Prim Hall Enterprises, Inc.

Robert D Kinson

David F Hall

John E Prim

Cyrus Myers

Harry E Mowry

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 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.

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Plattsburgh, NY, United States of America

Robert D Kinson