Apparatus for transferring piece goods, especially printed products, arriving in succession from a first individual conveyor to a second individual conveyor

An apparatus for transferring piece goods, especially printed products, arriving in succession from a first individual conveyor to a second individual conveyor, comprising, in combination:

• a first individual conveyor movable along a first conveying path;
• a second individual conveyor movable along a second conveying path;
• a first group of tandemly arranged controlled grippers provided for the first individual conveyor, each of said grippers of the first group serving to engage one of the piece goods;
• means for controlling the opening and closing movements of said first group of grippers;
• a second group of tandemly arranged controlled grippers provided for the second individual conveyor, each of said grippers of the second group serving to engage one of the piece goods;
• means for controlling the opening and closing movements of said second group of grippers;
• a third individual conveyor arranged between said first and second individual conveyors;
• controlled entrainment members provided for the third individual conveyor, each of said entrainment members serving to engage one of the piece goods;
• said third individual conveyor having a conveying-active run including oppositely situated end regions;
• means for introducing said conveying-active run of said third individual conveyor at its end regions into the respective conveying paths of the first and second individual conveyors;
• drive means provided for the third individual conveyor;
• means for controlling said drive means by means of at least one of said first and second individual conveyors;
• means for controlling the entrainment members at the end regions of the conveying-active run of the third individual conveyor to operate with an opening and closing movement which is opposite to the opening and closing movements of the grippers of the first individual conveyor and the grippers of the second individual conveyor.