Eds Technologies, Inc.

Idab Incorporated

Leonard A Watts

Medardo Espinosa

William A Johnson

Jose A Andrade

Charles E Sawabini

A self-adaptive stacker comprising infeed and stacking sections whose movement is coordinate to provide interception of the signature stream. The infeed conveyor section 'Vees' the incoming signature stream through the use of rollers of different diameters mounted upon straight, spaced, parallel shafts.

Apparatus and method for forming signature into a V-configuration

An article wrapping device feeds an article to be wrapped on a conveyor in a generally horizontal direction. A sheet of wrapping material is fed upward from beneath the conveyor to intersect the path of the article. The sheet of wrapping material is maintained in a generally vertical orientation by a flow of forced air between the sheet of wrapping material and a generally vertical displaceable wall suspended alongside the path of the sheet of wrapping material. As the article intersects the sheet of wrapping material and the displaceable wall, the wall is displaced, and forces a leading edge of the sheet of wrapping material over a top side of the article.

Method and apparatus for wrapping an article

A method and apparatus for separating a stream of signatures into discrete batches includes an infeed conveyor transporting signatures at a constant velocity V.sub.1, an outfeed conveyor transporting signatures at a higher constant velocity V.sub.2, and a plurality of parallel endless belts disposed between the infeed and outfeed conveyors. The plurality of parallel belts each include a raised portion for engaging and transporting signatures. Each belt is independently driven, and the belts are positioned with the raised portions staggered to engage successive portions of the incoming stream of signature. Each belt is driven alternatively at speeds V.sub.1 and V.sub.2, first matching the infeed velocity and then matching the outfeed velocity. As each successive raised portion fully engages a portion of signatures, it is accelerated to V.sub.2, thus introducing a gap between that portion of signatures and the remainder of the stream, which is engaged by the raised portion of the succeeding belt traveling at V.sub.1, thus creating a discrete batch. This process continues, repeatedly and successively with each of the belts, thus continuously creating a stream of discrete batches of lapped signatures, each batch being substantially the same length.

Apparatus and method for separating a stream of lapped signatures into

A signature stacker has an infeed conveyor for conveying signatures in a stream to a reciprocating stacking blade, and a rotary intercept blade driven by a servomotor. The intercept blade intercepts a stream of signatures being delivered to a reciprocating stacking blade to facilitate forming the stream into batches and forming the batches into compensated bundles.

Rotary intercept stacking apparatus and method

Articles, moving along a delivery path, are counted by directing a stream of pressurized air toward one major surface of the passing articles, the direction of the air stream being transverse to the direction of travel. Sensors arranged about the air stream detect the acoustic signal which varies with changes in the profile of the passing articles, exemplified by signatures. The detected acoustic signal is divided into a plurality of frequency ranges which, in one preferred emboidment, are averaged to reduce the effect of noise which may be present in only limited ones of the frequency bands. The averaged signals are then compared against thresholds to determine the instantaneous state of the articles, exemplified by a signature stream, to generate count signals.

Method and apparatus for detecting and counting articles

A self-adaptive stacker comprising infeed and stacking sections whose movement is coordinated to provide interception of the signature stream. A microprocessor utilizes a signal, representative of the infeed conveyor speed, together with a signal from a signature counter, to track the movement of each signature and thereby its arrival at the intercept position. Low armature inertia motors drive the three axes, (stacking section, the turntable, and the ejectors) to provide rapid starting, acceleration, deceleration, and stopping at selected positions. These motors are controlled to interact in real-time in order to adapt the three axes to the rate of the incoming signatures. The movement of the signature carriers is altered, when necessary, due to speed changes of the signature stream. A sensor located at the intercept ready position detects the passage of a signature carrier to initiate acceleration of the signature carrier by an amount which is a function principally of signature thickness, velocity, and separation distance to control the amount of acceleration required to move the carrier beneath the first signature of the next stack to be formed. A turntable section forms compensated bundles by rotating a platform. A pusher assembly is mounted beneath the rotatable turntable platform and includes pusher bars arranged by linkage members to move precisely along the path of the drive chain to enhance monitoring, control and movement of the push rods. A sensor senses the passage of a push rod to detect the initial movement and subsequent thereto the arrival of a push rod to the home position.

Stacking method and apparatus

A self-adaptive stacker comprising infeed and stacking sections whose movement is coordinated to provide interception of the signature stream. The infeed conveyor section 'Vees' the incoming signature stream through the use of rollers of different diameters mounted upon straight, spaced, parallel shafts.

Growing community of inventors

North Miami Beach, FL, United States of America

Leonard A Watts