A signature stream is intercepted by a bucket unlatched from the intercept position. The buckets are moved by drive chains. A spring assembly maintains tension upon the drive chains and spring loads the bucket in the "home" position, providing a detent action upon this bucket to accelerate the bucket and also provide a force for drop-out of the bucket. A bucket cam follower guides the bucket to move from a normal path to the "home" position. A microprocessor selectively halts each bucket during downward movement to reduce free fall time of signatures. A zero force cam engaged by the bucket cam follower counteracts the force otherwise applied to the chains by variable weight signatures on the bucket to maintain uniform tension on the chains. Circular cams move the free ends of the tines increasingly faster to orient the signature stack horizontally before the bucket withdraws from beneath the batch. Oscillating paddles jog the sides and corners of the signatures during stacking to form a neat batch. A turntable is rotated 180.degree. after receiving each signature batch. Chain driven pusher rods mounted independently of the rotatable turntable pass through a gap in the turntable to remove the stack. The microprocessor initiates movement of the turntable and pusher rods an adjustable delay after delivery of each signature batch as a function of free fall time of each signature batch. Position sensors indicate bucket position. A top of batch sensor measures signature and batch thickness. A turntable sensor prevents erroneous operation of the pusher rods.
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/410,013, filed Sep. 19, 1989, now abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/303,056, filed Jan. 27, 1989, now abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 06/595,239, filed Apr. 2, 1984, now abandoned.
Signatures are delivered to a stacker by a gripper conveyor, each gripper delivering a signature thereto. The grippers follow a curved path adjacent to the stacker, substantially aligning the signatures with the stacking platform receiving signatures as they are released. A plurality of stacking platforms are moved about a closed loop path, each independently driven by an associated drive motor. The speed of each stacking platform is variable and is synchronized with the throughput of the gripper conveyor as well as signature thickness. When a predetermined quantity of signatures has been collected, an upstream stacking platform is moved between the last signature of the preceding stack and the first signature of the next stack. When a stack has been completed, the stacking platform is quickly pulled away from the signature stack allowing it to fall by gravity into a collector, and is thereafter moved quickly to the ready position in preparation for forming a subsequent signature stack. The stacker has three stacking platforms independently driven by an associated motor. Three drive chain sets arranged to move about only two shafts each drive an associated stacking platform.
The stacking device for printed products includes a rotatable turntable platform for stacking articles, an ejection assembly for ejecting stacks of articles from the platform, and a positioning device for positioning the turntable for two direction ejection. The positioning device allows the turntable to be arranged for ejecting stacks either parallel or normal to a direction in which articles are fed into the stacking device. This versatility of output allows the stacking device to be incorporated into a plant arrangement more easily and reduces floor space and expense of the entire system. The stacking device also includes an article receiving portion which receives and accommodates articles of differing heights without changing an infeed location of the stacking device. According to one embodiment, the stacking device includes an ejection assembly including two chains received in tracks in the turntable and two posts mounted on the chains which eject the stacks without imparting a rotational moment to the stacks.
A log of printed products having thereon an identification that is programmable and then readable to access information regarding the printed products that make up the log such as product identification, orientation and destination, the printed products including either bound and non-bound printed products.
A log of printed products having thereon an identification that is programmable and then readable to access information regarding the printed products that make up the log such as product identification, orientation and destination. The printed products include either bound or non-bound printed products. A method of utilizing a smart log includes creating a log of printed products, programming an identification associated with the log with information relating to the printed products, coupling the identification to the log, transporting the log to a destination for processing, reading the identification while the identification is coupled to the log, and handling the log in response to the information read from the identification.
