Apparatus for placing folded signatures on a transport device

Abstract

Signatures (,) are individually gripped from a stack (,) by a rotatable extracting cylinder (A) and transferred to a first rotating opening cylinder (B) and a second rotating opening cylinder (C) which open the gripped signatures (,) at the edges (,) opposite from the fold (,) and drop the signatures onto the transport device (,). To open and transport the signatures (,) onward, the signatures (,) are gripped at their respective protruding edge (,) by a clamping device (,) disposed on the first opening cylinder (B). Projections are provided which catch behind the above-referenced edges (,) in the extracting cylinder (A) and transfer the edges to the clamping device (,). These projections include a guide arm (,) which is movably supported on the first opening cylinder (B) and moves in response to a rotation of the first opening cylinder (B) from a retracted position into a position projecting over the circumference (,) of the first opening cylinder (B). This arrangement restrictedly guides the signatures and reliably transfers the signatures to the opening drum (B, C) even at high velocities.