The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 02, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 09, 1996
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, Heidelberger, DE;
Heidelberger Harris, Inc., Heidelberger, DE;
Abstract
A device for transporting flat products to further processing units is provided which includes a track 4 forming a continuous loop, a plurality of gripper elements 1 and a driving module 99. The gripper elements 1 are arranged on the track 4, and include a gripper 2 for seizing a flat product 11 from a first device and releasing the flat product to a second device 13. Each gripper element 1 moves independently from each other gripper element 1 along at least a portion of the track 4. Each gripper element is selectively engaged by the driving module 99 for movement along the track. The driving module 99 may include, for example, a drive unit 9 for driving the gripper elements in a side-by-side configuration without pitch; an extended pitch driving unit 7 for driving the gripper elements at a defined pitch; an acceleration unit 6 for accelerating the gripper elements to the defined pitch; and/or a diverting unit 32 for diverting selected gripper elements to an alternate track.