member the trailing edges of the printing products (16) can be brought to rest under the action of the catches (26).

5. Apparatus according to Claim 4, characterised in that the supporting member (90) pivots the catches (24) out of engagement with the printing products (16).

6. Apparatus according to Claim 3, characterised in that the catches (24) engage in the pockets (12) of the paddle wheel (10) in front of the crossing point (26), in order to push protruding printing products (16′) into the pockets (12).

7. Apparatus according to one of Claims 3-6, characterised in that the catches (24) are arranged on an endless conveying element (82) driven in circulation.

8. Apparatus according to Claim 7, characterised in that the conveying element preferably has a conveying chain (82), on which the catches (24) are arranged on both sides in pairs.

9. Apparatus according to Claim 8, characterised in that each catch (24) has a pivotally sprung extension arm (92), which is preferably formed by a first end (108) of a spiral spring (106), which is arranged transversely with respect to the conveying element (82) and the second end (110) of which is fixed with respect to the conveying element (82).

10. Apparatus according to Claim 9, characterised in that the fixing of the second end (110) is adjustable.

11. Apparatus according to one of Claims 9 or 10, characterised in that a guide member (84), preferably a guide plate, is provided between the paddle wheel (10) and the conveying element (82), by which member the extension arms (92) can be brought to protrude against the paddle wheel (10).

12. Apparatus according to Claim 3, characterised in that the removal conveyor (18) has cams (116) or grippers (54), which can be brought into action on the trailing edges of the printing products (16) deposited on it.

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