Precision Industries, Inc.

Feco Engineered Systems, Inc.

William G Verwey

Stephen Stanton

John C Hovekamp

Disclosed is an overvarnish unit for applying varnish to a web of printed material as a protective overlay. The overvarnish unit includes a varnish fountain for receiving paste varnish, a form roller, and a plurality of rollers intermediate the fountain and form roller. The form roller engages an impression cylinder roller forming part of a printing assembly. The varnish is transferred from the fountain to the form roller by the intermediate rollers which also mill the varnish as it is being transferred to reduce its viscosity. The form roller is driven at a peripheral speed greater than the linear speed of the web over the impression cylinder roller. This form roller overspeed provides a smearing action in applying the varnish to the web rather than a one to one or line by line printing action thus achieving control over the thickness of the applied varnish and the appearance of the final product.

Overvarnish unit

Apparatus is provided for arranging a row of bundles, preferably tied or untied bundles of folded or unfolded corrugated boxes or blanks, into stacks which include a plurality of layers of one or more bundles. The apparatus includes a feeding conveyor for feeding a row of bundles to a loading conveyor. A worker is stationed at the loading conveyor and functions to arrange the bundles into a layer on the loading conveyor. The loading conveyor then operates to transfer the layer of bundles to a transfer station on a vertical conveyor. Alternatively, the worker can arrange the bundles directly at the transfer station. The vertical conveyor includes a plurality of carrier plates which each operate to lift a layer of bundles from the transfer station and transfer it to a delivery station on the other side of the vertical conveyor. Each carrier plate includes a plurality of pushers so that the next carrier plate operates to push the layer of bundles from the delivery station onto a stripping conveyor which pushes the layer against a striker plate located above a downstacker. A stripping conveyor surrounds the downstacker and includes at least one opening therein through which the layer of bundles is deposited onto a movable platform of the downstacker or is deposited onto a layer of bundles which was previously deposited on the movable platform. The platform is incrementally actuated downwardly each time another layer of bundles is deposited thereon to form a stack of the desired height. The movable platform is then actuated downwardly to its discharge position, and the formed stack is then discharged from the downstacker, and straps are applied thereto. Actuating means are also provided for supplying control signals to the loading conveyor and the vertical conveyor to stop their operation while the platform is being lowered toward its discharge position and being returned to its uppermost position to receive the next layer of bundles.

Palletizer

An apparatus is provided for organizing and arranging bundles, preferably bundles of folded or unfolded corrugated boxes or blanks, into stacks which include a plurality of layers. The apparatus includes a vertical conveyor for supplying bundles to a loading station, at which one or more operators or mechanical arms are located, which function to remove the bundles for the loading station and to position them in a desired pattern on a horizontally movable support to form a layer. After a complete layer is formed, the support is removed from beneath the layer so that the layer of bundles is deposited on a stack-forming device which includes a vertically movable platform which is incrementally actuated downwardly each time another layer is deposited thereon to form the stack. The formed stack is then discharged from the stack-forming device and straps are applied thereto. Actuating means are provided for removing the support from beneath each formed layer and for lowering the stack-forming device after the stack is formed. The output of the actuating means is supplied to a programmer which in turn regulates the speed of the vertical conveyor to control the rate of supply of bundles to the loading station so that it is synchronized with the rate at which bundles are arranged into layers to form stacks to thereby avoid jam-ups or slow-downs in the system.

Apparatus for organizing and arranging bundles into stacks

A work element, such as a wire stitching head, is provided which is adapted to be manually advanced and positioned along a support rail. The work element is carried by a carriage adapted to be movably mounted on a support rail, said carriage including bearing means, such as roller means, operably connected thereto and adjustable between engaging and retracted positions and adapted to contact the support rail and facilitate movement of the carriage along the support rail when the bearing means is in its engaging position. Each carriage also includes selectively positionable securing means, such as clamping members, for preventing the advance of the carriage along the support rail when the bearing means is in its retracted position, which means are adjustably connected to the carriage and adapted to engage the support rail.

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Phoenix, MD, United States of America

William G Verwey