Device for producing individual stacks of sheets
AssigneeHeidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
InventorErich Michael Zahn
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a device for the non-stop operation of a delivery unit of a rotary printing machine in which sheets in a flow of sheets are collated into individual stacks supported on a stack base with a surface interrupted by grooves and in which auxiliary stacks are borne by grid rods together forming a rack until their transfer to the stack base, the grid rods penetrating into the grooves during transfer. To prevent the stacks from being hampered by their weight, according to the invention a receiving plate catching the auxiliary stack from below is laid upon the grid rods in their reception position.
Claims12
Device for producing individual stacks of sheets from a continuous, downwardly directed stream of sheets formed of consecutively arriving, substantially horizontal sheets, comprising:
- a stack lifting device with a lifting platform and a stack base disposed on said lifting platform;
- an auxiliary carrying device with a plurality of mutually parallel grid rods together forming a rack, said rack being displaceable back and forth between a standby position outside a stream of sheets, and a receiving position inside the stream of sheets;
- and
- a stack support surface formed on said stack base, said stack-support surface having mutually parallel grooves formed therein for receiving said grid rods;
- wherein, when said rack is in the receiving position, said auxiliary carrying device temporarily carries an auxiliary stack formed of a partial quantity of sheets from the stream of sheets, and when said rack moves into the standby position, said rack transfers the auxiliary stack to said stack lifting device;
- and wherein further sheets from the stream of sheets build up the auxiliary stack, transferred to said stack lifting device, to form a stack of sheets;
- and
- a horizontally oriented receiving plate movable by said auxiliary carrying device between a position outside the stream of sheets into a receiving position inside the stream of sheets;
- said receiving plate being provided in addition to said stack base, the plate having a plane, a closed stack-support surface, and being movable independently of said stack base;
- and said rack carrying said receiving plate until the auxiliary stack is transferred to said stack lifting device.
A method of forming individual stacks of sheets in a sheet-processing machine, wherein the stacks of sheets are formed from a continuous, downwardly directed stream of substantially horizontal sheets consecutively arriving at a device for forming the stacks of sheets;
- the device comprising a stack lifting device with a lifting platform and a stack base disposed on the lifting platform;
- an auxiliary carrying device with a rack;
- the rack formed with a plurality of mutually parallel grid rods;
- and a stack support surface formed on the stack base, the stack support surface having mutually parallel grooves formed therein for receiving the grid rods of the rack;
- the method which comprises:
- displacing the rack between a standby position outside the stream of sheets and a receiving position inside the stream of sheets;
- and
- moving the rack into the receiving position and temporarily carrying, with the auxiliary carrying device, an auxiliary stack formed of a partial quantity of sheets from the stream of sheets;
- moving the rack into the standby position and transferring the auxiliary stack to the stack lifting device;
- and subsequently further building the auxiliary stack with further sheets arriving in the stream of sheets and forming a full stack of sheets;
- moving, with the auxiliary carrying device, a horizontally oriented receiving plate independently of the stack base between a position outside the stream of sheets into a position inside the stream of sheets;
- and carrying, with the rack, the receiving plate until the auxiliary stack is transferred to the stack lifting device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.