Sheet feeding or delivering – Feeding – Separators
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-24
2001-07-03
Michalsky, Gerald A. (Department: 3753)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Feeding
Separators
C137S624130, C137S625230, C137S625240
Reexamination Certificate
active
06254082
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rotary valve disposed between intake and exhaust air sources and suction and discharge units, to supply or stop supplying air.
In the sheet feeding unit of a sheet-fed offset printing press, a suction unit connected to an intake air source and a discharge unit connected to an exhaust air source are used to feed stacked sheets to the feeder board one by one. More specifically, in order to draw the highest sheet by suction with the suction unit, the air of the suction unit is taken by an intake pump serving as the intake air source. In order to blow air to the stacked sheets or to separate the top sheet drawing by the suction unit from the second top sheet underneath, or in order to discharge reverse air that facilitates separation of the sheet conveyed from the suction unit to the feeder board, exhaust air is supplied by an exhaust pump serving as the exhaust air source.
The ON/OFF timings of each of the intake air and exhaust air correspond to the rotation angle of the printing press main body. This series of timings are controlled by a rotary valve.
FIG. 9
shows a conventional rotary valve.
Referring to
FIG. 9
, in a rotary valve indicated by reference numeral
30
, a main body
2
formed into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape is fixed to a frame
5
of a sheet feeding unit through a bracket
5
a
. The first and second suckers, a leveling foot, and an air blower (not shown) are provided to the sheet feeding unit. As shown in
FIGS. 10A and 10B
, the lower portion of the main body
2
in one end side in the direction of an arrow Z swells in an arcuated manner to constitute a swelling portion
2
a.
A through hole
3
extending in the direction of an arrow X is formed in the swelling portion
2
a
, and a cylindrical sleeve
4
is fixed to the inner circumferential surface of the through hole
3
. A valve body
6
is engaged in the sleeve
4
. End shafts
6
a
and
6
b
on the two ends of the valve body
6
are rotatably supported by the sleeve
4
through bearings
7
a
and
7
b
. The valve body
6
rotates in an interlocked manner with rotation of the printing press through one end shaft
6
a.
Four air passages
9
a
,
9
b
,
9
c
, and
9
d
, each having an open upper end and a lower end communicating with the through hole
3
, are formed in the upper portion side of the main body
2
corresponding to the swelling portion
2
a
, to extend in the vertical direction (the direction of an arrow Z). Of the air passages
9
a
to
9
d
, the air passages
9
a
and
9
b
, on their upper end side, are connected to an intake pump (to be described later) through hoses
17
a
and
17
b
. The air passages
9
a
and
9
b
constitute an intake air passage. The air passages
9
c
and
9
d
, on their upper end side, are connected to an exhaust pump (to be described later) through hoses
17
c
and
17
d
. The air passages
9
c
and
9
d
constitute an exhaust air passage.
Air passages
10
a
,
10
b
,
10
c
, and
10
d
are formed in the main body
2
to extend in the direction of the arrow Y perpendicularly to the intake air passages
9
a
and
9
b
and the exhaust air passages
9
c
and
9
d
, respectively. One end of each of the air passages
10
a
to
10
d
opens to the outside of the main body
2
while the other end thereof communicates with the through hole
3
.
Of the air passages
10
a
to
10
d
, the air passages
10
a
and
10
b
are connected to suction heads (to be described later), serving as the first and second suckers, through hoses
18
a
and
18
b
. The air passages
10
a
and
10
b
constitute a suction air passage. The air passages
10
c
and
10
d
are connected to nozzles (to be described later), respectively serving as a leveling foot and an air blower, through hoses
18
c
and
18
d
. The air passages
10
c
and
10
d
constitute a discharge air passage.
Reference numeral
31
denotes a reverse air passage for the suction heads. The reverse air passage
31
is formed between the suction air passages
10
a
and
10
b
to extend from the upper end of the main body
2
to the circumferential surface of the valve body
6
through the sleeve
4
. The exhaust pump (described above) is connected to the upper opening end side of the reverse air passage
31
through a hose (not shown). At a certain machine angle of rotation of the valve body
6
, the lower end of the reverse air passage
31
communicates with the suction air passages
10
a
and
10
b
through a notch (to be described later) formed in the valve body
6
.
Vent holes
11
a
,
11
b
,
11
c
, and
11
d
are formed in the sleeve
4
to respectively correspond to the intake air passages
9
a
and
9
b
and the exhaust air passages
9
c
and
9
d
. Vent holes
12
a
,
12
b
,
12
c
, and
12
d
are also formed in the sleeve
4
to respectively correspond to the suction air passages
10
a
and
10
b
and the discharge air passages
10
c
and
10
d.
As shown in
FIG. 10A
, a notch
13
a
through which the vent holes
11
a
and
12
a
communicate with each other is formed in the circumferential surface of the valve body
6
corresponding to the intake air passage
9
a
and the suction air passage
10
a
. Similarly, a notch
13
b
through which the vent holes
11
b
and
12
b
communicate with each other is formed in the circumferential surface of the valve body
6
corresponding to the intake air passage
9
b
and the suction air passage
10
b
, at a position displaced from the notch
13
a
in the axial direction and to be phase-shifted from the notch
13
a
in the rotating direction of the valve body
6
.
As shown in
FIG. 10B
, a notch
13
c
through which the vent holes
11
c
and
12
c
communicate with each other is formed in the circumferential surface of the valve body
6
corresponding to the intake air passage
9
c
and the suction air passage
10
c
. Similarly, a notch
13
d
through which the vent holes
11
d
and
12
d
communicate with each other is formed in the circumferential surface of the valve body
6
corresponding to the intake air passage
9
d
and the suction air passage
10
d
, at a position displaced from the notch
13
c
in the axial direction and to be phase-shifted from the notch
13
c
in the rotating direction of the valve body
6
.
In this arrangement, when the valve body
6
is rotated in an interlocked manner with rotation of the printing press main body, the notch
13
d
of the valve body
6
is in communication with the vent holes
11
d
and
12
d
of the sleeve
4
, and the exhaust air passage
9
d
and the discharge air passage
10
d
communicate with each other through the notch
13
d
. Thus, air exhausted from the exhaust pump flows through the air passages
9
d
and
10
d
that communicate with each other through the notch
13
d
, and is discharged from the nozzles to blow air to the sheets.
When the valve body
6
is continuously rotated, the notch
13
a
is in communication with the vent holes
11
a
and
12
a
, and the intake air passage
9
a
and the suction air passage
10
a
communicate with each other through the notch
13
a
. Thus, as shown in
FIG. 10A
, intake air A taken by the intake pump flows through the air passages
9
a
and
10
a
that communicate with each other through the notch
13
a
, to draw the top sheet by suction with the first sucker.
When the valve body
6
is continuously rotated, the notch
13
c
is in communication with the vent holes
11
c
and
12
c
of the sleeve
4
, and the exhaust air passage
9
c
and the discharge air passage
10
c
communicate with each other through the notch
13
c
. Thus, as shown in
FIG. 10B
, exhaust air B exhausted from the exhaust pump flows through the air passages
9
c
and
10
c
that communicate with each other through the notch
13
c
, and is discharged from the nozzle serving as the leveling foot. At this time, the discharged air is blown to a portion between the top sheet drawn by the suction heads and the second top sheet underneath, to separate them from each other.
When the valve body
6
is further rotated, the notch
13
b
opposes
Kato Kazuhiko
Shibata Satoshi
Sugimoto Ikuo
Blakey Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman
Komori Corporation
Michalsky Gerald A.
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