Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
i
r_j ;'~'~.l J;~'' ~%~=~'~-ACA 02293283 19.99-12-07 . ,
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A :OD AND A DEVICE FOR AFFIXING SUPPLEMENTS TO MOVING
OBJECTS
The invention relates to a method for affixincr
supplements to moving objects, wherein a stack of
supplements is placed in a holder, after w=ich
supplements are taken from said stack one at a time and
adhered to a passing object by means of an adhesive.
The supplements can be adhered to any object provided
that such object has an appropriate surface for
receiving the supplement. The objects can be packages or
containers of a product, which packages or containers
are moved by a conveyor for example. In particular the
objects can be news papers or quires. When hereinafter
quires are mer_tioned, any other object is also be meant.
The term cruises should be given a wide interpretation.
It includes magazines as well as parts of magazines and
brochures and any other sheet of paper or other material
that is subjected to a processing step wherein a number
of copies are moved in a continuous row.
It is !~-~own to add supplements to magazines and similar
printed matter, for example far advertising a product
mentioned on the supplement or appended to the
supplement. In this manner it is possible to distr_bute
for example sample bags of a shampoo or other products
among the potential buyers of said product by means of
the magazine. Furthermore it is for example possible to
affix reply cards to a magazine in this manner, which
reply cards can be dispatched by post by the reader of
the magazine.
CH-A-684589 discloses a method, and device, for affixing
supplements to a page of a cruise by means of an adhesive
during transportation of the quires. The supplements are
thereby stacked in a holder anti removed
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from the holder one at a time, followed by the
application of glue, after which the supplement is
affixed to the page in question. A method of this kind
is usually carried out at a very high speed, so that it
is important that the affixation of the supplement takes
place faultlessly, without any malfunctions. A brief
malfunction may have major consequences with regard to
the progress of the process of putting together
magazines, for example.
In particular in the production of magazines having a
high topical value, wherein any risk of malfunction must
be excluded because of the required speed at which the
binding process must be carried out, it is often decided
to refrain from adding supplements because of the
increased risk of disruption of the production process.
The object of the invention is to provide a method for
affixing supplements to objects such as pages of quires,
wherein the supplements can be placed in the holder in a
form which enables easy handling, and wherein the
supplements can be affixed to the respective objects at
a very high speed and in a very reliable manner.
In order to accomplish that objective a film of
adhesive, which is capable of rebonding, is according to
the invention applied to at least part of one side of
each supplement. Then the supplements can be separated
from the stack one at a time by engaging a respective
supplement at a place where no adhesive is present,
after which the supplement is separated from the
supplement being in contact therewith in the stack by
moving the contacting surfaces of the supplements apart
in a direction substantially perpendicularly to said
surfaces, i.e. without shifting the supplements over
each other. A coherent stack of supplements which is
easy to handle and wherein the supplements are correctly
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positioned with respect to each other whilst maintaining
said position can be obtained by applying an adhesive to
the supplements before composing a stack of supplements.
Thus the supplements are prevented from shifting with
respect to each other upon or after being placed in the
holder.
Since the presence of a facility for applying glue is
not required when the supplements are being affixed, it
will suffice to use a simpler device to carry out said
affixing, as a result of which the device is less liable
to malfunction, whilst moreover the speed at which the
supplements are affixed no longer depends on the speed
at which glue can be applied to the supplement and/or on
the drying time of the glue.
By carrying out the method with an adhesive which is
capable of rebonding, that is, an adhesive which can be
used several times whilst retaining its bonding action,
it becomes possible not only to bond the supplements
together and separate them from each other again, but
also to remove the supplement easily from the page of
the quire without damaging said page.
Another advantage of the use of an adhesive which is
capable of rebonding is the fact that the supplement can
subsequently be adhered to another object.
An adhesive of this type, which can be inseparably
applied to a surface in a thin layer, possibly with the
interposition of a coating, and which can be adhered to
a surface, such as paper, in such a manner as to be
capable of rebonding, that is, be used several times
whilst retaining its bonding action, is known per se. An
example is described in EP-A-0 27& 557, and in the
publications referred to therein.
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Preferably the surfaces of the supplements being in
contact with each other are moved apart by blowing air
between the supplements to be separated, in the
direction of the adhesive present between said
supplements. In practice this has appeared to be an
effective way of separating the respective supplements
from each other, whereby the surfaces of the supplements
are moved apart in a direction substantially
perpendicularly to said surfaces, which is necessary for
separating the supplements from each other without
causing damage thereto and undoing the rebonding action.
A plate-shaped separating element, which is moved
between the supplements, may be used for separating the
supplements from each other, possibly in combination
with the aforesaid blowing of air between the pages.
In one preferred embodiment a supplement is separated
from a stack by pulling a part of said supplement away
from the stack by means of a suction nozzle, after which
said part is bent over and the bent-over part is
subsequently engaged and moved in a direction away from
the stack. The use of a suction nozzle makes it possible
to draw the supplement against a surface in a reliable
manner.
The suction nozzle may thereby be provided on a
separating element, which rotates about an axis which
extends substantially parallel to the supplements in the
stack, which suction nozzle is provided on a sloping
surface of said separating element, which surface
extends obliquely relative to the plane in which the
separating element rotates, whereby said part of the
supplement is pulled away from the stack as a result of
said sloping surface moving along the surface of said
supplement, whereby the supplement is sucked against
said sloping surface. In this manner space is created,
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so ths.~ subsecuently a substantially flat part lyi.-.g i.n
the plane in which the separating element =states is
slid b'tween the aforesaid part of the sup=_ement and
the rest of t:_~ stack, after which a guide portion of
5 said rotating separating element bends over said part of
the supplement in such a manner that the edge of the
supple~~ent to be er_gaged is directed away ==om the
stack. Then said edge can be readily engaged so as to
carry off the supplement to the page of a c-sire that
passes at that moment.
In another embodiment the suction nozzle is provided on
the cylindrical surface of a rotating roller which rolls
aver the supplement of the stack that is tc be
separated, so that said part of the supplement is sucked
against said cylindrical surface and is bent to cor_rorm
with said surface. A second roller may thereby rotate
against the former roller, so that the supplement is
engaged and carried off as a result of the pinching
action between the two ropers.
In one preferred embodiment the supplement consists of a
contai=er ccntaining a liauid, such as a s~:ampoo or
other detergent to be removed from said ccraainer. The
container may also contain other products, .or example
one or more samples of an object. Since the supplements
present in the stack are provided with an adhesive, the
contours of the supplements may differ from those of the
holder, which is usually rectangular.
In anctzer preferred embodiment of the invention the
supplement cor_sists of a sheet of paper with for example
an advertising text or other message present thereon.
An example of this is a supplement with a pre-printed
telephcne number, which car_ be detached frcm a magazine
and which can subsequently be affixed to a telephone
set.
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It is preferred to use an adhesive which bonds more
strongly to the supplement, or to a coating provided on
the supplement under said adhesive, than to the material
of the quire, so that the page of the quire will remain
undamaged, free from adhesive, after the supplement has
been removed from said page.
The invention furthermore relates to a device for
affixing supplements to pages of quires comprising a
holder, in which a stack of supplements can be placed,
and means for separating supplements from the stack one
at a time and affixing them to a page of a passing quire
by means of an adhesive, wherein said means are designed
such that a respective supplement is separated from the
supplement being in contact therewith in the stack by
moving the contacting surfaces of the supplements apart
in a direction substantially perpendicularly to said
surfaces.
Preferably said means are provided with a blow nozzle
for blowing air between surfaces of the supplements that
are in contact with each other, in the direction of the
adhesive present between said supplements. Said means
may furthermore be provided with a plate-shaped
separating element, which is capable of movement between
the contacting surfaces of the supplements.
Further features of the invention, which may be used
both separately and in combination with each other, will
be described hereafter with reference to the embodiment
and be defined in the claims.
In order to explain the invention two embodiments of a
device for affixing supplements will be described
hereafter with reference to the drawing.
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The Figures ar' merely schematic illustrations and only
serve to explain the invention.
Figures 1 and 2 show an embodiment provided with a blow
nozzle;
Figures 3 and 4 show an embodiment provided with a
plate-shaped separating element;
Figure S is a perspective view of a rotatable separating
IO element;
Figures 6 and 7 are sectional views along lines VI-VI
and VII-VII respectively in Figure 5;
Figure 8 shows another device provided with a rotatable
cylindrical roller; and
Figures 9-11 show the operation of the device according
to Figure 8.
The Figures are merely diagrammatic representations,
which are only shown by way of illustration and wherein
like parts are numbered alike.
The device comprises a holder 1 containing a number of
supplements 2. Supplements 2 form a stack and are all
provided with a film of glue 3 covering part of the
surface area on one side, which film of glue is
illustrated in thin lines in the Figures.
Film of glue 3 is composed to bond inseparably to a
supplement on one side, with the interposition of a
coating, for example, and to be affixed on the other
side to the surface of an adjacent supplement, in such a
manner that rebonding is possible. Said film of glue 3
is present on the upwardly facing side of supplements 2.
An opening a is present near the bottom side of holder
1., through which opening the lowermost supplement of the
stack of supplements 2 can be engaged.
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Said engaging of the lowermost supplement 2 takes place
by means of clamping elements 5, which are mounted on a
rotatable disc 6. Disc 6 rotates in the plane of the
drawing, about axis 7.
Each disc 6 is provided with two clamping elements 5.
Each clamping element 5 is capable of rotation about an
axis 8 with respect to disc 6, between a position in
which a supplement is engaged and a position in which
said supplement is released. Figures 1 and 3 show the
upper clamping element 5 in the engaging position, in
which a supplement 10 is engaged, said supplement
extending along the surface of a rotatable disc. While
clamping element 5 passes opening 4, clamping 5 is
pivoted about axis 8 from its releasing position into
its engaging position, so that the edge of the lowermost
supplement from the stack of supplements can be engaged.
Disc 6 then rotates in the direction of arrow 11 and the
supplement 10 being engaged is pulled from holder 1 and
transferred to a passing quire 12, which is being moved
in the direction of arrow 14 by means of a conveyor belt
13. Clamping elements 5 and rotatable disc 6 may be
driven hydraulically or electrically, or by different
means. A supplement 10 being engaged may be pressed
against the shell surface by a guide (not shown), or be
drawn against said shell by air channels (not shown).
The supplements 2 present in holder 1 form a stack in
which the supplements are positioned with respect to
each other by means of the film of glue 3. Due to the
presence of said film of glue the stack of supplements
can be handled and placed in the holder without any
difficulty, whereby the supplements 2 cannot move with
respect to each other.
The presence of the adhesive between the supplements
makes it impossible to separate the lowermost supplement
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2 of the stack from the next supplement by pulling the
lowermost supplement from the holder. The surfaces of
the two supplements 2 must be separated frcm each other
by moving them apart in a direction substar_tially
perpendicularly to said surfaces. Said moving apart may
take place by blowing air between the supplements, as is
shown in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2. The end of a
blow pipe 15 is thereby present near opening 4 in the
holder, which blow pipe is capable of blowing air
between the supplements in the direction of film of glue
3, as is indicated by arrow 9 in Figure 2. Said blowing
of air facilitates pulling the lowermost supplement from
the holder without the film of glue 3 coming into
contact with the next supplement 2 again in a
disadvantageous manner. Preferably air is thereby
supplied under a pressure of more than 2 atmosphere, and
the blow pipe is provided with a wide nozzle.
In Figures 3 and 4 a plate-shaped separating element 16
is used instead of said blow pipe, which element is
capable of movement in the direction indicated by arrow
17. Separating element 16 can be inserted between
supplements 2 to the position shown in Figure 4.
The separating of the supplements by means of a blow
pipe on the one hand and by means of a plate-shaped
separating element 16 on the other hand may also take
place simultaneously by combining the two separating
methods. The separating element may also function to
support stack 2.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 show another embodiment of the
invention. Figure 5 is a perspective view of a separa-
ting element 16 which is rotatable about axis 20. Axis
of rotation 20 extends substantially perpendicularly to
the supplements 2 in the stack. Figure S shows the stack
of supplements located directly behind the supplement 2
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that is to be separated. The stack is viewed from below,
as it were. D=sc-shaped separating element Io rotates
right along supplement 2 ir_ the direction indicated by
arrow 21. When the elongated suction nozzle 22 passes
5 supplement 2, a part 23 of supplement 2 is bent forwards
relative to the plane in which separating element I6
rotates, so t:~at said part 23 will land on the front
side of separating element I5, as shown in figure 5.
10 Suction nozzle 22 is provided on a sloping surface 24,
which is illustrated in a broken line in Figure 7.
Surface 24 extends obliquely relative to the plane in
which separating element 16 rotates, so that part 23 of
supplement 2 will bend over when suction nozzle 22 moves
I5 directly past supplement 2, whereby part 23 will slide
over the sloping surface 24. Figure 7 furthermore shows
suction pipe 28, which extends towards suction nozzle
22.
Separating element 16 is furthernore provided with guide
portion 25, which comprises a sloping guide surface 26.
Further rotation of separating element 16 brings guide
portion 25 near supplement 2, whereby sloping guiding
surface 26 bends part 23 of supplement 2 further
forwards relative to the plane in which separating
element 16 rotates. Part 23 of supplement 2 can then be
readily engaged so as to be pulled away from the stack,
whereby rebondable film of adhesive 3 lets go. Said
engaging may take place by means of disc 6 as shown in
Figures 1-4.
Figures 6 and 7 are sectional view of fastening element
27, by means of which separating element 16 can be
fastened to a rotating shaft. Suction pipe 28 is
connected to a vacuum pump via said shaft (not shown).
Figures 8, 9, IO and 11 are very diagrammatic views of
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ore a~bodiment of the invention wherein one or more
suction nozzles are incorporated in roller 30. The
suction nozzles themselves are not shown, but they are
disposed on the cylindrical surface of roller 30, which
is shcwn in elevational view.
Figure 8 is a perspective view of a stack of supplements
2. Roller 30 moves along the stack along tre side of the
stack where a supplement is to be separated. Roller 30
pivots about stationary pin 31, and the drive of roller
30 is diagrammatically indicated by an endless belt 32
which is passed over a driving wheel 33. The pivoting
movement of roller 30 about pin 31 is effected by
rotating disc 34 in the direction indicated by arrow 35,
which disc 34 is connected with a crank 36 to the
connecting rod between roller 30 and pin 3.. By
configuring the distance between pin 31 and rod 30
sufficiently large, roller 30 makes a substantially
rectilinear movement along the stack of supplements 2.
The operative movement of roller 30 along the stack,
which is illustrated in Figures 9-11, takes place from
the tcp to the bottom. Roller 30 thereby rolls on the
supplement 2 of the stack that is to be separated. The
sucticn nozzles in the cylindrical surface of roller 30
ensure that supplement 2 is sucked against said surface
and is carried along by the surface of roller 30. The
film of adhesive 3 of the supplements is present near
the side of the supplements that is shown on the bottom
side in Figures 8-11.
Figure a shows a second roller 37, which is pressed
against roller 30, so that a pinching action is effected
between said two rollers 30, 37, as a result of which
supplement 2 being carried along is engaged and carried
off. Roller 37 pivots about stationary pin 38 when
roller 30 pivots about pin 3I. The supplements carried
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off as a result of the pinching action can be readily
engaged by means which place the supplement on a page of
a quire. Such means may be formed by the disc 6 shown in
Figures 1-4.
The illustrated embodiments are merely shown by way of
illustration, the invention may be implemented in many
different ways.
