US 4,541,317 AGranted

Machine for cutting documents

AssigneeAgfa-Gevaert

InventorsFreddy J. Van Humbeeck, Jean Burtin, Johnny P. Van Meenen

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Abstract

The present invention relates to a machine for accurately cutting documents from a web of transparent material carrying one or more opaque documents, which machine comprises a punch-type cutter which is mounted for pivotal and lateral movement and capable of automatic positioning for accurately cutting a well-defined portion of the web so as to provide series of individual documents of predetermined size. The machine is provided with a first detector for detecting the arrival of an opaque document on the web at the cutting zone, a control responsive to the detector for arresting the movement of the web, other detectors for determining the relative lateral and angular position of the document on the web with respect to the cutter and a control responsive to the other detectors for displacing the cuttering laterally and angularly to bring the same into a predetermined position with respect to the document.

Claims13

Dependent claims

In a cutting machine adapted for cutting opaque documents from a transparent carrier web on which they are carried at successive regions along said web, said machine including a cutting zone and a passageway via which said web can be longitudinally advanced by web feeding means along a given path through the said machine for bringing said successive regions along said web successively to said cutting zone, and having means for automatically arresting said web in response to the arrival of a said opaque document at said cutting zone as detected by first detection means and having cutting means defined by a cooperating assembly of a punch and a die plate on opposite sides of the web operative at said cutting zone for severing from the web the document-carrying portion thereof along lines corresponding generally to the front and rear and opposite side ege of said document, the improvement comprising means supporting said cutting assembly for lateral bodily movement in directions (+Y, -Y) transverse to said web path and pivotable movement bodily about an axis (M) perpendicular to the plane of the web portion passing through said cutting zone;

positional adjustment means operative for effecting said transverse and pivotal movements of said cutting assembly;
further detection means operatively associated with said positional adjustment means for detecting the lateral position and angular orientation of an arrived document relative to the center axis of the path of said web through said cutting machine, said further detection means being operative to actuate said positional adjustment means to effect such transverse and pivotal movement of said cutting means to bring the latter into lateral and angular alignment with the actual lateral position and angular orientation of said document on said web, said first and further detection means comprising photocells located on one side of the web path, in line with slits extending perpendicularly through said punch, and at least one cooperating light source located at the other side of said web path.

A method of severing opaque documents of predetermined dimensions from a continuous carrier web having at least one transparent ply to which successive documents are anchored in randomly spaced apart relation along its length and in randomly variable angular orientation, which comprises the steps of advancing said carrier web carrying said documents thereon along a planar path through a cutting station which is adapted for both bodily lateral movement transversely of the direction of the carrier web through said cutting station and bodily pivotal movement about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the web passing through such station, said cutting station being operable to cut the web along lines corresponding substantially to the front and rear end and opposite side edges of said documents;

detecting at a predetermined longitudinal detection locus the arrival of the front edge of a document at a longitudinal position corresponding to the front edge cutting line of the cutting station and halting the movement of said carrier web and documents in response to such detection;
detecting any deviation in the actual lateral position of the document from the center axis of the web and displacing said cutting station bodily transversely to coincide with the actual lateral position of said document;
detecting any deviation in the angular orientation of said document on said web from a correct orientation on said web and pivoting said cutter station bodily about said perpendicular axis to bring said cutting station into angular alignment with the actual orientation of said document;
actuating the cutting station to sever the web along said cutting lines to separate the document and an adhering section of the carrier from the remainder of the carrier web;
and re-initiating advance of the carrier web to repeat the sequence.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.