Collating apparatus and a method for operating such a collating apparatus

A collating apparatus (10, 10′, 10″) for printed products such as brochures, flyers or the like, comprising:

• a collecting section (11) having at least two collecting zones arranged in parallel and working independently of each other (11a,b), onto which respectively a plurality of products are fed successively and are united lying one on top of the other into a collected product;
• at least one further processing section (13, 15) positioned behind the collecting section (11) having at least one further processing apparatus (13a,b;
• 15a,b);
• and
• a distribution apparatus (12) arranged between the collecting section (11) and the at least one further processing section (13, 15), the distribution apparatus feeding the collected products arriving from the collecting zones (11a,b) selectively to the at least one further processing apparatus (13a,b;
• 15a,b), wherein the distribution apparatus comprises a diverter module (12) that links collected product outlets of each of the collecting zones (11a,b) and selectively transfers product streams arriving from the collecting zones (11a,b) into the at least one further processing section (13, 15), wherein the diverter module (12) comprises a track switch having more than one operating position, wherein each of the more than one operating position of the diverter module (12) determines a further processing of the collected products.

A collating apparatus (10, 10′, 10″) for printed products such as brochures, flyers or the like, comprising:

• a collecting section (11) having at least two collecting zones arranged in parallel and working independently of each other (11a,b), onto which respectively a plurality of products are fed successively and are united lying one on top of the other into a collected product;
• at least one further processing section (13, 15) positioned behind the collecting section (11) having at least one further processing apparatus (13a,b;
• 15a,b);
• and
• a distribution apparatus (12) arranged between the collecting section (11) and the at least one further processing section (13, 15), the distribution apparatus feeding the collected products arriving from the collecting zones (11a,b) selectively to the at least one further processing apparatus (13a,b;
• 15a,b), wherein the distribution apparatus comprises a diverter module (12) that links collected product outlets of each of the collecting zones (11a,b) and selectively transfers product streams arriving from the collecting zones (11a,b) into the at least one further processing section (13, 15), wherein the diverter module (12) switches an operating position to divide the collected products from the at least two collecting zones into more than one product stream for separate processing.