System for delivering printed products of identical or different thickness and method for their transfer to a delivery system

A method for operating a system, the system comprising:

• a transport chain, which is roof-shaped in an upper region, along which one or more printed products being transported astride, collected, and optionally stitched in an intermediate stitching station;
• a stop, which is adjustable in accordance with a format of a printed product of the printed products being delivered, is arranged in a horizontal transport direction of the printed products, and is positioned after the intermediate stitching station along the transport chain, the stop corresponding to a location of delivery of the printed product from the transport chain;
• the stop having a fixed wall;
• an ejector;
• a cutting apparatus;
• a delivery system;
• and
• a main controller,
• wherein a cyclic transfer of the printed product during the delivery takes place via the delivery system, the delivery system having in an infeed region a printed product transporter configured to transfer the printed product being delivered, the printed product transporter comprising pivot arms, the pivot arms being controllable according to a measured thickness of the printed product being delivered, the method comprising:
• independently operating at least the transport chain, the stop, the delivery system, the ejector, and the cutting apparatus, the independent operation being controlled by the main controller,
• transporting the printed product in the horizontal transport direction to the fixed wall of the stop, and simultaneously performing, using the stop, a stopping function and an aligning function on the printed product, the aligning function aligning the front edge of the printed product against a canting or tilting thereof during the transfer into the delivery system,
• wherein the simultaneous performance of the stopping operation and the aligning operation comprises a horizontally and vertically superimposed movements of the printed product, the horizontal movement of the printed product being predetermined by the operation of the saddle chain, wherein the stop does not completely and abruptly stop the horizontal movement of the printed product, wherein the printed product is lifted away from the saddle chain by the delivery system in operative connection with the ejector prior to impinging on the stop.

A method for operating a system, the system comprising:

• a transport chain, which is roof-shaped in an upper region, along which one or more printed products being transported astride, collected, and optionally stitched in an intermediate stitching station;
• a stop, which is adjustable in accordance with a format of a printed product of the printed products being delivered, is arranged in a transport direction of the printed products, and is positioned after the intermediate stitching station along the transport chain, the stop corresponding to a location of delivery of the printed product from the transport chain;
• an ejector;
• a cutting apparatus;
• a delivery system;
• and a main controller,
• wherein a cyclic transfer of the printed product during the delivery takes place via the delivery system, the delivery system having in an infeed region a printed product transporter configured to transfer the printed product being delivered, the printed product transporter comprising pivot arms, the pivot arms being controllable according to a measured thickness of the printed product being delivered,
• wherein the method comprises independently operating at least the transport chain, the stop, the delivery system, the ejector, and the cutting apparatus, the independent operation being controlled by the main controller, and wherein an operative process sequences of the ejector for delivering the printed product are carried out according to the following criteria:
• a) a blade of the ejector arranged below the delivery system remains in a neutral position until arrival of a command, which is transmitted by the main controller and which initiates a triggering of the delivery;
• b) the ejector starts a movement of the blade from the neutral position in order to consistently transfer the printed product to the delivery system, wherein the triggering is time-dependent on a speed of the transport chain, a format of the printed product, and a manual correction, and wherein the speed of the transport chain has a defined or continuously freely definable speed threshold;
• c) above the speed threshold, the speed of the ejector is oriented toward that of the transport chain and/or that of conveyor belts belonging to the delivery system in such a way that, as the speed of the transport chain increases, vertical movement of the ejector upward increases, and wherein the vertical movement of the ejector upward decreases correspondingly when the speed of the transport chain is reduced;
• and
• d) below the speed threshold, a movement profile of the ejector is uniformly defined by a minimum speed in order to ensure the transfer of the printed product to the conveyor belts of the delivery system.