Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Machine for processing foil
The invention relates to a sheet-processing
machine according to the preamble of claim 1.
DE-B 10 44 589 describes a transverse-cutting
arrangement for paper webs. A belt system for
transporting the sheets cut from the web is arranged
downstream of said transverse-cutting arrangement.
DE 42 38 387 A1 discloses a cut-off-register
regulating arrangement on cross cutters of rotary
printing machines . Provided in this case is a rotating
cutting cylinder which interacts with a fixed mating
blade.
The object of the invention is to provide a
sheet-processing machine which makes it possible to cut
individual sheets quickly and accurately transversely
to the transporting direction.
This object is achieved according to the
invention by the features of the defining part of
claim 1.
The advantages which can be achieved by the
invention consist, in particular, in that, in a sheet-
processing machine, cross cutting at the start and end
of a sheet and/or cutting of the previously formed
longitudinal strips of a banknote sheet into individual
banknotes take/takes place without manual intervention.
By means of integrated inspection devices, it is
possible, in the sheet-processing machine, to monitor
both the print quality itself and the cut-off register.
It is thus possible, at the same time, to monitor the
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front and rear sides of the sheet printed, for example,
by face and reverse printing.
The interaction of the cross-cutting devices
with a chain conveyor makes possible straightforward
cut-off-register adjustment, which is advantageously
carried out by a position-controlled electric motor
which drives a cutting cylinder.
A longitudinal-cutting device may be assigned
to a processing cylinder of the sheet-processing
machine, with the result that the sheet is cut into two
or more sub-sheets inline. These sheets may be set down
on stacks which may be selected, for example, by means
of the inspection device, i.e. sorted stacks with
satisfactory sheets and with reject sheets are formed.
This has the advantage that, in the case of defective
sub-sheets, it is not necessary for the entire sheet to
be rejected.
Said sheet-processing machine can be used to
trim all the sides of a sheet and to cut said sheet
into sub-sheets. All the steps carried out as well as
the face and reverse printing can be monitored by means
of inspection devices and the sheets set down on
selectable stacks.
Said sheet-processing machine can execute a
number of processing operations inline, which results
in an increase in production and in a reduction in
manual work. In addition, the quality of the products
produced in this way is increased.
Using an embodiment as claimed in claim 11, in
particular, banknote sheets can be efficiently
processed in a reliable manner to form individual
banknotes.
Expedient further configurations of the
invention can be gathered from the dependent claims.
The sheet-processing machine according to the
invention and further embodiments are described in more
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detail hereinbelow and are illustrated in the drawing,
in which:
Figure 1 shows a schematic side view of a
sheet-processing machine;
Figure 2 shows a schematic illustration of the
processing steps in the sheet-processing machine;
Figure 3 shows a schematic plan view of stacks
of a delivery means of the sheet-processing machine;
Figure 4 shows an enlarged, schematic side view
of a processing cylinder of the sheet-processing
machine according to Figure l;
Figure 5 shows an enlarged, schematic plan view
of the processing cylinder of the sheet-processing
machine according to Figures 1 and 4;
Figure 6 shows a second embodiment for
processing banknote sheets;
Figure 7 shows an enlarged view of a cutting
and separating station of the machine according to
Figure 6;
Figure 8 shows a schematic illustration of the
processing steps in the machine according to Figure 6;
and
Figure 9 shows a schematic illustration of a
third embodiment.
A sheet-processing machine 1 for the cross
cutting and longitudinal cutting of sheets 2 has
integrated inspection devices 3, 4, 6. The sheets 2 are
preferably printed paper sheets, for example banknotes.
Said sheet-processing machine 1 is constructed, for
example, as follows:
A feeder 7 essentially has a first stack 8, a
sheet-separating device 9 and a feed table 11. Said
feeder 7 is adjoined by an abutting means 12 which is
designed, for example, as a swing-action abutting
means. A first chain conveyor 13 interacts with said
swing-action abutting means 12. Said chain conveyor 13
has a pair of circulating chains 14 on which there are
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provided chain gripper systems, with grippers 16,
extending transversely to the transporting direction.
The chains 14 are deflected by a first chain-wheel
shaft 17 and a second chain-wheel shaft 18. Between the
first chain-wheel shaft 17 and second chain-wheel shaft
18, the chains 14 run at least partially along a
straight line. The first inspection device 3 is
arranged downstream of the first chain-wheel shaft 17,
as seen in the transporting direction T. Said
inspection device 3 has a suction box 19, of which the
operating surface directed toward the chain gripper
systems is of at least partially transparent design.
Lighting devices (not illustrated) are arranged beneath
said transparent operating surface.
A first cross-cutting device 21 is arranged
downstream of said suction box 19. The cross-cutting
device 21 has a rotating cutting cylinder 22 and a
fixed mating blade 24 fastened on a crossmember 23. The
cutting cylinder 22 is provided at least with an
axially extending groove, it being possible for a
passing chain gripper system with the gripper 16 to
penetrate into the same. A width of the groove in the
circumferential direction is designed to be larger than
a width required by the chain gripper system, with the
result that, for cut-off-register adjustment, the
passing chain gripper systems, with the grippers 16 and
the cutting cylinder 22 can be phase-shifted in
relation to one another. In the present example,
rotating arms are provided on both sides, and arranged
between these is a crossmember which extends
transversely to the transporting direction and is
intended for receiving a cutting blade 26. The cutting
cylinder 22 has a drive which can be phase-adjusted in
relation to .the chain conveyor 13 and, in the present
example, is advantageously designed as the dedicated,
position-controlled electric motor. The mating blade 24
is arranged in a slightly oblique position in relation
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to the axis of rotation of the cutting cylinder 22,
i.e. the mating blade 24 encloses, with the
transporting direction T, an opening angle alpha other
than 90°, for example 89°. This gives, for example, an
angle of inclination of the mating blade 24 in relation
to the axis of rotation of the cutting cylinder 22 of
1°. In addition, the mating blade 24 is rotated
slightly about its longitudinal axis, i.e. the mating
blade 24 has a slight twist.
The electric drive of the cutting cylinder 22
follows the chain conveyor 13 at identical
circumferential speed, with the result that,
ultimately, by twist and coinciding transporting speed,
a precisely right-angled cut of the sheet 2 is
produced.
The axially extending cutting blade 26 of the
cutting cylinder 22 is inclined slightly in relation to
the axis of rotation of the cutting cylinder 22 and has
a twist in the longitudinal direction. The cutting
blade 26 of the cutting cylinder 22 and the mating
blade 24 are adapted to one another.
Instead of the fixed mating blade 24, it is
also possible to have a rotating mating cylinder which
has, for example, a mating blade 24, for executing a
scissors cut, or a mating bar. It is also possible for
the cutting blade 26 and mating blade 24 to be designed
parallel to the axis of rotation of the cutting
cylinder 22 and without any twist. The cutting cylinder
22 or mating cylinder may also have a plurality of
cutting blades 26.
In the region of the chain conveyor 13, a
second inspection device 4 is arranged downstream of
said cross-cutting device 21. Said second inspection
device 4 essentially comprises a sensor 27, lighting
devices 30 and a suction box 35.
The chain conveyor 13 is adj oined by a turning
device 28. In the present example, said turning device
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28 essentially comprises a storage drum 29 and a
turning drum 31. The storage drum 29 has a "double"
circumference for receiving two sheets and is thus
equipped with two controllable gripper systems 32,
which are offset through 180° in relation to one
another, and two mutually opposite sucker systems 33. A
spacing in the circumferential direction between the
gripper systems 32 and sucker systems 33 can be
adjusted to a length of the sheets 2 which are to be
transported. The sucker systems 33 can be moved in the
circumferential direction and in the axial direction.
The turning drum 31 has two controllable
gripper systems 34, 36 which are located one beside the
other and are arranged such that they can be pivoted
about their longitudinal axis.
The turning drum 31 and storage drum 29 can be
phase-adjusted in relation to one another.
A processing cylinder 37 with an interacting
longitudinal-cutting device 38 is arranged downstream
of the turning device 28. Said processing cylinder 37
has at least a double circumference for receiving at
least two sheets and four gripper systems 39, 41, 42,
43 which can be controlled independently of one
another. Two of these gripper systems 39, 41 and 42, 43
are located, in each case in the axial direction, in
relation to a center of the processing cylinder 37,
more or less axis-symmetrically one beside the other in
a cylinder groove and can be displaced in the axial
direction relative to one another. In the present
example, one of the two gripper systems 39 and 42
located axially one beside the other is fixed in the
axial direction and the second gripper system 41 or 43
can be displaced relative to the first gripper system
39 or 42, for example, by means of a cam 40 and cam
rollers 45. However, it is also possible for both
gripper systems 39; 41 and 42; 43 to be displaceable. A
first pair of two gripper systems 39, 41 configured in
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this way has a second pair of said gripper systems 42,
43 offset through 180° opposite it.
The longitudinal-cutting device 38, assigned to
the processing cylinder 37, with a plurality of cutting
wheels 44 is arranged a short distance downstream of
the turning drum 31, as seen in the sheet-transporting
direction T. In the present example, said longitudinal-
cutting device 38 has a crossmember 46 which extends
transversely to the transporting direction and on which
there are arranged three axially displaceable cutting
wheels 44 which can be actuated independently.
Arranged downstream of the processing cylinder
37 is a second chain conveyor 47 with two circulating
chains 48 which have a plurality of chain gripper
systems with grippers 49. Said chain gripper systems
comprise two chain gripper arrangements which are
located one beside the other in the axial direction,
that is to say transversely to the transporting
direction, and are arranged more or less symmetrically
in relation to the machine center and can be actuated
independently of one another. Instead of the processing
cylinder 37, it is also possible for the chain conveyor
47 to have chain gripper systems which can be moved
relative to one another in the axial direction.
It is also possible for more than two gripper
systems 39; 41 and 42; 43, i.e. any desired number, to
be displaceable. In the case of three gripper systems
arranged axially one beside the other, it would be
possible, for example, for the gripper system arranged
in the center to be stationary in the axial direction
and for the outer two gripper systems to be capable of
being pushed away from the central one.
The chains 48 are deflected by a first and a
second chain-wheel shaft 51, 52. A center-to-center
line 53 formed by the first chain-wheel shaft 51 and
processing cylinder 37, or a connecting line between
these parts, encloses, with a center-to-center line 54
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formed by the processing cylinder 37 and the cutting
wheels 44, an opening angle beta of less than 180°,
e.a. 155°.
In the chain conveyor 47, beneath the chain 48,
a suction box 56 is arranged downstream of said chain-
wheel shaft 51. Said suction box 56 is adjoined by a
second cross-cutting device 57, which is of the same
structural design as the first cross-cutting device 21.
A third inspection device 6 with a sensor 58, lighting
devices 59 and a suction box 61 is arranged downstream
of said second cross-cutting device 57.
Thereafter, a delivery means 62 is located in
the region of the chain conveyor 47. Said delivery
means 62 has six stacks 63, 64, 66-69, of which in each
case two are arranged in pairs one beside the other and
the resulting three pairs of stacks 63, 64 and 66, 67
and 68, 69 are arranged one behind the other. The
stacks 63, 64 and 66, 67, arranged one beside the
other, of the first two pairs of stacks each have
common lifting devices, with the result that in each
case one pair of stacks is raised and lowered together.
In the case of the third pair of~ stacks, separate
lifting devices are provided for the two stacks 67, 68
located one beside the other, with the result that the
two stacks 67, 68 can be raised and lowered
independently of one another.
tripper systems or chain gripper systems are to
be understood as a plurality of grippers which are
arranged on a shaft which can be pivoted about a
longitudinal axis.
The sheet-processing machine 1 functions as
follows:
A sheet 2, in particular a paper sheet printed
by face and reverse printing, is fed from the first
stack 8 to the feed table 11 by means of the sheet-
separating device 9. From said feed table 11, the sheet
2 is gripped by the swing-action abutting means 12 and,
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in the region of the first chain-wheel shaft 17 of the
first chain conveyor 13, transferred to the grippers 16
of a chain gripper system. Said chain gripper system
grips the leading sheet end and transports the sheet 2
along the rectilinear part of the chain conveyor 13 to
the first inspection device 3. By means of the first
inspection device 3, the sheet 2 is examined segment by
segment for damage, e.g. tears and holes. The watermark
of the sheet 2 is also inspected by means of
transmitted light. In this case, the sheet 2 is guided
by the suction box 19 of the first inspection device 3,
said suction box being subjected to the action of
negative pressure. The chain gripper system transports
the sheet 2 through the cross-cutting device 21 to the
second inspection device 4. There, the sheet 2 is
attached by suction, in the region of the start 71 of
the sheet 2, by the suction box 35 of the second
inspection device 4. The end 72 of the sheet 2 is still
located in the cross-cutting device 21, in which a
narrow strip 73, which extends axially and transversely
to the transporting direction, is cut off from said end
72. In this case, the transporting speed of the chain
conveyor 13 and circumferential speed of the cutting
cylinder 26 are adapted to one another, with the result
that the end 72 of the sheet 2 is trimmed at right
angles to the transporting direction T.
Said sheet 2, which has a first cut 74, is then
inspected by the second inspecting device 4. In this
case, a front side (face-printing side) of the sheet 2
and a new edge of the sheet 2 (cut-off register)
resulting from the trimmed end 72 are monitored.
The grippers 16 of the chain gripper system
then transfer said sheet 2, by way of its start 71, to
a gripper system of the storage drum. Said storage drum
29 transports the sheet 2 in the direction of the
turning drum 31. When the end 72 of said sheet then
passes into the region of the sucker systems 33 of the
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storage drum 29, said sucker systems attach the trimmed
end 72 by suction. Thereupon, the sucker systems 33
move away from the center of the storage drum 29 more
or less in the form of an arrow and thus tension the
sheet 2 both in the circumferential direction and in
the direction of its lateral edges.
The phase shifting between the turning drum 31
and storage drum 29 is adjusted to the length of the
sheets 2 which are to be processed. The storage drum 29
transports the start 71 of the sheet 2 through the gap
between the turning drum 31 and storage drum 29 until
the sucker systems 33 pass into said gap. The trimmed
end 72 of the sheet 2 is gripped by the first grippers
34 of the turning drum 31 and released from the sucker
systems 33 by virtue of the negative pressure being
switched off. The grippers 34, 36 of the two gripper
systems of the turning drum 31 then pivot toward one
another, and the trimmed end 72 is transferred from the
grippers 34 of the first gripper system to the grippers
36 of the second gripper system. As operation
continues, the grippers 34, 36 pivot back into their
original position.
As seen in the transporting direction T, the
trimmed end 72, gripped by the grippers 36, leads and
the untrimmed start 71 trails.
From the turning drum 31, the sheet 2 is
transferred to a pair of gripper systems 39, 41 or 42,
43 of the processing cylinder 37. On the processing
cylinder 37, the sheet 2 is provided with three cuts
76, 77, 78 in the longitudinal direction - that is to
say in the transporting direction T. By means of the
second and third cuts 76, 77, narrow strips 79, 81 are
cut off from the two longitudinal sides of the sheet 2.
The gripper spacing of the gripper systems 39,
41, 42, 43 of the processing cylinder 37 and the width
and position of the sheet 2 are adapted to one another
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such that the two cut-off strips 79, 81 are not gripped
by grippers.
The fourth cut 78 separates the sheet 2
centrally into two sub-sheets 82, 83. It is also the
case here that there is no gripper located in the
region of the cut 78.
Once said three longitudinal cuts 76, 77, 78
have been completed, even in the case of the sheet 2
being of maximum length, the two sub-sheets 82, 83 are
moved apart from one another in the axial direction.
For this purpose, in the present example, a gripper
system 41 or 43, or 39 or 42, executes a displacement
in the axial direction by means of a cam roller which
interacts with a cam. It is only once the two sub-
sheets 82, 83 have been moved away from one another
that said sub-sheets 82, 83 are transferred, in the
region of the first chain-wheel shaft 51, to the
grippers 49 of a chain gripper system of the second
chain conveyor 47. The gripper system 41 or 43 of the
processing cylinder 37 is moved back into its starting
position before the next whole sheet 2 is received.
The two sub-sheets 82, 83 are fed to the second
cross-cutting device 57 by said gr.ippers 49. In order
to steady the sheet 2, the latter is attached by
suction along the suction box 56, which is arranged
upstream of the cross-cutting device 57, and the end 72
of the sub-sheets 82, 83, said end being located in the
grippers 49 of the chain gripper system, is already
guided over the suction box 61 of the third inspection
device 6. From the now trailing start 71 of the sheet
2, i.e. of the two drawn-apart sub-sheets 82, 83, a
strip 86 is cut off by means of a fifth cut 84 in the
axial direction at right angles to the transporting
direction T. The sheet 2 has now been trimmed on all
sides and separated into two sub-sheets 82, 83.
The rear side (reverse-printing side) of the
sheet 2, i . a . the rear sides of the two sub-sheets 82,
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83, is monitored, together with the longitudinally
trimmed edges and the trailing start 71 of the sheet 2,
i.e. the trailing, transversely trimmed ends of the
sub-sheets 82, 83, by means of the inspection device 6.
From the inspection device 6, the chain
conveyor 47 transports the sub-sheets 82, 83, which
have been trimmed on all sides and monitored on the
front and rear sides, to the six stacks 63, 64, 66-69
of the delivery means 62. There, the sub-sheets 82, 83
may be set down optionally on one of the six stacks 63,
64, 66-69. In this case, preferably the first four
stacks 63, 64, 66, 67 receive so-called acceptable
sheets and the last two stacks 67, 68, arranged one
beside the other, receive reject sheets.
Figure 6 shows, schematically, the example of a
sheet-processing machine which is designed for cutting
banknote sheets, with a certain number of banknote
prints, into individual banknotes and for transporting
said banknotes away out of the main transporting path
and, in the case of previously established misprints
being present, for separating the latter from the
satisfactory banknotes.
In the example considered, each banknote sheet
2, as is illustrated in Figure 8a, has eight banknote
prints WD, which are arranged in matrix form in two
columns Sl and S2, i.e. in two longitudinal rows, in
relation to the transporting direction, and in four
rows R1, R2, R3 and R4, i.e. in four transverse rows
transverse to the transporting direction. As is
indicated in Figure 6, said banknote sheets pass, for
example by means of a chain conveyor 100, from a
printing machine (not illustrated) into the sheet-
processing machine in question here, which has, in
succession, a transverse-cutting device 102, a
longitudinal-cutting device 106 and an arrangement 111.
In this arrangement 111, the longitudinal strips cut in
the longitudinal-cutting device 106 are drawn along a
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main transporting path 114 at their front ends, by the
grippers 113 of the chain gripper systems of a chain
conveyor 112, and cut into individual banknotes in the
process, said banknotes being transported away out of
the main transporting path 114 and stacked separately
into bundles corresponding to misprints and
satisfactory banknotes.
The cross-cutting device 102 is of similar
construction to the cross-cutting device 21 or 57 in
the first exemplary embodiment according to Figure 1
and comprises a cutting cylinder 103 which, in this
case, has two diametrically opposite cutting blades 104
which interact with a fixed mating blade 105.
The banknotes advanced by the chain conveyor
100 pass onto a sheet-transporting system which has a
first transporting cylinder lOla as inlet cylinder, a
second transporting cylinder lOlb as outlet cylinder
and a planar underlying surface 101 as transporting
path which is located in the top tangential plane,
common to the two transporting cylinders lOla and lOlb,
of said transporting cylinders and on which the
banknote sheets are guided past the cross-cutting
device 102 with sliding action. In the region of the
mating blade 105, the underlying surface 101 has a gap
into which said mating blade projects. The spacing
between the two transporting cylinders lOla and lOlb is
smaller than the length of a banknote sheet in the
transporting direction, with the result that the
leading sheet edge is gripped by the transporting
cylinder lOlb at a point in time at which the trailing
region of the sheet is still retained on the
circumference of the transporting cylinder lOla, and is
carried along by the same.
The transporting cylinders lOla and 101b are
preferably suction cylinders with suction openings, of
which the suction-air feed is controlled such that the
sheets are pushed onto the underlying surface 101, for
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example a metal plate, by the first transporting
cylinder lOla and, after passing the cross-cutting
device 102, are received by the second transporting
cylinder lOlb.
A banknote sheet is transported, and its two
transverse edges trimmed, specifically as follows: a
banknote sheet released by the grippers of the chain
conveyor 100 is attached by suction to the first
transporting cylinder lOla and carried along by the
same until the leading sheet edge reaches the start of
the underlying surface 101, which forms the
transporting path. At this location, that is to say at
the start of the underlying surface 101, the suction
air is switched off, with the result that, as the
transporting cylinder lOla rotates further, the sheet
is pushed onto the underlying surface 101. As soon as
the leading sheet edge reaches the cross-cutting device
102, the leading edge is trimmed by a cutting blade
104, while the sheet is advanced further until the
trimmed leading edge reaches the second transporting
cylinder lOlb, which then receives the sheet, and draws
it further, by attaching it by suction. This operation
of the sheet being received by the transporting
cylinder 101b takes place, as has already been
mentioned, before the trailing end of the sheet leaves
the first transporting cylinder lOla and is released by
the same. While the trailing sheet end passes the
cross-cutting device 102, the trailing sheet edge is
trimmed by the other cutting blade 104, as is indicated
in Figure 8b.
The sheets trimmed in this way then pass into
the longitudinal-cutting device 106, which, in the
example considered, has a transfer cylinder 107, which
receives the sheet from the transporting cylinder lOlb,
a processing cylinder 108 and cutting wheels 109
interacting therewith. The processing cylinder 108 and
the cutting wheels 109 are constructed essentially in
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the same way as the processing cylinder 37 and the
cutting wheels 44 of the longitudinal-cutting device 38
according to Figure 1, and will thus not be described
in detail again. In said longitudinal-cutting device
106, the two longitudinal edges of the sheet are
trimmed at the same time and the sheet is divided into
longitudinal strips, in the example considered into two
longitudinal strips L, which correspond to the two
banknote columns S1 and S2, as is illustrated in
Figure 8c. At the same time, as they pass the
processing cylinder 108, the two longitudinal strips L
are separated somewhat from one another, as has been
described for the first exemplary embodiment.
From the processing cylinder 108, the
longitudinal strips are received by the grippers 113 of
the chain conveyor 112 and then run through the
arrangement 111 for cutting and separating the
individual banknotes. The longitudinal strips are drawn
at their leading ends, by the grippers 113, onto the
main transporting path 114, which is designed such that
said continuously moving longitudinal strips, which are
spaced apart one beside the other, are retained in a
planar state.
The arrangement 111 has identically constructed
cutting and separating stations 115 which are spaced
apart one behind the other and of which the number is
equal to the number of rows per banknote sheet minus
one. Since, in the example considered, each banknote
sheet 2 has four rows, three stations 115 are thus
provided, the spacing between them being somewhat
larger than the width of one banknote row, that is to
say the dimension of the same in the transporting
direction.
As is illustrated more accurately in Figure 7,
each station 115 has a cross-cutting device 120, an
endless transporting belt 124, which interacts
therewith and is installed at a spacing above the main
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transporting path 114, parallel to the same, and two
set-down tables 125 and 126 for the banknotes. Said
cross-cutting device 120 has a cutting cylinder 121
with a cutting blade 122 which interacts with a fixed
mating blade 123. Said mating blade 123 is arranged
with its mount in a gap of the main transporting path
114. As far as the cutting function is concerned, the
cross-cutting device 120 is constructed essentially
like the cross-cutting device 21 or 57 in the first
exemplary embodiment according to Figure 1. However,
the cutting cylinder 121 is additionally designed as a
controllable suction cylinder which has suction
openings (not illustrated) and secures the individual
banknotes, produced following the cutting operation, by
suction on the cylinder surface and conveys them to the
transporting belt 124, a controllable suction belt,
which receives said banknotes from the cutting cylinder
121 .
The operation of cutting into individual
banknotes and transporting the latter further in the
arrangement 111 takes place as follows:
As soon as the longitudinal strips, which are
spaced apart one beside the other and are drawn on the
main transporting path 114 at their leading ends by the
grippers 113 of the chain conveyor 112, reach the first
cross-cutting unit 120 of the first station 115 with
their trailing banknote prints, as seen in the
transporting direction, the two trailing banknotes,
corresponding to the original trailing transverse row
R4 of the relevant banknote sheet, are cut off and
conveyed by the continuously rotating cutting cylinder
121, which acts at the same time as the transporting
cylinder, to the transporting belt 124.
While, in each station 115, a single cutting
cylinder 121, interacting with a single mating blade
123, simultaneously cuts into individual banknotes all
the longitudinal strips transported one beside the
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other, there are provided above the cutting cylinder
121 as many transporting belts 124 located one beside
the other as there are longitudinal strips of a sheet,
i.e. the number of transporting belts 124 arranged one
beside the other is equal to the number of columns of a
sheet. In the example considered, there are thus two
transporting belts 124, located one beside the other,
with corresponding set-down tables 125 and 126. The
banknotes are attached by suction to, and released by,
the cutting cylinder 121 by virtue of corresponding
control of the suction-air feed, i.e. of the negative
pressure to the suction openings of the cutting
cylinder 121.
The suction action of the transporting belts
124 is controlled such that all the satisfactory
banknotes are stacked on one set-down table 125 and all
the misprints, which have been established in an
earlier processing stage during quality control of the
banknote sheets, are stacked on the other set-down
table 126. The misprints can be detected, for example,
in a known manner by automatic sensing of the
individual banknote prints on the banknote sheet and by
electronic storage in a computer of all the positions
of the banknote prints detected as misprints, the
misprints being separated out by corresponding control
of the suction action of the transporting belts 124 by
the computer. All the misprints, which have been
detected visually or electronically, may also be
indicated by a marking which is sensed by a sensor
which senses the relevant banknote prints or banknotes
and of which the signal switches the suction action of
the relevant transporting belt 124 on and off.
As soon as, once the trailing banknote prints
of the original banknote row R4 have been cut off, the
then trailing banknotes of the longitudinal strips,
corresponding to the original banknote row R3, reach
the second station 115, the banknotes of said original
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row R3 are cut off and, as has been described above,
transported away and separated corresponding to
misprints and satisfactory banknotes. This operation is
repeated in the third station 115, in which the
banknotes of the original banknote row R2 are cut and
sorted. Of the longitudinal strips which are still
drawn by the grippers 113 of the chain conveyor 112, it
is then only the two banknotes corresponding to the
original row R1 which remain, and these are received in
the last station 116 by a suction roller 130 and fed to
the two transporting belts 124 which, together with the
set-down tables 125 and 126 for the misprints and the
satisfactory banknotes, are of exactly the same
construction as has been described above for a station
115.
Of course, the sheet-processing machine
according to the invention can also be used to process
banknote sheets which have 3 or more columns or
longitudinal rows and any other desired number of
transverse rows. The number of cutting and separating
stations 115 which are to be arranged one behind the
other is always equal to the number of transverse rows
per banknote sheet minus one, followed by a last
station 116 for the first transverse row of a sheet, as
seen in the transporting direction in each case.
In the abovedescribed stations 115 and 116, all
the satisfactory banknotes are successively stacked
into bundles of 100 banknotes each which had one and
the same banknote position on the original successive
banknote sheets of a sheet stack, that is to say in
each case the positions with the same longitudinal and
transverse rows, this resulting in a correct banknote
sequence being formed. If, therefore, the numbering of
the banknote prints on the banknote sheets has taken
place in a conventional manner, that is to say if the
banknote prints in the same banknote positions of
successive sheets have been provided with consecutive
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numbering in each case and if, during the numbering,
previously detected misprints have been missed out,
then the banknote bundles formed contain banknotes with
consecutive numbering. Such a numbering with numbering
boxes controlled by a corresponding computer is known.
The abovedescribed arrangement 111 for cross
cutting the longitudinal strips and for separating the
individual banknotes may also be arranged downstream of
the sheet-processing machine described with reference
to Figure 1 in order, in the case of banknote sheets,
to divide into individual banknotes the longitudinal
strips produced there and to separate and bundle said
banknotes.
Figure 9 shows, schematically, a further
exemplary embodiment of a sheet-processing machine
according to the invention. In this case, the banknote
sheets 2 processed are printed with 35 banknote prints,
which are arranged in five longitudinal rows and seven
transverse rows and are moved in the direction of the
arrows from one processing station to the next. The
banknote prints WD on the sheets have previously been
inspected visually or electronically for their quality,
and the banknote prints detected as misprints WD' are
marked with a cross in order to be separated out at a
later stage.
The banknote sheets run first of all through a
cross-cutting device, which may be constructed in the
same way as the cross-cutting device 102 according to
Figure 6 and in which the two transverse edges are cut
off, as is indicated for the sheet 2a. The sheet then
passes a first longitudinal-cutting device, which has
two rotating cutting wheels and in which the two
longitudinal edges are cut off, as is indicated for the
sheet 2b. Then, in a second longitudinal-cutting
device, with four rotating cutting wheels, the sheet is
subdivided into five longitudinal strips, corresponding
to the five longitudinal rows, as is indicated for the
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longitudinal strips 2c. Said longitudinal-cutting
devices correspond, in terms of construction, to the
longitudinal-cutting device 106 according to Figure 6.
During the longitudinal cut, the longitudinal strips
are simultaneously, as has been described for the first
two exemplary embodiments, moved away from one another
somewhat in the transverse direction and then pass into
an arrangement corresponding to the arrangement 111,
where they are received by the grippers 113 of a chain
conveyor, as in the example according to Figure 6. In
this case, the arrangement has six cross-cutting
devices 130 which are spaced apart one behind the other
and of which the cutting cylinder and the fixed mating
blade extend transversely over all the longitudinal
strips and cut all the longitudinal strips
simultaneously into individual banknotes. Said cross-
cutting devices 130 are constructed in the same way as
the cross-cutting devices 21 or 57 in the first
exemplary embodiment according to Figure 1 and, in this
case, do not serve for transporting away the banknotes
which are produced.
As has been described with reference to
Figure 6, first of all those banknotes of the five
longitudinal strips which trail in the transporting
direction, that is to say the trailing transverse row
of the sheet, are cut off, then, at a discrete point in
time, the banknotes of the following transverse row are
cut off, etc., while in each case the remaining parts
of all the longitudinal strips are drawn continuously
by the grippers 113, which grip the leading end of said
strips. Following the sixth cut, all that remains of
the previous longitudinal strips is the foremost
banknotes.
In this case, the cut banknotes are transported
away, transverse row by transverse row, from the region
of each cross-cutting device with the aid of a
transporting system, for example a transporting belt,
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which is moved transversely to the transporting
direction of the longitudinal strips, as is indicated
schematically in Figure 9 by the arrows 131. From the
grips of in each case five cut banknotes, which
correspond to a transverse row of the original sheet,
the marked misprints W' are then separated out, and
collected, by a suitable separating-out device. In each
case 100 successive satisfactory banknotes W which
originate from the same transverse rows of successive
sheets are stacked into a bundle, and this bundle B is
banded. In the example considered, there are thus seven
bundling stations for forming bundles B in which
banknotes originating in each case just from the same
transverse rows of successive sheets, i.e. thus just
from the first or just from the second or just from the
seventh transverse rows of successive sheets, are
located in the correct-sequence.
The bundles B produced one after the other in
each bundling station are stacked into stacked groups
P, every second bundle being previously rotated in a
known manner through 180° in the bundle plane in order
that all the bands are not located one above the other
in the stacked group P. As soon as a stacked group P
comprises ten successive bundles, it is transported, as
is indicated by arrows in Figure 9, to a stacked-group-
banding station, where the stacked group, containing
ten bundles each with a hundred banknotes in the
correct sequence, is provided with a band. Said banded
stacked group BP is then fed into a packaging station
in a known manner, once the banknotes in the stacked
group have been counted again.
As has been described above, and as can be seen
from Figure 9, all the banded stacked groups BP thus
each contain banknotes in the correct sequence in each
case from the same transverse rows of the original
successive sheets. In this case, the numbering of the
banknote prints on the sheets may preferably be such
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that only the satisfactory banknote prints within each
row are numbered consecutively, whereas the previously
established misprints are missed out during numbering,
as has been mentioned for the exemplary embodiment
according to Figures 6 and 7. In this case, the stacked
groups BP formed each have one thousand consecutively
numbered banknotes.
The abovedescribed operations of forming,
collecting and bundling individual banknotes in the
correct sequence are made possible, in particular, by
the abovedescribed cross-cutting devices, by means of
which, with time delays, the previously formed
longitudinal strips of a sheet are cut simultaneously,
corresponding to the original transverse rows, into
individual banknotes, the respectively remaining parts
of the longitudinal strips being moved forward
continuously, at their leading ends, by the grippers of
a chain conveyor.
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