Sheet-material associating – Associating or disassociating – Signature associating
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-11
2002-09-10
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Sheet-material associating
Associating or disassociating
Signature associating
C270S052010, C270S052200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06446953
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a process for combining a plurality of completed printed products, in particular completed newspapers and/or periodicals, into bundles, in the case of which completed printed products are retrieved from at least two storage arrangements and fed to a receiving conveyor, whereupon the products which follow one after the other in the region of the receiving conveyor are combined into bundles. Completed printed products are, in particular, end products which have already been combined.
Such a process is known from European Patent EP 0 272 398 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,910. According to these patents, there are provided a plurality of storage arrangements which are designed as winding stations and transfer products to a receiving conveyor, it being possible for, for example, a fork-lift truck or a delivery truck to be provided at the outlet of the receiving conveyor in order to receive the products.
The disadvantage with this is that the sequence in which the products are arranged on the receiving conveyor is not highly flexible. In particular, it is not possible for products which follow one after the other on the receiving conveyor and each have an individual, different composition to be combined into bundles.
It is an object of the invention to develop a process of the type mentioned in the introduction such that it is possible to combine, with the highest possible level of flexibility, bundles which differ from one another in terms of type, number and/or sequence of the products which follow one after the other within a bundle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above and other objects and advantages are achieved according to the invention in that from at least two storage arrangements, which are occupied by completed printed products of different types, products are retrieved individually from the storage arrangements in a sequence which is necessary in each case for a bundle which is to be combined. The retrieved products are fed to a receiving conveyor, with certain products being positioned upstream of, or between, products which have already been fed to the receiving conveyor, and the products which follow one after the other in the region of the receiving conveyor are combined into bundles.
According to the present invention, the storage arrangements are thus designed such that, in accordance with requirements, individual products can be retrieved, and fed to the receiving conveyor, at the necessary points in time in each case, it being possible for the products retrieved, depending on requirements, to be positioned not just at the end of the products which follow one after the other on the receiving conveyor but also upstream of, or between, products which have already been fed to the receiving conveyor.
The capacity for individually retrieving the products from the storage arrangements makes it possible to combine, for each individual bundle, products which differ from one another in terms of type and the number thereof which occur in the respective bundle.
Depositing products upstream of, or between, products which have already been positioned on the receiving conveyor makes it possible, on the one hand, to vary to a considerable extent the sequence of the products which follow one after the other within a bundle and, on the other hand, to position on the receiving conveyor a comparatively high number of products per length section of the receiving conveyor, with the result that it is possible to achieve maximum utilization of the receiving conveyor.
The process according to the invention thus makes it possible to combine individual bundles in which the number, type and sequence of products correspond, for example, precisely to the route of an individual who delivers newspapers or periodicals, it being possible for bundles which follow directly one after the other to be structured completely differently —depending on the order route.
It is preferred if receiving positions which follow one after the other are defined in the region of the receiving conveyor, each receiving position being suitable for receiving precisely one product or else a plurality of products. By defining receiving positions in this way, it being possible for said positions to follow one after the other in an equidistant manner, in particular, in the region of the receiving conveyor, the process according to the invention is easier to carry out since, with knowledge of the receiving positions which are present per length unit of the receiving conveyor, it is easier to determine or calculate the time sequence of the product transfers taking place from the storage arrangements to the receiving conveyor.
It is particularly advantageous if each product fed to a receiving position is retained actively, in particular by means of a clamp or a gripper, therein since this makes it possible for products to be transferred quickly and reliably from the storage arrangements to the receiving positions without the products being able to slip, for example, in the region of the receiving conveyor. In particular, in the case of this variant, individual further processing of the products transported on the receiving conveyor is possible since the products, which are retained individually by means of clamps or grippers, can easily be fed to different further-processing processes.
Products can be transferred particularly easily from the storage arrangements to the receiving positions of the receiving conveyor if each product fed to a receiving position is retained from beneath, for example, by means of a gripper or of a clamp, with the result that the products are transported in a lying or standing, but not hanging, position in the region of the receiving conveyor.
As an alternative to the products being actively retained, however, it is also possible for the receiving conveyor to be designed as a straightforward conveying belt, as a belt with protrusions or as an arrangement of product pockets which follow one after the other.
In order to ensure that the products are transferred from the storage arrangements to the receiving conveyor in a friction-free manner, said transfer of products may be controlled such that products are only ever transferred in each case to free receiving positions not yet occupied by a product. This makes it possible to avoid the situation where one receiving position is assigned two or more products. Alternatively, however, it is also possible, in certain situations, for one receiving position to be specifically assigned two or more products, to be precise, in particular, when the sequence of the products retained in a receiving position corresponds to the ultimately desired sequence in the bundle.
It is preferable if, before products have been combined into bundles, the time sequence in which the products are transferred from the individual storage arrangements to the receiving conveyor, or calculated by means of an optimization algorithm, is determined for each storage arrangement in dependence on the occupancy of the latter by products, the position thereof on the receiving conveyor and the desired combination of the bundles which are to be produced. This determination or calculation may be carried out both before the process according to the invention takes place and as it takes place, the last-mentioned variant also being able to take account of sudden changes to requirements.
It is particularly advantageous if, when products are fed to the receiving conveyor, gaps, i.e. “programmed” gaps, are created specifically between individual products in order for at least one further product to be fed subsequently in the region of the gaps produced. These gaps may be dimensioned specifically such that one, two or more products may be deposited subsequently in the region of the gaps, it being necessary to take into account, for the dimensioning of the gaps, both the distance between adjacent receiving positions and the length of products which have already been deposited, are projecting into the gap and thus possibly overlap certain receiving positions
Felix Markus
Müller Erwin
Alston & Bird LLP
Ellis Christopher P.
Ferag AG
Mackey Patrick
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