Method of and apparatus for turning cover sheets of stationery products

Abstract

The rear cover sheets of successively bound exercise pads and similar stationary products, wherein the sheets are pivotably held together by a spiral or comb-like binder, are located in front of the front cover sheets immediately following completion of the binding operation. A corner of each rear cover sheet is first lifted off the adjacent outer side of the front cover sheet by a suction cup, and a wedge is inserted betweeen the two cover sheets to form or maintain a gap which is kept open by a strip entering the gap as a result of advancement of the respective pad in parallelism with the axis of its binder in a direction away from the binding station and toward a first turning device having a rod which penetrates into the gap of the oncoming pad and is pivoted to turn the rear cover sheet away from the front cover sheet to an intermediate position on the upper reach of a first endless belt conveyor on which the pads advance in such a way that their partially turned rear cover sheets are located ahead of the respective binders. The turning operation is completed during transfer of successive pads from the first conveyor onto a second endless belt conveyor with assistance from a wheel which is driven to rotate in a direction counter to the travel of the upper reaches of the conveyors.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.