Sheet feeding or delivering – Delivering – With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-20
2002-12-17
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3651)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Delivering
With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
C271S187000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06494448
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a paddle wheel arrangement for flat copies, the paddle wheel arrangement being provided in folders installed downline from web-processing rotary printing machines.
The published European Patent Document EP 0 408 902 B1 is concerned with a device for delivering printed products. A rotatively driven paddle wheel is provided in a printing machine, to which there is assigned a wheel-shaped ejecting device which is mounted eccentrically with respect to the paddle wheel and is drivable in the same direction of rotation as and at a lower circumferential speed than the paddle wheel. Stops are provided on the circumference of the ejecting device. Through the intermediary of the stops, the printing products which have been fired into the pockets of the paddle wheel and, as a consequence of the relative speed between the stops and the pockets, have initially run up onto the stops, are ejected from the pockets at prescribed intervening distances. The number of effectively ejecting stops is variable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,643 discloses a device for delivering printing products. In this configuration, paddle wheels have two ejector wheels assigned thereto which are positionable relative to one another in circumferential direction. The ejector wheels have a sawtooth profile. If the stops generating a sawtooth profile on the circumference of the ejector wheels are twisted relative to one another by half the width of the stop in the circumferential direction, a regular shingle-stream spacing for successive copies can be set in this paddle wheel arrangement. If the two ejector wheels, by contrast, are set exactly in phase with one another, each pair of copies ejected from the pockets of the paddle wheels will be superimposed and form an overlapping or shingle-stream flow of the copies on the delivery belt wherein, respectively, each pair of exactly superimposed copies will be delivered at a regular spacing or distance from the preceding pair of exactly superimposed copies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,389 is concerned with a paddle wheel delivery system with format-dependently adjustable copy guides, which are respectively provided on outermost paddle wheel disks and on one or more central paddle wheel disks arranged between the outer paddle wheel disks. With these pivotably arranged product guides, the copy delivery system can be adapted to each of various copy widths, respectively, which are to be processed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Starting from the foregoing state of the prior art, it is an object of the invention to adapt or match the geometries of paddle wheel pockets, wherein flat copies of different page counts and grammages are received, to the particular nature of the copies to be delivered.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, a paddle wheel delivery for flat copies, which are delivered onto a belt surface of a delivery belt, the paddle wheel delivery including at least one paddle wheel formed of two paddle wheel disks mutually adjustable relative to one another, comprising sickle-shaped regions inwardly movable by a relative movement of the paddle wheel disks, for converting a first pocket width of the paddle wheel pockets on the paddle wheels into a second pocket width of the paddle wheel pockets.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the paddle wheel delivery includes a locking device provided between the paddle wheel disks.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the locking device serves for locking the paddle wheel disks relative to one another in a circumferential position corresponding to the first pocket width.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the locking device serves for locking the paddle wheel disks relative to one another in a circumferential position corresponding to the second pocket width.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the paddle wheel disks are coaxially mounted on a drive shaft.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the paddle wheel delivery includes ejector elements assigned to the pockets, the ejector elements being movable relative to the pockets.
In accordance with yet a further feature of the invention, the ejector elements are movable along a rotational path.
In accordance with yet an added feature of the invention, the rotational path extends about a drive shaft whereon the paddle wheel disks are coaxially mounted.
In accordance with yet an additional feature of the invention, the paddle wheel delivery includes, in the circumferential position of the paddle wheel disks relative to one another, which corresponds to the first pocket width, a following surface of the paddle wheel pockets, which is formed by the paddle wheel disks positioned in phase.
In accordance with still another feature of the invention, the paddle wheel delivery includes, in the circumferential position of the paddle wheel disks relative to one another, which corresponds to the second pocket width, a following surface of the paddle wheel disks narrowed by the sickle-shaped region.
In accordance with still a further feature of the invention, one of the paddle wheel disks has a diameter exceeding the diameter of the other paddle wheel disk.
In accordance with still an added feature of the invention, the locking device includes a latching element prestressed by a prestressing element.
In accordance with still an additional feature of the invention, the paddle wheel delivery includes surfaces defining the paddle wheel pockets of the paddle wheels, the surfaces being provided with a friction-reducing coating.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a folder having a paddle wheel delivery for flat copies, which are delivered onto a belt surface of a delivery belt, the paddle wheel delivery including at least one paddle wheel formed of two paddle wheel disks mutually adjustable relative to one another, comprising sickle-shaped regions inwardly movable by a relative movement of the paddle wheel disks, for converting a first pocket width of the paddle wheel pockets on the paddle wheels into a second pocket width of the paddle wheel pockets.
In accordance with a concomitant aspect of the invention, there is provided a web-fed rotary printing machine having a paddle wheel delivery for flat copies, which are delivered onto a belt surface of a delivery belt, the paddle wheel delivery including at least one paddle wheel formed of two paddle wheel disks mutually adjustable relative to one another, comprising sickle-shaped regions inwardly movable by a relative movement of the paddle wheel disks, for converting a first pocket width of the paddle wheel pockets on the paddle wheels into a second pocket width of the paddle wheel pockets.
The advantages accompanying the construction according to the invention are apparent in that the pocket width of paddle wheel pockets receiving flat copies can be adapted both to the page count of copies to be delivered and to the grammages or basic weights of the respective printing material. The pocket widths of the paddle wheel pockets are narrowed so that the flat copies of printing materials of lower grammage are guided much more tightly by the supporting defining or limiting surface and following surface, i.e., the boundary of the paddle wheel pockets. As a result, fluttering or skewing, and dog-earing of copies of lower basic weights or grammages entering the inwardly running regions of the paddle wheel pockets at high speed, are reliably avoided. This considerably increases the productivity of a web-processing web-fed rotary printing machine, it being immaterial here whether the paddle wheel delivery according to the invention is used in folders with pin systems for the transportation of copies or in pinless folders. As a result of the narrowing of the pocket width of the paddle wheel pockets by a sickle-shaped region defining a second pocket width, the narrowed form of the pocket geometry is constant
Duhamel Claude
Lanvin Serge
Robin Philippe
Bower Kenneth W
Greenberg Laurence A.
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Locher Ralph E.
Stemer Werner H.
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