Rotary printing machine and printed web folding and handling system

Abstract

To ensure accurately aligned handling of a plurality of superposed webs (3, 4) forming a composite web, which is to be folded longitudinally twice, particularly to maintain alignment of the individual folded web portions for subsequent application of indices, month, or other date identification and the like, particularly for book and calendar printing, two longitudinally located folding triangle or formers (22, 40) are located, one immediately behind the other, in the path or stream of flow of the webs, in which the first one receives the webs, after lateral alignment and the like, from the printing machine, and the second one is rotated 90.degree. with respect to the incoming web to the first folding former, and applies a second fold. This ensures that the web is always processed in a linear path without twist or lateral offset, thus ensuring alignment of the individual elements of the composite folded web (8). Preferably, the first one, in the flow of the web, of the folding formers (9, 22) is height-adjustable to accommodate different formats of receiving paper and ensuring that the folded edge will always be in a predetermined plane, which will be the plane of arrival of the folded products to the second folding former (11, 40), and provide a reference edge for subsequent handling apparatus, such as perforators or punches (14), a cutter (16) and belt transport systems (17,19).