Material or article handling – Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into – within,... – Removes intersupporting article from row
Patent
1998-07-27
2000-09-19
Morse, Gregory
Material or article handling
Apparatus for moving intersupporting articles into, within,...
Removes intersupporting article from row
1984193, 4147902, B65H 3318
Patent
active
061202401
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a device and to a corresponding method for separating packs or groups of flat products, each containing a predetermined number of articles and being continuously fed to be sent, for example, to a packaging machine.
Devices of this type are frequently combined with machines for forming paper napkins and similar products. They normally have a channel for the advance of the articles and, associated with said channel, a plurality of separating fingers which are movable along a closed path comprising a forward portion, which is parallel to the channel for the advance of the articles and in which the separating fingers advance parallel to and simultaneously with the articles, and a return portion.
BACKGROUND ART
Paper napkins are formed with forming machines comprising a pair of folding rollers with vertical axes forming a throat through which is fed a paper strip material which is normally folded along a longitudinal line. A system of clamps or suction holes associated with the folding rollers grips the strip material alternately on one side and on the other, so that it is folded in a zigzag configuration after the throat of the rollers. In this way a horizontal stack of folded strip material is formed, and this is pressed against a central blade which cuts the stack into two symmetrical parts, creating two parallel stacks of napkins. The two stacks have to be divided into packs or groups, each containing a predetermined number of napkins. Various separating devices have been designed for this purpose.
In one type of folder, the separation between consecutive packs of napkins is carried out by disposing the napkins in a saw-tooth configuration and inserting separating fingers-between adjacent packs to achieve their separation and discharge. Examples of machines of this type are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,521, DE-A-2,427,635 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,082.
In other types of machine, the napkins leave the machine, forming a uniform stack. The two folding rollers of the forming machine are associated with two continuous conveyors disposed on both sides of the channel for the to advance of the stack of material leaving the folder, these conveyors carrying a plurality of separating fingers which are inserted between successive packs of napkins. Each pair of fingers is disposed in a waiting position behind the folding rollers or in a recessed housing in one of the rollers, and when the desired number of napkins has been reached the separating fingers are made to advance with the folded product to the discharge area. A device of this type is described in JP-A-55 7165 A separator which is similar, but which is combined with a machine which feeds previously cut flat sheets, is described in FR-A-2 398 007. In this device, the separating fingers are temporarily released from the continuous conveyor, represented by a chain, and remain housed in a recessed housing of the roller feeding the flat articles. When the desired number of flat articles has been reached, the fingers are engaged with the conveyor and begin to advance in the same direction as the stack of sheets leaving the machine.
A similar system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,465. Here the separating fingers are engaged with or disengaged from the continuous conveyor by means of a complex magnetic system. In the napkin discharge area, the separating fingers guide a pick-up jaw which grips the individual packs of napkins from above and removes them.
The systems known at the present time are complex and expensive.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a separating device for the separation of packs of flat articles taken from a stack of continuously fed articles, which is simpler and more reliable than the conventional devices.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device which is more economical than the known devices.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a machine for forming napkins or similar products, which has an efficient an
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Fabio Perini S.p.A.
Morse Gregory
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