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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. In an outsert forming apparatus for completely folding sheets into
outserts having a plurality of folded sheet sections stacked one on
another and with an outer wrap-around sheet section adhered to the stacked
sheet sections, said apparatus comprising:
a sheet feeder for feeding sheets into a folding station,
a folder for folding substantially all of each sheet with a plurality of
folds to form a thick, heavy, folded, stacked sheet section and leaving a
wrap-around fold sheet section,
a folded sheet conveyor for conveying the folded, stacked sheet section and
the wrap-around sheet section from the folder to an outsert forming
station,
a support at the outsert forming station for holding the folded sheet
substantially horizontally,
adhesive applying means to apply adhesive to a folded sheet,
a folding member disposed over the folded sheet and for selective downward
movement to push the thicker wrap-around folded sheet section downwardly
adjacent the thicker, heavier, stacked sheet section,
a folding and slitting unit having a pair of folding rollers having nip
into which is pushed the folded thinner sheet section with the folding
rollers pushing the wrap-around folded sheet section against the thick,
heavy folded section to form an outsert,
said folding and slitting unit having a pair of slitting rollers to slit
the folded outsert into a plurality of folded outserts, and means to
discharge the folded outserts from the apparatus.
2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said folding and
slitting unit comprises a pair of transfer rollers disposed parallel to
and intermediate the folding rollers and the slitting rollers to transfer
the outsert from the folding rollers to the slitting rollers.
3. An apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which said folding and
slitting unit comprises a removable frame, said frame having upstanding
side walls with said folding rollers, transfer rollers, and said transfer
rollers journaled in said side walls, and gear means interconnecting said
rollers to drive the same in timed relationship to each other.
4. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said folding rollers
have a nip spaced from the nip of the transfer roller at predetermined
distance less than the length of the outsert so that the outsert is
gripped by the transfer rollers before being released by the folding
rollers, said slitting rollers having a nip spaced from the nip of the
transfer rollers wo that the slitting rollers grip the outsert prior to
its release by the nip of the transfer rollers.
5. An apparatus in accordance with claim 4 including
a second pair of transfer rollers in said folding and slitting unit located
below the slitting rollers for feeding the slit outserts from the unit,
and
conveying and stacking means for receiving the outserts from the second set
of transfer rollers.
6. In an apparatus for folding individual, separate outserts having a
plurality of folded sheet sections stacked on one another and with an
outer fold on the stack wrapped about and adhered to the stack of sheet
sections and formed from a web, the combination comprising:
means for supporting a roll of web for unwinding to provide a movable web,
severing means at a severing station for severing the web into a plurality
of sheets,
feeder means for feeding a sheet to a folding station,
folding means at the folding station for folding substantially all the
sheet with a plurality of folds therein to form a thick, rigid folded
stacked sheet section and leaving a thin, trailing, non-rigid wrap-around
fold sheet section,
feed means including means for gripping the thicker stacked sheet section
therebetween to feed the same forwardly to an adhesive and wrap-around
station,
adhesive means to apply adhesive for adhering the wrap-around sheet section
to the folded stacked sheet section,
wrap-around folding means including a folding knife and a pair of folding
rollers, the folding knife engaging a trailing edge of the thick stacked
sheet section adjacent the wrap-around sheet section to form a fold and to
fold the wrap-around sheet section and to cause the adhesive to adhere the
wrap-around sheet section to an inner fold of thicker stacked sheet
section thereby forming the outsert, and,
discharge conveyor means for feeding, and discharging the outsert.
7. An apparatus in accordance with claim 6 including slitters for slitting
the folded sheet into a plurality of outserts.
8. An apparatus in accordance with claim 7 in which said slitters comprise
circular knife blades and rotating rollers carrying the circular knife
blades.
9. An apparatus in accordance with claim 7 in which a plurality of sets of
opposed folding rollers are aligned vertically in a stack with the outsert
moving downwardly between the opposed rollers in each set of rollers.
10. An apparatus for completely folding sheets with a plurality of folds
stacked one on another and with a wrap-around fold wrapped about the
folded sheet and adhered to form a outsert, said apparatus comprising:
sheet feeding means at a sheeting station for feeding sheets of various
lengths forwardly to a folding station,
conveyor means intermediate the sheet feeding station and the folding
station for conveying sheets of varying lengths to the folding station,
a folder unit at the folding station having a plurality of separate folding
devices for folding substantially all of the sheet to form a thick, rigid
folded stack portion with a plurality of folds and leaving a thin,
non-rigid unfolded wrap-around section,
said folder unit being independent of and spaced from said sheet feeding
means and said sheeting station so as to handle different lengths of
sheets independently of the sheet feed means,
conveyor means for conveying the folded stack portion and wrap-around
section to a wrap-around and adhesive station,
adhesive applicator means for applying adhesive between the folded stack
portion and wrap-around unfolded section,
wrap-around folding means including a folding knife to engage the trailing
edge of the thick stack seotion for folding the wrap-around fold section
about the thicker portion,
and discharge means for discharging the outserts in a continuous stream.
11. An apparatus in accordance with claim 10 including
means at the sheeting station for supporting web to be cut into sheets at
the sheeting station,
severing means at the severing station to sever the web into sheets each of
a predetermined length.
12. An apparatus in accordance with claim 11 including
accumulator means at said sheeting station for accumulating a long length
of web in order to form long sheets as well as shorter sheets, and
means for sensing a mark on the web indicative the length of the sheet,
actuator means for the severing means actuated in response to the sensing
of a mark to cause a severing of the web to form a sheet.
13. An apparatus in accordance with claim 10 in which said wrap-around
folding means includes
a forward stop for resting the forward travel of the sheet into the wrap
around folding station,
sensing means for sensing the position of the sheet incoming to the
wrap-around folding station,
side jogging means actuated by the sensing means to push the incoming
folded sheet into a registered position for folding.
14. An apparatus in accordance with claim 13 in which the adhesive
applicator means comprises movable adhesive dispensers spaced from the
folded sheet, and in which said sensing means causes the movement of the
adhesive means to contact the folded sheet and to deposit adhesive thereon
prior to the wrap around folding operation.
15. An apparatus in accordance with claim 14 in which said adhesive
applicator means includes solenoid-operated applicator which are
controlled by the sensing means to move the applicator into engagement
with the folded sheet and in which valve means on the applicator means
allows drops of adhesive to be dispensed onto the folded sheet at spaced
locations.
16. An apparatus in accordance with claim 10 in which said wrap-around
folding means includes a vertically movable folding knife for engaging the
top of the folded sheet and includes rotating folding rollers having a nip
below the folding knife so that downward movement of the folding knife
positions the sheet into the folding rollers which push the adhesive spots
on the sheet against the previously folded section of the wrap around fold
to adhere the same together to form the outsert.
17. An apparatus in accordance with claim 16 in which
said wrap-around rollers carrying slitting knives,
said slitting knives cutting said outserts into a plurality of outserts.
18. An apparatus in accordance with claim 17 in which
said discharge means includes conveyor means for conveying the outserts and
for positioning the outserts vertically on edge, and
means for holding a container for receiving discharging streams of on-edge
outserts directly in the container from said conveyor means.
19. In an apparatus for folding substantially all of a sheet to have a
stack of sheet sections with a wrapped-around sheet adhered to the stack
of sheet sections to form an outsert, the combination comprising:
feeder means for feeding a sheet to a folding station,
folding means at the folding station for folding substantially all of the
sheet to have a plurality of folds in a stacked sheet section and leaving
a wrap-around sheet section to be formed into a wrap-around fold,
said folding means being adjustable as to the number of folds and to the
length of the folds to form various outserts,
feed means to feed the folded, stacked sheet sections and the loose
wrap-around sheet section to an adhesive and wrap-around station,
sensing means for sensing the folded stacked sheet sections arrival at the
adhesive and wrap-around station,
adhesive means operable in timed relationship to apply adhesive relative to
the folded, stacked sheet section and the wrap-around sheet section,
wrap-around folding means operable after the adhesive has been applied to
fold the wrap-around fold and to cause the adhesive to adhere the wrap
around fold section to the stacked sheet section to thereby form the
outsert, microprocessor control means operable by said sensing means and
controlling the timed operation of the adhesive means and the timed
operation of the wrap-around folding means in accordance with varying
parameters of different outserts being formed, and
discharge conveyor means for feeding, and discharging the outsert.
20. In an apparatus for folding a single sheet completely into a stack of
folded sheet sections with an outer wrap-around sheet section adhered to
the stack of sheets to form an outsert, the combination comprising:
means for supporting a roll of web for unwinding to provide a movable web,
severing means at a severing station for severing the web into a plurality
of sheets,
feeder means for feeding a sheet to a folding station,
folding means at the folding station for folding the sheet substantially
completely into a stack of sheets and leaving a wrap-around sheet section
to be formed into a wrap-around fold,
feed means to feed the stack of sheets and the wrap-around section to an
adhesive and wrap-around station,
adhesive means to apply adhesive to adhere the folded, stacked sheet
section and the wrap-around sheet section together,
sensing means including a photocell means sensing the sheet position
incoming into said adhesive and wrap-around station, jogging means
including an electrically operated actuator operated by said photocell
means to push said sheet laterally against a fixed stop,
wrap-around folding means operable by the sensing means to fold the
wrap-around fold and to cause the adhesive to adhere the wrap-around fold
to an inner fold thereby forming the outsert, and,
discharge conveyor means for feeding and discharging the outsert.
21. An apparatus in accordance with claim 20 in which a forward stop
arrests the sheet in its forward travel, and in which said sensing means
actuates the wrap-around folding means to cause the stationary sheet to
move through the wrap-around folding means. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a new and improved method and
apparatus for making folded sheets such as outserts which are often very
long, for instance, 9 inches to 50 inches in length and which are folded a
number of times with the outermost fold of the outsert being glued tight
to an inner fold to make a tight folded packet called an outsert.
Currently, outsert machines require a plurality of operators to run the
machine which adds significantly to the cost of the individual outsert and
the machines are limited in the amount of production of outserts per hour.
The present invention is directed to providing increased speeds of
operation up to, for example, 10,000 sheets per hour or more and to
providing a machine at such production which may be run by one operator.
The usual higher production machines currently available prior to this
invention are sheet machines which use pre-cut sheets and which operate at
much slower rates, for example, 1500 to 2500 outserts per hour. Also,
these pre-cut sheet machines may have a problem from a security standpoint
in that the pre-printed sheets can be mixed either deliberately, or
inadvertently such that the wrong outsert may be inserted into the wrong
package. As will be explained, the present invention also may be used to
fold pre-cut sheets and to form outserts therefrom but the preferred
embodiment of the invention has a roll of outserts preprinted on a web
which is unwound and cut into sheets prior to the folding and gluing of
the wrap-around fold to the inner fold.
The present invention is also directed to providing increased security and
reliability of matching of the outserts to the medicine by having the
equipment provided with "readers" which read indicia on the webs and which
are programmed to fold outserts only when the proper indicia or locations
of indicia appear on the web which is for the pharmaceutical to which the
outsert is to be inserted.
Also another aspect of the invention is the automatic boxing of the
outserts, which may be coming off the equipment at rates of 42,000
outserts per hour into boxes without requiring a separate operator to box
the outserts at the discharge end of the apparatus.
Another aspect of the present invention is that of improved folding and
glueing units, which are controlled by a microprocessor to provide greater
precision control of the sheets for folding and slitting and for stacking.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a new and
improved method and apparatus for folding sheets such as outserts.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become
apparent from the following detailed description taken into connection
with the accompanying drawings:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagramatic view illustrating the preferred method and
apparatus for forming the outserts and constructed in accordance with the
invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sheet.
FIG. 3 illustrates a folded sheet with a wrap-around fold extended prior to
being glued.
FIG. 4 illustrates an outsert.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus
as diagramatically illustrated in FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is a partially sectioned view of an accummulator for the web.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a de-curling bar.
FIG. 8 is a plan view of a severing station.
FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the lines 9--9
of FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 is a plan view of a conveyor extending from the sheeting station to
the folding station.
FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 11--11 of
FIG. 10.
FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view illustrating a folding plate and folding
rollers.
FIG. 13 is a view of a conveyor between the folding station and the outsert
forming station.
FIG. 14 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the discharge end of the
conveyor shown in FIG. 13.
FIG. 15 is a side elevational, partially in section, of the discharge of
the folded sheet into the outsert forming station.
FIG. 16 is a perspective and diagramatic view of the position of the folded
sheet at the outsert forming station.
FIG. 17 is a perspective showing an adhesive applicator.
FIG. 18 is enlarged sectional view of the adhesive head portion of the
applicator of FIG. 17.
FIG. 19 is an enlarged cross-sectional view through the slide bracket
supporting the adhesive applicator.
FIG. 20 is an elevational view of an adhesive applicator constructed in
accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 21--21
of FIG. 20.
FIG. 22 is a rear elevational view of the adhesive applicator of FIG. 20.
FIG. 23 is a perspective elevational view of the solenoid plunger.
FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 24--24 of FIG. 20.
FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 25--25 of FIG. 20.
FIG. 26 is a diagramatic perspective view of the folding of the outsert.
FIG. 26a is an elevational view of the folding rollers and slitting
rollers.
FIG. 26b is a view of the folding and slitting unit.
FIG. 26c is a view illustrating the side jogger jogging a folding sheet.
FIG. 27 is a view illustrating the folding rollers.
FIG. 27a illustrates the folding of the sheet by the rollers.
FIG. 28 illustates adhering of the wrap-around section to the inner fold to
form the outsert.
FIG. 29 illustrates a slitting of the outsert by a pair of slitting
rollers.
FIG. 30 illustrates a discharge of a slit outsert from a pair of transfer
rollers.
FIG. 31 is an elevational view illustrating a drive for the folding knife.
FIG. 32 is a perspective view of a crank drive for a folding knife.
FIG. 33 is a view taken sustantially long the line 33--33 of FIG. 32.
FIG. 34 is a side elevation of the folding knife drive.
FIG. 35 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 35--35
of FIG. 34.
FIG. 36 is a plan view of a stacking means for the outserts.
FIG. 37 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 37--37 of
FIG. 36.
FIG. 38 is a system block diagram of the outsert apparatus illustrated in
FIG. 1;
FIG. 39 is a timing diagram of the program execution cycle showing the
timing intervals for input, output and overhead;
FIG. 40 is a system flow chart of the timing of the control cycle of the
system illustrated in FIG. 38;
FIG. 41 is a system block diagram of the system control illustrated in FIG.
38;
FIGS. 42A-E are timing diagrams of the control pulses for the solenoids of
particular control stations illustrated in FIG. 38;
FIGS. 43A-C are detailed timing diagrams illustating the phase relationship
between the brake and clutch mechanism for the clutch solenoid illustrated
in FIG. 38;
FIGS. 44A-J are a detailed flow chart of the control program executed by
the system control illustrated in FIG. 38; and
FIGS. 45A-M are detailed relay logic diagrams of the respective sections of
the software flow chart illustrated in FIGS. 44A-J.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE DRAWINGS
As shown on the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is
embodied in a method and apparatus 10 for folding elongated sheets 11
(FIG. 1) which are usually of paper having printed instructions or
warnings about possible side effects of a pharmaceutical and the folded
sheet has a last, or wrap-around fold 14 which is adhered by a glue or
adhesive spot 15 to an adjacent inner fold 16 to complete an outsert 12.
The sheets 11 are usually quite long, for example, they are often 9 to 18
inches and, in some instances, may be as long as 50 inches. The sheets are
folded with a plurality of folds at fold lines 11f and the present
invention will be described hereinafter in connection with an 18 inch long
sheet which has 11/8 inch folds between the fold lines for the outsert 12,
shown in FIG. 4. The apparatus is particularly suitable for changing the
width of the folds between fold lines 11b from about 3/4 inch to 9 inches
or even up to 30 inches. As will be explained in greater detail
hereinafter, the typical sheets are slit lengthwise to form a plurality of
outserts located side by side. In the trade, if the sheet is split in two
to make 2 outserts, it is referred to as being to "2 up". If the sheet is
slit twice to form three side-by-side outserts, the term used is "3 up".
The present invention is readily adapted to make outserts which are "2 up"
to "16 up" or greater.
Longer sheets are more difficult to control and position for folding at
high speeds which, by way of example, in the present invention, is 42,000
outserts per hour or 10,500 sheets which are slit to provide a "4 up". A
problem with this existing conventional equipment is that the folding and
the cutting are closely adjacent each other and in the same station so
that adjustments to the cutting and folding were limited because of the
limited space available and the need to make timing adjustments with
changes in sheet length. Also, in this conventional equipment, the
outserts being discharged from the apparatus were collected by an operator
and manually inserted into boxes. Often, these machines required 2 to 4
persons, depending on the output, with one person at the forward end,
particularly where the sheets were being fed from a sheeting device rather
than from a web roll. Thus, there is a need for a new and improved
apparatus which can operate at high speeds and handle various lengths of
sheets including very long sheets and which can be operated with only one
person and which can automatically box the outserts as they are being
discharged.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an apparatus
and method, which is illustrated in FIG. 1 and 5, in its preferred form
which may automatically form sheets from a web 25 of material in a roll 20
with the sheets being very long, for example, up to 50 inches in length,
and with the sheets being folded and glued to form outserts 14. The
outserts are preferably automatically boxed at a discharge station 24 into
a container 22. The illustrated apparatus forms sheets of a predetermined
length from the web 20 by accumulating long lengths, for example, up to 50
inches of the web 20 in accumulator means or station 28 and uses a sensing
means such as a photocell 29 to detect marks 30 on the web to operate a
severing means 31 at a sheet station 30 to sever the web successively to
form sheets each of the same size. It is particularly useful to use the
sensing device such as the photocell 29 as a security control device to
assure that the proper web 20 is being used. If the wrong roll were placed
in the machine, the mark will be at the wrong place and the machine won't
cut. A further advantage in use of web rolls over pre-cut sheets is that
the roll can be stored without the worry that someone could deliberately
or inadvertently mix sheets for one pharmaceutical with those to be used
with another pharmaceutical so that the wrong directions would be
provided. Preferably, the pharmaceutical manufacturer will have different
sensing marks 30 or different lengths and different number of slits to be
made for each particular run of outsert and will program a control unit
not to run unless the proper roll is in place. On the other hand, as will
be explained in more greater detail hereinafter, it is contemplated rather
than using a roll that sheets could be fed from the sheet station 26 to
the folding station 33.
In accordance with another and important aspect of the invention, the
folding station 33, as best seen in FIG. 5, is a complete and separate
unit which is commercially available such as a folding unit, Model SVA
made by GMBH & Co. Kg, D-7211 Wellendingen 1, BahnofStrasse, Federal
Republic of Germany, which has a sheet conveyor 35 extending from the
folding station 33 to the sheet station 26. The apparatus for severing the
sheets has its own drives and motors as does the folding apparatus at the
folding station 33 so that the length of the sheet may be readily varied
and all that needs to be done is to match the speeds of the folding
apparatus to feed speed of sheet delivery from the conveyor 35. The
folding means 33 at the folding station only sees sheets which are being
fed to it from the conveyor 35; and hence, the folding apparatus is not
concerned whether or not the incoming sheets were from the illustrated web
and severing system or from a stack of pre-cut sheets being fed from the
stack at the sheet station 26.
At the folding station 33, conventional folding plates 37 and rollers 36
(FIG. 12), by way of example only, fold the sheet 11 in a well-known
manner into the form shown in FIG. 3 where there is an unfolded
wrap-around section 14 remaining when the sheet leaves the folding station
33. When the folded sheet leaves the folding station, the folded portion
39 leads the wrap-around fold 14 in the direction of forward travel on a
conveyor means 38 which conveys the folded sheet into a wrap-around
folding and gluing station 40.
In accordance with another important aspect of the invention, the precision
of the last fold, and the glueing of the wrap around fold 14 is
accomplished by precisely positioning the folded sheet at the folding
station. More specifically, it is preferred that the leading edge 39a of
the wrap-around section 39 be stopped in its forward travel by stops 41
and, in a millisecond of its stopping, that a side jogging means 42 push
the folded sheet against a side stop 43 so that the sheet is positioned
precisely at which time the adhesive applicator means 45 is actuated to
apply the adhesive spots 15 immediately followed by the folding means 48
being operated to fold the wrap-around fold 14 against the adhesive spot
15 on the inner fold 16 to adhere these folds together and thereby
complete the formation of the outsert shown in FIG. 4.
Also, in accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the folding
means 48 includes an overhead folding knife 49 which engages the folded
section 39 of the folded sheet and pushes the folded section into the nip
of underlying folding rollers 50 which force the wrap-around fold 14
tightly against the glue spot 15 and against the inner fold 16 to complete
the outsert. Herein, the folding rollers may be provided with a slitting
means 52 which preferably is in the form of circular knives 53 on a pair
of slitting rollers which slit the outsert into a "3 up". That is, the
outsert is slit at each of the illustrated cutting knives 53 to form three
distinct separating outserts 2, each of which has a glue spot 15 adhering
its wrap-around fold 14 to the inner fold 16.
Also, in accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the outserts
12 are reoriented and discharge automatically in an on-edge position into
a container 22. More specifically, the discharge means includes a number
of pairs of belts 56 and 57 which convey the outserts along a horizontal
path of travel until discharge, at which time the outserts travel upwardly
along an upward conveying run 58 to abut a stop 59 adjacent which is
located at the container 22 with each successive outsert pushing the
previous outsert into the container, as shown in FIG. 1 and 5. As will be
explained in greater detail hereinafter, the ends of the container 22 are
mounted and held on a table 61 so as to provide an open mouth 60 for the
container into which are pushed the outserts so that they are
automatically positioned without further manual handling.
Also, as will be explained in greater detail hereinafter, a counting and
jogging means 62 (FIG. 36) may be provided to jog outserts sideways after
a predetermined count, within the container. For example, after every two
hundred and forty-nine counts, the two hundred and fiftieth insert may be
jogged, or pushed sideways to provide a visual indication of every 250
outserts in a column in the container 22. Thus, it is easy to remove a
predetermined count of 250 or 500 outserts from the box. The count at the
discharge end of the apparatus is also important so that the
pharmaceutical packager knows the precise number of outserts and can match
this to the number of pharmaceuticals packaged so that he is certain that
each package has an outsert. The count at the discharge end of those being
boxed is a better control than counting sheets at the sheet feeding
station because, during startup, sheets may be lost and also, if a sheet
should jam, it will be lost and not accounted for if sheets are only
counted at the sheet station 26.
Referring now in greater detail to the more specific elements shown in the
illustrated and preferred embodiment of the invention, the roll 20, from
which is unwound the web 25, is mounted on a suitable means in the form of
a rotatable shaft 62 (FIG. 5) which allows the roll 20 to turn to unwind
the web for upward travel past a decurling unit 63 which includes a
decurling bar 64, as best seen in FIGS. 6 and 7. As best seen in FIG. 6,
the decurling bar 64 has an edge 64a against which is past the web so as
to be decurled and bent while sliding therepast to take out any of the
curl in the web due to its previously having been wound in a circular
configuration on the coil 20. The decurling bar 64 is mounted on a
suitable bracket or support 65 and is eccentrically mounted by an
eccentric stub shafts 67 and is fastened at its threaded ends by nuts 68
to a bracket bar 65 of the bracket support 65. By turning the eccentric
shafts 67, the position of the decurling bar may be changed so that with
amount of deflection and curl may be varied, if desired.
The web 20 proceeds upwardly from decurling station into the accumulator 28
in which large lengths of the web are positioned to travel back and forth
in a zig-zag manner between rollers 28a at the forward side and rearward
rollers 28b at the rearward side of the accumulator. The web travels over
a roller 69 into the accumulator 28 and from the accumulator the web
travels downwardly beneath a lower roller bar 70 at which is located the
sensing means 29 which detects the mark 30 on the web. Herein, the sensing
means is in the form of a photocell 29a, which is mounted on a bracket 72
and which is electrically connected by wire 73 to the control circuit for
the severing means 31 at the sheet station 26. As shown in FIG. 6, the web
travels past the photocell 29a and through the nip of drive feed rollers
74 and 75 which are power driven to continue to feed the web forwardly to
the sheet station 26 at which are another pair of feeding rollers 77 and
78, as best seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, which feed the web into the severing
means 31. As best seen in FIG. 8, the rollers 77 are mounted on an
elongated drive shaft 80 which is motor driven so as to feed the sheets
forwardly. The feed rollers 77 are mounted by axially slidable bushings or
collars 81 on the drive shaft 80 so as to be positioned axially along the
drive shaft at positions to drive different widths of web. There are four
separate driving rollers 77 shown in FIG. 8 for driving the web by
contacting a web adjacent its outer edges and with a pair of central
rollers engaging the center of the web.
The illustrated and preferred severing means comprises a pair of severing
shafts 87 and 88, each of which has a matched cutting blade 89 thereon.
When the cutting blades rotate to opposed positions, as shown in FIG. 9,
the blades shear the web 25 to form a sheet 11 on the lower downward side
of the severing blades. As best seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, the severing shafts
are mounted for rotation in spaced parallel side frame members 91 and 92;
and the shafts are driven by one revolution clutch and brake means 96
which is connected by wires 97 to the control unit. The one revolution
clutch and brake means is controlled by the photocell 29a connected by
wire 73 to the control unit so as to be operated for one revolution when
the mark 30 is sensed by the photocell 29a. Thus, it will be seen that the
length of the sheet 11 is determined by the distance between successive
marks 30 on the web 25. Thus, without changing mechanical drives or
repositioning the web feed rollers or the cutting blades, the length of
the sheet may be quickly varied from one run of outserts to another run of
outserts.
The newly cut sheets 11, as best seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, are fed from the
sheeting station 26 by a pair of driven feed roller assemblies 99 and 100,
each of which have drive rollers 99a and 100a mounted on driven shafts 101
and 102 spanning side frame members 91 and 92 to drive and feed the sheet
11 forwardly. The feed rollers 99a and 100a are mounted in a manner
similar in the above-described feed rollers 77.
In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the folding
station 33 includes a separate folding device or unit 34 which is totally
separate from the sheet station 26. Thus, it is possible to substitute for
the web accumulator 28 and the web severing means 31, a stack sheet feeder
having a stack of pre-cut sheets therein and to feed these pre-cut sheets
to the sheet conveyor 35 which extends between the folding unit and the
sheeting means 26. The illustrated conveyor means 35, as best seen in
FIGS. 10 and 11, is a commercially available sheet conveyor and comes with
the Model SVA folder made by Griesser and Kunzman GMBH & Co. The conveyor
includes a plurality of underlying roller bars 105 which are inclined to
the sheet's path of travel so as to cause the sheet to travel into
engagement with a side guide edge 106 as they travel forwardly to assure
that the sheets are positioned precisely as they are delivered to the
folding rollers 36. The conveyor includes a pair of bottom belts 108 which
are disposed beneath the rollers and rotate the rollers to cause the
rollers to rotate in a direction to convey the sheet forwardly. The side
edge guide 106 extends over the sheets and has spherical balls seated
therein to ride on top of the sheet to hold it against the rollers. A
depending flange 106a on the side guide is abutted by edge 11e of the
sheet 11. The illustrated conveyor is a conventional unit with a variable
speed drive for the belts 108 which are timed to the folding rollers and
is a well-known piece of equipment and hence need not be described in
greater detail.
The precisely aligned sheets 11 being delivered from the sheet conveyor 35
have the leading edges 11b of the sheet, as best seen in FIG. 12, moved
into the folding unit 34 and push up against a paper stop bar 110 in a
conventional manner to buckle the sheet at 11c. A pair of rotating folding
rollers 111 and 112 are positioned to grip the sheet at a buckle 11c to
pull the buckled sheet between the nip of the folding rollers 111 and 112
to provide the first fold at 11c as viewed in FIG. 12. The sheet goes
through a series of successive folding plates in a well-known manner until
it is folded into the condition shown in FIG. 3 in which most of the sheet
is folded into the folded section 39 with only the wrap-around section 14
remaining unfolded and projecting from the folded section 39.
The illustrated folding unit 34 has its own separate motor and control
device and is commercially available machine and is commercially available
from the assignee of the present invention. Thus, it will be seen that the
folding unit 34 is independent of the sheet station 26 and can be of any
particular construction and can be adjusted for different lengths or
widths of sheets independently of any adjustments made at the sheet
station 26.
From the folder unit, the folded sheets are conveyed by a conveying means
115, as best seen in FIG. 13, to the adhesive and wrap around folding
station 40. The illustrated conveyer means 115 includes pairs of conveyer
belts 116 and 117 each of which is formed of a plurality of separate
strips of fabric conveyer material which define therebetween a generally
horizontal travel path for carrying the folded sheet 14, therebetween.
Herein, the belt conveyors are provided with enough belts to convey sheets
wide enough to be split into sixteen outserts and to convey sixteen
outserts. Thus, belts never need to be added. More specifically, th | | |
