Prim Hall Enterprises, Inc.

Quipp Systems, Inc.

Other

David F Hall

John E Prim

Robert D Kinson

Cyrus Myers

John Prim

Thomas Venne

Jonh E Prim

Berend Doane

Harry E Mowry

Methods and systems employing belt conveyors adapted to feed signatures to a collating conveyor and a control system that regulates the operation of the belt conveyors are provided. The control system is adapted to regulate the speed of the belt conveyors in response to the speed of the collating conveyor, for example, proportional to the speed of the collating conveyor, to minimize or eliminate signature misfeeds. The control system may implement a mathematical algorithm that defines a relationship between the collating conveyor speed and the belt conveyor speeds. The systems and methods may include ancillary feeding devices such as joggers and speeder wheels to optimize the transfer of signatures.

Methods and systems for controlling the feeding of stacked sheet material

Systems, methods, and devices for preventing the misalignment of sheet material in hoppers adapted to feed sheet material to disk separators are disclosed. In one aspect, a floating backguide is provided. The floating backguide moves independently of the hopper with which the backguide is associated. The floating backguide may be pivotally mounted at a first end and free to deflect to a limited degree at a second end. In one aspect, the deflection of the second end is limited in the horizontal direction by two stationary bars and in the vertical direction by two stops. The vertical deflection of the second end of the backguide may also be limited by a resilient material, for example, a spring or an elastomer. A method for feeding sheet material to a disk separator using a floating backguide is also provided.

Systems, devices, and methods for feeding sheet material to a disk separator

A feeding and conveying system for feeding and conveying sheet material for printing, collating, or binding the sheet material, among other processes. The feeding and conveying system includes at least one feeder having a magazine containing a plurality of articles of sheet material, for example, signatures, a rotatable disk for separating the sheet material from the magazine, and a feed drum for transferring the sheet material from the magazine to a conveyor. The rotatable disk, having at least one separating blade, is reciprocally rotated to separate the sheet material from the magazine. The separation of the sheet material from the magazine may be aided by applying a source of vacuum to the sheet material, for example, by means of suckers. The feed drum may include one or more grasping devices for grasping and retaining the sheet material, for example, one or more grippers. The rotation of the separator disk may be controlled by a programmable controller. The feeding and conveying system provides for increased throughput while minimizing or eliminating misalignment of the sheet material during handling.

Apparatus and method for separating sheet material by means of a reciprocating disk separator

Apparatus and method for counting the number of inserts pulled each cycle from each hopper of an inserting machine. The caliper is a precision mechanism for accurately counting single, double, triple, quadruple and even quintuple fed inserts as well as misses. The caliper system compensates for a wide range of variables and countered in conventional newspaper inserting machines operating at 400 cycles per minute. The set-up of the caliper system is highly simplified due to the system software which, in addition to while proving a learn zero and learn insert mode, further recognizes operational variables which occur during operations such as fluctuation of paper basis weight and ink build up on the caliper wheel. The system provides self-checks to verify operational accuracy.

Precision calipering system

A signature feeder for delivering stacked signatures to a conveyer or gatherer includes a variable speed separator disk for separating signatures from the stacked signatures. The separator disk mechanically couples with a servomotor. The separator disk has a blade with a leading edge and a trailing edge. The servomotor accelerates the separator disk through the stacked signatures to separate signatures from the stacked signatures. After a signature separates from the stacked signatures, the servomotor slows the separator disk.

Signature feeder and method including a variable speed separator disk

A hopper loader having at least a horizontal infeed conveyor and one or a plurality of side guides each adjustable by a single operating handle to facilitate accurate horizontal product alignment over the entire length of the hopper loader. The single operating handle drives one or a plurality of linkage assemblies which operate in unison to move a guide plate slidably engaged by side edges of printed products as they move along the horizontal conveyor sections. In applications where the hopper loader incorporates conveyor sections having different angular orientations, rods and rod sections for each such conveyor section are coupled to one another by a universal joint to convey movement to each linkage under control of the single operating handle. A side guide arrangement is also provided for use with a hopper loader having an extension coupled thereto for conveying a larger quantity of signatures, the side guide assemblies of the hopper loader and the extension being operated simultaneously through the use of a single operating handle.

Hopper loader

For use with a hopper loader a quick-release feed rack having two swingable sections coupled through a center pivot enables removal of one section for quick and simple attachment to a loader.

A stack of signatures are dropped upon the platform halves of a rotatable platform, the platform halves being raised to reduce the free fall distance from the point where the stack of signatures are dropped and a lower stack ejection position. The platform halves are lowered as each stack of signatures is delivered thereto. Eventually, the platform is lowered to the stack ejection position and the pusher is pushed through a gap provided between the platform halves to eject a completed bundle from the platform. The pusher moves through the gap as the platform is being raised or lowered to significantly reduce the cycle time. Stack compressors are selectively movable to a position above the turntable and by selectively raising the platform halves, the accumulated stack of signatures on the platform halves are squeezed between the compression members and the platform halves to form a neat, compressed bundle. The turntable is rotatable through a half-revolution to form compensated stacks. The pusher may be returned to a start position while the platform halves are being raised without fear of collision due to the provision of the gap between the platform halves.

Method and apparatus for stacking, aligning and compressing signatures

Conveyors for selectively conveying product delivered thereto either along a pair of side-by-side delivery lanes or a single delivery lane adjacent the pair of side-by-side lanes, the conveyors conveying product to output devices, such as stackers. One of the conveyors being laterally movable between a position aligned to receive product from one of the pair of lanes to a position displaced therefrom and displaced from the other one of the conveyors. The other one of the conveyors having an upstream section swingable about a pivot point to respectively align the upstream end of the swingable section either with the remaining one of the side-by-side lanes or with the single lane. Releasable clamping assemblies are released to provide movement of the conveyors and are clamped to retain the conveyors in the desired position. A drive coupler between one of the conveyors and the other of the conveyors may be selectively operated to either couple or decouple drive from the first-mentioned conveyor. Conveying belts are provided which belts adequately negotiate the curvatures of the conveyor paths to assure proper conveyance of product as well as to negotiate the curved conveying path created when the swingable section is moved to the position for receiving product from the single conveyor lane.

Method and apparatus for quick change-over from either a dual delivery

A hopper loader interfaced with a variety of hoppers/feeders having a horizontal infeed conveyor with a hand-feed belt section near the input end movable between an operative position for hand-feed operation and a lowered position to facilitate automatic feeding. A positioning actuator is coupled between the hopper loader and the hopper to provide for automatic fine-tuning adjustment of the jogger position as well as for machine make-ready to accommodate changing product size. A single controller is provided for simultaneously positioning a plurality of loaders. The controller has adjustable stops for accommodating frequently used product formats. Automatic air delay shut-off saves energy by shutting off the air blast system a predetermiend delay after the loader is halted. further automatic means saves energy and prevents 'over jogging' and damage to the product by turning off the jogger a predetermined delay interval after the loader stops. One or a plurality of side guides adjustable by a single operating handle facilitate accurate and horizontal product alignment over the entire length of the loader. A feed rack having two swingable sections coupled through a center pivot enables removal of one section for attachment to a loader. The loader control panel is swingable mounted to a boom facilitating movement of the control panel to either side of a loader. A beaver-tail joggr has an easy-to-use manually operated fine-tuning adjustment assembly for facilitating rapid and precise adjustment thereof.

The system comprises at least one conveyor for carrying the bundles with equipment for checking bundle integrity and verifying correct addresses. Equipment can be included to remove unacceptable bundles and to divert each bundle to the predetermined conveyor and align the bundles properly. The bundles are rotated and held in position until a uniformed, and/or predetermined dimension log is achieved and then moved into position for strapping the log, identifying it and attaching the label. Conveyors are used to place each log in position to be palletized in conjunction with other logs. The logs can be rotated to create cross stacking of the logs and equipment can be used to raise or lower each layer of the logs. When the complete pallet is created an address and information label is prepared and attached. The method comprises the control of a number of pieces of equipment by means of a programmable system control designed to maintain the sequential integrity of the output, that is the preparation of bundles of variable height into logs of uniform width, height and predetermined length into palletized loads onto which the sequentially produced logs produce a pallet on which the sequence of the logs is maintained. Pallet content, configuration and sequence is captured as printed and electronic records are prepared for internal and external use and reprocessing.

Method of and system for creating a uniform log of strapped bundles

An overlapping signature stream is aligned, squeezed and formed into a stack which is dropped onto a rotatable platform of a lower bin. The platform is raised to reduce the distance between the lower bin and the platform. Pivotally mounted compression clips have compression arms which are pushed into the supports by the dropping stack. The platform lowers the stack beneath the clips enabling them to resume their normal horizontal orientation. The platform is raised to compress the stack between the platform and the clip arms. The platform is then lowered and rotated 180 degrees to receive the next stack and form a compensated bundle. The platform is split, providing a gap enabling passage of a pusher arm to eject a completed bundle. The pusher arm can move through the gap as the platform is raised to significantly reduce cycle time. The proximity sensors preposition the pusher from a position allowing unobstructed rotation to a position adjacent one side of a bundle while the turntable lowers further reducing cycle time. Upper compression clips are provided to compress a full bundle.

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Plattsburgh, NY, United States of America

David F Hall