Sheet feeding or delivering – Delivering – With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-10
2001-01-30
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Delivering
With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
C271S176000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179284
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The invention relates to a method and a device for forming a scaled flow of overlapped flat articles, which are supplied and removed with their longitudinal sides positioned between side mounted guide means.
The overlapping of articles is advantageous, for example, for the space-saving transport of the articles in sorting machines or the secure stacking in stacking compartments where a following article is to be prevented from bumping into the rear edge of a preceding article.
A solution has become known (DE 37 23 259 C2), which provides in addition to the main conveying track a secondary conveying track with diverters to prevent a backing up of the articles during the stacking in. This arrangement calls for the overlapping of two successive articles.
Two variants are possible here:
1. A second article takes a shorter path as compared to a first article, as a result of which a varied degree of overlapping can be achieved when the articles converge, depending on the length of the article and the gap.
2. A second article is transported at a higher speed, relative to a first article. If the speed can be controlled, then a constant overlapping can be achieved when the articles converge.
However, a continuous scaled flow cannot be produced with this. An additional disadvantage is the relatively high expenditure. In the operational sequence sorter SLS for letters, manufactured by the company Elsag Bailey, Genoa, a continuous or a discontinuous flow of individual articles is taken over by a second conveying system. This system operates in the start-stop mode with constant intervals. In the course of this, the following article is deposited on the preceding article in such a way that the front edge of the articles is always stopped in the same position and subsequently, the resulting scale is moved forward by a constant distance. The resulting scaled flow thus has a constant spacing between the front edges of the articles.
In order to prevent bumping against the rear edges of the preceding articles during the overlapping, the articles must arrive at the second conveying system at a pointed angle, wherein the rear edges of the articles must leave the resulting entry triangle in a timely fashion.
Owing to the fact that articles with a varying format are to be processed, a correspondingly large gap must exist, oriented toward the long articles with their large, empty surfaces since the rear edges of the long articles leave the entry triangle only relatively slowly as a result of their inherent mass inertia and stiffness, thereby resulting in a low flow rate, or a correspondingly involved auxiliary device must be used to ensure that the rear edges clear the entry triangle quickly, e.g. a stacking spindle (DE-OS 33 17 865) or a contact pressure roller (DE-OS 37 00 827).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention pertains to a method and a device for forming a scaled flow of overlapped articles from a flow of individual, flat, elastic articles, which method and device permit a high flow rate with low apparatus expenditure. The invention pertains to a method and device for forming a scaled flow of overlapped, flat articles from a flow of individual, flat and elastic articles which are supplied and removed with longitudinal edges thereof positioned between side-mounted guide means, and includes feeding a preceding article in a feeding direction; holding the preceding article immovable at a clamping region in a removal direction at an angle to the feeding direction, and with a rear edge of the preceding article at a fixed distance from the clamping region, so a rear section of the proceeding article pivots from the being oriented in the feeding direction to being oriented in the removal direction; and feeding a following article in the feed direction to impact with the preceding article, wherein the following article does not reach the rear edge of the preceding article until the rear section of the preceding article has pivoted to being oriented in the removal direction. Both the preceding and following articles are fed together until the following article is held immovable as a respective preceding article in the holding step above.
An advantage of the invention is that independent of the length of the article, the overlapping length is always uniform, owing to the selection of the rear edges as reference value for the control.
The free rear section of the preceding article is selected short enough so that the entry triangle is formed as quickly as possible owing to the elasticity of the article, but that bumping into the rear edges of the preceding articles is avoided at the same time.
In an embodiment of the invention, the preceding article is set into motion with the scaled flow just before the following article arrives, so that at the point of impact, the articles move at the same speed. This prevents the articles from backing up. An embodiment which uses guide belts, is designed to be operationally safe and cost-saving.
An embodiment of the invention provides a light barrier for detecting the stop signal and the start signal for the driven deflection roller is arranged inside the guide means for feeding in order to avoid installation problems.
The invention is explained in further detail in the following with the aid of an exemplary embodiment and the drawings.
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Hofmann Christoph
Maertin Uwe
Zimmermann Armin
Kunitz Norman N.
Schlak Daniel K.
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Venable
Walsh Donald P.
LandOfFree
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