Signature pocket apparatus and method of make ready

A pocket feeder apparatus for feeding signatures from a hopper thereon to a saddle in a timed relationship to a traveling lug of a gathering conveyor of a binder apparatus;

• the pocket feeder apparatus comprising:
• a frame;
• a hopper on the frame for holding a stack of on-edge signatures and for delivering the signatures to a discharge end;
• a picket device for picking a lower edge of a signature at the discharge end and for removing the signature from the hopper;
• a gripper mechanism rotatably mounted in the frame and gripping the discharged signature from the picker and for depositing the signature on the saddle in an opened position with opposite sheets of the signature straddling the saddle;
• an adjustable means associated with the gripper mechanism to shift the timing of the gripper mechanisms release of the signature to the saddle and to the traveling lug of the gathering conveyor;
• and
• an indicia associated with the gripper mechanism to allow adjustment of the gripper mechanism to the same previously adjusted position with use of the adjustable means so that the timing of the drop may be made ready by use of historical indicia data used for the same size signature for a job that was previously run on the bindery apparatus.

A method of make-ready of a signature feeder apparatus to center and bow the signatures and to time their drop to a saddle and to a traveling lug of a gathering chain;

• said method comprising the steps of:
• providing size dimensions of the signature;
• shifting signature pocket machine guides in a signature hopper to positions associated with indicia related to the signature size dimensions for centering a signatures in the hopper and for making a bow in the on-end signatures in the hopper;
• providing indicia related to the rotatable positions of a rotatable gripper mechanism in the signature pocket machine for dropping signatures of different lengths;
• and
• adjusting the rotatable position of the gripper mechanism in the signature to an indicia previously used for signatures of the same length so as to time the drop of the signature feeding machine to the traveling lug.