EP0551601A1 - Method and device for feeding particularly folded printed products to a further processing station - Google Patents

Abstract

By a first conveying device printing products are fed in an imbricated formation (S), in which each printing product rests on the following one, the fold edge of the folded products forming the trailing edge. The printing products are pushed into an intermediate stack from below. The respectively uppermost product of this intermediate stack is seized in the region of the fold edge by at least one sucker of a sucker arrangement, raised upward and brought into the conveying region (F) of a second conveying device. The latter has individually controllable grippers which are arranged at regular intervals, circulate along a closed path, seize the fold edges delivered by the sucker arrangement and convey away the printing products thus seized. By forming an intermediate stack, from which the printing products are then raised by the sucker arrangement at the desired rate and fed to the grippers, even imbricated formations (S) occurring with irregularities can be processed satisfactorily.

Description

The present invention relates to a method and a device for feeding preferably folded printed products to a further processing point according to the preamble of claim 1 and claim 6.

In the device of this type described in CH-A-630 583 and the corresponding US-A-4,320,894, the supplied printed products in the transfer area are inserted directly into the passing open grippers of the conveyor by the feed conveyor. In order to ensure that the printed products are correctly grasped, the conveying direction of the away conveyor runs in the transfer area of the printed products from bottom to top and transversely to the conveying direction of the supplied printed products. Although this measure can compensate for slight irregularities in the spacing of successive printed products in the shingled stream, too great a distance between two printed products within the supplied shingled formation means that certain products arrive too late in the transfer area and thus miss the assigned gripper, which is then empty reached the processing station. In addition to the print product assigned to it, the subsequent gripper then also picks up the product that the preceding gripper could not take with it. It is therefore obvious that such an irregular occurrence of printed matter occurs at the downstream processing point can have an adverse effect.

From EP-A-0 368 009 (and the corresponding US-A-5,042,792) it is further known to convey printed products which are fed in pairs one above the other in a scale formation in which each pair of products rests on the subsequent pair of products against a stop , then to be grasped and raised in the area of the leading edge by a suction element in order to bring the corresponding printed product into the effective area of rotating driver elements, which further raise the leading edges of the printed products into the conveying area of a conveyor which is formed from two interacting belt conveyors. With this known device, the printed products lying one above the other in the supplied flake formation can be detached from one another and formed into a new flake formation in which all the products only partially overlap and no longer completely overlap.

However, it is also important with this device that the packages of printed products in the supplied scale formation have essentially the same distances from one another, so that an undisturbed separation of the completely overlapping printed products is possible.

The present invention is based on the object of creating a method and a device of the type mentioned at the outset which allow the printed products to be fed to a further processing point in the desired sequence, regardless of the quality of the flake formation supplied.

This object is achieved according to the invention by the features of the characterizing part of claim 1 and of claim 6.

Characterized in that the supplied printed products are first inserted into an intermediate stack, from which they are removed from above by the suction arrangement and fed to the second conveyor, the supply of the printed products to the second conveyor is decoupled from the supply of the printed products by the first conveyor. This means that too large or too small distances between successive printed products and also missing printed products in the shingled stream supplied no longer influence the correct supply of printed products to the second conveying device. Such irregularities in the resulting scale formation are compensated for by the intermediate stack.

In addition, it is also possible, if necessary, to temporarily prevent the supply of printed products to the second conveyor by switching off the suction arrangement without the supply of printed products having to be interrupted by the first conveyor.

Preferred further developments of the method according to the invention and the device according to the invention are described in the dependent claims.

Figur 1:

eine erste Ausführungsform einer erfindungsgemässen Vorrichtung in Seitenansicht,

Figur 2:

in gegenüber der Fig. 1 vergrössertem Massstab die Vorrichtung gemäss Fig. 1 teilweise im Querschnitt und zum Teil in Ansicht,

Figur 3:

einen den Bereich des Zwischenstapels der Vorrichtung nach Fig. 1 in vergrössertem Massstab und in Seitenansicht darstellenden Ausschnitt aus Fig. 1,

Figur 4:

in Seitenansicht den Antriebsmechanismus für die Saugeranordnung der Vorrichtung gemäss den Figuren 1-3,

Figur 5:

den Antriebsmechanismus gemäss Fig. 4 im Querschnitt,

Figur 6:

in Seitenansicht eine zweite Ausführungsform der erfindungsgemässen Vorrichtung,

Figur 7:

die Antriebsvorrichtung für die Saugeranordnung der Vorrichtung gemäss Fig. 6 in Seitenansicht,

Figur 8:

den Antriebsmechanismus gemäss Figur 7 im Querschnitt,

Figur 9:

den Bewegungsablauf eines Saugkopfes der Saugeranordnung gemäss den Figuren 6-8 anhand einer ganz schematischen Darstellung des Antriebsmechanismus, und

Figur 10:

eine dritte Ausführungsform der erfindungsgemässen Vorrichtung in Seitenansicht.

Exemplary embodiments of the subject matter of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. It shows purely schematically:

Figure 1:

a first embodiment of a device according to the invention in side view,

Figure 2:

1 on an enlarged scale, the device according to FIG. 1 partly in cross section and partly in view,

Figure 3:

1 on an enlarged scale and in side view, a section of the area of the intermediate stack of the device according to FIG. 1,

Figure 4:

in side view the drive mechanism for the suction arrangement of the device according to Figures 1-3,

Figure 5:

4 in cross section,

Figure 6:

a side view of a second embodiment of the device according to the invention,

Figure 7:

6 shows the drive device for the suction arrangement of the device according to FIG. 6 in a side view,

Figure 8:

the drive mechanism according to Figure 7 in cross section,

Figure 9:

the movement of a suction head of the suction arrangement according to Figures 6-8 based on a very schematic representation of the drive mechanism, and

Figure 10:

a third embodiment of the device according to the invention in side view.

A first embodiment of a device according to the invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1-3. This device has a first conveyor device 1, which delivers folded printed products 2 in a scale formation S. In this scale formation S, each printed product rests on the subsequent product 2. This means that, seen in the conveying direction A of the conveying device 1, the trailing edge 2a of the printed products 2 lies in the scale formation S at the top. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, this trailing edge of the folded printed products 2 is formed by the folded edge 2a. The open side edge 2b opposite this fold edge 2a accordingly forms the leading edge.

The conveyor device 1 has a belt conveyor 3 and an apron conveyor 4 connected downstream thereof. The apron conveyor 4 is formed by a number of round aprons 5 (FIG. 2) which run parallel to one another and at a distance from one another and are guided over deflection rollers 6 and 7, of which one deflection roller is driven. The belt conveyor 3 and the apron conveyor 4 can have the same or different conveying speeds. The deflection rollers 6, 7 are rotatably mounted in two arms 8, 9 (FIG. 2) running parallel to one another. The apron conveyor 4 is designed as a rocker which can be pivoted about the axis 6 'of the deflection roller 6 and is supported on a piston-cylinder unit 10 which is only shown schematically in FIG. 1. By means of the latter, the pivoting position of the apron conveyor 4 is set in a manner to be described.

Above and in the end region of the apron conveyor 4 there is a stop 11 which has a number of stop fingers 12 (FIG. 2) which are arranged at a distance from one another and each extend between two round aprons 5. Viewed in the conveying direction A, a conveyor roller 13 is provided in front of the stop 11, which extends transversely to the conveying direction A and rests on the scale formation S. This conveyor roller 13 is rotatably supported on both ends in an arm 14 or 15 by means of bearings 16, 17 (FIG. 2). The arms 14, 15 are in turn supported at the other end on a shaft 18 by means of self-aligning bearings 19, 20. The shaft 18 passes through the arms 14, 15 of the strappy conveyor 4 and is supported in bearing parts 21, 22 which are attached to the arms 14 or 15 are attached (Fig. 2). The shaft 18 is supported by bearings 23 and 24. At one end of the shaft 18 sits a gear 25, which is driven by a drive chain 26 by a drive, not shown. This gear 25 meshes with a gear 27, which is firmly seated on an extension 13a of the conveyor roller 13. Via the chain 26 and the gears 25, 27, the conveyor roller 13 is thus driven in a rotating manner in the direction of the arrow T (FIG. 3). The conveyor roller 13 exerting a conveying effect on the printed products 2 can adapt to the changing height of the scale formation S thanks to its oscillating mounting. Since the two bearing arms 14, 15 for the drive roller 13 are pivoted independently of one another, as described, the conveyor roller 13 can also adapt if differences in thickness occur in the scale formation S in a direction transverse to the conveying direction A.

A stacking point 28 is defined between the conveyor roller 13 and the stop 11, at which the printed products 2 are stacked up to form an intermediate stack 29. In the area of this intermediate stack 29, a support plate 30 (FIG. 2) is arranged below the round apron 5, which prevents the round aprons 5 from bending under the weight of the intermediate stack 29.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1-3, the printed products 2 are pushed into the intermediate stack 29 from below by the apron conveyor 4. The driven conveyor roller 13 supports the insertion of the printed products 2 into the intermediate stack 29. The stop 11 slows the feed movement of the printed products 2.

With 31 (Fig. 1) a height monitoring arrangement is shown purely schematically, the z. B. can be designed as a light barrier. This height monitoring arrangement 31 is connected to a control arrangement, not shown, which controls the cylinder-piston unit 10 and thus the swivel position of the apron conveyor 4. This height monitoring arrangement 31 ensures that the upper side 29a of the intermediate stack 29 is always at approximately the same level H. This is achieved in that when the height of the intermediate stack 29 changes, the apron conveyor 4 is pivoted upwards or downwards by means of the piston-cylinder unit 10 in order to keep the top side 29a of the stack at the desired height H.

Above the apron conveyor 4 there is a second conveyor device 32 which has individually controllable grippers 33, which are attached at regular intervals to an endless chain, not shown, which is guided in a chain channel 34. The chain and thus also the grippers 33 run in the direction of arrow B (FIG. 1). Each gripper 33 has a support element 35 fastened to the chain, on which a clamping plate 36 and two clamping fingers 37 cooperating therewith are pivotably mounted. As shown in FIG. 2, the two clamping fingers 37 which are arranged at a distance from one another are under the action of a closing spring 38 which presses the clamping finger 37 against the clamping plate 36 and thus keeps the gripper 33 closed. The two closing springs 38 are arranged on a bolt 39 which is mounted in the support element 35 and around the longitudinal axis of which the clamping plate 36 can be freely pivoted together with the associated clamping fingers 37. A control arm 40 is connected to each clamping finger 37 and carries a control roller 41 at its end. The clamping plates 36 are provided with a shoulder 36a, which is directed backwards in the conveying direction B and is intended to interact with a positioning link 42. When the extension 36a runs onto the positioning link 42, the clamping plate 36 and with it the clamping fingers 37 are brought into a specific position in which the grippers 33 can also be opened. For this purpose, an opening guide 43 is used, which cooperates with the control roller 41 and causes the clamping fingers 37 to be lifted against the force of the closing springs 38 from the clamping plate 36.

In order to bring the printed products 2 from the intermediate stack 29 into the conveying area F of the conveying device 32, ie into the movement path of the opened grippers 33, a suction device arrangement, generally designated 44, is provided. This has two suction heads 45 and 46 arranged at a distance from one another (FIG. 2), each of which is fastened to a tubular support arm 47. A connecting hose 48 is connected to each support arm, which is connected to a vacuum source, not shown, which can be switched on and off periodically. Each support arm 47 is further connected to a drive 49, only partially shown in FIG. 2, which will be explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. By means of this drive 49, the suction heads 45, 46 are moved along a closed, approximately pear-shaped orbit 50. As shown in FIG. 2, these orbits 50 run to the side of the conveyor 32. Each orbit 50 runs from a takeover point 51, which is located on the top of the stack 29a in the area of the trailing fold edge 2a of the printed products 2, up to a delivery point 52 and then on upwards and in a loop back to the transfer point 51. During the movement of the suction heads 45, 46 from the transfer point 51 to the delivery point 52, the suction heads 45, 46 are connected to the vacuum source. This means that the uppermost printed product 2 'in the intermediate stack 29 in the area of the fold 2a is gripped by the suction heads 45, 46 and taken upwards into the conveying area F of the conveying device 32. The folded edges 2a of the printed products 2 which are lifted upwards by the suction heads 45, 46 are thus brought into the path of movement of an open gripper 33 each and come between its clamping plate 36 and the clamping fingers 37 lifted therefrom. In order to introduce the folded edge regions of the printed products 2 into the To enable open grippers 33, the grippers 33 are brought into the suitable pivot position by means of the positioning link 42. How especially out 3 can be seen, the clamping plate 36 with the clamping fingers 37 are pivoted by means of the positioning link 42 during the takeover of the printed products 2, so that a correct gripping of the printed products 2 in the area of their fold 2a is ensured by the grippers 33.

Since the two suction heads 45 and 46 are driven by separate drives, it is possible not only to move the two suction heads 45, 46 synchronously with one another, but also alternately in push-pull. In such a solution, a printed product would then only be detected and transported by a suction head 45 or 46. Each suction head 45, 46 then only has to capture every second printed product 2.

The structure and the mode of operation of a preferred embodiment of the drive 49 for the suction heads 45, 46 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In addition to this illustrated embodiment, it is of course conceivable to design this drive 49 in another suitable manner in order to move the suction head 45, 46 along the pear-shaped orbit 50, which forms a tip at the takeover point 51.

The tubular support arm 47, to which the suction head 45 is attached, is attached to one arm 53a of a two-armed lever 53, the other arm 53b of which is angled relative to the arm 53a. The arm 53b forms the coupling of a crank arm 54 and is connected to a crank 56 via a joint 55, the joint pin of which is designated 55a. The latter is seated on a shaft 57 which is driven in the direction of arrow D and rotates in a bearing 58 is rotatably mounted. The shaft 57, the longitudinal axis of which is designated 57 ', is driven by a drive device, not shown. At the other end, the arm 53b of the lever 53 is connected to a rocker arm 60 via a joint 59, the joint pin of which is designated 59a. The latter is attached to a shaft 61, which is freely rotatably mounted in a bearing 62. The longitudinal axis of this shaft 61 is designated 61 '.

With the crank 56 rotating, the rocker 60 is pivoted back and forth between two end positions, which are shown in broken lines in FIG. 4 and form an angle α. The two end positions of the rocker arm 60 are designated by the positions of the pivot pin 59a, designated 59a ′ and 59a ″. The positions of the pivot pin 55a assigned to these end positions 59a 'and 59a' 'are designated by 55a' and 55a ''.

By means of the lever drive 49 described, the suction head 45 is now moved upward from the takeover point 51 along the section 50a of the orbit 50 to the delivery point 52. Between the take-over point 51 and the delivery point 52, the suction head 45 is, as already mentioned, connected to the vacuum source and takes a printed product 2 with it. After switching off the vacuum source, the printed product is released. The suction head 45 is moved further in the direction of the arrow C along the orbit 50 until it arrives again at the takeover point 51, where the next printed product 2 is detected. It is obvious that the orbit 50 is selected such that the suction head 45 runs around the printed product 2 after it has been released, so that the gripper 33 grips the printed product by the suction head movement is not affected.

The mode of operation of the device described above will now be explained below, insofar as this does not already result from the preceding explanations.

The printed products 2 fed in by the belt conveyor 3 in scale formation S are subsequently conveyed with the folded edge 2a to the stacking point 28 and are inserted there at the bottom with the support of the conveying roller 13 into the intermediate stack 29. The uppermost printed product 2 in the intermediate stack 29 is captured by the suction heads 45, 46 in the region of the folded edge 2a and lifted upwards from the intermediate stack 29. The folded edge 2a is brought into the path of movement of the open grippers 33 and clamped between the clamping plate 36 and the clamping fingers 37. The grippers 33 are closed by the closing springs 38 after the control roller 41 has run off the opening link 43. The printed products 2 gripped by the grippers 33 are then completely lifted off the intermediate stack 29 and guided upwards to a further processing point (not shown). The open side edge 2b of the printed products 2 leading in the supplied scale formation S and covered by the leading printed product is exposed after being taken over by the conveyor device 32, which means that the folded printed products can be opened while they are still being held by the grippers 33 .

Because the printed products 2 fed by the belt conveyor 3 are not fed directly to the grippers 33 which follow one another at fixed intervals, Any irregularities in the scale spacing, ie in the intervals between successive printed products 2 in the scale formation S, and missing printed products 2 in the scale formation S have no influence on a perfect takeover by the grippers 33. Such irregularities are compensated for by the intermediate stack 29. The in-phase feeding of the printed products 2 to the grippers 33 takes place by means of the suction arrangement 44 and is therefore within certain limits independent of the supply of the printed products 2 by the belt conveyor 3.

On the other hand, even with a constant supply of printed products 2 by the belt conveyor 3, it is easily possible to dispense with the loading of certain grippers 33 by a printed product 2 if necessary. For this purpose, it is sufficient to dispense with the connection between the suction head 45, 46 and the vacuum source at the appropriate point in time, so that the suction head 45, 46 makes a movement along the orbit 50 without taking a product 2 with it.

In order to be able to reliably grasp even thicker printed products, the suction arrangement 44 is designed such that the suction heads 45, 46 act on the printed products 2 in the area of the fold 2a as described.

If the scale formation S is produced differently than as shown in FIG. 1, ie with the fold 2a of the printed products as the leading edge lying at the bottom, the scale formation S would have to be fed to the stacking point 28 from the other side. This variant is shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 1 on the right-hand side. The Belt conveyor 3 'conveys the scale formation S', in which each printed product 2 still rests on the trailing printed product, but the leading edge is the folded edge 2a, in the direction of arrow A ', which is opposite to the conveying direction A of the belt conveyor 3. In this variant, the suction arrangement 44 and the conveying device 32 remain the same, but the apron conveyor 4 has to be pivoted about the axis 7 'of the deflecting roller 7 instead of about the axis 6'. In addition, stop 11 and conveyor roller 13 are to be exchanged for one another, as is evident from FIG. 1. In this variant, the gripping and feeding of the printed products 2 into the conveying area F of the grippers 33 is the same as already described with reference to FIG. 1.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is very similar to the embodiment according to FIGS. 1-3 and differs from the latter only in a different configuration of the suction arrangement and the delivery of the printed products 2 from the intermediate stack 29 to the grippers 33 corresponding parts use the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1-3.

The device according to FIG. 6 is used to process printed products 2 which take up a different position within the supplied scale formation S than in the scale formation S which is fed to the device according to FIGS. 1-3. As can be seen from FIG. 6, in the scale formation S fed by the belt conveyor 3, each printed product 2 also rests on the subsequent printed product. However, the leading and thus hidden edges of the printed products 2 in contrast to the scale formation S shown in FIG. 1, formed by the folded edges 2a. This means that the printed products 2 must be grasped by the suction arrangement designated 65 in FIG. 6 in the region of their edge 2a abutting the stop 11. In contrast to the embodiment according to FIGS. 1-3, however, the printed products 2 are not introduced into the grippers 33 with their folded edge 2a, but with their opposite open side edge 2b.

Like the embodiment according to FIGS. 1-3, the suction arrangement 65 has two suction heads 66 that operate synchronously or at most in push-pull, of which only one suction head is shown in FIG. 6. This is moved by means of a drive to be described in more detail between a takeover point 67, at which it grips a printed product 2, and a delivery point 68, at which the detected product 2 is released, along the movement path designated by 70. During the movement from the take-over point 67 to the delivery point 68, the suction head 66 is connected to a vacuum source, as described earlier, and lifts the uppermost printed product 2 from the intermediate stack 29 and pushes it back against the conveying direction A in the direction of arrow E against the conveying device 32. In order to bring the edges 2b of the printed products into the conveying area of the conveying device 32, that is to say into the movement path of the open grippers 33, a guide element 71 is provided on the edge of the intermediate stack 29 opposite the stop 11, which guides the edge 2b leading when the printed products 2 move back diverted upwards into the mentioned funding area F.

The structure and the mode of operation of the drive device for the suction head 66 will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 7-9.

The suction head 66 is attached to a tubular support arm 72, which is connected via a hose line to a vacuum source, not shown. This support arm 72 is connected to a drive 73 which has a lever 75 with which the support arm 72 is fixedly connected. This lever 75 is connected at both ends via joints 76 and 77 to other levers. By means of the joint 76, the axis of which is denoted by 76 ', the lever 75 is connected to a lever 78 which is non-rotatably seated on a shaft 79 with the axis 79' which is pivotably mounted in a bearing 80. Via the other joint 77 with the axis 77 ', the lever 75 is connected to a further lever 81, which is pivotably mounted in a bearing 82. The two-armed lever 81 is connected at the other end via a further joint 83 to the coupling 84 of a crank drive, which is connected to a crank 86 via a joint 85. The latter sits on a shaft 87 with the axis 87 ', which is mounted in a bearing 88 and is connected to a drive, not shown. The crank 86 rotates in the direction of the arrow K.

The mode of operation of the drive 73 will now be explained with reference to FIG. 9, which shows the lever transmission described above only schematically.

As already mentioned, the connecting joint 85 between the crank 86 and the coupling 84 runs along a circular path 89. The lever 81 performs a pivoting movement about the axis 82 'of its bearing 82. The Both end positions of the lever 81 are shown on the one hand with a solid line and on the other hand with a dash-dotted line. The two joints 77 and 83 of the lever 81 move back and forth along the tracks 90 and 91 between the points I and II. The lever 78 swings from the position shown with a solid line to the position 78a shown in broken lines and back again, the joint 76 moving back and forth along the path 92 between points I 'and II'. This swinging movement of the levers 81 and 78 also results in the movement of the lever 75, on which the support arm 72 of the suction head 66 is fixedly attached. The suction head 66 is thus moved from the takeover point 67 along the somewhat curved movement path to the delivery point 68 and back to the takeover point 67 on the same path.

On the right-hand side of FIG. 6, a variant is indicated with dash-dotted lines, comparable to FIG. 1, in which the belt conveyor 3 'conveys the scale formation S' in a direction A 'to the stacking point 28, which is opposite to the conveying direction A of the belt conveyor 3. This variant is used when the folded edge 2a in the supplied scale formation S 'is the trailing, top edge. In the same way as described with reference to FIG. 1, in this variant the stop 11 and the conveying roller 13, the guide member 71 and the height monitoring arrangement 31 have to be exchanged. In addition, the apron conveyor 4 must be pivotally mounted about the axis 7a of the deflection roller 7. In contrast, nothing needs to be changed on the suction arrangement 65.

FIG. 10 shows a third embodiment of the device according to the invention, which is very similar to the embodiment according to FIG. 6 and differs from it only in a different design of the second conveying device.

Instead of a conveyor device 32 with individually controllable grippers 33 according to FIG. 6, in the device according to FIG. 10, the conveyor device 93 is formed by two belt conveyors 94 and 95 arranged one above the other, which form a conveyor gap 96 between them. The conveying direction of the conveying device 93 is designated by L.

The uppermost printed product 2 in the intermediate stack 29 is slightly lifted from the stack 29 by the suction arrangement 65, as described in connection with FIGS. 6-9, and pushed back in the direction of the arrow E. The leading, open edge 2b of the printed products 2 is deflected by the guide element 71 into the inlet 96a of the conveyor gap 96.

As FIG. 10 shows, the printed products 2 are conveyed away again by the conveying device 93 in a scale formation S 1, in which each printed product 2 rests on the subsequent printed product. However, in this scale formation S 1, the leading edge 2 b is formed by the edge that formed the trailing edge in the shingled stream S supplied.

The same variant as in FIG. 6 is shown in dash-dot lines on the right side of FIG. 10.

In all of the embodiments shown, the apron conveyor can 4 run approximately horizontally (as shown in FIG. 1) or, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 10, are inclined sloping in the conveying direction.

Claims (18)

Method for feeding preferably folded printed products (2) to a further processing point, in which the printed products (2) are conveyed by a first conveying device (1) in a scale formation (S, S ') in which each printed product (2) rests on the next one, fed and taken over and conveyed by a second conveying device (32, 93), characterized in that the supplied printed products (2) are inserted one after the other into an intermediate stack (29) and in each case before being taken over by the second conveying device (32, 93) the uppermost printed product (2 ') of the intermediate stack (29) is grasped by a suction arrangement (44, 65) and brought by this into the conveying area (F, 96a) of the second conveying device (32, 93). A method according to claim 1, characterized in that in the case of folded printed products (2) the latter are gripped by the suction arrangement (44, 65) in the region of their fold (2a). A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the upper edge (29a) of the intermediate stack (29) is kept substantially at a predetermined height (H) by lowering and lifting. Method according to one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the printed products (2) are detected in the region of an edge (2a, 2b) and brought up into the conveying region (F) of the second conveying device (32). Method according to one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the printed products (2) are detected in the region of an edge (2a, 2b) and in a direction (E) opposite to the conveying direction (A) of the first conveying device (1) into the conveying region (F, 96a) of the second conveyor (32, 93) can be moved. Device for feeding preferably folded printed products (2) to a further processing point, with a first conveying device (1) for feeding the printed products (2) in a scale formation (S), in which each printed product (2) rests on the next one, and a second one Conveying device (32, 93) for taking over and transporting the supplied printed products (2), characterized by a stacking point (28) arranged in the conveying area of the first conveying device (1), at which an intermediate stack (29) loaded from below is supplied from the supplied printed products (2) ) is formed, and by means of a suction arrangement (44, 65) acting on the uppermost printed product (2 ') of the intermediate stack (29) for lifting the respectively detected printed product (2) from the intermediate stack (29) and feeding it into the conveying area (F , 96a) of the second conveyor (32, 93). Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the stacking point (28) is formed by a stop (11) arranged in the conveyor path of the first conveyor device (1) for the leading edges (2a, 2b) of the printed products supplied (2). Apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, characterized by a control arrangement (31, 10) for adjusting the upper side (29a) of the intermediate stack (29) essentially to a predetermined height (H) by lowering and raising the support (4) for the intermediate stack ( 29). Apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the support for the intermediate stack (29) is formed by a rocker (4) which can be pivoted about a substantially horizontal axis (6 ', 7') and is connected to a drive (10), which is controlled by a height monitoring controller (31). Device according to one of claims 6-9, characterized in that the suction arrangement (44, 65) has at least one suction head (45, 46, 66) which can be periodically connected to a vacuum source and which is driven by a drive (49, 73) from an acceptance point ( 51, 67), at which the uppermost product (2 ') of the intermediate stack (29) is detected, to a delivery point (52, 68) at which the detected product (2) is delivered to the second conveyor device (32, 93) , and can be moved back to the takeover point (51, 67). Device according to one of claims 6-10, characterized in that the suction arrangement (44) engaging in the region of an edge (2a, 2b), preferably the folded edge (2a), of the uppermost printed product (2 ') of the intermediate stack (29) raises the detected product (2) upwards and brings it into the conveying area (F) of the second conveying device (32). Device according to one of claims 6-10, characterized characterized in that the suction arrangement (65) engaging in the area of an edge (2a, 2b), preferably the folded edge (2a), of the uppermost printed product (2 ') of the intermediate stack (29) overcomes the detected product (2) with its opposite edge ( 2b, 2a) moved away from the intermediate stack (29) into the conveying area (F, 96a) of the second conveying device (32, 93). Device according to one of claims 6-12, characterized in that the second conveying device (32) has individually controllable grippers (33) which are fastened at intervals to a rotating traction element and that the suction device arrangement (44, 65) detects the printed products (2 ) with an edge area in the path of movement of the opened grippers (33). Device according to one of claims 6-12, characterized in that the second conveying device (93) has a belt conveyor to which a conveying member (94) is assigned at least in the inlet area (96a) of the printed products (2) fed by the suction arrangement (65), which forms a conveyor gap (96) for the printed products (2) with the belt conveyor (95). Apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that the drive (49) for the suction head (45, 46) moves it in a direction (C) along a closed path (50). Apparatus according to claim 15, characterized in that the drive (49) has a crank arm (54), the coupling (53b) of which has a preferably angled extension arm (53a) on which the suction head (45, 46) is appropriate. Apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that the drive (73) for the suction head (66) moves it back and forth between two layers (67, 68) along essentially the same path (70). Apparatus according to claim 17, characterized in that the suction head (66) is fastened to a lever (75) which is articulated at one end to a pivotally mounted rocking lever (78) and at the other to a likewise pivotably mounted further lever (81) which is coupled to a crank drive (84, 86) which drives the latter to swing back and forth.

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