Title of Invention

A GATHERING OR COLLATING MACHINE

Abstract

A gathering machine consists of a plurality of stations, each station consisting of a pile board for receiving a stack of forms of a predetermined number. A drLlm assembly provided with grippers is positioned below the pile board and a stationary tray is positioned below the drum assembly. Pneumatic suction cups are provided 10r picking up the lowermost form of the stack. The gripper closes over the form and pulls it along with the rotating drum, Ltntil the form is fLllly drawn OLtt of the pile board, to drop it on to the stationary tray. Means are provided for carrying the form to the second stationary tray of the second station, the seqLtenCe of operations repeating L\nti I the forms are carried from the first station to the last, in serial order, to constitute book blocks. Means are provided for conveying the book blocks to a stacker. Means are also. Means are also provided stopping the said machine if two or more forms are pL\lled out together from any station. Further means are provided for stopping the said machine if the stack of forms in any station gets depleted.

Full Text

This invention relates to a gathering machine, also called a collating machine. It is a print finishing equipment used for collecting together* the set of folded forms in the serial order to make a book block. The gathering machine, according to this invention, comprises a plurality of stations* each station consisting of a pile board for receiving a stack of forms of a predetermined number, with the folded edge of each form projecting from the end of the pile board And a movable support for supporting the stack; a drum assembly provided with grippers positioned below the pile board; a stationary tray positioned below the drum assembly; pneumatic suction cups for picking up the lowermost form of the stack and tilting the edge thereof towards the drum assembly, the rotation of the drum being synchronised such that as the edge of th« form i& til ted towards the drum assembly, the gripper reaches the corresponding position and 9 simultaneously, the gripper closes over the form and pulls it along with the rotating drum, until the form is fully drawn out of the pile board, to drop it on to the stationary tray, the @§id support moving away to permit a form to be pulled away from the stack and relocating itself thereafter to support the stack) means for carrying the form to the second stationary tray of the second station, to synchronise with th* rotation of the drum assembly, whereby the form from the pile board of the second station falls on to the second stationary tray, on top of the form carried from the first stationary tray, the said sequence of operations repeating unti1 the forms are carried from the first station to the last, in serial order, to constitute book blocks; means for conveying the book blocks to a stacker) means for stopping the said machine if two or more forms are pulled out together from any station) and means for stopping the said machine if the stack of form in any station gets depleted. Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, on© of possible embodiments of the mqachine proposed herein Fig. 1 illustrating a general layout- of the embodiment Fig.lA illustrating a separate view of the gripper Fig.2 illustrating the operation of th© pntUmatiE suction cup and gripper Fig.3 illustrating the stage by stage operational procedure of the embodiment Fig.4 i1lustrating the electro-mechanical device for preventing two forms being pulled out together1 from any station. The basic unit of the machine is called a station consisting of a feed board or pile board f©f* stacking forms, a set of pneumatic suction cups moving in the requisite trajectory controlled by cam 11 Fig.l and 1 ink mechanism and a rotating drum assembly 3 Fig.l with gripper» 4 Fig.1 f©f* picking up the form 2, Fig.l from the pile board lf Fig.l and dropping it on a stationary tray 6 Fig.1 - The configuration of the machine is made up of a number of stations all of them coupled through together to a single drive by means of cardon joints 14 Fig.l. A conveyor chain 7 and 8 Fig.l moving along the stationary tray 6 continuously transfers the form 2 from one station to tht ntxt station. This transfer takes place synchronously with the the rotation of the drum assembly so that the arrival of a form from one station to the next coincides with the form of tht latttr fttdtiSfl being collected and dropped over form of the former station. As this process continues, by the time the form from the first station reaches the last, one form from each of the consecutive stations would have been collated in a serial order and the book block is complete. After the last station, the set of the gathered forms are conveyed on to a stacker. The sets are stacked in a zig zag manner to facilitate separating each set conveniently. This invention will now be described in further detai1 - The forms are stacked on the pile board 1 with the folded edge of the form 2 projecting from the end of the pile board. A drum assembly 3 with two sets of grippers 4 is positioned below the pile. A separate view of the gripper assembly is shown in Fig.lA. A set of swinging pneumatic suction cups 5 is provided to pick the lowermost form and tilt the edge thereof towards the drum assembly* The rotation of the drum is synchronised in such a way that as the edge of the form is tilted towards the drum assembly, the gripper pad reached the corresponding position. Simultaneously the gripper, actuated by means of the cam 10 closes over the form. As the drum continue* t© ?*6t§fc@ forward the gripped form is also pulled along. The sequence of the synchronised events for the transfer of the form from the stacks to the stationary tray are as follows. 1. The pneumatic suction cup is in the uppermost position, in contact with the bottommost form- At this point, the stack is supported in the centre by a finger. Fig 2A. 2. As the drum assembly rotates, in the direction shown, the cams for operating the suction cups and the support finger also rotate together since they are all keyed to the same shaft (Fig.l). Hence at this stage, the support finger retracts for a short duration to allow the pneumatic suction cups to hold the bottom form and move in a backward swing so that the overhanging position of the form is bent towards the drum assembly. As soon as the bottom form is separated from the stack, th« support finger come back to the original position to hold the remaining stack in position Fig.2B. A set of grippers is mounted on the drum assembly by means of a single shaft. A lever is fastened t© one end of the shaft. A cam follower bearing is mounted on the other end of the l«vtr« Th© €3ffi follower bearing moves along the profiled groove of the stationary cam 9 Fig.l and correspondingly imparts the requisite angular motion to the grippers, so that they firmly close over the form. The gripper assembly is illustrated in Fig.l and the closing of the gripper over the form is shown in Fig.2C. A separate view of the gripper is i1 lustrated separately. 4. As the drum continues to rotate in the direction shown, the form is also pulled along. After the form is fully drawn out, the gripper »»t releases the hold over the form and drops it on the fixed tray Fig.2 D. The push rod mounted on a chain carries the form forwards and as the form reaches the next station, the second form falls on top of it Fig.3. To prevent two form being pulled out at the same time from any station, provision has been made to detect and stop the machine. This an electromechanical device Fig.4. As the sheet is picked up from the stack and pulled along it is made to pass through a gap between the drum periphery and thtt ftdge Of i sector. The gap has to be set for the required thickness of the form. If two forms get picked up together the thickness will be more than the gap and the sector will be made to move away against the tension spring- A microswiteh will be actuated which will make the machine to stop. By means of optical sensors, signals will bt givtn to the operator if the pile reaches below a preset level in any one of the stations. If th* pile gets exhausted in anyone of the stations, the machine will stop- LED indicators are conveniently placed to indicate the station where the fault occurs- This wi11 help the operator to quickly set right the problem and start the machine again. At the end of the last station, the gathered forms are taken over by another chain conveyor* Aft the set of forms are being carried by this conveyor, their orientation changes from in inclined position to a vertical position with the spine at the bottom. The form sets gets fitaektd in a zig zag way to facilitate easy separation of the set of forms Fig-3 Adequate provision with electrical interlocks have been provided to ensure operator safety. We Claim: 1. A gathering machine consisting of a plurality of stations, each station conAsisting of a pile board for receiving a stack of forms of a predetermined number, with the folded edge of eaeh form projecting from the end of the pile board and a movable support for supporting the stack 1 a drum assembly provided with grippers positioned below the pile board; a stationary tray positioned below the drum assembly; pneumatic suction cups for picking up the lowermost form of the stack and til ting the edge thereof towards the drum assembly, the rotation of the drum being synchronised such that as the edge of the form is tilted towards the drum assembly, the gripptr reaches the corresponding position and, simultaneously, the gripper closes over the f&Pfh and pulls it along with the rotating drum, until the form is fully drawn out of the pile board, t@ drop it on to the stationary tray, the said support moving away to permit a form to be pulled away from the stack and relocating itself thereafter to support the stack | means f ©f* carrying the form to the second stationary tray of the second station, to synchronise with the rotation of the drum assembly, whereby the form from the pile board of the second station falls on to the second stationary tray, on top of the form carried from the first stationary tray, tha said sequence of operations repeating unti1 the forms are carried from the first station to tha last, in serial order, to constitute book blocks; means for conveying the book blocks to a stacker! maans for stopping the said machine if two or more forms are pulled out together from any stationf »nd means for stopping the said machine if the stack of forms in any station gets deplftttd. 2- A gathering machine as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the support, pneumatic cups and grippar are controlled by cam mechanisms. 3. A gathering machine as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the stations are coupled together by cardon joints. 4. A gathering machine as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein tha means far* carrying a form from one station to another comprise a conveyor chain, moving ll©R§ th§ stationary trays, said chain being provided with a push rod - 5. A gathering machine as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the mean* for conveying the book blocks to the stacker comprise another conveyor chain, the orientation of th© book blocks being changed by the said chain, during conveyance, from an inclined position to a vertical position, with the spines of the blocks being at the bottom, the said book blocks b#ing stacked on the stacker in staggered (zig zag) fashion. 6. A gathering machine substantially as herein described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings. c

Documents:

768-mas-1999-abstract.pdf

768-mas-1999-claims duplicate.pdf

768-mas-1999-claims original.pdf

768-mas-1999-correspondence others.pdf

768-mas-1999-correspondence po.pdf

768-mas-1999-description complete duplicate.pdf

768-mas-1999-description complete original.pdf

768-mas-1999-drawings.pdf

768-mas-1999-form 1.pdf

768-mas-1999-form 19.pdf

768-mas-1999-form 26.pdf