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US 6,945,924 B2Granted
Method for conveying folded sheet elements
AssigneeG.D Societa' Per Azioni
InventorsMarco Brizzi, Alberto Franchini, Fiorenzo Draghetti
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and device for conveying folded sheet elements, whereby a sheet element, folded to have at least two superimposed portions connected along a fold, is fed along a given path by a movable gripping head, which engages and retains by suction a first of the two portions of the sheet element, and simultaneously deforms the fold to retain the second portion in contact with the first as the sheet element is conveyed.
Claims11
A method of conveying sheet elements (2) folded to comprise at least two superimposed portions (5, 6, 9, 10) connected along a number of folds (7, 11, 12);
- the method comprising the steps of
- engaging the sheet element (2) by means of suction conveying means (19);
- moving the suction conveying means (19) along a given path for feeding the sheet elements (2) along the given path;
- initially bringing the sheet element (2) in contact with a curved suction surface (20) of the suction conveying means (19) for deforming the sheet element (2) so as to arrange the sheet element (2) in a curved configuration in which all the folds (7, 11, 12) of the sheet element (2) have substantially the same curvature;
- maintaining the sheet element (2) in the curved configuration by maintaining a first upper portion (5) of the sheet element (2) contacting the curved suction surface (20) of the suction conveying means (19);
- and
- feeding the sheet element (2) in the curved configuration along the given path when the sheet element (2) is supported only by the curved suction surface (20) of the suction conveying means (19).
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.