초록 ▼

A machine for stacking and bundling flexible sheets, such as the signatures that are delivered from a printed press, includes a succession of aligned conveyors. The sheets are deposited on the first conveyor where they accumulate in a generally horizontal disposition, one on top of the other, and th

A machine for stacking and bundling flexible sheets, such as the signatures that are delivered from a printed press, includes a succession of aligned conveyors. The sheets are deposited on the first conveyor where they accumulate in a generally horizontal disposition, one on top of the other, and the first conveyor withdraws sheets from the bottom of this pile and conveys them to a gate in a shingled condition. At the gate, which is narrower in width than the sheets, the sheets bow forwardly and rise upwardly at their leading edges until they stand on edge. It is in this condition that the sheets pass onto a second conveyor which moves them through another gate that is narrower than the first gate, so that the degree of bowing increases. The second conveyor moves slower than the first conveyor and as a result the flexible sheets consolidate in the upright condition on the second conveyor. Upon emerging from the second gate, the sheets pass between side conveyors which are closer together than the width of the sheets, and these conveyors also extend along a third conveyor. After a predetermined number of sheets have passed onto the third conveyor, that conveyor speeds up momentarily to produce a gap in the sheets, thereby separating the sheets ahead of the gap into a bundle which is forced onto a final conveyor. Boards are placed at the ends of the bundle, and the bundle is compressed and bound while in the compressed condition.

대표청구항 ▼

A process for arranging flexible sheets in a stacked condition, said process comprising: depositing the sheets on a moving conveying surface and moving the conveyor surface such that the sheets are formed and advanced in a shingled condition in which the leading edge of any one of the shingled sheet

A process for arranging flexible sheets in a stacked condition, said process comprising: depositing the sheets on a moving conveying surface and moving the conveyor surface such that the sheets are formed and advanced in a shingled condition in which the leading edge of any one of the shingled sheets overlies the sheet immediately ahead of it and the trailing edge is at the conveying surface, the shingled sheets further having major surface areas which face primarily toward the conveying surface; moving the shingled sheets while on the conveying surface toward a space between spaced apart deflecting surfaces which project upwardly with respect to the conveying surface to an elevation that is with respect to the conveying surface greater than the elevation of the leading edges of the shingled sheets, the deflecting surfaces being at least in part oblique relative to each other, with the smallest distance between the deflecting surfaces being less than the width of the sheets; moving the shingled sheets while they are on the conveying surface through the space between the deflecting surfaces such that the sheets bow forwardly on the conveying surface and simultaneously rise at their leading edges, so that the sheets upon passing through the space between the deflecting surfaces assume an edge-standing condition on the conveying surface, whereby the sheets assume a generally stacked condition in which the succession sheets, by reason of the preceding shingled arrangement, is less than fully consolidated.