Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
l~S'~',830
¦ BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
; The background of the present invention is generally the
same as that desc~ibed in the above-identified copending appli-
cation and pertains to the continuous cutting of lar~e rolls of
paper to form sheets of predetermined size which are piled into
large piles suitable for direct use by the printing industry.
!O In the foregoing application improved jogger method and
apparatus is disclosed and claimed which permits piles to be nade
which are of uniformly high quality as respects stacking and
edge alignment such that they can be directly sold and used by the
. printing industry without being repiled. The expense and labor
S saved by achieving a finished product of cut sheets which is
directly saleable is substantial and, of course, the
advantages thereof are self-evident.
Since the size of the sheet which the customer desires
is dictated by his own needs, a sheeting operation may not be
O as efficient or economical as desired where smaller size sheets
are desired to be obtained from relatively wide rolls of paper.
Of course, in the sheeting operation the length of the sheet
in the direction of travel thereof through the sheeter can
be controlled within wide limits by the rotational speed of the ,
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105'~830
ransverse blade ~Kich separates the continuous web of paper
¦unwound from the supply roll into the desired length sheets each
¦time it contacts the bed knife with the paper web therebetween.
¦The maximum tonage through-put through the machine of course,
¦occurs when maximum linear speed is run with maximum width rolls
¦(sometimes with two or more thicknesses of sheets cut at the same
¦time by feeding multilayer webs from plural supply rolls) and the
¦use of wide supply rolls is not consistent with cutting sheets
¦of width smaller than the width of the supply roll. Thus as the
web travels through the machine it can be edge trimmed to the
desired width but if smaller sheets are desired the width of the
web is subdivided by slitting the web longitudinally as it passes
through the machine to produce two or more sheets which pass edge-
to-edge beyond the bed knife through the machine to be delivered
to the layboy. Where two or more such sheets are delivered to a
¦layboy simultaneously it has heretofore been difficult if not
¦impossible to obtain quality piling such that the plural stacks
¦of edge adjacent sheets which arepiled in the layboy by slitting
¦the on-coming web one or more times cannot be directly sold but
¦must be repiled or trimmed before being delivered to the printing
¦industry.
l~S~830
According to the present invention there is pro-
vided a center piler guide for use in guidiny adjacent edges
of piles of sheets formed by side-by-side delivery of edge
adjacent sheets to the tops of the piles, the apparatus
including thin elongated separator means supported between
the adjacent inner edges of the delivered sheets at the
tops of the piles, the separator means providing substantial
opposed contact areas for opposed edges of adjacent sheets
and extending along the inner edges of the piles, and
means for moving the separator means continuously in the direc-
tion of travel of sheets as they are delivered to the piles,
The present invention also resides in the method
of forming a plurality of adjacent even-edged piles of
flexible sheets simultaneously delivered in a generally hori-
zontal direction to the top surface of the piles. The method
includes the steps of delivering sheets the size of the piles
in side-by-side adjacency to the tops of the piles and con-
fining the outside lateral edges of sheets delivered to the
piles by contact with active surface area constraints spaced
nominally the sum of the widths of the sheets. The method
furthur includes the steps of moving the active surface area
constraints continuously in the direction of travel of the
delivered sheets while providing incremental oscillatory
variation of the spacing between the surface area constraints
on the outside opposite lateral edges by reciprocating the
active surface areas substantially normal to the direction
of t~avel to make contact with the lateral eages along ex-
tended portions thereof during each reciprocation. The inside
adjacent edges of sheets delievered to the piles are confined
with a thin surface area constraint positioned between the
acljacent edges, and the thin surface area constraint is moved
continuously in the direction of tra~Jel of the sheets as they
..,
ar~ deli~ered.
~5~830
The present invention therefore provides method
and apparatus whereby plural simultaneously formed edge
adjacent piles in a layboy can be piled uniformly and with
the requisite edge alignment such that the piles can be sold
directly without edge trimming or repiling to achieve the
desired quality pile. According to a specific embodiment,
the present invention may utilize edge-jogging mechanisms
in the layboy preerably of the type disclosed and claimed
in applicant's U.S. Patent No. 3,923,299, issued December 2,
1975, and between the adjacent edges of the plural simult-
aneously delivered sheets introduces a moving guide member
which achieves edge alignment in combination with the out-
board jogger mechanism such that all piles formed (two or
more) are finished with the requisite precision edge alignment.
This is achieved without introducing any re~uirements for
deflecting the paper or otherwise slowing its arrival speed
and thus reducing linear speed throughput through the machine
and at the same time provides a moving active surace for the
jogging reaction on the inner edges such that the edge of
the sheets are not defaced or deformea in a manner which would
make them unacceptable for quality printing. For this purpose
a set o moving overlapping thin leaf members is projected
down between the adjacent edges of the piles o paper as
they are ormed to move with the arriving sheet with entry
and exit of the overlapping leaves arranged by vi~tue of the
nested structure thereof and their path of travel into a
position between the forming piles of sheets such that edge
damage to the sheets is substantially completely absent.
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!~ 105'~31)
BRIEF D~SCRIPTION OF THE DRAWI~IGS
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the layboy end of a sheeter
piler system with the invention shown for forming two piles of
sheets.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the center guide mechanism
with a support plate removed to show details of construction.
Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2
with lines 2-2 in Fig. 3 generally indicating the view shown in
Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is an exploded view of one bifurcated plate and its
arrangement for mounting on the drive chain.
Fig. 5 is an end view of a three pile layboy.
DtSCRIPTION O~ Tlll~ PREFERRED E~IBODIMENT
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the delivery end of a
high-speed sheeter in which a tape bed 11 transports cut sheets
at high speed in the direction of the arrow for delivery to a lay-
boy assembly 12. The sheets are derived in well known manner
by unwinding a continuous web of paper one or more thicknesses of
which continually pass over a bed knife 13 to be transversely cut
by a rotating blade 14. The rate of rotation of the blade 14
and the linear speed of the paper past the bed knife 13
determine the cut length of the sheets delivered to the tape
delivery 11. In accordance with well known practice edge
trimming of the sheets can be performed and in relation to
the present invention the transverse width of the sheets is
subdivided by continuously slitting the sheets in the longitudi~
--~; ¦~ tion by rotatiDg sllttl~g wheel 15. One ~r more
¦ r ~ I
. 1
~os'~830
such wheels can be positioned anywhere across the transverse width
of the oncoming web to produce any desired number of subdivisions
in the width of the web and a corresponding number of separate
; sheets delivered to the piles in the layboy, as is well known in
S the art.
Fig. 1 shows a layboy arrangement having the conventional
support platform 16 and a delivery roll 17 which projects the
sheets delivered on the tapes at high speed into the layboy above
.~ the tops of the paper piles formed t-herein by a succession of
such sheets previously delivered. An end stop 18 is ordinarily
present and the support platform 16 is generally on an elevator
automatically controlled such thàt the top of the forming pile is
just below the level of delivery of sheets from delivery roll 17,
all as is well known in the art.- Also shown in Fig. 1 are im-
proved active surface jogger mechanisms 19 which are of the type
disclosed and claimed in applicants' referenced copending applica-
tion. The jogger mechanisms 19 provide an endless belt moving
in the direction of travel of sheets arriving in the layboy and
a transverse component of the moving belts applies transverse
jogging forces to the outside edges of the paper being piled in
the layboy. In the showingin Fig. 1, since the slitter 15 has
subdivided the web into two equal width streams of oncoming sheets
the layboy contains two edge adjacent piles 21 and 22 of stacked
sheets. The surface of the stacks 21 and 22 normally is j~L~K~
~fft~r- the leading edge of the overlapped arriving sheets. The
. inertial,windage and frictional forces are such as to prevent
delivery uniformly to the backstop 18 and such delivery may be
aided by paddling into back edge alignment by a paddler, not
shown.
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105Z830
In accordance with the present invention the plural piles 21
and 22 are formed with improved edge alignment with the introduc-
tion of a center guide assembly generally indicated at 23, The
center guide assembly 23 is supported for transverse sliding move-
ment on a pair of transverse support rods 24 and receives drive
power by being engaged with a transverse drive rod 25 which passes
through a support end 27 of the assembly. An electric motor and
transmission assembly 28 is coupled to rotatably drive shaft 25 at
a selected speed within a range of speeds of rotation. Knurled
knob shouldered screws 30 and a pin 29 removably mount the driven
assembly on the support end 27 as hereinafter described.
The assembly 23 is supported on the transverse guide rods 24
to project downstream therefrom as indicated aligned generally wit~
the point of edge adjacency between the paper piles 21 and 22,
Extending from the assembly 23 and projecting down between the
upper portions of the piles 21 and 22 are a series of overlapping
leaves 26 which move in the direction of sheet travel as the
sheets arrive to be piledon the piles 21 and 22.
Referring now to Fig. 2 further details of the center guide
assembly will be described. The mechanism shown in Fig, 2 will be
recognized as in part bearing a close resemblance to a power drive
chain saw. Thus a chain guide bar 31 in the form of a flat plate ¦
¦ having a predetermined peripheral outline for the desired path of
~ travel of a chain 32 supports at opposite ends thereof an idler
25-- pulley 33 and a drive sprocket 34. The guide bar ~2~has a
peripheral groove 43,(shown in Fig~ 3),therein in which move drive
links 35 which project inwardly from each chain link. These same
drive links are e"gaged by the sprocket teeth of drive sprocket 34
which when driven imparts peripheral motion to the chain 32
~ around the periphery of the chain bar 31. In this regard, the
il -7-
~ ~OSZ830
¦ mechanism will be recognized as similar to a power-driven chain
¦ saw as previously mentioned.
For the present invention the chain bar 31 which is in the
¦ form of a rigid flat plate having the features hereinbeforè
I described preferably has the outline such that the chain traverses
¦ a continuouspath correspondin~/to theYperiphery of a triangle
¦ having a relatively large obtuse angle in the region 36. Adja-
¦ cent links of the chain 32 support outwardly projecting leaves
: ¦ 26 which are divided into two portions. A relatively narrow
¦ portion 26' projects from the attachment to the pivot pins of
¦ the corresponding link of the chain from which it projects and
in the trailing ~irection relative to the motion of the chain
~ the leaves 26 expand and become bifurcated at a portion 26" such
¦ that adjacentleaves 26 can form a fully nesting position between
¦ the portions 26' of one leaf and the portion 26" of an adjacent
¦ leaf in the regions where the chain is moving on a straight line
¦ path. As indicated in Fig. 2 the proportions of the leaf portions
¦ 26' and 26`' and the path around chain bar 31 are such that
¦ a partial overlap is maintained between adjacent leaves 26 even
¦ when the chain i8 passing over a curved portion of its path.
Thus misalignment as the leaves move into nested engagement is
avoided. It will also be noted from Fig. 2 that the obtuse angle
36 permits a gradual entry of the nested leaves 26 into a
position between the on-coming sheets which arrive from delivery
roll 17 at a level somewhat above the top of the pile indicated
at 37 in Fig. 2. The projecting length of the leaves 26 is
long enough and the mechanism is positioned such that the leaves
project a considerable distance below the level 37 at which the
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1~)5'~830
pile is maintained by automatic elevator control as the pile
builds. The vertical height of the leaves 26 at the pile and
the downwardly progressing run as t'ne leaves enter the position
between adjacent piles is such that a control surface is presen-
ted to the adjacent edges of on-coming sheets during their time
of arrival and throughout the pcriod when the outer edge
jogging forces are effective to correct edge alignment as the
sheet desccnds from the top of the pile down into the completed
portion of tl~e pile which is stabilized by the weight of the
over-burdened sheets.
Referring to Fig. 3, further details of the mechanism
will be described. In ~'ig. 3 the chain and projecting leaves
26 are not shown. To drive the chain and leaf assembly the
drive sprocket 34 is mounted for rotation on a shaft to rotate
with a driven sprocket 42' driven by means of a drive chain
~1 and a driven sproc~et 42. The sprocXet 42 rotates on
a shaEt with drive gear ~0 which engages a driving gear 46
mounted on transverse drive shaft 25 which passes therethrough.
The driving gear 46 is slidable along drive shaft 25 and thus
irrespective of the transverse position of the assembly on
tlle drive shaft 25 the sprociiet 34 and thus the chain 32 can
be driven at the desired speed of rotation determined by the
speed of driv~ shaft 25.
The chain bar 31 is shown in Fig. 3 with peripheral
groove 43 which serves as a guide for the chain. Drive
sproc~et 34 is rotatably mounted bct~een fram2 plates 44, 45,
wi~ich project out to be bolted through a region of chain bar
31 which is beyond the depth of the guide groove 43 and thus
supports the chain bar 31 without interferring with the travel
o the chain or the projecting ovcrlapping leaves. Simllarly,
illtcrferellce ~Jith the travel of the leaves between plates 4~ and
'r~ ~
. "
1~2830
45 is avoided by spacing timing sprocket 42 such that its peri-
phery is far enough from the drive sprocket 34 to permit passage
of the projecting leaves through the space between plates 44 and
45. By analogy to the chain saw structure, any suitable arrange-
ments for movably adjusting the position of chain bar 31 relative
to sprocket wheel 34 to permit the chain to be placed thereon
can be provided as, for example, by slotted holes 39 for the bolt
connections between the support plates 44, 45 and the chain bar
31. Any such well known arrangement for mounting and demounting
the chain and tensioning the chain for proper operation can be
employed and such arrangements are well known in the art.
Referring to Figs. l and 2 the removable mounting of the
center guide assembly portion shown in Fig. 2 in the center guide
assembly 23 of Fig. l will be described. The support end 27 is
sl~de~b~ .
slid~bl~,~ on support rods 24 and rotatably supports drive gear 46
which is slidable on and driven by drive shaft 25. Frame plates
44, 45 have aligned holes 47 positioned to be aligned with holes
in support end 27 and receive pin 29 therein when the gears 40, 46
are engaged. For further support of the assembly of Fig. 2 the
support end 27 has on each side upwardly open slots 48. A yoke
49 bridges the frame plates 44, 45 and is slotted at 50 to permit
passage of the leaves 26. Threaded into the sides of yoke 49 are
the shouldered screws 30 which pass through the slots on either
side of support end 27. By loosening the knurled screws 30 and
removing the pin 29 the portion of the assembly shown in Fig. 2
can be readily removed from support end 27 with gears 40, 46 dis-
enyaging as the unit is removed. Conversely, placing the unit in
position such that pin 2~ can be inserted by aligning holes in
support end 27 and holes 47 in plates 44, 45 permits gears 40, 46
to be engaged and the position is secured by tightening knurled
knobs 30.
105~830
¦ Referring now to Fig. 4 an exploded view of the chain and
leaf assembly is shown. The chain comprises a set of outside
tie straps 51 and 52 in the form of individual links. The links
51 have projecting therefrom pivot pins 53 which project through
corresponding holes in the links 52 and are secured by C rings
or the like. Bridging adjacent tie straps 51 and 52 on each side
are drive links 35 previously described with projections which
are engaged by the teeth of sprocket gear 34. Between the drive
links 35 leaves 26 are positioned and as shown the leaves 26
comprise right hand and left hand members bent to project in
opposite directions to form the bifurcated spaced portions 26".
¦ The portions 26' when assembled are in face adjacency such that
¦ the spacing between the bifurcated portions 26" is the sum of the
¦ right and left hand offset shown in Fig. 4. The portions 26' are
¦ drilled or stamped to receive the pins 53 and be supported thereb~
¦ when the chain with projecting leaves is assembled. The ma1erial
of the leaves 26 is preferably fabricated from a spring steel
such as AISI 1075 through 1095 of thickness approximately 0.022
inches. In the device shown the leaves are approximately three
inches wide and five and one-quarter inches long and the offset is
positioned approximately midway so that the portions 26' and 26"
are approximately of equal size. The end of the leaves remote
from the chain support may be arcuate in shape to accommodate the !
¦ passage of the leaves around the circular portions of the path
¦ which they travel,
I
: l!
5'~830
Fig. 5 is an end view of a layboy in which three piles of
¦paper are being formed simultaneously. The three piles 61, 62 and¦
163 a~remaintained in alignment utilizing outboard jogger mechanisms
¦19 as hereinbefore described with the edge adjacent surfaces and
¦sheets of the piles separated by respective center guide mechan- ¦
¦isms 64 and 65. Each of the center guides 64 and 65 is a mechanisr
¦of the type shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3 as herein described.
¦Other arrangements of plural piles formed simultaneously are
¦possible using the present invention since the center guides such
¦as 23 can be positioned asymmetrically with respect to the width
¦of the pile in forming two piles of unequal width sheets and as
¦shown in Fig. 5 more than two piles can be formed. It is also
¦possible in the Flg. 5 arrangement to position the center guides
64 and 65 SUC}l that unequal width piles are formed.
¦ The operation of the invention is considered to be self-
evident from the foregoing description thereof and various
modifications will occur to those skilled in the art and such
modifications are considered to be within the scope of the
nvention as de f ir~ed in the appende d c la ims .
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