Machine for handling signatures

A machine for providing descrete bundles of sheets as the sheets advance along a path, said machine comprising a receiving conveyor along the path and having endless belts toward which the sheets are directed facing the belts, so that the receiving conveyor moves the sheets along the path initially in a shingled condition;

• deflecting surfaces along the sides of the path near the downstream portion of the receiving conveyor for contacting the side edges of the sheets and urging them inwardly such that the sheets are caused to simultaneously bow forwardly and rise at their leading edges to assume a bowed edge-standing condition;
• a consolidating conveyor located along the path immediately beyond the receiving conveyor for advancing the edge-standing sheets that emerge from the deflecting surfaces, with the velocity of advance being less than the velocity at which the sheets move along the receiving conveyor, the consolidating conveyor being configured to retain the sheets in the edge-standing and forwardly bowed condition, whereby the succession of edge-standing sheets consolidates on the consolidating conveyor;
• an accumulating conveyor located along the path immediately beyond the consolidating conveyor and having endless side belts along its sides for contacting the sides of the sheets and applying forwardly directed forces to the sheets so as to advance the sheets normally at a velocity less than the velocity at which the consolidating conveyor advances the sheets, the endless belts of the accumulating conveyor being spaced apart a distance less than the width of the sheets so the accumulating conveyor is likewise configured to retain the sheets in the edge-standing and forwardly bowed condition, whereby a succession of sheets will accumulate and consolidate still further on the accumulating conveyor;
• a compression region located along the path beyond the accumulating conveyor, the compression region being configured along the sides of the path to allow the edge-standing sheets to assume a generally flat condition;
• means for simultaneously stopping the advance of sheets along the consolidating conveyor and increasing the velocity of advance along the accumulating conveyor to separate the group of sheets which have reached the accumulating conveyor from the sheets on the consolidating conveyor;
• retaining members in the region at the transition between the consolidating and accumulating conveyors for extending into the path to prevent sheets from passing from the consolidating to the accumulating conveyor while the latter is advancing sheets at an increased velocity;
• follower bars located along the path in the compression region that is beyond the accumulating conveyor and being movable along the path such that the leading end of the succession of sheets confronts the follower bars which maintain the sheets in the edge-standing condition;
• means for enabling the follower bars to yield in the presence of advancing sheets while exerting a force on the leading sheets to cause the sheets to compress together in the compression region and to further resist the advance of the sheets by the side belts of the accumulating conveyor such that bowed sheets on the accumulating conveyor undergo a generally progressive compression, with the sheets closest to the compression region being more tightly compressed than the sheets closer to the consolidating conveyor;
• and compressing means located along the path in the compression region for compressing the group of sheets still further so that a retaining device may be placed around them to secure them as a bundle.

A machine for handling sheets of flexible material, said machine comprising:

• a first conveyor having endless belts which have upwardly exposed passes that move along a conveying path from an upstream loading region to a downstream orienting region, the belts of the conveyor at the loading region having sheets directed toward them with the sheets oriented such that they generally face the upwardly exposed passes, so that the upwardly exposed passes move the sheets away from the loading region in a shingled condition;
• and deflecting members located at the orienting region, there being at least one deflecting member on each side of the conveying path, each deflecting member having a first surface which is presented toward the first surface of the other deflecting member, with the spacing between the first surfaces of the two deflecting members being at some point along the path less than the width of the sheets, each deflecting member also having a second surface which is inclined downwardly toward and merges with the first surface of that member, the second surface further being inclined with respect to the upwardly exposed passes of the belts and extending upwardly in the direction of advance;
• the arrangement being such that the shingled sheets ride up onto the second surfaces where they bow forwardly and simultaneously rise at their leading edges and thereafter continue into the space between the first surfaces where the bow is maintained and the leading edges continue to rise, so that the sheets upon emerging from the deflecting members are in an edge-standing condition.

A machine for converting a succession of flexible sheets into discrete bundles of sheets, said machine comprising:

• a first conveyor having a bottom surface on which the flexible sheets rest in an edge-standing condition and opposite side surfaces which are spaced apart a distance less than the width of the flexible sheets, such that the edge-standing sheets along their side edges contact the side surfaces and bow toward one end of the first conveyor, the first conveyor also including endless belts having conveying passes along and forming part of at least one of the surfaces for advancing the sheets in the direction toward which the sheets are bowed;
• a second conveyor aligned with and having an end adjacent to that end of the first conveyor toward which the flexible sheets are advanced by the endless belts, the second conveyor extending away from the first conveyor and having a bottom surface on which the flexible sheets rest in an edge-standing condition and opposite side surfaces which are spaced apart a distance less than the width of the flexible sheets, so that the edge-standing sheets along their side edges contact the side surfaces of the second conveyor and bow away from the first conveyor and toward the other end of the second conveyor, the second conveyor further including endless belts having conveying passes located along and forming part of the side surfaces of the second conveyor for advancing the sheets in the direction toward which they are bowed;
• drive means for moving the belts of the first and second conveyors such that the velocity of the belts of the second conveyor is normally no greater than the velocity of the belts for the first conveyor, and for further momentarily increasing the velocity of the belts of the second conveyor to a velocity greater than the velocity of the belts for the first conveyor so as to create a region of looseness in the succession of sheets generally where the sheets pass from the first conveyor to the second conveyor;
• retaining elements located along the sides of the conveyors where the second conveyor leads away from the first conveyor and being movable between retracted and extended positions, the retaining elements normally being in their retracted positions where they do not interfere with the movement of sheets at the side surfaces of the first conveyor and by the side surfaces of the second conveyor, the retaining elements when in their extended positions being projected into the path from the sides thereof, and being at least in part between the conveying passes of the endless belts for the second conveyor immediately beyond the first conveyor, the retaining elements further being configured such that when they are in their extended positions they hold sheets that are at the end of the first conveyor away from the endless belts that are along the side surfaces of the second conveyor;
• actuating means for causing the retaining elements to be projected inwardly to their extended positions after the velocity of the belts for the second conveyor is momentarily increased to create the region of looseness, so that the retaining elements restrain those sheets located at the end of the first conveyor such that their side edges do not come against the belts of the second conveyor.